November 8, 2009

Lies


He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
"Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"
Isaiah 44:20

From time to time, I receive a potted flower as a gift....and I love it. I think those are some of my favorite gifts, to be honest, because it's so rewarding to successfully care for that little plant and watch it grow. Although cut flowers are much more extravagant with all the greenery and arrangement and the vase, I know the day I set them on the table that they are already dead. It's much more wonderful to get a modest little late-bloomer that I know will one day blossom into something beautiful -- hopefully over and over again.

One thing about potted plants though: they usually outgrow their pot. The healthier they get, the longer their roots will stretch, seeking more nutrients and deeper territory. The confines of the pot begin to stunt the plant as it seeks to become fuller and stronger. Eventually I will have to place that plant into the ground outside where it can get fresh air and sunshine and grow larger in a broader space. Otherwise, it will probably die. There's no going back to the small plant I received that first day, happy with the pot it is planted in.

In experiencing this life, I have come to believe that many of us are planted in a pot of lies. How this happens, I don't really understand. I guess it's just the fallenness of the world that has corrupted the soil our souls are steeped in from birth. Although some of us are blessed enough to have some sheltered years of honesty and wholesomeness, many others never experience the security of those bonds of trust. And still others make their way out into a world that fills our ears with lies and our eyes with a skewed view of reality. But our Father in heaven is faithful, isn't He? I imagine Him lifting us out of that pot of deceit when we reach out to Him. I imagine Him carrying us to a new plot of soil, filled with His refreshment, His love, His truth.

And yet the moment we are planted there is painful, isn't it? We must confront what we have come from. We are faced with making a decision: to reject what we have always known, what has, indeed, nourished our own roots with deception, and to embrace this newness, this strange awareness He presents us with. It's intimidating to begin to understand the wrong of what has become second nature to us. We have always believed and lived in accordance with what we know now are lies. But those ways are so much easier to just return to. They are, in many ways, native to our hearts. And like a stranger in a foreign land, we may feel out of place, insecure, and a poor match for this much healthier environment.

Which is exactly how the enemy of our souls, of our growth, our freedom, and our life in Christ, would have us to feel.

He is the father of lies, friends. That is what he draws strength from. That is what he uses to work havoc in the heart of a believer. Sure, we are a new creation in the saving Grace of Jesus, but some of that old potting soil still clings to our root system. Our enemy would have us to hold onto it, and there are so many ways he convinces us to do that. Old habits. Old insecurities. Old identities. Old relationships. Old patterns of thought. Old prejudices. Old guilts. As our loving Father gently taps each one, pain shoots into our flesh, those nerve endings so sensitive to His holy touch. "Leave that alone!" the old nature cries out. "That's part of me! That's where I came from! I need that! That can't be changed; it's just who I am." We don't even realize the death grip those lies have on our lives. We don't even understand that until we let them go, our growth will be stunted and we will never absorb all that the Father has graciously placed around us for our good.

Let's let go of that old soil, dear one. If you've hung on through this post this long, I think you and I have something in common. There are so many different deceits we can be bogged down with, so many different angles the enemy uses to shoot his flaming arrows. But if you and I are bought by Christ, if we truly belong to Him, there is no place for lies in our lives. We can believe Him and take Him at His word: "The truth will set you free." Let's be free. Let's look at the lies we are holding onto. And let's let go.

November 2, 2009

Life

Remember Your word to Your servant;
You have given me hope through it.
This is my comfort in my affliction:
Your promise has given me life.

-- Psalm 119:49-50

My kids recently recieved the board game "Life" and I pulled it out today hoping to play with them. After sorting countless cards, setting up the board, and sifting through game pieces, I looked around at them and realized this would not work. Stephen was driving his car across the board at a breakneck pace, completely uninterested in any other aspects of the game. Solomon was shuffling through his cards and money, finally piling it together in one messy lump. Faith was busy spinning the spinner as fast as she could, her cards falling unheeded onto the floor. Grace was the only one who was attempting to follow my reading of the directions, but even she seemed a little overwhelmed with the whole business. It was then that I read the suggested age bracket on the box: 9+. I decided we would hold off for a year or three.

I have to admit, though, I wasn't too disappointed -- in fact, I was a little relieved. Because although I remember playing the game of Life as a kid, it seems that one point escaped me until today:

On the game board, Life experiences are spaced over the span of your "lifetime" path -- things like making friends, adopting pets, getting engaged, even having a baby. Any time anyone lands on one of these spaces, they are to draw from the pile of "Life" tiles beside the board. And so, depending upon which tile you draw, you are awarded a dollar amount for the life experience you landed on.

Empty, isn't it? The point of the game, the point of this life in the eyes of so many in this world. Who's the big winner? The millionaire, or at least the millionaire tycoon. Those who spend all they have to gain the largest profit margin. The ones who leave behind the most imposing and luxurious empty houses. The ones who graveclothes cost a fortune, to be encased in caskets that delay their decay as long as possible. And that's it.

I was reminded today that my hope is in something more. Something greater. So much greater I don't even have the words to capture it. I was reminded that what I cannot see holds infinite power, the kind that will carry me through this very present war I'm shouldering through and bring me through to safety, even wholeness, on the other side. I'm in a battle, folks, and you are too -- whether you are aware of it or not. Because the truth is, that dollar sign attached to your name at the end of this life is not at all what this is about. It's not what your choices count toward -- not really. (Thank goodness)

Our souls, our beings, are meant for so much in this brief span we call a lifetime. As we travel down this path, we are meeting faces every day that are meant to impact us, meant to leave a mark on our hearts. The struggles we face are there for a purpose, and our great Father in heaven is pointing the way the entire time, ushering us into His will for us, His wonderful blessed calling upon us. The deaf ear that turns Him away will be left wanting when it crosses the threshold of eternity, regardless of how big a pile we leave behind. Only the ones who listen to His voice, who heed His instruction for a better life, will meet that place with joy and expectation, gratitude and thanksgiving. But, meanwhile, it will be a battle.

Some days it will be bleak. The world around us will feel cold and unwelcoming. We will walk as aliens and sojourners, rubbed raw by this system. We will have to fight inclinations and question our motives. We will have to search our hearts and face ugly reflections in the mirror sometimes. Some times we will sing and dance just before the dirge of mourning. Some days the sunrise will be brief before noon beats down upon us and the heat rises. And this is because the point of it all isn't what we see here. It isn't even what we feel here. No, it is His promise, His words to us. What will never fade, what will never fail, what will never return void.

Heal us, Lord. Heal our brokenness. Heal our loneliness. Heal our hurts and our blinded eyes. Heal our souls within this flesh that seeks to oppress our true freedoms. Heal our warped sense of self and our fearful hearts.

Give us hope in You. Give us peace in those moments of greatest intensity and rest beneath the loads we struggle to carry. Give us the truth, uncompromised, unveiled, lit by Your hand to guide our step. Revive us to leave that grave of emptiness behind and walk in the power of Your resurrection. For we know you are the Way. You are the Truth.

You are the Life.

October 25, 2009

Freedom Song

Driven to the wilderness
Tired, thirsty, longing
Old bonds still haunting
I would be free of this.

Looking back, swallowed sorrow
Memories, trapped in silence
Old songs, sung to broken tunes
Holding on to Your tomorrow.

I know it's out there
somewhere
the promised land I'm looking for.
I know I'll find it
Your word stands firm behind it
Promised peace
Your love will open up that door.

Some days I falter
I turn back and wonder
Did I act too swiftly
When I built this altar.

Just honesty between us
One thing I've learned, it's needful
Hope swings in the balance,
It hangs on this branch of trust.

I know it's out there
somewhere
the promised land I'm looking for.
I know I'll find it
Your word stands firm behind it
Promised peace
Your love will open up that door.

Jesus, be Thou my vision
In this place I dare not see
Savior, draw me closer
My strength, my portion,
my banner be.

No looking back, my way is clear.
Pillars of salt, pillars of sand,
Abandoned curses tread underfoot
Your hand in mine, love casts out fear.

I know it's out there
somewhere
the promised land I'm looking for.
I know I'll find it
Your word stands firm behind it
Promised peace
Your love will open up that door.

Your love is mine forevermore.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
-- John 8:36