How to Kill Your House Plants & a Lesson in Resting

 

      Life in little green shoots.  There is nothing like watching a plant grow from seed.  In a quick minute it seems like, it springs up, shooting out new leaves and foliage in all directions.  And all of this from a tiny tear drop shaped speck that is about the size of the tip of straight pin.  Miraculous. 

   But after four weeks, the sprouting stopped and my plants seemed stunted.  What in the world? How did these quick cultivating shoots go from 60 to zero in no time flat?  I have learned lesson after lesson that relates to life from these little hydroponic wonders.  And here was another one . . .

   Did you know if you even slightly interrupt the rest cycle at all for these little plants, by introducing or removing light at the wrong time, then you have to restart everything? You have to go back to the beginning, wait 14 days and be consistent, giving them plenty of light for them to cultivate again.  

    They require plenty of darkness.  In other words, they require rest.  If they don't get it, they never come to fruition or bear fruit.  In fact, if they don't receive the rest they need they will ultimately die.  And because of my lack of knowledge, I overdid it.  My little sun soaked plants were worn out thanks to my ignorance.  They received no rest, no darkness, no place to hide.  In my inexperience, I lit them up! Isn't more light equal to more fruit?  Nope.  They died.

    Wow, did you catch that?  I did.  And how does this relate to many of us?  In a world and church culture of  "Go, go, go and do, do, do" how much do we talk about the importance of rest?  Is it even a value?  Do we outwardly encourage it but then undermine its importance by paying its practice no heed?  Do we puff ourselves up with pride as we keep our break-neck speed way of life, all the while drowning in our schedules that cause our fruits of the Spirit to fall to the floor?  And maybe the question we could be asking if we notice "less fruit" in our ministry and lives isn't "What do we have to do?"  but "What do I need to NOT do?" 

     Sounds counterproductive, sounds absolutely crazy.  But this is an upside down Kingdom where sometimes less really is more.  There was a reason these little plants never got to the flowering, fruit producing stage.  And there might be a reason the church is not always arriving there too.

       And in these words, I am talking to myself.  In this past season, if I were to be evaluated on my resting skills, I would probably receive failing grade.  And what was all this lack of rest producing in me? Not much . . . fruit.  Burning the oil at both ends in order to be more productive only left me more agitated, less productive and less emotionally present and available for those who need me.

     But I am learning.  I finally had my pj day; a day where I got up, did no impressive workouts, no tidying up, grinding, pushing or pressing-in.  I wore the same thing I woke up in from sun-up to sun down.  I even skipped out on a social gathering while my family attended, all to soak in the silence of a noise free zone.  

    And all I sensed in the silence was a whisper, "In your weakness, I am strong."  

      Before this day, my mind had begun to spin into a subtly prideful narrative "Look at my efforts, Lord. Why aren't they ending in the things I am wanting to see?" the question begged deep down.  

     Yet, on Pj day, as I sat in solitude, seeking Him, I sensed the comfort of a repeating thought, "Now that you have stopped working, I can work on your behalf."  Ohhhh.  My constant efforts were in His way.  The act of resting is actually an act of trusting.  Its an act of leaning into the arms of The One who is always working.  Its a declaration that He is at the helm, not me.  And its only as I find my rest in Him that I will truly grow and bear fruit that matters.

   Cycles of Biblical Rest:

The Sabbath or Shabbat: a once a week 24 hour period of rest.  Traditionally this first occurred in Genesis account of Creation, where God Himself rested from creating the world. If its vital for Him, isn't it vital for me?

The 7 year resting of fields:  Leviticus 25:1-7.   Farmers were to only grow and prune their fields for 6 years and then give them rest on the 7th year.

Year of Jubilee:  7 sabbath years x 7 which equals 49.  The 50th year was to be a year of rest for Israel.  Leviticus 25:8-54

 

Check Your Oil

     Processing with friends is so helpful, so necessary.  This specific conversation was one of those.  I was explaining to my friend my current condition-brain swarmed with a constant swirl of details.  Things were busy!  And yet I wasn't ready or maybe I felt I couldn't drop any of those plates I was spinning.  

     Then she wisely responded after I shared, "Its about your oil.  Do you have oil?"  I knew what she was referring to, but it wasn't until later it sunk in.  She was making a reference to those 10 virgins in The Gospel of Matthew 25:1-13 

                       Five were wise. 

    Only five.  That means half.  Sadly, only half of these virgins understood their eternal identity and calling.  

         As it says in another version, they were sensible.  That means they had common sense.  They had enough sense to know this world wasn't going to last much longer and they were wisely preparing to meet their Bridegroom in the moment when all eternity brilliantly and completely eclipses earth.  Their hearts and minds were set on the most epic event in all of history that will culminate with the most elaborate wedding celebration ever imagined.  HGTV wedding shows can't even come close.  The royal weddings of earthly kings wedding their earthly queens are only a dim shadow of this celebration that is to come.  These virgins, their hearts ached, longed to meet  the only man who could truly meet all their needs and expectations-The King of Kings. 

    I had to ask myself, have I lost my oil?  In all the cords pulling me and my efforts into good things-financial security, my kids' activities, peoples' expectations on me, deadlines and obligations-had I lost sight of what I was actually supposed to be preparing for? Had I lost that ache, that longing for The King of Kings? Was I being sensible? Truly sensible according to the Bible's definition?  
     
    Only five were wise.  Only five.  Only half.  The others were considered foolish.  Gasp!  That word.  But they were doing seemingly sensible things, for goodness sake!  

    Does it mean we completely forsake all the obligations and deadlines and plates we are carrying? Maybe, at least for a moment. To me, it's at least worth drawing away for an hour or two to find out.  But, I wonder if the true question that begs an answer, the true litmus test is: 
                          "Do you have oil?  

   

    

   

We are the Clay: After Demolition, Finding Center

                I used to love it when my ceramics professor in college would share in chapel.  He would set up his ceramics wheel with a lump of formless clay on it, spinning away as he spoke of the hand of God.  Gently, he would speak of God's heart for us, the work of His hands.  Inevitably, at some point during the talk, he would allow that lump of clay,  to collapse and slide off the wheel, into a wet lifeless lump.  


                         Splat!


       We have all been there, feeling like a lifeless lump of clay, completely demolished.  One day you can feel "on top of it" managing life and living in the fullness and the next, a family crisis, health scare or even your own failings can leave you leveled.  It can be quite humbling.  We are left to rebuild, beginning again at ground zero.  

      "Who am I again? Where is identity found? Who do I rely on when all is lost?" 

     Stripped bare, crushed down we get to see what we are made of and who or what we rely on in difficulty.

          But it's not all hopelessly lost.  At least demolition isn't supposed to be like that.  It serves a very important purpose.  My husband did some demolition on a house we bought this year.  I assumed it would go quickly and casually as he took some hammers to some walls.  But it was a longer process, a necessary one.  Behind several walls he found the water damage from a few longstanding leaks.  Under a bathtub he removed three dead rodents! From the outside you wouldn't know these issues were present.  Yet, clearly, it was time for demolition.  The great painful paradox-demolition of shaky, sketchy things must happen, but it almost always leads to rebuilding. And there is the hope.  

       When the Master Builder takes over that process, it's a beautiful one.  

       I can still envision my ceramics professor, rebuilding that lifeless lump,  intentionally, pressing long and firm on top and side, centering that uneven pile of earth.  Centering your clay on the wheel is a vital to creating a useful piece of pottery.  Before you can go up, you must go down  . . . and round with the Master's hand gently pressing in on all sides.  Giving time to getting centered is His way.  Spending time in His presence, allowing His healing hand to hold us begins the process. Letting Him touch and mold us, after being demolished is saying "yes" to redemption.  He hasn't given up on us, even in our demolished state.  He longs to draw near, pull us back to center and whisper "life" to that left over lump.








     

The Tale of Two Trees: A Lesson in Strongholds

              "By the roots?!" That was my initial astonished response after the storm.  Apparently the wind had kicked up what some thought was either a full blown twister or a microburst on and near route 16.  On the highway itself, it appeared as though an avalanche of trees plummeted down the hills on either side of the road, taking down electric wires and telephone poles like toothpicks strung together with thread.  On our property several trees went down as well as in our neighbors' yards.  The two towering trees that collapsed which brought the most shock were two extremely ancient, massive oaks that you would have never imagined could be felled by such a storm.  But they were.  And not just knocked down, but completely uprooted, leaving behind crater like holes a small vehicle could sit in.

              Many times, the Lord speaks to me through object lessons or happenings from the natural world.  As I was having my quiet time the following morning, thinking back to those huge oaks being torn out from the earth by their very roots, I sensed that quiet, yet familiar whisper,
 
                "Those trees represent strongholds."

      Okay.  hmmmm.  I pondered on.  Strongholds.  If you look at a Biblical meaning, we can see either the term stronghold can define something good, as in God being our stronghold, or something negative.
         In 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds."  Further in 2 Corinthians it discusses "taking thoughts into captivity."  This would imply that one stronghold we are constantly battling for truth to reign is in our own mind.  

     In terms of war, a stronghold was a place where the opposing side set up camp by taking over, displacing old authority and setting up a new rule.

            I wondered again.  Was the storm like God's judgment, even His wrath against sin and strongholds?

              Yes, yes.  That's it.  It was God's anger and judgement against sin.  This thought produced quite a lot of fear in me, I admit.  God's judgement was real and not something to downplay.  I immediately pictured a violent twister wrapping itself around those tree trunks, lifting them out of the ground and then each tree dropping with a crash next to its former home. 

     I thoroughly considered "Am I struggling against any strongholds right now?"  "Was God telling me I was heading towards a season of judgement?" Nail biting ensued of course.

           Fast forward 7 days later.  A kind hearted stranger was warning us to head home from our local swimming creek as there as a large storm headed our way.  As we surveyed the landscape around the creek bed we noticed a huge oak tree again fallen down to its roots.  As we examined the fallen tree, the older man made a comment about the Good Lord and then described the reason behind the roots being pulled up.  He explained, "The ground is so moist from all this rain, so these old beauties just end up coming straight out of the ground, roots and all during these strong storms."


           Hours later, as I considered what he said, I felt that same familiar whisper echo on the inside.
                 
                      "That strong rain is like my love being poured out to soften the hard ground."

 Ohhhh.  Wow.  This changed my perspective in profound ways.  God's love was actually paving the way for all this uprooting business!  This was far different than the first image of His wrath coming in the form of a storm to destroy our strongholds. 

     I breathed a sigh of relief.  God wants us to receive His love!  This is step number 1 to displacing a stronghold of the enemy.  He wants us to soak in, drink deeply, and receive, even in our weakness.  Even our sin cannot deter His love.  In that place of receiving, even enormous, ancient strongholds cannot stand.  This was vastly different from my initial ideas about the storm and these trees.  Does God discipline those He loves?  I believe so.  But one thing remains, even in the midst of our struggle against sin.  His consistent downpour of love paves the way for old thought patterns to be broken, old mindsets to die and for strongholds to be completely uprooted.


      God, as the perfect Father, can simultaneously hate our sin and also be raining down His perfect love to soften our hearts.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY: 
  Lord, thank you for your love.  Thank you for the permission to receive your love even in the midst of weakness and discipline. Thank you that you love us perfectly and know how to extract even the largest of strongholds.  Help me to receive your unconditional love today.  

Eyes Wide Open

"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.  For Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous peopled longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."  Matthew 13:16-17


       Its easy to forget the magnitude of what we have been allowed to see in this generation.  Its easy to be far more fascinated with the shiny new technology or the external beauty of temporal things.  Its easy to be so filled up with blessings we forget the greatest of blessings.  Its all to common to be shaken by circumstances or thrown off kilter by difficulty and forget who we really are.  Its easy to forget the simple yet overwhelming power of the Gospel; to forget to gaze and give thanks for the shining One who has overcome all our difficulty.

        And yet, its our everything.  In the midst of blessings, distractions and circumstances, One Thing remains true.  If we see as little children, if we remember who we are in the midst of the swirl, we win.

         Who are we?   According to the verse above, we are a privileged and blessed generation if we see with our spiritual eyes and hear with our spiritual ears.  This is because many LONGED to see Him who came before us, yet did not see it. If we want to, we get in for free! The doors are open and the invitation is for all who want to see Him.  Its for anyone who longs like the ancients did.

         I want that longing in me renewed.  I want to long for Him as they did, those who came before me.  I want to remember who I am today, in the midst of decisions, difficulties, sorrows and shakings.  I want to see a little more of who He is.  I want my eyes open a little wider and my heart fascinated a lot more.


A Prayer for Today:

      Lord, help me in the midst of the stress and the mess to sit and gaze a little longer.  Help me to know how privileged and blessed I am to know you and see you.  Open my spiritual eyes today to know you more.  You are the longing of the generations, in the past and those to come.  Be the longing of my heart today.

Open up my eyes, Lord.

       

Our Weak Love

               Have you ever tried to buy something for someone who already has everything?  It is a near impossible task.  You could ask yourself, "Is my gift really good enough?"  or "Are they actually going to use this?"  or "Why am I doing this?  They don't really need this anyways."  I have found myself in this conundrum a few times in my life.  

              It's impossible.  


              We could easily feel the same way with God.  "He's got it all.  What could I possibly bring  Him, the God of the Universe, that He doesn't already have?" or we could easily fall for the lie, 

     "I am a mess.  There is seriously nothing I have to offer."  

             But there is something He wants that only we, in our uniqueness, can offer.   There truly is something that undoes His heart.  It causes His heart to explode with a rush of delight and overwhelming joy all in one fell swoop.


             It's our weak love.  

             Yes, we can give it to Him on the mountain tops, which maybe seems easier.  Loving Him and seeing Him as the source of our blessings instead of cherishing only our blessings can be a test of our love.  

             But what is most challenging is to keep loving Him in our valleys;  In our mess and our stress. It's in our deep pain, sorrow and disappointment; when it feels hopeless and like all is lost.  We can all relate to trudging through those seemingly endless seasons. 

     
            What does loving Him look like in the most difficult terrain?
             ~ getting up in the morning.
                ~uttering a weak "yes" in surrender.
                ~ whispering under your breath "I trust you." when its all shaking.
                ~telling Him how you really feel.

         What it evolves into:

                 ~ singing
               ~praying
               ~holding onto His Word
               ~forgiving

        This undoes His heart.  The smallest effort to turn to Him in our pain and weakness melts Him.  I can just imagine Him exclaiming with delight, telling the angels, "Look at her, she still trusts me!" or "Look at him, He still hasn't given up!"  

             He seeks to strengthen that one.  He is drawn to our weakness.  He isn't afraid of it.  



       And we need to hold onto that truth: We all have a gift to bring.  Everyday, all of us.  We have something to give Him that no one else can give.  Its our weak, yet unique love.

                   

Daniel offering me his unique gift. Still undoes my heart.

My prayer for today:

          Father, help me offer you the gift you offered me first.  Only I can give you this gift.  Make me as consistent in my love for you as your are for me.  Help me to trust you in the darkest of valleys and on the highest of heights.  Help me offer you the gift of my weak love. 


"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." 2 Chronicles 16:9




           

Peace in the Storm

          He isn't in he waves of emotions and the fleeting, anxious thoughts.  Nor is He in the swirling winds of confusion or the gusts of uncertainty.

          Wait for the peace, like Elijah who stood on the mountain.  He had just been through his own emotional storm. He had fled swift driven by fear, after a malicious death threat shook his soul. A storm, earthquake and fire all came before that tender whisper he was desperate to hear. Don't move until you hear that tender, kind whisper that settles your soul; that puts you in perfect peace, resounding repeatedly deep on the inside.  It's not always what you want to hear but it's always what you need to hear. 

      There was an obvious lesson for myself I apparently needed to learn again.  Recently, I had been through a storm.  The spinning thoughts and topsy turvy emotions had attempted to hang a heavy dark cloud over my soul.  But God's love is brighter.  His peace is stronger. Like Elijah, He didn't want the storm to have a grip on me, but for me to have authority over the storm.  And like Elijah, He wanted me to realize God's voice, though tender,  was still more mighty and tenacious than the fiercest of life's storms. 

          Read 1 Kings 19:9-18

      Prayer for Today:

                Lord, help us find you as our peace when the storms of this life-our circumstances, our emotions and confusion-try to rattle us.  Help us not give way, but help us find You as our place of peace, even in the midst of the storm.  Help us not act in haste, but to wait on your peace to move forward. Don't let the storms of this life have a grip on us. Show us the Truth: Your gentle voice is much more powerful and your grip is much more tenacious than any storm.

       

         

     
       
       

Storm over the Ozarks