New Directions

For some reason, the Lord took me back to a memory of hemming squares on a sewing machine. When did I last do that? Can’t even remember. But as I lingered, I saw the dexterity required to anchor a sharp corner…the need to position the needle through all thicknesses as I swung the fabric into a new direction.

God sometimes calls us to change direction. The only way to successfully negotiate such a change, is to ensure that the needle … the anchor … our connection with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit … is firmly in place. Then, once our face is turned in the new direction, we are free to run with him, sometimes at pretty high speeds. Allowing the needle to release any of the fabrics of our lives results in a messy ‘corner’ and perhaps a wonky way forward.

Isaiah quotes God saying, ‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”’ He’s always there, guiding us on, if we keep our ears open and our lives embedded in him.

I wonder if he’s preparing me for something? What about you?

This is the Way

A few years ago, I was out for a walk through the woods with Don. As the path narrowed, I led the way and at one point turned to see where Don was, while continuing to walk forward. My foot lodged in a rabbit hole, the momentum of my body carried me on and I sprained an ankle. Ouch.

When Peter had his famous encounter with Jesus after the resurrection on the shores of Galilee, he listened to Jesus’ plans for his future and then looked round and asked what John’s future held. He was told it was none of his business and to concentrate on his own life, keeping his eyes on Jesus.

Comparing ourselves to someone else can lead to envy, but it can also cause us to miss our footing on our own path and either get hurt or get lost and end up on a parallel but different path. It takes discipline to continue to look forward but it is foolish to take our eyes off the road in front. 

Whether you walk to the right or the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ (Isaiah 30:21)

Soaring

Little foxes may be cute – I’m not sure as I’ve not seen any up close. But most baby animals have some cuteness about them. They are no doubt distracting – when I allow them into the garden of my relationship with Jesus they can draw my attention away from him. They may be annoyances like house repairs needing attention or weeding needing done. They may ratchet up when it could be confusion over billing or internet or banking fraud. Or family or friend anxieties.

The little foxes transform into marauding wolves when they become vicious and violent: Promenade des Anglaises in Nice or Istanbul Airport or Brussels Airport. Or when political change and upheaval dominate every news bulletin and always are delivered in tones of dark despair and doom. 

How do I alter my perspective and maintain my relationship with Jesus? How do I hang on to the joy of the Lord and let his light shine out in these dark days? 

Isaiah wrote thousands of years ago that those who wait on the Lord will mount up on wings like eagles. Eagles have vision. They can see the whole picture – or at least more of it than I can at ground level. So, I need discipline and steely-mindedness to resist the distractions of the foxes and the wolves. They should get some of my prayer time, but not all of it. As I wait upon the Lord, however hard that is in the midst of everything that is going on, my prayers will gain accuracy and effectiveness. 

With God’s help,  I will wait on the Lord, and soar like an eagle.

Everlasting Love

The wilderness. Make a way through the wilderness for the Lord. Jesus was in the wilderness right after he was baptised in the Jordan by John, whose cry to the people of Israel echoed that from Isaiah 40: Prepare the way for the Lord. 

Then he baptised the Lord, and the Lord went into the wilderness. Jesus knows what it is to be in the wilderness. He knows from his own experience the sense of loneliness and abandonment, the fear and trepidation, the physical discomfort and emotional strain. The hopelessness.

God spoke to his people through Jeremiah (31:3) ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ Jesus knew that, and the love of the Father sustained him through those long days and nights. Eventually he emerged from the wilderness, strong and assured of his calling.

Sometimes when we are in the wilderness, preparing a way for anyone, including the Lord, is beyond us. I’m sure then is the time to hunker down in the shelter of God’s promises, and this is surely one of those to cling to. ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’ Before God formed you in the womb he knew you. He has loved you – he has loved me – since before time began until beyond its cessation. Everlasting love. The everlasting love of the Creator of the Universe; the everlasting love of the three-in-one Lord who invites us to join in the dance of life. 

If preparing a way is too much today, then rest in the shadow of his love and leave it to him.

Wholehearted enthusiasm

There is nothing commendable about being half-hearted. When we are lukewarm towards a project, we are unlikely to excel at it or perhaps even to complete it. 

By contrast, when we wholeheartedly pursue a project or a leader, our enthusiasm and vision can draw others into the goal and achieve much more than we might have even imagined. 

People who are sold out for a cause ignore obstacles and overcome setbacks because their belief in the rectitude of their action propels them forward. 

People who are sold out for God trust in him implicitly. The obstacles and pitfalls may be there but with their eyes focused on God and his promises, they soar over the mountains and vault over the pitfalls. 

As I hung the clothes out this morning, my eye was drawn to a hawk soaring above the field. It reminded me of the eagle, riding on the air currents, expending very little energy as it adjusts its feathery wings perfectly in order to continue to soar effortlessly above the ground. 

Isaiah wrote, thousands of years ago, that ‘those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’

Caleb trusted God wholeheartedly. He saw the same giants and desert that his fellow scouts did, but he knew that with God’s help they were no obstacle. He hoped in the Lord, and the Lord enabled him to soar on wings like eagles.

Today I am trusting God wholeheartedly despite the giants I see on the horizon. I am not going to run around like a headless chicken, but rather I am going to soar on wings like eagles. 

Half-heartedness never achieved a thing.

Hearts of Flesh

Hypocrisy is one of the most undesirable traits a person can have. Originally it was the word for an actor in ancient Greece, and didn’t carry the negative connotations of dishonesty which it now does. 

Although it’s one of the least desirable traits, and one from which we all would like to be distanced – especially in ourselves, I think it’s very easy for us to be hypocritical in one way or another, to one degree or another. 

Jesus calls us to honesty and truth, the opposites of hypocrisy. While it may be our aim as Christians to be totally honest and truthful, without the Spirit’s help we don’t stand much chance of really being that. 

Paul writes to the Corinthian church that God once gave out a set of rules in the form of commandments written on stone tablets, but that didn’t work. It didn’t work because we are not very good at following rules. Anyone who has raised a child knows that as soon as you say ‘Don’t....’ it becomes the child’s focus to do it.

So God’s tactic changed and after Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to, in a sense, be written on the hearts of believers. God had indicated that as a future plan way back thousands of years ago through the prophet Isaiah, when he said that in the last days he would pour out his Spirit on all believers, who would then dream dreams, prophesy, and be full of the knowledge and love of God.

It’s a glorious summer day up here in the northeast of Scotland, and as Dusty and I emerged from the cool shadow of the woods and onto the sunlit path, we found first one wee frog along the path, resting and soaking in the warm sunlight, then another, and finally a third. The last two were hopping around in the long grass, failing to absorb the warmth of the sun which the first wee frog was basking in.

Christians should be like the first frog. Resting in and soaking up the presence of God, not hopping about in our own power, trying to be good, trying to think good thoughts, but deep down, having hearts which still have at least a few pockets of stone which make us judgmental and critical. 

It’s only as we rest in the light of God that our hearts of stone are transformed into hearts of flesh, and our thoughts and impulses match our actions. 

So I’m off to rest in the presence of God for awhile. I don’t want to be a hypocrite with a heart of stone. I want a heart of flesh.