I think it should have been pretty obvious.  There are these two blind men sitting by the side of a road.  Jesus comes by with a huge crowd following close behind.  OK, so here’s the omnipotent Miracle Worker and two sightless men.  Simple enough.  But Jesus doesn’t just jump right into the healing.  When He hears their cries for mercy,  He stops and asks them a question.   

“What do you want Me to do for you?”  

Really?  Couldn’t He  have figured it out?  Of course He could have.  But there was something about hearing directly from these men, in their own words, exactly what they needed. You kind of wonder if they thought He was kidding.  But they didn’t skip a beat.  They answered quickly, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened”.

So, if I was sitting by the side of the road and Jesus came by and asked me exactly what I wanted Him to do for me, what would I say?    Would I stumble over my words?  Would I stutter and avert my eyes and say something generic like, “Well, Lord, whatever You want”?  Would Jesus take my lowered chin in His hand, lift it up, look me in the eyes and say, “Really, Sharon, what do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus wants us to ASK.  No stuttering.  No shyness.  He has asked us a question.  And He lovingly waits for the answer we know we want to give, but are too hesitant to put into words.

Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  John 16:24

Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble.  You will prepare their heart.  You will cause Your ear to hear.  Psalm 10:17

Then you will call upon Me, and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  Jeremiah 29:12

Don’t just cry out.  Don’t be shy.  Be specific.  Tell God what you need, what you want.  And in case you were wondering about the end of the story,  the blind guys received their sight…and followed the One who gave it to them.  (Matthew 20:29-34)

I wanted to delete one file.  One file – not the entire flashdrive!  But it was too late.  I could only sit there in front of my computer with my mouth open as I watched the green line race across the screen which said, “Deleting 13 files”.  The green line got to the end, and the process was complete.  I had just erased my files of future blog posts, all my notes for the Bible study I lead on Wednesday nights, and a working document called “Things I need to do”.  Too bad “remember to transfer files from flashdrive to computer” wasn’t on that list.

There may be some tech-savvy folks out there who know how to get files back after deleting them from a flashdrive, but I sure couldn’t figure it out.  A lot of hard work was wiped out in a matter of seconds.  I can’t get them back, and the only thing left to do is start over.  But who knows?  Maybe the things I lost will be even better this time around.

Life files can feel deleted sometimes.  We lose a job.  We lose money. We lose relationships we cherished.  We lose out on opportunities that may never come again.   And sometimes all we can do is start over.  But we have promises about life that technology can’t promise about our computer files.  God restores things.  He works all things (even deleted things) together to make something good.

Some things can’t be restored in the way we’d like.  But they can be made new.

Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth.  Isaiah 43:19

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten   Joel 2:25

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”   Rev. 21:5

 

 

The water looked weird.  I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening, but something odd was going on. 

One of the enormous benefits of living where I live is having access to the beautiful Intracoastal Waterway – on my lunch hour no less.  I had walked down to the water to get away in the middle of a workday for some solitude and thinking time.  There was a lot on my mind.  There were big decisions to make.  I felt restless.  And apparently, so did the water.

Usually the intracoastal is moving one way or the other, following the tides.  But on this day, it actually looked restless, like it didn’t know which direction it wanted to go in.  I wasn’t going in, it wasn’t going out.  Just swirling around in the middle.  And then it hit me.  I was witnessing the exact moment when the tide was about to change.  A few minutes later, the water started moving in one specific direction.  It seemed relieved.  And so was I. 

I realized that I had been feeling that way too, not knowing which way to go, which choice to make.  I was unsettled and frustrated.  But watching the water reminded me that restlessness can be OK, and that the change will come when the time is right.   Sometimes we can feel restless and have no idea what God is up to.  But it just may be that He’s about to turn the tide for us.  I had to be patient long enough to see the tide turn that day on the intracoastal waterway.  I need to be just as patient waiting for God to turn the tide in my own life. 

He calms the storm, so that its waves are still.  Then they are glad because they are quiet;  So He guides them to their desired haven.  Psalm 107:29-30.

And because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know  He holds the future,

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives!

song lyrics by Bill and Gloria Gaither

It seems a little odd  – maybe even a little morbid – to describe a “favorite” moment from the movie “The Passion of the Christ”.  It’s not exactly the type of film where you sit around with your friends, laughing and saying, “Oh, I love  the part when…” and launch into a description of a memorable scene.  But I have one.   It’s a very brief scene, almost at the end.  If you have your eyes closed (like I’ve been known to do during the excrutiatingly difficult crucifixion shots), you could miss it.

It’s when the veil  is torn in two.

I try to watch The Passion of the Christ every Good Friday.  It’s lengthy and epic and harsh in its reality.  But as it gets to that scene at the end when Christ’s sacrifice is complete and the earth is shaking and the veil in the temple tears apart, I lose it. That veil had separated the common man from God and His place of residence – the Holy of Holies. Up until that time, only the high priest had access.  At the moment Christ died, the veil was ripped in two by the hand of God and fell open, giving us access for the very first time to the throne of grace.  I love that moment in the movie because it so graphically gives us a picture of what Christ’s death did for us. 

Because of Good Friday, we have access to God.  Because of Good Friday, we can boldy approach the throne.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil. Hebrews 6:19

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

 

Now here’s a new word for you.  No, it’s not some new high-tech coffee maker.  It’s not a new Italian restaurant – but it sort of sounds Italian, doesn’t it?  Italian, no.  Greek, yes. 

I’ve been thinking about my life – how I ended up where I am, doing what I’m doing, not doing what I thought I’d be doing at this point.  And while a whole lot of questions still swirl around in my mind, I do know one thing.  God knows what He’s doing.  He had my whole life planned out before I was even that proverbial glimmer in my parent’s eyes. 

So, back to protasso.  It comes from Acts 17:26-27. “He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us”. (NIV)

That word “determined” is “protasso” in the original New Testament Greek.  It means, “to define beforehand, to put in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a place”.   God arranged the events and the places in my life a long time ago.  Sure, I had choices along the way, but God knew all along where I’d end up.   And He has me here, in this place, in this circumstance for a reason – so that I would seek Him, and find Him.  He’s “findable” in every situation, whether it’s where I thought I’d be or not.  He promises me that.  And sometimes I just need to pull back from looking for all the answers to my questions, and look for Him instead.  THAT is why He has me here, today, in this place, at this time. 

Protasso.  A very good word.

Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven trustworthy in our own minds. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith as the Bible teaches is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him – a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” – this is the highest and greatest expression of faith in the whole of the Bible.

My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers)

Things weren’t going well.  I was hiking with some friends at Arches National Park in Utah.  “Hiking” might be the wrong word.  In truth, I was struggling to breathe.  Here was this Florida girl, quite unused to elevations of any sort, and quite unused to using the muscles required to “hike”.   The heat coming off the red sandstone was oppressive.  Professional hikers with their cool boots and backpacks were practically running past me.  Like I said, things weren’t going well.  But my friend (who is quite the hiker) told me to keep pressing on, that the trip would be so worth it.  And he was so right.  We got to the top, rounded a bend, and there before me stood the most magnificent natural creation I’d ever seen.  There was Delicate Arch, formed by thousands of years of hot winds blowing across the sandstone.  Hikers standing at its base were dwarfed by its size.  Snow-capped Colorado mountains set the backdrop behind it.  And this time my breath was taken away, not because of the hike, but because of the amazing and dramatic beauty. 

I realized that if I had given up at any point during that hike, or if I had decided to turn around, I never would have had that experience.  Life is like that, too.  God has amazing things for us to see and experience, but sometimes we have to press on through roadblocks and discouragements before we get there.  And yet, God is right there next to us whispering, “Keep going!  You won’t believe what I have waiting for you up around the bend!”

Romans 5:3-4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us–they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.” (NLT)

Hang in there.  Keep hiking.  You won’t believe what God has around the bend for you.

(adapted from my book, “Anticipatience – A New Word of Hope for Single Women”)

Abraham is one of my favorite Bible characters.  And here is one of my favorite verses about him:

He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

Romans 4:20-21

Unwavering.  Strengthened in faith.  Fully convinced.

Now THOSE are words to start my day with.

I think using a GPS is a pretty cool thing.  It never ceases to amaze me that this little device can know exactly where your car is, tell you exactly where to go and exactly how far it is to your destination. Well, most of the time, anyway.

We borrowed a GPS to use on a recent jaunt to a flower show while I was visiting family.  We had played around with it the night before, laughing as we programmed it to speak in different languages.  Apparently, we played with it a little too much.  As we swung onto the highway en route to Springfest, the friendly GPS lady said, “Stay on this road…for awhile”.  Huh?  Wasn’t she supposed to be telling us to stay on the highway for 4.2 miles or something like that?  Awhile?  What kind of GPS says to stay on the road for awhile?

We got a good laugh out of it, but it did reflect yet another life lesson.  We knew we were on the right road, but the GPS lady wasn’t about to tell us how long we’d be on it.  We just had to wait until she decided to speak again.  And she did.  When our exit came up, she very nicely said, “Exit in one mile”.  We got to the flower show and had a delightful time.

God is like that sometimes.  He’s told us to get on the road, but sometimes He’s not too quick to tell us how long we’ll be on it.  He may just say “Stay on this road…for awhile.”  We want details.  We want timelines.  We want to know just how long this particular scenery is going to last.  But we just need to trust Him.  For awhile.  When it’s time to get off this road, He’ll speak.  And we’ll arrive at the destination He had planned for us all along. 

The destination is His choice, of course, but I wouldn’t mind if it included a few tulips and other smile-producing signs of Spring.

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.    Isaiah 30:21  NKJV