Straightening Up Messes

(Psalm Study)

 “He’ll straighten out the whole world, He’ll put the world right and everyone in it.” (Ps. 98:9 MSG)

Think about all the messes that you have encountered in the past month. Did you try to straighten things out? Clean up the messes? How did it work out?

I am uncomfortable with messiness and feel the need to straighten things out, whether they are mine to clean up or not. Often I end up just spreading the mess. Sometimes I end up hurting myself.

When my son was a young child, I taught him how to clean up his own messes. Many mornings, when I woke up and walked through the kitchen, I would feel my feet sticking to the floor. I could tell that my child had spilled juice and tried to wipe it up as best as he could. Even though I would have to wet mop the floor to clean it properly, I appreciated my son’s attempts to clean up. However, there was one instance when I wished he would have just called for help immediately. One day, when he was around 5 years old, he dropped a glass thermometer that contained mercury. Mercury is toxic and the cleanup procedure is well beyond the skill set of a 5-year-old! But, he didn’t know that. Luckily, I heard the clink of the glass thermometer falling on the tile floor and walked in to find him trying to pick up the pieces with his bare hands. I helped him wash his hands and face and then made him wait in another room while I cleaned up this toxic mess.

When we encounter messes that are beyond our ability to straighten out, we have to call on a Higher Power. It’s difficult to differentiate between what we are meant to straighten out and what is best left to God. I’ve come up with a new version of the ‘Serenity Prayer.’

Lord, give me the grace to accept with serenity the messes which I cannot clean up, the tenacity to clean up the ones I can, and the wisdom to know the difference-- trusting that YOU will put the world right and everyone in it. 

Caught Up in God

One of my favorite descriptions of worship comes from R.A.Torrey: Worship is being “occupied and satisfied with God alone… It has been well said, ‘in prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, in worship we are occupied with Himself.’”

According to Torrey, true worship requires divine intervention: “The first thing we should do when we worship is, with a realization of our own utter helplessness, to look up to the Holy Spirit to teach us and enable us to worship properly. He must present God to our mind for our contemplation. He must subdue and awe our hearts before Him in true adoration.”

So, getting pumped up with high-energy songs at church after loading up on donuts doesn’t qualify as worship?

Most of my time with God is spent in prayer—caught up in my needs. Right after a prayer is answered, I might focus on thanksgiving—thus getting caught up in my blessings. However, only a few seconds a day are spent in worship—completely caught up in God, occupied and satisfied with Him alone. I might be able to initiate prayer and thanksgiving, but worship can only be ignited by the Spirit of God. We can collect the kindling, but God alone can light the fire.

“I was caught up at once in deep worship.” (Rev. 4:2 MSG)

“Right then the Spirit took control of me.” (Rev. 4:2 CEV)

 There is a reason why the Holy Spirit is often compared to the wind. We can’t catch the wind, but we can get caught up in it. We can’t influence the wind, or manage it, but we can be influenced and controlled by it. Like a windmill stands in the path of the wind, we can succumb to the Spirit’s power, which, in turn, generates power in us and through us. 

Intimate Worship

I know several people who are motivated to exercise when they are surrounded by others who are doing the same. I am just not one of these people. I exercise daily, but I dislike going to a gym. I prefer to exercise by myself or with a friend.

I don’t like crowds, large gatherings, parties, weddings, funerals, airports, or big cities, either.

I find that even the most wonderful experiences are ruined when there are too many people milling around. Even the most beautiful sunsets, beaches, mountains—all become less appealing to me when there is a crowd around.

Maybe this is why I don’t like going to church. I like churches…when they are empty of people. I find churches to be full of noisy people—socializing, performing, and people watching. I go to church almost every Sunday, mainly just out of habit. I find it difficult to engage in corporate worship.

I prefer intimate worship—being alone with God stimulates my devotion and reverence for Him. I am able to sense God’s presence when I am alone, but rarely in a crowd.

A tree swaying gently with the breeze, a cardinal chirping, the pink sky at dawn, silence—these things stir my soul and draw my attention to the transcendent God. I find myself tuning in, listening, redirecting, and realigning to the transmundane. I am deeply grateful for these private, personal times with God which enrich and expand my soul. 

Know Thyself

“Be yourself—not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” (Thoreau)

This quote, as well as the concept behind it, is somewhat convoluted.

Be yourself. This seems simple enough. Who else would I be? Well…in order to be myself, I have to first know who I am.

Who am I?? Umm…this is a bit more complicated. My self-identity is influenced by my environment, my relationships, and my experiences. Like a bat who navigates by echolocation, I project images and ideas based on how I would like to be perceived by the world. Then, I define my place in this world by the feedback I receive. My concept of self is based on my perception of other people’s ideas of me! Unfortunately, this is a convoluted way to figure out who I am and what I am about.

How would I define myself? Is it possible to define ourselves without being influenced by the perceptions of others? Most of our values and standards are shaped by our environment. Can we define ourselves without mentioning transitory things like a job title, relationships, physical attributes, or interests?

As you can see, in order to be yourself, you have to know yourself. Discovering who you are and what you were originally created to be—takes a lot of effort. It’s like restoring an antique desk that was originally built by a master carpenter. Previous owners might have painted it, varnished it, stained it, put stickers on it, or carved initials into the wood. The wood might be warped due to environmental exposure. In order to restore this desk to its original glory, you may have to patiently remove accumulated dirt and grime, methodically strip away layers of paint, repair damage, and replace missing hardware. In order to be yourself, your true self—you have to strip away layers of paint that have been applied by public perceptions, societal expectations, and cultural values. Self-knowledge is a stepping stone to enlightenment…for understanding the creation sheds light on the Creator.

“The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself.” (Thomas Merton)

Useful Work

I have a habit of writing down my chores and checking them off as I do them. This reminds me of the useful things I’ve done each day. I use it as a progress card, to prove that I didn’t just waste my day. If I have a nice, long list with check marks at the end of the day, I feel okay about winding down in front of the TV before I go to sleep. If I only have a few things on my list, I feel super guilty and can’t relax. My usual list may have tasks such as: vacuum, mop floors, clean bathrooms, cook, exercise, plan meals, brush dog, get groceries, laundry, wipe down kitchen counters, wash dishes, check finances, fill bird feeders, do yard work, do homework for online classes, etc. I consider these tasks as work, and thus it makes me feel like a useful person when I get these things done. Yet, I spend a large chunk of my day on things I don’t put on this list—because I don’t think of it as ‘work’ and I am not sure if it is useful.

I get up around 5:30a.m. every morning and spend several hours reading, writing, thinking, learning, and praying. I do this again throughout the day--whenever I can spare any time. I enjoy these activities, so they don’t seem like work—and thus it seems indulgent.

This morning, I woke up with the following thought: Is the time I spend in contemplation, reading, learning, and writing useful? Or are they just indulgent hobbies?

I remembered a similar question came up in the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible:

“Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha lived. She welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, my sister has left me to do the work by myself. Don’t you care? Tell her to help me!’

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered. ‘You are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:38-41NIV)

 The time I spend in contemplation and learning is not useless, even though it might sometimes seem like a wasteful indulgence. Listening to Jesus is essential, necessary, the one thing, worthwhile, permanently dependable, of primary importance…the most purposeful way to spend time.

In comparison, the rest of what I do in a day is of little worth.

(Disclaimer: This post might have been influenced by Joanna Weaver’s book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, which I remember reading several years ago.)

Burning Bridges

In the previous posts, I discussed some reasons why we don’t permanently DWELL in God’s safe shelter. We want to have God’s protection, but we don’t want to give up the freedom to pursue our own agenda.

Our local homeless shelter will allow alcoholics and drug addicts to stay at the shelter as long as they stay sober. In the summer months, most of them choose to camp out in tents in a certain part of our town. They are free to indulge in their addictions and diversions. In the winter, when the temperatures get bitterly cold, they will leave their tents behind and go to the homeless shelter. 

We all prefer to come and go as we please—so that we can still follow our agenda. We prefer to use God as an emergency shelter, not a permanent home. We would rather live in the tents we put up ourselves than move in with God and live under His values and standards.

Here are a few examples of self-created shelters: money, jobs, education, influence, relationships, health, accomplishments, intelligence, beauty, talents, etc.

How can we DWELL in God’s protective shelter? First of all, we have to TRUST him completely…and not rely on any other worldly, self-created shelters. We can’t keep all our options open.

I’m reminded of these verses from an old hymn:

‘The world behind me, the cross before me…no turning back.”

Well, sometimes…the only way NOT to turn back…is to burn the bridges behind us. We have to have nothing to fall back…we have to burn our tents so that we are not tempted to go back to these self-created shelters. 

Murky Reasons

In the previous post, I mentioned how basements are more common in the northern states than in the southern states. I had heard that this had something to do with high water tables, clay soil, limestone, etc. However, the most cogent explanation I read is the following:

“In the north, housing regulations require home foundations to be dug below the frost line, which may be 5 to 6 feet down. Builders must sink the pipes that far down so they won't freeze and break. At that point, one might as well build a basement. In the south, the frost line tends to be less than a foot, so digging down is an unnecessary expense.”

http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/hub/Why-Dont-Homes-in-Texas-Have-Basements

Basements are considered an unnecessary expense to those who live in warmer climates. Why not spend the extra money on building above ground where it is more visible to the world! Not to mention that above-ground square footage is much better for resale than basement square footage. It is more valued by the world.

The murky reasons for why we don’t dwell in God’s protective, underground shelter are similar: It’s costly—we have to give up above-ground square footage for it—and most of us are not willing to give up worldly values and live in obscurity with Christ.

Continued…