Confused.
I imagine Mary felt that way as she watched Jesus carry the crossbeam of his own torture through the streets of Jerusalem on a day that should have been preparation for celebrating the Passover. I wonder what kind of conversation she was having with God as she watched her angel-announced child bleeding from being beaten and scourged. How she must have cringed as insults were hurled at the child she had carried through promise and uncertainty and as she remembered the stable-turned-inn where she gave birth and received the visit of excited shepherds, or the small-home arrival of wise men with palace gifts. What were her questions? She must have felt so much confusion. “God, what are you doing? I don’t get it!”
Even for the woman who received a life-altering, history-making promise from a heavenly visitor, confusion was part of her experience. Modern culture tries to explain everything! You can find an article on the internet by “experts” in every field the mind can imagine. Every expert tries to explain anything that doesn’t make sense to humans. Sometimes those explanations are valid, and sometimes they are just weird!
Read moreThe YES Adventure is a life of saying YES to God. One of the best biblical examples of someone living the YES adventure is Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Scriptures tell us a lot about Mary, especially in the book of Luke. Luke refers to “eyewitnesses” and “careful investigation,” and some scholars believe there is a good chance that Mary was a primary source for his gospel narrative. That would make the account of the birth of Jesus that many people read every Christmas Eve an accurate description of the events. If she was a primary source, then much of what we read about Mary in Luke can be considered firsthand information.
In Luke 1:38, Mary gives the answer that begins her YES adventure. She says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (ESV). Other translations say, “as you said” or “may your word to me be fulfilled.” Your YES adventure and mine begin the same way. We put ourselves completely in God’s hands and say “God, do what You want with me.”
We all know the story of the angel Gabriel coming to tell Mary that she had been chosen, out of the thousands of young Jewish women in Israel at that time, to become the mother of God’s Son. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. This young Jewish girl, doing her best to follow God, living according to the cultural norms of her day, betrothed by her father’s plan, doing the things that were expected of her.
Suddenly, she experiences an event way outside the norm. An angel visits her. An angel! She recognizes God at work but is most likely shocked at what the angel proposes. A baby?
Read moreSometimes God closes doors so that we consider options we never expected. When things don’t work out as planned or our chosen opportunities don’t open, our brains keep trying to “solve the problem.” That’s often when our creativity kicks in. We may discover a solution that we never considered before.
As I write this, an opportunity is not working out as planned, and I am considering options I had not before. What is my next YES, and where will it take me?
Read moreWhatever else God may be calling you to do, my friend, above all, He calls you to be faithful. To be faithful is to be consistent. Be someone others can count on; someone God can count on. Count on yourself to show up for your calling. Commit to fulfilling the dream God put in your heart, no matter what.
How faithful have you been in your daily time with God? Fulfilling God’s purpose for you is about being His, remember? Being His means being faithful to make your time with Him a priority.
Have you been faithful listening to His voice through His word and His Spirit? Faithful listening means taking time to discern if you are hearing Him, or your own heart.
Read moreIn Your Hand
Moses is one of the greats of faith. Revered by Jews and Christians. Spoken of by unbelievers. Moses. Moses. Moses.
Moses talked back to God and basically said, “Find someone else for the job.” (Exodus 3) He gave all kinds of excuses to try to talk God out of sending him to Pharaoh. But God, being God, would not relent. He chose Moses, and Moses it was going to be.
When Moses finally got on board with God and said, “Okay! Okay! I’ll go” he asked God for a sign to prove to the Israelites, and to Pharaoh, that God had sent him. I don’t know what Moses was expecting, but God’s response was, “What’s in your hand?”
What was in Moses’ hand? His shepherd’s staff. God said He would use that. God took something ordinary Moses had used every day for years and made it extraordinary.
That staff eventually turned into a serpent before Pharaoh and his magicians. That staff, dipped into the Nile, turned the river to blood. That staff was lifted above the Red Sea and prompted it to part. Two million souls, with their animals and belongings, walked across the sea on dry ground.
What was in Moses’ hand? Nothing special. Just his old familiar tool. Just the thing he’d used for years. Just the thing he would never have expected God to use. But God did use it and delivered His people from 400 years of bondage. God used what was in Moses’ hand to accomplish His mighty purposes.
Read moreLet’s settle this right here and right now. You are called! There is no question about that. If you are saying, “Called? Me?” Yes! You!
Every person on the planet was created with a purpose. Every creature of God has a calling. That includes you!
No person’s calling is better or higher than another’s. Every calling is valuable.
The important thing is to discover what it is and fulfill it. That is your divine potential. Your divine destiny.
You want to say YES to God? Saying yes starts with hearing God, right?
YES is a response. We don’t say it without a reason! So, what are we saying YES to? A calling? You might say, “Isn’t that only for pastors and other spiritual leaders? God hasn’t really called me, has He? And if He has called me, then what am I supposed to do?”
Let me affirm something. God is calling you!
Read moreOur American culture does not value slowing down. Everything is always, “Advance!” or “Full speed ahead!” and “Victory, Victory, Victory!”
How many times while driving have seen a yellow light and sped up to get through it? Come on, be honest. Okay, so maybe you haven’t done it, but I’ll bet you’ve seen other people do it, right?
We don’t want to slow down. We don’t want to evaluate. But that is what happens when we find our circumstances taking a slow turn. How we feel and the reality of our current circumstances rise to the top. We ask ourselves questions that we’d rather not think about. We are faced with realities that we would rather avoid. We feel like slowing down is actually stopping. It isn’t.
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