How many layers must I peel away before I find You in me?
How many wounds have covered Your face when others look to see?
Do they hear Your gentle spirit in my voice?
Or the judgment of the enemy?
How many layers must I tear away, before I find You in me?
Is it warrior prayers streaming from my lips or the cries of a broken child?
Is it a rebel people see in me, or the peace of You when I face trial?
Why do I run so far and so fast
When all you ask is to sit for awhile
How many layers must I chisel away before I see me as Your Child?
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Isolating Moments
"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments." ~ Rose Kennedy
I was looking at Facebook recently and ran across an article on Iconic Photos. Those moments caught on film that stand out in our memories, even if we aren't sure what they are about. One of the pictures they used to draw in an audience was that of two lineman on a telephone pole, one hanging upside down and they are locked in what appears to be a kiss.
But that is not what is happening at all. When this picture was taken back in 1967, the man hanging upside down had been electrocuted and the other was giving life saving mouth to mouth. This is a picture of one man saving another man's life, giving him an additional 40 years on this earth.
Moments like these happen every day in all of our lives, but nobody gets the full impact. Take the man on the pole who wants to save his . . . buddy? Or is it a guy he can't stand? All we really know is that it is a co-worker. Is this the first day on the job for one of them? Have they worked together for decades? Even with a still shot of the unbelievable moment, we can't imagine everything they are going through, every feeling, every thought, every way and everyone this moment will affect, there is just no way to know.
We all have these moments stored away in our memory banks with no way to fully share the picture in our mind, that moment in time. That moment when you heard a friend, enemy, family member, spouse had died or a child was given life. That moment when the love of your life says it's over, there is someone else, or I'm dying. When the doctor says your pregnant, or you're not pregnant. Life changing, heart stopping moments that isolate you from the rest of the world. You can actually feel the distance increase between you and all that is around you. Oh, there are people who know what it is like to lose a mother to cancer, they are everywhere. There are support groups that are filled with those who say "I get it". For the most part they do, they do get it, but nobody knows the moments leading up to . . . The experiences shaping relationships are different for each of us. Nobody experienced every single detail exactly as you.
Too many times we try to fit these moments in our own comforting box. Too many details can destroy our box, our truth. We want things to be a certain way so badly that we close our mind to the bigger picture. We each have our own field of experience and we each need to honor that about each other. Ten people can all be present at the same event and each walk away with a different summary of what occurred. The only one who sees it all with complete accuracy is God. In fact, He sees previous, in it's entirety and He sees post, all of it, in the natural and in the spiritual and even emotional. There is no way for us to see all of it. This is one of the reasons we must not only learn to hear Him, but to listen and most importantly obey. No Boxes.
A good example of this recently happened to me. A friend of mine died in a tragic car accident. I never asked the Lord if He was going to bring Jason back, I just asked Him what He wanted from me. It happened on a Tuesday night and on Wednesday, the Lord told me, "It's not about Jason, it's about me." I text this to a friend and she was hearing the same words. A lot can happen in three days. Lives were transformed. Friendships were resurrected and most importantly a fire was lit in me that had been doused over the last couple years. Jesus showed up, but it was not at all as we expected. Soon, I will try to put those three days into words, but I doubt I can do (Him) justice.
I was looking at Facebook recently and ran across an article on Iconic Photos. Those moments caught on film that stand out in our memories, even if we aren't sure what they are about. One of the pictures they used to draw in an audience was that of two lineman on a telephone pole, one hanging upside down and they are locked in what appears to be a kiss.
But that is not what is happening at all. When this picture was taken back in 1967, the man hanging upside down had been electrocuted and the other was giving life saving mouth to mouth. This is a picture of one man saving another man's life, giving him an additional 40 years on this earth.
Moments like these happen every day in all of our lives, but nobody gets the full impact. Take the man on the pole who wants to save his . . . buddy? Or is it a guy he can't stand? All we really know is that it is a co-worker. Is this the first day on the job for one of them? Have they worked together for decades? Even with a still shot of the unbelievable moment, we can't imagine everything they are going through, every feeling, every thought, every way and everyone this moment will affect, there is just no way to know.
We all have these moments stored away in our memory banks with no way to fully share the picture in our mind, that moment in time. That moment when you heard a friend, enemy, family member, spouse had died or a child was given life. That moment when the love of your life says it's over, there is someone else, or I'm dying. When the doctor says your pregnant, or you're not pregnant. Life changing, heart stopping moments that isolate you from the rest of the world. You can actually feel the distance increase between you and all that is around you. Oh, there are people who know what it is like to lose a mother to cancer, they are everywhere. There are support groups that are filled with those who say "I get it". For the most part they do, they do get it, but nobody knows the moments leading up to . . . The experiences shaping relationships are different for each of us. Nobody experienced every single detail exactly as you.
Too many times we try to fit these moments in our own comforting box. Too many details can destroy our box, our truth. We want things to be a certain way so badly that we close our mind to the bigger picture. We each have our own field of experience and we each need to honor that about each other. Ten people can all be present at the same event and each walk away with a different summary of what occurred. The only one who sees it all with complete accuracy is God. In fact, He sees previous, in it's entirety and He sees post, all of it, in the natural and in the spiritual and even emotional. There is no way for us to see all of it. This is one of the reasons we must not only learn to hear Him, but to listen and most importantly obey. No Boxes.
A good example of this recently happened to me. A friend of mine died in a tragic car accident. I never asked the Lord if He was going to bring Jason back, I just asked Him what He wanted from me. It happened on a Tuesday night and on Wednesday, the Lord told me, "It's not about Jason, it's about me." I text this to a friend and she was hearing the same words. A lot can happen in three days. Lives were transformed. Friendships were resurrected and most importantly a fire was lit in me that had been doused over the last couple years. Jesus showed up, but it was not at all as we expected. Soon, I will try to put those three days into words, but I doubt I can do (Him) justice.
Isaiah 55:9-10 The Passion Translation
9 As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours.
10 “As the snow and rain that fall from heaven
do not return until they have accomplished their purpose,
soaking the earth and causing it to sprout with new life,
providing seed to sow and bread to eat.
so my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours.
10 “As the snow and rain that fall from heaven
do not return until they have accomplished their purpose,
soaking the earth and causing it to sprout with new life,
providing seed to sow and bread to eat.
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