Molded by Love

Since I first met my husband, 25 years ago, my life has been shaped by my love for him. Every decision I make is molded by the thought, “How is this going to impact him?” 17 years ago, I became a mother. Since then, my love for my son has also shaped my life. A few years ago, we got a dog. Now, our travel plans are formed around our dog!
 

Our life is molded by love. The people and things we love influence our daily decisions. The love of money, status, pleasure, and power may drive some people, while others may be motivated by their relationships.

“Let your love, God, shape my life…”(Ps.119:41 MSG)

Once we are drawn into a life with God, His love shapes our every thought and every action. It’s not our love for God, but HIS love for us that molds us. While our love is like trickling water that is just absorbed by the ground, God’s love is similar to a raging flood, molding canyons and changing landscapes.

Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

(Hymn by Daniel Iverson)

Senioritis

My son is a senior in high-school. I can see signs of senioritis--restlessness, lack of motivation, a readiness to be done with this stage and move on to the next.

I can sense similar feelings in myself. I’m ready to be finished with home schooling, to move on to the next phase of my life.  I’m eager to focus on my interests and passions that have been shelved for the last 2 decades.

My parents are also suffering from senioritis. As senior citizens, they too feel restless, unsure of what’s next, seeking purpose and meaning as they enter into a more limited season of life.

It’s like we’ve all outgrown our homes. The phases that have contained us for so long, now feel uncomfortable. The roles that have covered us for all these years, no longer fit. Dissatisfaction creeps in. We are ready to move. We just don’t know how, or where, or when.

Senioritis can be dangerous. Discontentment and lack of a clear vision can spiral into impulsive, destructive choices.  Decisions made during these transitions can have a huge impact on the rest of our life. We are eager to be free of the constrictions, but is it really freedom that awaits us in the next stage? We still have a lot to learn before we graduate from this phase, and the next chapter holds even more lessons.  The cure for senioritis is to focus on each day’s lesson. Ultimately, every period is about learning, until we graduate from this life to the next.

 

Posting Signs

“Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
grace me with your clear revelation.
I choose the true road to Somewhere,
I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
(Ps. 119:25-32 MSG)

God blocks off dead-end roads that lead nowhere. Sometimes we ignore these warnings and decide to go down those paths anyway. At best, we just waste a lot of time and energy. At worst, we fall into dangerous holes that are self-destructive and impacts others that are close to us as well.

God directs us in pathways that lead to Him.  Sometimes, we choose to follow God’s directions and stay on course.  This isn’t easy.

 

The Psalmist says, “I post your road signs at every curve and corner.” This line made an impression on me.  Is it really our role to post God’s road signs at every curve and corner?  Are we part of the road maintenance crew as well as being travelers?

 

My husband writes reviews on the Tripadvisor website. Every time we visit a new place, he writes his opinions about the restaurants, hotels and attractions along with other useful information that he has gathered from his experience.  He also reads reviews written by other travelers before each trip. He recently read that taxi drivers in Vegas routinely take out-of-town guests through a tunnel and then charge the passengers a higher fare. Experienced travelers have suggested that passengers can avoid being duped by saying, “no tunneling” as soon as they enter a cab.

Maybe those of us who have been following Christ for a while should post useful information for fellow travelers. Don’t venture into this alley, watch out for this trap, stop awhile at this rest area, replenish your supplies before you leave this region, eat this, not that, don’t be duped into taking the tunnels… 

Functional Foods

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Functional foods are foods that have a potentially positive effect on health beyond basic nutrition.”

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/functional-foods/AN02088

Examples of functional foods include oatmeal (or anything with fiber), ginger, turmeric, green leafy vegetables, beans, green tea, yogurt and kefir. These foods are not going to give you the same pleasure as eating a plate of french fries. 

All foods are functional to some degree in that they help keep you alive in the short run. In the middle of a famine, nobody is going to be checking nutritional labels.

 

If you happen to live in an area that allows you to choose what you eat, then it might be a good idea to consume foods that keep your vital organs running in the long term. If you are building a house, wouldn’t you choose materials that are known to be durable?  Would you knowingly build your house with diluted concrete or sub-standard, toxic materials?

Consider what we stuff our minds and our days with. Are we filling ourselves with pursuits that are functional in the long run?  Or do we satiate our hunger with temporary comforts?

 

Formulaic Faith

I’m still thinking about what I wrote yesterday concerning working out one’s faith.

In mathematics and science, formulae are integral in expressing relationships between variables. Textbooks usually show how a formula is derived by giving a detailed proof. I confess that I mostly just glance at these proofs. I’m glad that someone has worked out these formulae. I’m not really interested in how they were derived. I’d rather just memorize a formula and use it to quickly solve the problem at hand. Because of this approach, I don’t have a thorough understanding of certain complex concepts.

It’s tempting to follow a formula for faith. Someone else has already worked it out. You just have to plug in the variables and you get quick answers. However, this leads to a superficial understanding of God.

I don’t think we need to re-invent the wheel each time. The best approach is to carefully study how the formula was derived. Then try to work it out on your own. Apply what you’ve learned to solve several problems. This leads to a deeper knowledge of the concept than simply memorizing and following a formula.
 
I learn a lot by studying the writings of great thinkers from the past. These intellectual giants have wrestled with the same questions that I have. Some have found peace and strength through their struggles. I try to work out my faith by following their example. I’m hoping that further practice leads to a deeper understanding of ultimate truth.

Accepting Faith

My son told me something funny that he saw on Facebook:

“What is the most common lie told nowadays?”

“I Accept”

Whenever I sign up for anything online, there is usually a pop-up with a long disclaimer filled with legal mumbo-jumbo. At first, I used to read through the legalese. These days, I just scroll to the bottom and press the button that says, “I Accept”. For all I know, I could be accepting membership to a cult and agreeing to give them my life savings!

How often do we accept things that we don’t really understand?

When we claim to accept Christ, do we know what we are getting into? Most of us don’t take the time to get to know Him. Why not? Is it that we can’t be bothered? Are we just interested in the blessings that come after we sign-up?

Each person has to work out his own faith. This involves mental contemplation, as well as emotional struggle. We must wrestle with ourselves before we can truly accept our faith.
 
“Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13 MSG)

Revelation Sense

Does saving for retirement show a lack of trust in God? How about having more than our daily requirement of food in our refrigerator or pantry? How about collecting emergency supplies before a storm?

I don’t know the answer. Common sense nudges us to be prepared for the future. Faith spurs us to trust God for our daily bread.

“Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short.” (My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

Faith without common sense maybe naïve. However, common sense without faith is like betting all your money on the wrong horse. Oswald Chambers comes up this amalgam of faith and common sense that he calls ‘revelation sense’. He implies that God-given common sense compels us to take care of our families by gathering and storing what God has supplied in due season. In contrast, hoarding, while others go hungry, is not godly.

I’m reminded of the story of Joseph in Genesis 41. Joseph was given divine revelation sense to store up grain during the years of plenty, so that his family, his country, as well as neighboring countries could all be fed during the years of famine.

Lord, give us revelation sense, so we might know how to take care of ourselves and others.