Waiting on the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."
Ps.27:14

Dispite the speed of our digital lives today, we still do a lot of waiting. And we don't like it one bit. Waiting reminds us we're not in control. When we're doing something, we have the illusion we're the ones in control of our little universe. Waiting exposes that illusion for what it is.
That's why waiting and prayer go hand in hand. They're sides of the same coin: it's His world, and he'll make of it what he wants. Prayer begins and ends with that position, "Our Father who art in Heaven...Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory for forever and ever. Amen

Silence and waiting before the Lord is a very powerful thing indeed.

I Will Lift Up My Eyes

"I will lifet up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Ps. 121: 1-2.

Today I will lift up my eyes from the mundane worries of the day, from the petty thoughts, from the vain striving, for the glories of the Lord.
Look up and really see.
Then rejoice.

I'm not a stranger

I was feeling like a outsider yesterday at work because my team, which is on a special project, didn't have room for me in the team room, and I had to bunk up with a different team. Even though it's a temporary situation, I felt isolated and like an outsider.
But I saw all this from a different perspective today as I reading in Ephesians, "... you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."

I'm thankful to God that whatever our condition, alone in a nursing home, hospital bed, foreign country,or just feeling lonely in a cubicle at work, we are not strangers to Him, who made us members of his very household.

Snow as Metaphor for Life

I'm thanking the Lord for snow today. As the northeast prepares for a "historic" snowfall of 1-2 feet, and everyone buying bread, milk, gas, and DVDs, it got me thinking. Maybe down deep we're all a little thankful for the storm, because it disrupts the routine, the treadmill parts of life. It gives us the excuse to just stop for a while and stare out the window at the awesomeness of nature. There is something calming about the snow quiet that descinds on a neighborhood when it's blanketed with snow. It's like the world gets a giant "do-over."
Like it says in the Bible, "though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.

Light

Today I’m thankful for upbeat people. What a terrific influence they have on us, lifting our spirits, making burdens lighter. I was just at our favorite car repair shop to get a state safety inspection. A pretty mundane chore, but it had to be done. The lady behind the counter by most accounts has a pretty mundane job: listening to car problems all day, handling complaints, explaining the bill, etc. But you would never guess that to look at her. She smiled and made her job seem important. She went out of her way to connect positively with everyone who came in. Her attitude inspired me to do the same when I got back to work. Her cheerfulness and delight in her work somehow changed my attitude too.


This got me thinking that when Jesus tells us to let our light shine so the whole world can see it, we are not just temporarily influencing the world around us, but that light is having a permanent effect. It gives hope, brightens our spirits, energizes us to action. We can’t create this light any more than we can create sunlight, but we can do our best to magnify it, and “put it on a lamp stand, so that all may see."
As we learned using a prism in grade school, light physically appears “white” to us, but it actually encompasses all the colors of the rainbow. Just because we can’t see these colors, they’re no less there. The light that Christ has given us is no less amazing, giving not just illumination, but insight as well. We can see not just where we are, but where we should be headed.
A well-known Fox broadcaster was recently criticized for sharing his belief that Christianity offered more possibility of redemption for Tiger Woods than Buddhism. He was simply sharing the light that he had received, with the hope it could help someone in trouble. He was roundly criticized in the media for his insensitivity to another faith, and told he should have left his beliefs inside the church where he worships. But the light of Christ wasn't meant for a cave, but a lighthouse, and he was only doing what he could to bring hope and redemption to a fellow traveller lost in wild storms of life.

New Years Prediction

Just thinking that I'm glad I don't know what's coming up in 2010. God has given me the gift of unknowing. Oh sure, if I had even a little knowledge about where the stock market was headed, I could make a little money, which wouldn't be bad. But I think of all the things that give me pleasure, such as bowl games, grandchildren smiles, and surprising sunrises, that wouldn't be the same if I had a "preview."
Tevo may be good for TV, but bad for life.
May you have a great new year, and one thing I can pretty much guarantee: it will surprise you.