I didn't know what He meant when He said He's 'got me'.
I didn't know what it was for Him to be my strength when I was
weak.
I didn't know why He kept saying, 'do not be afraid; I will be
with you'.
I didn't know what it was to be called beloved.
It was all just something nice to hear;
They were:
words I memorized in Sunday School,
catchy lyrics on a lovely melody,
phrases that looked good on a tweet #QOTD...
You see when things went wrong all I could think was :
'How could He do this to me?'
'How could He let this happen?'
I was too busy wrapped up in my brokenness to accept His comfort;
too busy hosting a pity party with an attendance of one to give
The One my attention.
So He let me grow weak enough to look up in desperation.
It wasn't until I was weak and desperate that I felt Him be my
strength.
It wasn't until I had cried out all my tears that I learnt what
His joy was.
I didn't know what it was to be held and embraced until I was
desperate and alone. It wasn't until I was deep within the pit of my bad choices that I knew what second, third and millionth chances are.
It wasn't until I was standing on a stage, speechless, that I knew
what it meant for Him to give me the words to speak.
It was in mydarknessthat I sawHis light.
It was in mypainthat I feltHis love.
It was in myfearthat I felt Him give mecourage.
It was in my state ofhopelessnessthat He gave me afuture.
It was in every sorry state that I looked up and found Him countering
it effortlessly.
Not because He wanted me to go through that darkness - NO-
you see, it was never about ME;
it was always about HIM and if it took allowing me to wander into
the darkness to truly see HIS light, it was good.
If it took me feeling pain to know HIS COMFORT, then it was good.
It would probably have been easier if I had never gone through it,
but knowing this stubborn soul, would I have ever bothered to look
up?
Would I have drawn my attention outward?
I don't think so...
So I thank Him becausethe joy of knowing God now is sweeter than the
pain that brought the lesson.
I would rather walk through the valley of the shadow of death by
His side than along the yellow brick road alone.
God amazes me. I see
more and more what the psalmist meant when he talks about God's ways being too
much; too lofty for me to understand. This big and awesome God cannot be
described using mere words. He can only be experienced and even then, only in
small doses because all of His GLORY is is too much for us. It terrified the
Israelites; it is the presence that brings us to our knees; His HOLINESS, His
WONDER, His LOVE is simply too much for us to fathom so He lets us have Him in
dozes we can handle. This MIGHTY God who loves us simply because it is who He
is. He gives us drops of Himself and we are overwhelmed from it. He that is
more than enough not just for me but for every single one of the several
billion people on this earth. I don't get this God that is so HOLY, so set
apart from us yet He chooses to have a relationship with each person. It's a
bit (very very little bit) like a human choosing to commune with ants, to know
each by name to love them, to see to their needs... it sounds too ridiculous to
even understand , yet He chooses to do so with us; to call us sons and
daughters. God's son is Jesus Christ who is fully God in His very essence and
person and yet God the Father chooses to elevate us to that very same level? To
call us sons and daughters, to even makes us co-heirs; to allow us to call Him
father, Abba. We can never fully understand what those privileges mean because
that gesture of LOVE and ACCEPTANCE is too big for us. We don't know that kind
of LOVE. We don't deserve that kind of LOVE. Kings are meant to Lord it over
us. WE don't know this GIVING LOVE; we don't know this SELF-SACRIFICING
AUTHORITY; we don't know this SERVANT LEADERSHIP. It is simply too simple, too
foreign in its goodness. Yet what little we do understand of this MAGNIFICENT
GOD cripples us. It stops us in our tracks, it changes our entire lives; it
turns our world upside down and makes simple fishermen and laymen look like
drunks and then eloquent speakers. I can see why we would doubt the existence
of such a God that is simply 'too good to be true'. Yet GOOD and simply so by
His very nature is what He is. We learn very quickly that LOVE is not our
version of love; and what is GOOD is simply impossible for us to achieve alone
and thus comprehend. This is the God that allows us to know Him and serve Him.
This God that not only orchestrated the greatest jail break in history by
taking our place on the judgement seat and choosing to die instead of us, but
also pours out His very essence, His Holy Spirit into us. How something so
precious can be placed in such unworthy vessels is completely beyond our
understanding. He goes far above and beyond because HE IS THAT GOD. Not one of
those in myths; not another handsome demi-god performing small physical feats
that are too hard for humans; He IS THE ONE AND ONLY GOD doing things that only
He can do. The kind of God that not even humans could create because HIS WAYS
go beyond our logic and imagination. God the Father, God the son and God the
Holy Spirit; three but one, the Triune God. This is God and one day all
creation, every single knee (living and dead) will bow before God, not because
He is any less now than He will be then, but because He will reveal enough of
Himself that we will no longer excuse His glory for other things; it shall be
undeniable. You see, He is not a sentiment; He is not a comforting bedtime
story; He is not a nice belief; He is not an old wive's tale; He is not a figment of man's imagination; He is
not a means to an end. HE IS LOVE, HE IS GOOD, HE IS WISDOM, HE IS BEYOND TIME,
HE IS THE UNCREATED CREATOR, HE IS SOVEREIGN, HE IS JUST, HE IS MERCIFUL, HE IS
EVERYWHERE, HE IS ETERNAL, HE IS AWESOME and not in the pop culture reference,
but as one who leaves us all in complete and total AWE of His being. HE IS;
whether or not we acknowledge it. He allows us to choose to ignore Him or serve
Him, but one day we will have made a choice. Regardless, EVERY KNEE WILL BOW
BEFORE HIM; whether it will be for the first time in fear and terror or as a
usual gesture of submission before our KING and FATHER, will be up to you. YOU CHOOSE
I have
recently started working with the young adult church on Sunday mornings and my
goodness! Those conversations are stimulating! I have been helping out with the
bible study although as a fellow young adult, not much qualifies me per say, to
be their leader apart from the fact that I work at the church. Nevertheless, it
has been quite an experience. We are studying the book of 1st Timothy and I
decided to just share some of the things that have popped up from the study as
well as my own life.
Let me set
the stage before we delve into the discussion. We've all been in this situation
before. Your phone starts to ring and just by looking at the caller id, you
feel tired. It's John, that guy you were close friends with but you realised
the relationship was one-sided. You were only there to serve as a sounding
board and he generally ignored what advice you offered him when he allowed you
to get in a word. Or maybe it's Irene; she's obviously just broken up
with her bad boyfriend for the hundredth time so she now magically has time for
you. You used to be close but she grew too busy for you and the girls when he
showed up and you are tired of hearing what a pig he is because you know she'll
never actually leave him. Perhaps it could be Mary the victim. You know her
type; she just hops from one problem to another, ever the victim, never taking
responsibility for her actions. She is always asking you to bail her out and
you would probably have a small fortune if she ever decided to pay you back all
the money she owes you. I could go on and on listing all the different types of
'negative friends' in our lives. They drain our resources; they take and take
and take and take, leaving you feeling drained emotionally, mentally,
physically and spiritually just from one interaction. The only thing they bring
to the friendship is problems. They are followed by a dark cloud of negativity
and blinded by selfishness. You really don't know why they are in your life-
perhaps you're related, or childhood friends, or classmates. Whatever the
reason, they came into your life and are seemingly stuck to you like a barnacle
to a ship. Perhaps it is a result of life experiences or perhaps they just have
a terrible character. One thing is certain; they are hard to love. So,
you know these people are in your life, what do you do?
All
conventional wisdom says you should ditch them- give them the old boot - cut
the cord - see ya
later
alligator - sayonara - don't let the door hit ya .... Take a look atThis article on buzzfeed . It
makes sense really, that you should get rid of all the negativity in your life.
After all, this is your life and you don't owe anyone access to your life.
People do not have a right to your company and you should get to choose who you
hang out with. Didn’t our parents always tell us that one bad apple spoils the
whole bunch? So we should just quit these bad friendships cold turkey; unfriend,
unfollow, block and delete. That was actually my routine in many different
ways. This was my exact thought process until late last year when something
started nagging me. Was this the Christian thing to do? Where is the place of
grace in my friendships? Was I really showing love?
When we
look at the bible, it gives us very clear instructions. I think sometimes we
complicate it or we ignore clear instructions because they just seem too hard
to obey. 1 Peter 1:22 talks about loving out of a sincere brotherly love, and
loving deeply from a pure heart. 1Timothy 1:5 says that the aim of our charge
(our calling, our mission) is to love out of a pure heart, a good conscience
and a sincere faith (I’ve paraphrased both verses). We know that Jesus came to
seek and save the lost. He loved deeply and we have been called to do so too.
So what does that look like? I think it means loving those that we have labeled
as 'negative' or 'unlovable'. We too were unlovable. The angels probably look
at us and wonder why God would choose to love such a terrible and sinful
people. Yet Jesus, out of love for us, came down and died for us. He chose to
love us in our horrid state. Jesus set the standard when he dined and walked
with the outcast of the society. As mere sinners who claim to follow Christ,
who are we to judge and label others as negative? I have been one of the many
that justify such behaviour by referring to the time when Jesus said that if
something causes you to sin then you should cut it out. One lady at the bible
study helped me see the real application of this scripture. Does your
'negative' friend cause you to sin? Are they tempting you by playing at your
weaknesses? Is your interaction with them a causative factor in your sinning?
If yes, then by all means delete that number and cut off all communication. But
if you just want to ditch people because it is convenient for you and they
affect your mood, then stop being selfish and live the life God called you to
live. They do not have to be your core friends or besties, but don't kick them
out because they took a different path in life or made a few bad decisions. You
could be their only chance to experience true love ; pure love that stems from
your sincere faith. You could be their only link to God. You could be the only
light in their lives. Jesus called us the light of the world and that is what
He made us; not so that we could hang out with other candles, but so that we
could go into the darkness and shine His light on them and light other candles.
My prayer has been that God would teach me what it really is to love deeply
from a pure heart. We love from the overflow of His love in our lives so when
we feel drained by other people, the solution is not to cut them off, we should
go back to Him for more.
Last
Sunday Pst. Faith asked the congregation of Nairobi Chapel what one word
described what they wanted from the new year; what one word describes your goal
or what you want God to help you with? My word was 'HABITUATION'.
I
was at my friend Cucu Judy's farewell party when I first really thought of the
word. Her husband had written words from A-Z that described her and he had more
than 365 words to describe this wonderful lady. She is amazing; I could write
several blogs about her. Anyway, I saw this word and it just sprang up at me. I
mean, is it a good thing to be described as habitual? We all think that to be
habitual is to be boring and predictable; to be ordinary. In fact, my
generation is against habits (except drinking on weekends). We are about spontaneity and yelling 'YOLO'
before we jump into some random and often stupid situation. We are all about
eating life with a big spoon (if you don't get the fanta ad reference, you're
too young). Our generation embraces sleeping in and binge watching entire
television series. Our idea of making plans is to go to the kikoy festival
every year or whatever big concert is happening. We all want to 'go with the
flow' and do what our feelings tell us to do even if it means flaking out on
our friends. 'I'ma do me' is the phrase of the day as we skip out on our
responsibilities in order to go with what our flighty emotions demand.
I
know what you might be thinking and no, I am not just harping on other people.
I have been that yolo-yelling-flaky-flighty-indecisive-girl too but then I grew
up. I realized that if you skip classes all semester you will flunk. I
discovered that hangovers are not that funny. It hit me that I really do only
have one chance to live on this earth and do it right. I discovered that
emotions are terribly useless things to base major decisions on. I discovered
that a good nights' sleep really does make a difference with my health. I found
out that my grandpa's cool song, 'early to bed and early to rise, makes a man
healthy, wealthy and wise,' wasn't just a nice poem used to get me to sleep
early, but a profound truth. Prov 6:10-11 'A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.'
Back
to habituation. I dare you to research successful people and find one of them
that isn't habitual. Why is Stephen Covey's7 habits of
highly effective people a best seller? Why are we all so
obsessed with the habits of the rich? I mean, I even read an article the
other day about how successful people wear the same clothes. Check it out here. Now I am not
advocating for us all to wear the same uniform everyday, but there's a truth
behind that habit that we need to learn. Habits and discipline aren't a
restriction on our lives. In fact, I think spontaneity imprisons our minds in
some ways. Let me explain. The brain is built to recognize patterns in our
behaviour and then to automate these patterns. When we automate a process, we don't have to think about it
anymore and so it frees our brains to think about a more complex process. For
instance, think about driving. When you started learning how to drive you have to think about
everything; where your feet go, checking the mirrors, even signalling requires
your attention. You spend a lot of mental energy on these simple tasks but with
time it becomes automatic. You don't even have to think about putting on your
safety belt because your hands just do it as soon as you enter the car. So, how does automation/habituation cause freedom? Well, it makes the simple tasks automatic
and saves your brain power for the really important stuff. So, instead of
thinking about what he is going to wear everyday, Mark Zuckerberg can spend
that brain energy on inventing that terrible double-blue-tick thing on whatsapp
:)
Another
advantage of habituation is that it conditions your body. You can actually
train your body to automatically respond to a series of activities. That's how
we night-train children. But more importantly, if you usually have problems
going to sleep, come up with a bed time routine; a series of activities that
you do before you sleep each day and soon, if you perform those activities,
regardless of how you were feeling, you'll find yourself asleep on time.
Alternatively, you can have a morning routine that kick starts your brain.
Additionally,
habituation is the key to mastering spiritual disciplines. There is no way to
nurture your faith without having cultivated faith habits. Scheduled quiet
times, regular prayer, etc. I know a couple who wake up at 5 a.m. every day -
EVERY DAY! to pray. I know others who wake up at 3 a.m. to pray and those
couples have very stable and deep faith. Now, it is not a competition of who
wakes up earlier and I'm not saying that only early risers grow in faith. What
I have noted in many many more old christian couples who have deep faith, is
that they are quite habitual. Now, back to real life. My dad, one of the most
amazing men I know has been waking up early to jog for the longest time. All
these successful people have discovered the freedom that is found in habituation
and it's time my generation rediscovered the importance of discipline. Finally, for the adventurous like me, I can tell you that all these people have gone farther and visited more places than any of their 'go with the flow' friends. It's time to become habitual. Instead of yolo-ing your way into an early death, seize the day by creating some good godly habits.
Wow, it has been a
shamefully long time since I wrote! Let's just say I was extra busy from late
October to December- busy and very emotional. I decided not to blog because it
would have ended up being a long rant and the internet does not need one more angry
lady spewing her discontent all over our news feeds (yes I'm referring to that
Njoki Chege chick.... SMH).
Anyway, to recap,
last year was a year of transitions for me. It was a really difficult year and
I had to get rid of some terrible friendships I was stuck in. To top it off,
internship has been one crazy exhausting ride. At the end of the year I had not
accomplished all the things I thought I would have and I was not where I wanted
to be. As much as I had that Aha! moment when I decided to join the internship,
I still struggle with the implications. Support raising is not easy and it is
not fun. My pride has taken a serious bashing and will probably take some more
this year. Additionally, my identity was so wrapped up in the career I thought
I was called to that I still can't fully accept that I work in the church.
Finally, I know it seems vain, and I know this is pure pride, but it literally
took months before I agreed to put in the title 'intern' into my email
signature. At the beginning of 2014 I had just graduated again, I was sure of
my calling and career path, and I was ready to take on the world. I knew that
it would be a magnificent year. I was ready to realize all those dreams and
goals that I had carefully thought out. Then 2014 came with all its downs. When
I took stock in December, I was gutted by the disparity between my plans and
what happened. However, I realized something really important. I was not where
I thought I would be but I was where God needed me to be. Yeah yeah yeah, I
know how corny it sounds but it really is true. Throughout 2014 God granted me
grace to do what I needed to do. Whether it was allowing me to be jobless so I
could comfort a grieving friend and help my cousin with her business, or
allowing me to go through tough situations so that I could really see who my
real friends were. He used every situation to mould me and shape me. It was
tough but my goodness He guided me through and I came out more than just
unscathed. I have excelled in many ways in my internship and honestly, it still
baffles me how all that happened. I can't explain the favor I have had with my
supervisors or how I didn't quit or just explode during some of the volatile
situations I was in. I look at myself sometimes and I honestly don't understand
how I became that person. This highly competent person that other people see.
Which brings us to the topic at hand; the new fear. One of the biggest things
that has happened to me is that I have been offered a position in spearheading
a ministry that encompasses all my experience, study, interests and passion.
The day they told me about it I humbly and graciously accepted and then went
nuts when I was with a friend. I literally could not stop smiling. Even now I
can't believe it. I have told some people about it, but I try to keep a
straight face and play down just how big this is for me and how excited I am.
IT'S A PRETTY HUUUUUUGE DEAL!!!!
If you know me, I do
pretty much anything I am asked to do (at work) and I do it as excellently as I
can. If you know me well, you know I am quick on my feet and I am a pretty good
trouble shooter. If you know me really really well, you know that I freak out
as soon as I am asked to do something. I have a tiny explosion in my head
before I respond. Depending on the importance and possible repercussions of the
task, I will have anything from a split second freak out to a talk-to-myself,
numb-and-paralysed-with-fear and run-every-possible-horrible-outcome-in-my-mind
reaction. The latter is the case this year. You see, this year is different.
God has made it really clear over a long period of time that He has great plans
for me and some of them begin this year. It may sound stupid but I am scared to
death of those plans. I even spent my entire holiday avoiding my own thoughts
so that I wouldn't have to process it all. I don't even know where to start
with all of this. I am scared of trusting God because last year when I trusted
Him He took away friends, hopes, dreams and a career path. I am scared that I
am going to fail epicly and not just on my own in my tiny little intern's
corner. I am scared of all the responsibilities that have been entrusted to me.
I am scared that I will not attain my goals. I am scared that maybe I will
achieve success but in the process alienate myself from family and friends
because of my workaholic tendencies. In short, I am scared of it all and much
much more (don't get me started on my fear of the dark). Despite all this fear
I find great comfort in the fact that God tells us not to fear or be afraid 365
times in the bible. For all of 2015 I have nothing to fear. If there's anything
I learned within the past few years, it's that people will let you down, but
God never will. When He said He will never leave you nor forsake you, He meant
it and He keeps all His promises. He has been with me; guiding me, loving me,
caring for me, healing me, teaching me, holding me, helping me and carrying me.
He has been on my side even when I wasn't on my own side. He has helped me even
when it's my own foolishness that got me into a sticky situation. He has guided
me back to the path when I have wondered off because of my stubborn and limited
thinking.
The truth is that in
2014 I had my own plans carefully crafted off of a bit of what God had told me.
This year however, I have real hope because the dreams I stand on didn't come
from me. I didn't create promises in my head and then decide to hold God to
them. I didn't go out of my way to look for goals. I really truly believe that
this year is a special year. It holds new dreams, new fears and shall be
overflowing with new favor from God. I'm done with trusting God just for
the little things. It's time my faith grew and I really trusted Him for the BIG
THINGS... What are those things you were always too scared to pray for because
you were scared He wouldn't answer? Test Him by trusting Him and you will see
Him in all His Glory because our God is Big and Awesome and More than able to
do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine. This year
that will be my testimony and I pray it will be yours too.
This week my cat has driven me absolutely up the wall. You see, every so often he gets this urge to out there and be a male cat and he disappears for a day or two and comes back with scratches and injuries. Once it was so bad I had to take him to the vet and he was cleaned up and prescribed for the cone of shame... hahahaha he looked so dumb in a cone! Anyway, I digress....
This week seems to be mating season and he was driven out by his natural instincts. For four days we didn't see him, but he was running around all over the estate and beyond trying to find a mate. My mum and I were worried sick about him and when we did finally see him, he was no longer this docile, and slightly cowardly cat we know. It was 6 a.m. on Thursday morning when I was woken by his noisy and very loud meowling (mix between a meow and howl; that annoying call they make in mating season). Any attempts at bringing him home were first ignored, then met with anger and a desperate attempt to escape. When he finally did come home yesterday, after five days of not eating, he was haggard and starving. He quickly finished the food on his bowl and begged for more. He finished an entire glass of milk and seemed to be so tired that he could barely sit. We didn't recognise this thin, tired, confused animal. You could see he wanted to sleep in a bit, but he was soon out of the door again, meowling at his (maybe inexistent) girlfriend. Before he left, he sat on our kitchen floor looking exhausted and spent. My mum was very sorry for him, but she was also upset with him because the previous morning when I'd tried to bring him home he had acted like a wild cat. I remember telling her that it wasn't his fault. It was his natural instinct driving him. My poor sweet, calm, slightly cowardly Sakura is forced to go out and be what he is, an animal, a slave to natural instincts.
As soon as I said it, it hit me. Suddenly all those verses about us being slaves to nature came flooding my mind. We are all like Sakura. We get these natural instincts to go and do something, often sinful, and because we put so much power in our feelings, we follow these instincts and spend our energy fulfilling our body's desires. Pride, loneliness, greed, depression, fear, anxiety, sadness, hurt, anger, you name it; these feelings come into our lives and suddenly we are working on autopilot. They drive us out of the comfort of the Maker's presence as we go on a bender. It doesn't matter if the Father calls out to us morning and night. It is not until we are desperately tired, spiritually starved and bruised, that we go stalking back home. The Master sees us and comes running and calling out for us. He meets us outside, tuts and croons at us as He carries us home. At home He feeds us and dresses our wounds as we gripe and bite at Him as He cleans our sores. We slowly begin to regain strength and spend our days in His presence being nourished until we are growing on the inside. We tell ourselves, 'Never again!' and soon that phase of our lives is forgotten as our wounds heal and scars fade. Then one day some other feeling comes up and the desires are so strong and real that we are convinced that surely, even God who made me and those desires must want me to respond to them. So, out we go again, into the night to meowl and chase after temporary pleasures that will leave us bruised, or in some cases, eventually kill us....
It doesn't have to be that way because on the cross Jesus defeated the things of the world and freed us from that slavery. We do not have to put so much weight on our feelings. We do not have to respond to every single natural instinct just because it is natural . Everyone has that one weakness; that one desire that they give in to that drives them from the presence of God. That thing that keeps them away from God later on even though they are hurting. The good news is that Jesus has overcome the world and that includes our human nature. We are all like Sakura, but we don't all have to act like Sakura. In 1 Corinth 9 Paul talks about how he disciplines his body into submission. That is the way it is. We may no longer be slaves, but we first have to change those habits we created before we gave our lives over in submission to God. It is a daily decision to do what is right, a daily struggle to fight those desires, but by God's transforming Grace, it begins to become less hard. Instead of what Paul describes in Romans 7:15, over time we find that we no longer struggle to do that which we want to do. We slowly find it easier to not do what we don't want to do. God transform us from the inside until the human nature is less and that work is finally completed in Heaven. However, our role in God's transformation process, is to actively choose to fight our human nature and discipline our bodies. We don't get to sit back and let God do all the work. Our role can be hard, but God provides the Holy Spirit to give us the courage and strength to do it everyday. God's grace is like leeway to make mistakes so even when we do give in and go all 'Sakura', He welcome us back and cares for us. It is an amazing process really, one that requires hard work, but is ultimately rewarding in that it allows us to make room for God to be Lord in our lives through constant submission to His will instead of our natural instincts. What's even better is finding out each time that His way and His will are more than just superior to ours; His will is more amazing than we could have imagined and leaves us better off than we were before, Isn't that just wonderful? When we surrender ourselves fully to God instead of to our human nature, we open ourselves to being used by God in such amazing ways that it constantly leaves us in awe.
Next time you get this natural instinct, take a pause and tell yourself, 'Don't be like Sakura.'
PS, this blog was not just another excuse to talk about my cat..... or was it? muahahahahahaha..... :)
I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged. *Hanging
my head in shame*
It's not that I haven't learned anything all month; I have
actually done a lot this month, but I was so caught up on the little things
that I forgot to look up. The month began pretty wonderfully with a relaxing
three day retreat. I have come to the end of my first quarter in Kinara and it
was a time for reflection, relaxation and re-strategizing. I realized that I came into this internship with my own agenda
hidden within my following of God's will. Over the past few months He has
broken me down and moulded me to fit into His will and my goodness that has
been a process. But above all that, I have found such a fulfillment in this
role that I honestly could not picture being happier or doing more in any other
organization right now. Truth is when I joined it wasn't with arms wide open. I
was leaping into the unknown with my head full of anxiety and apprehension. I was trusting God
because I knew that He wanted me here, but I part of the reason I was obeying
was because of the whole story of Jonah (I was not about to waste my time in
whatever whale God would have used to swallow me up). I know it doesn't seem
very 'spiri' of me, but that is the truth and I think that's an okay response.
Faith calls for obedience whether or not we know where we're going. My friend
described it as being blind folded and listening to God's instruction as He
tells us where to go.... I digress though... where was I? oh yah, the retreat.
My goodness that was a marvelous time. I have been reading C.S. Lewis'
Chronicles of Narnia for the umptinth time and that guy is a great author.
Dallas Willard wrote that the art of a great teacher is putting something in
such a way that even though you do not understand it, you remember it. C.S
Lewis was a great teacher. Those books are so scripture inspired that you can
see it in the small things. I was really inspired when I was reading
the 6th book, 'The Silver Chair'. Aslan (the great son of the Emporor over the
sea), gave this girl some instructions and he had her repeat them to him. They were instructions to guide her and her companion on a journey he was sending them on. At the time
they were standing in the mountains, above and away from all the issues in the
city. He had her repeat the instructions over and over until she got them and
asked her to always repeat them. He warned her that although up in the
mountains she could hear him clearly, it would be harder to hear him in the
city and on the journey. He recited them with her once more and sent her on her
way. As soon as she arrived, she had forgotten the first instructions and
as the journey wore on, she forgot to repeat the instructions and got caught up
in the journey that he had sent her on. Her disobedience almost cost her and her companions their lives.
That was me this whole month. During the retreat I had the
greatest clarity. I had great plans and I was going to maintain the momentum
that I had built in those three days. I was ready for action. I was sure I was
going to have longer, better devotion time and prayer time, and all those other
things we tell ourselves when we are having fun planning what wonderful lives
we're going to live. However, as soon as we were done with the retreat I turned
my phone on and reality came rushing in. The rest of the week was a blurr of
emails, phone calls and all the crazy running up and down for the camp I was
directing. I am so very grateful for the fact that God does not treat us the
way we deserve. During camp I worked hard; as in I was run ragged for those two
weeks but my focus wasn't always on Him. My devotion was reduced to the daily
devotional preparations I made before camp began and my prayer life consisted
of sitting in the staff room and praying while the camp was going on and I had
a 5 minute breather. This month I failed to have Jesus as the center of my work
and life and I am quite sure it showed. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge
Him and He will make your paths straight. I leaned on my own understanding and
strength this month and it was a disaster. I was burned out within 3 weeks. Btw
by burnout I mean serious burnout. My work was being impared, it took more
strength to do small things, I was dizzy and nursing a headache for a lot of
the last week and was lacking in joy. At some point I was teaching a group of pre-teens and their attitudes almost reduced me to tears. That was when I knew that I was being ridiculous and had failed terribly to prepare in the proper manner. I don't mean planning the lesson- I'd done that- I mean I had failed to pray about it and it showed. I was anxious and impatient that day and those young girls surely deserve to have me at my best.
I have slowly come to realize that moments of peace are not just
about granting us rest. They are meant to be times when we can equip ourselves
for the next step. We get restless in rest. I remember some members of my group
struggling with the silence rules of the convent where we were having our
retreat. I had already learned that lesson and I am not afraid of time alone,
so I was okay with it. My problem, however, comes when we decend from the
mountain and are back in the city noise. All the distractions around us make it
really hard to remmeber to focus on God. I forget the instructions I got, I
forget to repeat them to myself; I forget who sent me on this journey, and I
end up making wrong decisions or working with twice the effort to do something
that would have been easier if done the right way. My autopilot in times of
chaos is to buckle down and work hard. That's not right, but I need to create a
new autopilot. My emergency systems need to include God- they need to be
centered on Him or I'll end up in the situation I was in this month. I always
got annoyed when I read 'The Silver Chair' because I was sure that the girl was
silly for forgetting such simple instruction. I felt the same way about the
Israelites and all the grumbling and forgetting they did. Yet that is the very
nature of my soul right now. I am a fickle person with a fickle heart and mind.
I forget the simple instruction and wind up hurting myself in the process. The
beauty of God is that He doesn't watch us fumbling and making a mess; He comes
down and blesses the mess by transforming it into what He originally planned.
Thus, the camp went marvelously well. I cannot take any credit for the success
of those two weeks. God found ways of amazing me and talking to me each day. I
was transformed anew by an old story and He allowed me to be a huge part of the
transformation of many children's lives. What a privilege. I am humbled by how
God came through for us at that camp. I can't say it will never happen again,
but my prayer really is that I would stop leaning on my own wisdom and really
let God be the center of everything I do. That's partly why I love this song so much; no matter how much I ruin things, God comes in His glory shines through the cracks and toppled walls.