Two Sisters

No two sisters have ever garnered more pulpit time than Mary and Martha.  Jesus's visit to their home and their different responses to Him have been the source of many a sermon.   It is a text which lends itself to preaching.  The contrasts are compelling.  Martha is the do'er; Mary is the be'er.  Martha represents the activist and Mary points to the contemplative.  It is real to life story with one sister complaining about the other.     

As we get into the story, it begins to unfold as a story about being present in the present moment.  Mary seems to model the right approach.  The present moment was all about Jesus being in her home.  Martha, on the other hand, seems to live outside the present moment as she scurries about doing all the things necessary for whatever hosting task that are ahead.    And, before it is all over, she becomes resentful of Mary being able to do something she longs to do, but finds herself either unable or unwilling to do.     

Most preachers are quick to point to Martha's failure, but there may be more projection taking place in those sermons than could be admitted.  Staying in whatever is unfolding in the present is never an easy task for those of us who cannot divorce ourselves from what might need to be done in response to what is happening in the present moment.   It gives reason to wonder if God gives us our present moment to experience, or as something to prompt us to what might be regarded as an appropriate and socially acceptable response?

The Difference

Life hands us things which are difficult, if not impossible, to understand.  The early death of a loved one is surely one of those things.  A sudden onset of an illness to someone who has spent a life time making healthy choices for living is another.  The list is endless.  Each one of us has more than our share of things which confound, perplex, and overwhelm us.  And while we may search for answers, we finally come to the place of knowing the answer is not going to be forthcoming.     

We may sometimes wonder if Jesus experienced such things in His life.  The Word does tell us that He has experienced the whole bag which contains the human experience, but He seemed to handle everything about His life differently than we handle the things which are a part of ours.  Of course, there are many, many differences in His life and ours, but the fundamental difference as far as the experiencing of humanity would be His absolute trust in the Father.    

He lived absolutely convinced that the Father was dependable, trustworthy, and ever present.  The framework of His human experience was centered on a trusting and loving relationship with the Father in Heaven.  In every ordinary and difficult situation, we see Him turning toward the Father in Heaven.  He did not seem to require answers to life's difficult and unexplained moments.  He simply chose to live facing the Father and expressing a no strings faith.   As He lived, may we also strive to live and live.

Our Side of the Fence

It is likely that some urban dwellers might romanticize life on a farm.  Regardless of the circumstances of our life, we all are tempted to think the grass in greener on the other side of the fence.  Seldom is this true.  While it may be different in other places, one of the things learned in these retirement years on the farm is that life can be difficult and hard even when surrounded by the constant beauty of creation.  It is a great joy to see new calves being born around here, but there was nothing joyful about the morning task of pulling an unborn calf from her mother and seeing it lifeless on the ground.  It made for a harsh moment in what some might think to be life in utopia.     

Where God has planted each one of us is part of His plan and purpose for us.  Where we are will always have its joyful moments, but the harsh ones will come to us as well.  This is true on both sides of the fence.  An often quoted verse is found in Jeremiah 29:11.  In it the Word of God speaks, saying, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."  What we cannot always understand, or figure out is not empty of divine purpose.     

To be envious of another's circumstances is an exercise is foolishness for God is at work in our life regardless of the circumstances through which we walk.  Life is not coincidental, but providential.  Could it not be that where we are, experiencing the joys and sorrows inherent within our life is about God's care for us?  Learning to be content and keeping our eyes on our side of the fence may at times be hard, but to seek to live with such an attitude speaks of a desire to live by faith in the One who has created us and who keeps on sustaining us.  

Bees in the Peach Tree

On my way from the blueberry patch where Spring cleaning was taking place, I encountered a strong humming sound as I neared the blooming peach tree.  While I almost walked on by to wherever it was that the morning was taking me, the noise brought me to moment of looking for the source of the noise.  It was a noise that I remembered from a day long ago and as eyes begin to focus on the individual blooms, I saw the young honey bees slipping inside the petals for a long taste of the goodness placed there long ago by the Creator.     

To some bees are stinging creatures which are to be feared, but if there is any friend of humanity in the creation, it is the small insignificant looking bee.  They are literally instrumental in the production of our food.  Without them, we would find ourselves looking for food that is no longer there.  Midst the busy humming under the peach tree, I stood as one who seemed as the insignificant one in the created order.    

Actually, every one of us and each part of the created order is a significant and important part of the creation in which we all live and by which we are all sustained.  God did not put us in this place to live alone, nor did He intend for us to live thinking that creation is out there for me.  Instead, each living part of creation lives connected and in relationship to every other living thing.  It is the way the created order was put in place by the Creator and to live with any other attitude speaks both of arrogance and disrespect for the Creator.  

Undefinable Uneasiness

Some days we walk with an uneasiness that is undefinable.  It just seems to show up without any warning.  Perhaps, it is a form of worry that is very deep seated.  It is not always easy to recognize, but after some time of walking with it, there is this sense of being out of step.  Life is lived slightly out of sync as if the center of balance has been lost.  We experience nothing as dramatic as emotional stumbling; instead, there is just this growing sense that something is not right.    

In such moments it becomes a natural thing to move into a kind of prayer that might be characterized as the "without ceasing"  kind of prayer  (I Thessalonians 5:17).  As we become aware of what is happening, the conversation with the One who walks with us begins to grow in us.  And if we walk in this prayer conversation long enough, it will become for us a moment of holy awareness which may not give the reason for the uneasiness but it will give the assurance that we are not alone.    

It is a difficult thing to stand with an overriding spirit of trouble, but still another, to sense that we are alone and no one knows or cares what is happening.  Standing alone without a caring Heavenly Father is not something anyone of us must endure.  We may endure trouble.  We may endure undefinable uneasiness, but we are never alone as we do. This is the promise of the One Who has created us.  Over and over the Word tells us not to to be afraid, but to live with an awareness that the Christ who has come came not for a moment, but for each one of us regardless of when we live and regardless of what seeks to take away our hope and sense of spiritual well being.     

Seasons

A morning reading from "Celtic Daily Prayers" spoke of the way fruit is a three or four season production.   Looking around the farm gives evidence of this.   In the here and now which is still gripped by winter, peach blossoms are starting to show on the tree, but it requires Spring and part of Summer before the taste of fresh peaches will be enjoyed.  The pecan tress which will begin budding before too much time passes will go through Spring, Summer, and deep into Fall before pecans will be on the ground.    

Every season is different and brings its own challenges.  And midst each season there are times of abundant life giving sunshine and windy storms which play havoc with trees and fruit.  As we listen to the voice of Creation which speaks of this order,  we are made aware of the way our own life is shaped by the different seasons.  The seasons which impact us are not just the four which pass with the turning of the calendar pages, but the ones which usually do not  last as long and bear such different names.    

Some of the seasons through which we have lived have been difficult, hard, and dark.  We call them things like sickness, loss, separation, and times of the broken heart.  Others have brought forth spirits of joy, dancing, and hope.  The Holy Spirit uses each of these seasons to shape us, to bring fruit forth from our life, and to create in us a heart that more completely reflects the heart of Christ.  

A Prayer

"Lord, we could sure use a prophet like Jeremiah.  I read some about him the other day.  Particularly, did I like that part about You forming him in the womb, consecrating him in the womb, and appointing him as a prophet to the nations.  You remember exactly what I am only remembering.  Anyway, we could sure use a man like Jeremiah.  I see a lot of politicians, and church leaders, but they don't seem to understand how to speak or lead in this time filled with such chaos.    

I have to be honest, Lord.  I don't imagine Jeremiah would have any better success with today's leaders than he did with the ones to whom he spoke in Your behalf.  Talk about stubborn.  Talk about not being able to see.  Talk about going after things that really don't matter.  And worst of all, there is too much talk coming from most of them that gives lip service to doing the right thing, but not much else.     

So, Lord, if You have someone out there like Jeremiah who You could push out to speak in Your behalf, it would be a good time.  We don't need another political voice, or another church leader voice.  We need a voice that speaks what is in Your heart.  Soon would be good, Lord.  Things are not getting any better while we wait.  Maybe no one would listen, but it would be worth a try.  We have tried everything else but Your way.  Thanks for listening, Lord, and please, hang in there with us a little longer.  Amen."

Womb Consecration

When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, he tried to bail out using the "I am only a boy" card.  Obviously, he was familiar with the Moses story, but before he got as deep into the reasons the calling would not work, the Lord put a stop to it.  Jeremiah wrote about the moment of calling with the words, "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."  (Jeremiah 1:4-5)  It was a big enough call to make any sensible man run and Jeremiah, according to his words, was only a boy.      

While it may not have been so alarming to hear that the Lord knew him in the womb, it was surely a jolt to hear that he had been consecrated by the Lord for holy work before he was born.  At first glance it would seem that Jeremiah had no choice, but what we know from experience and reason, is that there is always a choice.  No matter what the Lord intends for us, or desires for us, the option of choosing, or not choosing is always in our hands.     

The thing Jeremiah heard was that the Lord had his eye on him.  His intentions for the unborn Jeremiah involved moving His plan toward completion.  It may sound like such an amazing thing, but as we think about it, we begin to realize that each one of us has been brought forth from the womb for just such a purpose.  We were not created by a purposeful Creator to live a life full of randomness, but a life full of purpose.  Before our birth we, too, were set apart to be involved in what God seeks to do in the world and like Jeremiah and everyone else, the choosing is up to us.   

When We Were Known

There are times when the Word of God stretches us beyond common sense and intellectual comprehension.   In the early verses of Jeremiah there is a Word which contains the call of the prophet.  It is framed inside the Word of the Lord, or to put it another way, it is framed as what the Lord said to Jeremiah.  "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..." When we read, we want to ask, "How can this be?  How can we be known before we existed?"     

Of course, this mind boggling word cannot be understood by thinking inside the box where logic and understanding prevails.  Instead, moving toward being aware of what is being said can only happen as we affirm the presence of holy mystery.  Such mystery takes us beyond what can be seen.  It takes us past anything which fits inside the perimeters of what is regarded as normal.    

Seeking to get inside the mystery causes us to consider that our relationship with God our Creator did not begin at our birth, or even at our conception.  One of the things which is easier for us to accept and understand is that our relationship with God will continue when this body has breathed its last, but the idea that a relationship with Him begins before our body takes its first breath, or the first movement in the womb is a stretch too far to make.  Such pondering creates questions we never knew to ask and answers we cannot fathom.

The Unpredictable Word

If consistency is a requirement for all truth, then the Word of God cannot be regarded as truth.  It is not hard to find places where the Word seems to contradict itself.  In the 139th Psalm we hear the Psalmist saying, "I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  (Psalm 139:14)   In another place the Psalmist wrote what seems to be an entirely different word.  Psalm 51:5 says, "Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me."  Reconciling those two different words is a stretch for any would be theologian.     

But, then maybe reconciling them does not speak of the direction of understanding.  After all, if the Scripture is truly "...inspired by God..."  (II Timothy 3:16), then there must be truth in both these words.  Maybe it is not one or the other, but both.  Such thinking is not always easy for these contemporary minds which direct our lives.  And, of course, this is one of the reasons we find ourselves living in such a polarized society.    

As we reflect on the Biblical Hebrew tradition, it does not seem that it demanded absolute consistency.  Everything does not move from Point A to Point B and then to Point C.  In other words, the Word of God is like God Himself.  We can say many things about God, but one certain truth is that God is unpredictable.  He is not bound by our logical thinking, our overriding need for pragmatism, and our love of the absolute.  If God is not predictable, why should we expect such from the Word?   And if unpredictability is woven in the fabric of the Word, then what is this telling us? 

Conception and Mystery

Life is precious.  Each life is unique.  Each life is imprinted with the holy in its moment of conception.  In the early verses of the gospel of John we hear the Word saying, "All things came into being through Him  (Jesus), and without Him not one thing came into being."  (John 1:3)  Here is an all inclusive Word which captures everyone of us and everyone who has ever walked along the roads of this earth before us, with us, or after us.  It may seem at first glance that the moment of conception is about wild passion, but even more so, it is about holy mystery.     

Not a single one of us began that mysterious journey from the invisible to the visible, the darkness to the light without the divine hand of the Creator touching our beginning and propelling it forward.  The Psalmist spoke of that mystery when he wrote, "For it was You who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  (Psalm 139:13)  What we also know is that the Creator creates with holy purposes in mind which means that each life is of value because of some purpose which often seems so illusive to us that we spend a life time searching for it.    

Many times our search for purpose takes us to the grandiose instead of what might seem to be filled with the ordinary.  Yet, the truth is that life is lived not in the grandiose moments such as mountain top moments, but in the ordinary experiences which sometimes seem like potholes in the road.  We were brought into being by our Creator not for a single moment, but for a life time of living.  The days we live are numbered by Him.  How we live them is determined by our choices.  As we choose we must never forget our origins.  We were created by the Holy One for holy purposes.  Always.  There are no exceptions.  

Before Our Birthday

When any of us give thought to the day of our beginning, we usually point to the day we know as our birthday.  Indeed, each remembrance of that day we first breathed the air of this earth becomes a special part of the story told by the presence of our family.  But, as we know, the moment of birth is not the moment of beginning for as we read what the Word says to us, we come to understand the life that we live visible on the earth was first lived in an invisible form in the womb.    

One of the Biblical passages to which we are drawn as we give consideration to our beginning is found in the 139th Psalm.  The invisible beginning of our life is described in verse 16 as the Word of God says, "Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.  In Your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed."  It is a reminder that all that is now seen existed in the realm of the unseen.     

It is also a reminder that what is unseen on its way to becoming is inside the providential care and grace of the Creator.  Those invisible lives that never make it to the visible realm of being held by loving parents were never out of the sight of the Heavenly Father who knew them, loved them, and prepared a place for them in the eternal home as surely as He has prepared such a home for those of us who came from the invisible into the visible.  God is faithful to care for us from before we are known to after we become a memory.   

Overwhelming Power

It is not every day that the earth is overwhelmed with the water.  All day the rain has fallen from the skies.  Even on the top of hills, water is standing in small ponds.  The runoff branch which is dry so much of the year is backed up and gives every appearance of being a swift flowing mountain stream.  Even water repellent jackets have proven to be useless on this gray day heavy with overflowing clouds.  Every part of the earth and everyone who walks on it seems overwhelmed with this baptism of water.    

When the  Word of God speaks of a baptism of the Holy Spirit, it carries with it this image of being overwhelmed.  In the gospel of Matthew the man from the Jordan named John spoke of Jesus by saying, "...He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire..."  (Mathew 3:11)  Much later before His ascension Jesus told His disciples, "...you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  (Acts 1:5)  And when we look at what happened in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, the Words says, "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit"  (Acts 2:4) which is certainly another way to speak of the fact that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those gathered in an overwhelming manner.   

How we need this overwhelming, soul drenching, baptizing Holy Spirit in our lives in these days!  Too much of our time is spent trying to stay dry, to stay like we are, and to keep from being swept away by something or Someone who is uncontrollable.  When those disciples were overwhelmed by that great overflowing of the Spirit that day, they went forward refusing to look back, but always ahead at what God was about to do.  We could all stand becoming wet from the top of our head to the soles of our feet by this Spirit who comes with a desire to leave no part of us untouched.

What is Life Giving

The fruit we bear in our spiritual life is a direct reflection of what we perceive as life giving.  The spiritual fruit about which the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians is the result of a Holy Spirit dependent life.  While we may be able to manufacture love or kindness in a given situation, it is impossible for such to be expressed in an ego centered life  during those unguarded moments of our life. 

The same truth is evident as we come to the 15th chapter of John and hear the Apostle talking about the vine and branch connection.  When Jesus is the life giving connection what is going to expressed in our outward life is going to be more reflective of His heart than our heart.  Both of these sections of Scripture tell us that our outward expressions are directly related to the One who dwells within us.  What we cannot produce comes forth naturally as the Spirit is allowed to lead and control our inner life.   

So much of our self created trouble comes from a heart that is more concerned with pleasing self and justifying a life style based on the means justifying the end.  We cannot live disconnected from the needs of those around us and live a life pleasing to God because each one of us was not created to be the whole, but a part of the whole.  When our inner being has been taken over by such self-centered pursuits, it will not be the fruit of the Spirit, or the heart of Christ that will be manifest in us, but something which has within it the seeds of destruction.   

Holy Awareness

Awareness is one the most important things we seek in our spiritual journey.  It is not just the occasional sense of holy awareness that we seek, but the one which is always with us.  It is more than not just being alone.  Being alone is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is instead a thing sought after from time to time.  So often our awareness of holy presence is seen as a response to some effort of ours.  Maybe it is the response of worship, or daily prayers, or doing some act of kindness for another.    

The truth is we have no control over the way God manifests His presence in our lives.  An even greater truth is the reality that there is no moment which can be divorced from the possibility of holy awareness.  After all, the One whose presence we seek to know and experience is the One who has chosen to abide in us.  In the Jesus teaching the Apostle John remembered and recorded in his gospel, we are told numerous times that Jesus has chosen to abide in us.  He is as close to us as a branch is to the vine, as close as the vine is to the root, and so near that He literally becomes a part of the essence of who we are  (John 15).    

How we can live with that kind of nearness and not constantly breathe prayers of gratitude for holy awareness should be seen as a great mystery!  Those who love one another carry with them an awareness of the one they love in their hearts even though circumstances may creat physical separation.  There is a sense in which those who truly love are never out of the other's awareness.  When Paul posed the question, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?"  (Romans 8:35), he knew the answer.  Nothing.  No one.  We live in Christ not by sight, but by faith, and thus, we can live confident of holy awareness in every moment of breath given to us.    

Awake, Awake

The first thing I heard from my morning porch perch was the neighbor's rooster.  He was crowing as if pulling the sun up from the edge of the horizon was all about him.  As the stillness of the morning took over, I heard a woodpecker drumming away on some distant tree.  And then, came the sound of a hundred small birds creating a fluttering kind of music in the air.  Hardly had they finished when a distant crow started up and then as that sound cleared the air, Canadian geese rising at a distant pond added their distinct sounds to the early morning chorus.    

No song leader ever led a such a chorus of praise!     For those who think of the rocks and trees as silent sentinels in creation, or who view the birds of the air as insignificant participants in the divine plan, it is impossible not to hear the morning music as creation offering a choral praise to the Creator.  Jesus often spoke of people who had ears not hearing and such is the case with so many of us.  Too many of us live in a creation regarded as silent and empty of any Word from God.      

When I was in my last few years of high school in Alamo, Georgia, there was a small group of guys with whom I hung out a lot.  One of the things we often did in that small town empty of things to do was to go to the church in the evening and sing.  One of the group was the church pianist and organist and the rest of us thought of ourselves as heirs to the legacy of the Blackwood Brother's Quartet.  One of the songs we loved to sing from the Cokesbury Hymnal was the "Awakening Chorus."  It was a rollicking tune we kept trying to sing.  One of its lines said, "The rocks and rills, the vales and hills resound with gladness.  All nature joins to sing the triumph song."  I am grateful I have lived long enough to finally hear.  

Ancient Paths

There it was once again.  I had spent so much time with that single verse some weeks ago and had finally moved on only to have it show up again the other day.  The very first chapter of a new read entitled, "Water from an Ancient Well," begins by remembering Jeremiah 6:16 which reads, "Thus says the Lord:  Stand at the crossroads, and look and ask for the ancient paths..."  As I bumped into this verse from Jeremiah once again in this book written by Kenneth McIntosh,  it made me aware of how the Word of God come to us without any sense of personal bidding.   

Many have been the times when we have read the Word and suddenly find ourselves facing a Word on the page which suddenly is filled with the smoke and fire of holy presence.  In those readings it seems that a Word is being spoken directly to us in a way that smacks of a personal moment of intimacy with the Spirit.  Even as a preacher sometimes hears a listener say, "Preacher, that was said for me,"  so does the Word often come to us in such a direct and personal manner.   

So, it was as I found myself once again before this Word about ancient paths.  Without much difficulty I remember some of the those ancient places which gave my spiritual life its birth long years ago.  On those paths are small churches, people of abiding faith, and wells from which I drank deeply in times of great longing and thirst.  I am grateful for those ancient paths.  While I have not always walked according to where they were taking me, they have kept me pointed toward home.        

A Difficult Discipline

There is, perhaps, no more difficult spiritual discipline than the discipline of waiting on God.  What makes it so difficult is not just the fact that we are bent more toward doing than being, but also the fact that it requires a familiarity with the silence and a willingness to experience emptiness.  Even as we cannot hear if we are talking, neither can we know what waiting is about if we live hurried lives and carry with us the sound of a hundred voices telling us what needs to be done.    

One of the impressive things about the disciplined life of Jesus is the way we see Him constantly drawing aside into the empty places for long periods of time.  Empty places are rare in our day.  The only thing more rare is an inner emptiness that invites the filling presence of the Holy Spirit.  There is a reason why the spiritual mentors point us to the need for things like sitting still, being comfortable, breathing deeply, and closing our eyes as we seek to enter into moments of quiet meditation.    

Waiting requires extreme effort.  It takes all our physical, mental, and emotional energies.  It is no surprise that we shun it in our personal walk with God.  When we take no time for the waiting, we miss out on so much.  God is One who seeks to lead us into the surprising parts of life.  He desires to softly speak life changing Words to those who want to hear.  When we wait, He is sure to come.  He may not come with sudden speed.  It may seem like He will never come.  So, it is with waiting.  The waiting is in the final analysis about living with faith in the God who is given the freedom to come, or even not come at all.  

The Small White Bloom

After several mild winters, cold weather seems to have found a home in these parts.   Temperatures below freezing have been common and the daytime temperatures have been about three layers cold.  Add gray skies, rain, and brutal wind to the mix and most days the body voted for staying indoors.  The only venturing out was to take bales of hay to the cows in the pasture.  Cold weather only increased their appetites.  And, so it was a surprise today to run up on a tiny white narcissus sticking its head up in the cold air as I walked toward the garden.     

There always seems to be something to learn around here.  There always seems to be a Word not heard being spoken to ears that have been more deaf than hearing.  The white narcissus bloom is not only one of those blooms which trumpets our hope for warmer weather, but it also speaks to us about the way growth can take place in hard times.  Hard times may come in a harsh winter, but they are more likely to show up in our lives in more subtle ways.    

Regardless of how they come, the little white bloom can be heard declaring that personal growth is possible even though life has all but beat us into full retreat.   It is a good Word from the Creator to hear in these days when any hope for better seems like an illusion.   In these days when cold still grips the grounds there are silent reminders which speak volumes to us about the way the Spirit of God is taking what is now invisible in our life and working to bring it to bloom into something which will surely reflect His glory.  

Waiting on the One Present

To practice the spiritual discipline of waiting involves letting go of the demands of our spiritual ego and being open to the coming of the Spirit.  While we may wait on others with a degree of impatience, such does not work very well with spiritual waiting.  To wait on the Lord is an expression of a heart that is expecting and accepting.  There are no strings attached to the moment which may be filled with great need and desire.  True spiritual waiting has no requirements and demands no results.      

The reality is that the Spirit for whom we wait as we practice the spiritual discipline of waiting is already present.  The Word tells us that He abides in us.  It also tells us that the earth itself is full of His glory and presence.  There is no place we can go where He is not present.  It is never a matter of Him not being aware of how we are present in the creation with Him, but the fact that we live unaware of Him being present with us in the always present moment of our life.     

Anyone who has ever sat outdoors at the end of a tiring day and suddenly been made aware of a cooling and refreshing breeze has some understanding of how it is when awareness of the Holy comes to us in the midst of our waiting.  Weariness and tension suddenly fades away in the moment of being refreshed.  A new sense of strength and eagerness for whatever is ahead is experienced.  And, finally, there is from deep within a rising sense of gratitude which welcomes the Spirit who seems to have come, but Who in reality has been with us all along.   

Seeking and Waiting

There have been more than a few times in the past when I have intentionally drawn aside as a means of seeking after the presence of God.  It is something common to all of us who love God and who seek to live faithful lives.  The Word of God even gives us encouragement in this practice as it says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near..."  (Isaiah 55:6)  When we experience those moments of overwhelming difficulty, or when our soul is filled with deep longing, the most sensible thing we know to do is to do whatever is necessary to position ourselves to be open to His presence.     

Yet, even as the Word calls us to seek, it also calls us to be still and to wait.  There are numerous places in the Psalms where we hear a Word that tells us, "Wait for the Lord...wait for the Lord."  (Psalm 27:14)  While there is value in both ways of knowing the presence of God in our lives, most of us find it easier to do the seeking than the waiting.  Perhaps, one of the reasons is that the seeking causes us to feel like we are doing something and that we have some control over the outcome.   

Waiting for the Spirit of the Lord is more difficult for us because it puts us in a position of total dependence which means giving away control of the outcome.  Waiting also requires a stillness that goes beyond what is physical.  It requires a stillness that quiets the inner voices which distract us from being able to focus on the moment which is upon us.  Such inner stillness is necessary for those who wait with expectation and faith for the coming of the Spirit into the inner places of the heart.  

Tire Tracks

 A few weeks ago I drove the truck across the hay field down to the branch where there was some work to do.  It was not a big deal.  Out here on the farm it is not an uncommon thing to drive the truck all over the place.  A road is not really needed.  It was such a mundane moment, it was quickly forgotten and only remembered in the present moment as I looked out the window and saw what looked like tire markings impressed down in the dead brown field.  As I looked I remembered where I had been a few weeks ago.  

As quick as a second clicks off the clock, I found myself wondering what kind of markings I have left in the places where I have been.  But, even more important than what is behind is what is ahead.  Each day we live, we are leaving a trail of either faithful living before God, or we are leaving a trail that would speak of lesser things.  The truth is what is going to be left behind for others to see is most likely not noticed much by us as we go forward.     

To look at the past is to be told this is the way it will work in the days that are to come.  Our witness, our faithful living, and our love for God may seem to disappear on that day when we breathe our last, but even as tire tracks linger in hay fields, so will the life we live for God linger in such a way that others will see and remember and hopefully be encouraged to walk the same way.  What is offered for the sake of Christ last and lingers as long as eternity.  It never fades away.     

Spiritual Blessings

While I have never been a fan of folks living in the past and always talking about a single spiritual experience which shaped their faith journey, the Asbury Revival of 1970 is one moment that I must admit to going back to from time to time.  The act of remembering is like lighting kindling in a cold fire place.  After all these years it still has stirring power that renews my spirit as it reminds me of what it is like when the Holy Spirit is allowed to burn and consume.     

Having made the confession is to also acknowledge that it has never been a moment upon which I have dwelt.  There was a time when I could have built my spiritual life upon what happened in those days, but fortunately, I began to realize that the Spirit was at work in my heart and around me throughout a life time and not just in one moment.   The revival at Asbury College was a compelling and propelling moment and it created in me a spiritual mindset to be open to the unfolding work of God in my life.     

Like many who stand briefly on the mountain top, it is tempting to think that arrival at some spiritual zenith has been attained.  Life has a way of shattering that illusion.  Or, maybe, it is not life, but the Holy Spirit Himself.  As Jesus would not allow those three disciples on the Mt. of Transfiguration to build a shrine where glory broke into their midst, the Spirit blesses us, not to stop our spiritual transformation, but to enable.  I am thankful to God for the blessing of being present at Asbury College on that Spirit filled Tuesday morning and grateful too for the untold spiritual blessings which have filled my life as I journey toward home.   

An Abiding Place

Whenever I read something about the Asbury Revival of 1970, it is easy not only to remember being present and being blessed beyond measure, but each time of remembering is always accompanied by a sense of the Holy Spirit stirring within me.  While such may sound a bit strange to some, I have learned to expect it over the years.  It is easy to speak of the particulars of the Revival as it unfolded and overpowered that place, but it is also true that the words used never really seem to capture what happened and how it has impacted my spiritual journey through all these years.     

I often wonder how I would have turned out if I had missed that divine moment when the Holy Spirit came in Pentecost fashion.  As mediocre as my ministry was, I am sure it would have been even more mediocre without those days.  And as one who has not always practiced the faithfulness of my intentions, I can only wonder how much more I would have failed without the awareness of a blessing that transcended anything which could have been expected.    

What I know now and have known for a long time is that I have lived grateful for that moment of being in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It has been a firm anchor for my faith, it has been a reminder that the Spirit will do more than we would ever think possible, and it has created in me a hunger for God that has kept me on the road of always seeking something more in my spiritual life.  I have lived these fifty plus years grateful that I was at Asbury College that morning when the Spirit shook me to the core and found a place to abide in my heart.  

One Divine Moment

Fifty-one years ago on this day in February I walked into the first of three weekly chapel services at Asbury College.  It was a snowy Tuesday morning and had chapel not been mandatory, I likely would have been one of those not present.  But, I went.  And, life has never been the same.  The Holy Spirit picked that morning to make Himself known in such a powerful way that a spontaneous revival broke out on the campus.  It went on around the clock, closing down classes for a week, and before it was done had spread across this country and even into other countries.  It was a revival that changed more people than can be numbered and even today I know I am numbered among them.    

One of things I learned that week was what it meant to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And as I was immersed in this work of the Spirit, I learned a new definition of revival.  As the years have moved along, I have prayed many times for such a Holy Spirit empowered revival to fall upon the church of our day once again.   I am convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is the great need of the church today.   

Some have looked at what happened in those days and declared it to be too much based on personal experience and not enough on the Word.  Others have pointed that people were making strong emotional responses which could not last.  Maybe there is some validity in those concerns.  But, as one who was there and whose life has been forever different, I know it was an experience which sent me forth as a disciple of Jesus in a way I never would have been without that one divine moment in my life.    

More than Treasure

A few years in a moment of downsizing, my mother told me to come get the old cedar chest which had been in our family almost as long as I have memory.  After my father's death when I was seven years old, it became a depository for some of his personal stuff which I would get often get out as I remembered him.  By the time it arrived here I had already retrieved most of the stuff of those memories so that I could keep them with me over the years.  A few weeks ago while plundering through its contents again, I found letters written home from my college days.    

I was amazed they had been kept all these years.  One of those letters was one I wrote a few weeks after the Asbury Revival of 1970.  Tomorrow will mark the fifty-first anniversary of this spiritual moment which radically re-directed my spiritual journey.  The letter was not only a treasure, but felt holy in my hands as I held it once again and read what I had written so many years ago.  It read fresh.  Its words were words of passion.  It brought back to my mind and heart remembrances of how the Holy Spirit swept over, into, and through my heart changing the core of who I would be.   

One of my remembrances of that moment of revival was the way holy power made itself known in the telling of what had happened.  As the telling of the Spirit's work at Asbury College was told, the Spirit came again, rushing into a new place with the same sense of presence and power as we had experienced in the auditorium turned sanctuary where it all began.  And even as I read those words of witness from so long ago, it seemed to once again be happening.

Overwhelmed Bystanders

On this day fifty one years ago I was standing two days away from what would be an experience which would not only be dramatic, but would dramatically change the forward movement of my faith journey.  A powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit was about to break fully upon me.  I was in my last quarter and about to graduate from Asbury College.  I was full of skepticism.  I had been immersed in a spirituality which had a high regard for the work of the Spirit, but had remained unchanged.  I went to Asbury College knowing it was God's leading, but kicking and screaming every step of the way.     

On February 3, 1970 I was filling my seat in one of the three weekly chapel services as I was required to do when the Holy Spirit began a work which changed individual lives, a number of college campus, and untold ministries that were being shaped in that place.  We never know from one day to the next what God is about to do.  We may think we have Him figured out, but such is never the case.  He is the God of an eternity of surprises.  He is unpredictable and drags in the most unlikely folks as servants of His work.     

We may make our plans, but the truth is that we never know exactly what the Holy Spirit might do out there ahead of us.  Certainly those disciples who gathered in prayer before the Day of Pentecost could not have known the extent of what the Holy Spirit would do through their lives.  Their story is still being told.  Who knows today what the Spirit might do tomorrow, or two days from now?   And who knows?  We may be blessed as overwhelmed bystanders.