This morning as I was waking up I had the same thought pass through my mind as I did yesterday morning and that word was balance. The image that accompanied that word was of a spinning top, spinning perfectly in one place. I don't know if you played much with tops as a kid, as they aren't very popular anymore, but I did as a child, and it was such a simple but elegant toy. If you managed to pull the string just right and release the top onto a smooth surface if would spin in place for a really long time, balanced on its little point, however if the surface was rough, or the top was at an angle on release, it would race or hop wildly and stay upright for only a short time.
So what does this word and image have to do with anything today? That's my question this morning as I sit down to pray, as thinking about tops is clearly not my norm, and I believe the Lord is beginning a conversation. My first thought as I sat down was the fact that our lives are all out of whack, many are without jobs, many are stuck home, many are afraid to do the simplest of things like going to the store. The normal cadence of what was our lives has definitely been changed, many for the worse. As I look at the word balance, and the image of the top, I believe the message is clear, to weather this time we need to find a new place of balance, a new cadence of life and new pattern of behavior. I don't know about you, but I do well when things run like clock-work, and as my honey mentioned the other day, the clock just seems to no longer matter.
How do we all work to make it through this period of uncertainty, as everything is in limbo, waiting for some decision to allow us to return to some semblance of normalcy? Many are starting tom talk about a longer period of "shelter in place" and even if we being to restart things in may it will take months to get things back, as the return will not be smooth, nor bump-free.
In my little view of the world, the first thing I do is to turn to the Lord. The response to this worldwide pandemic is like nothing this generation has seen. Their have been many pandemics in history, and we are trying to learn from history here. The steps that are being taken resemble steps that were taken back in 1918, during the Spanish flu. My point in turning to the Lord, is that while we haven't seen this, He has, and He has a perspective! The second reason I turn to Him is for His peace! The worst thing we can do is to panic and be overcome by fear, yet in the race to report the newest fact, and to drive traffic to their sites, the news media seems intent on stoking fear in all of us. They only provide a worldly perspective, and their window of view is extremely limited. BY returning tot he Lord, I can rest my heart and mind on His unchanging character and word.
Jesus, when asked the most important of the commandments quoted the following in Matthew 22:37-39 NIV: "Jesus replied: “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
If we allow the Lord to be our center point of balance, we will find that we are able to maintain our peace, and our ability to stand indefinitely. He is our rock, and thus we can stand. Jesus described this in Matthew 7:24-25 NIV: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
Our relationship with God is meant to provide us this foundation on the rock! David often referred to God a His rock in the Psalms, in fact that image is used 28 times. Here is one of David's famous lines from Psalm 18:2 NIV: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
The imagery David uses here might not be familiar in totality, but we get the picture, our relationship with God is a place of refuge, and strength. When the floods and rains, and winds of life are blowing, it is to Him that we should look, and upon His word and promises that we should stand.
Over the last 40 years, I have learned that God doesn't just want our attention and relationship on Sunday, but rather desires to be a part of our every day of the week, really all day long. He isn't only aware of the holy moments, but is comfortable working in and through the stuff we walk through every day. I once heard a speaker talking about his relationship with God and how he would turn to God for the most mundane decisions. He was a Christian living in Beirut, during the war there, and as a Church body they felt God directing them to look to Him constantly throughout the day, so that He could guide them safely. They found God interacting with them telling them when to go to the store, what streets to walk on, all sorts of things I would never think to bring to the Lord. The reason was simple, God was protecting them and keeping them safe. God would tell them to turn right, and walk one street over from their normal path, and as the were walking a street over a bomb would explode on what would have been their normal path. They had very few incidents among their church members, while all around them people were being hurt or killed daily.
For me, the reality that I could turn to the Lord for simple things had just never crossed my mind, and after that day I started making it a practice. I still do this to this day, sometimes more than other times. What this has caused in me is the ability to turn my heart and mind towards the Lord regularly throughout the day. I have learned to listen and hear, and discern His voice. This is incredibly comforting in times of widespread fear and panic. I turn my mind and heart to Him and I am quick to come to peace, even in the midst of craziness like we are experiencing. From the place of peace, we can act, not being forced to react. I find as I turn my mind and heart to the Lord, that He often gives me very practical guidance and direction. Other times He will cause Bible verses to be remembered, or give me someone who will confirm exactly what I was just thinking. Overall, my life just has a whole lot less stress and anxiety, fear and panic than I see around me, and its not because I am so strong and confident, its because I am leaning upon the One who is.
As I walk out my daily life, the other things that i have realized is how absolutely personal God is to me. My relationship with Him is unique, as I am unique. My relationship with Him, while similar to others, has its own nuances, its own language and communication. When my honey and I compare our faith walks, its amazing how different and unique they are, for they are perfectly suited to each of us. She hears the Lord very differently than I do, her quiet time with Him is very different as well. My point is that the same is true for all of us. I can't project what the Lord is saying to me to my honey, because I know He is likely speaking about something that is completely different. This has really helped me to reduce the amount of judgment I have towards others. I have realized that our journeys through life while similar, are all unique, and God in His infinite wisdom, and perfect perspective, knows exactly how to speak to others, how to lad them and guide them.
So my invitation in all of this today, is to make sure my mind and heart is focused on the Lord! I am being encouraged to look to Him first and foremost, and make sure that I am not reacting, but rather listening to Him and that acting upon what He says. He desires to be with me throughout the day, leading and guiding me as I walk through the normal stuff of my life. He desires to be the rock upon which I can stand, my fortress in whom I can shelter. He wants our relationship to be that stable foundation that allows me to stand in the midst of the storm, wind, rain, hail, pandemic, whatever.
I believe that is also His invitation available to you all today. He wants to exchange sinking sand for the rock of relationship with Him. HE wants to breath Hi peace into all our lives. He desires nothing more than relationship, and through that relationship to allow us to find balance and rest.
Amen!
May the Lord, the Rock, bring you peace this day, and guide your steps and thoughts and protect you from the fear and panic that is all around us.
Sam
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