Honest Reflections

“Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness.”  Proverbs 16:31 CSB

Hair, in its original form in this verse means “crown of splendor”.  I gave this verse to my mother once in a card, she wasn’t pleased. Gray hair isn’t always a woman’s preference. But a woman who walks with the Lord, it is her crown of splendor for her faith.

I know a woman who has modeled righteousness for me my entire life.  She was one of my mother’s best friends. Today is her 97th birthday.  She lived down the hill from us in Tidal. When Reva came to visit, and I offered her a mud pie as I played outside one sunny afternoon, she accepted it without hesitation.  Reva is an incredible woman. She wears her faith so quietly, you can easily miss the depth of it. But she’s a country woman, and country women know a thing or two about faith.

They understand why God uses farming analogies so often in the Bible.  They know you have to till the land and prepare it for the seed. They know the seed has to have enough water and sunlight to make it grow.  Too much of one or the other will kill it. They know it takes months of growing before it can be harvested. They know the work it takes to bring in the crops.  I can see my mother canning vegetables in our basement, steam rolling all around, sweat dripping off of her face. But the Lord had provided. The months of praying and waiting had come to fruition, God had blessed us.

I have a picture of Reva and my Mom standing together on Reva’s front porch in my guest bedroom.  Mom’s smile beaming to be back with her friend. How I loved those visits on her porch. Getting to sit under the tutelage of such spiritual power houses, not even realizing the privilege at the time.  Listening to them talk as they discuss a lifetime of ups and downs that they had shared together, yet neither of them losing their faith. Their trust in God unswerving, their actions speaking louder than any sermon ever preached.  A lifetime of sharing the gospel, one act of love at a time.

God has given them crowns of splendor for their lives lived in righteousness. He does the same for us.  We may color it, but the gray is still there. It marks a life well lived in Christ. It’s His crown of splendor.

“And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 CSB

When I read this verse, I thought of MacGyver.  Not the MacGyver in the new T.V. show, the MacGyver in the old T.V. show of the 80’s.  In case you have never watched either of them, he’s a super smart guy that week after week he finds himself in precarious situations.  He uses his knowledge and whatever he can find around him to get himself and his friends out of it. Usually duck tape is involved in some way. I loved that show.  The suspense of what he would do was my favorite part. I love how in a voice over, he would explain why each thing he uses is important. Alone it is worthless, but mixed with whatever other things he can find, it saves the day.

God is like the voice over in this scenario.  He’s already provided everything you need for whatever you are dealing with in life, you just need to listen to His voice for direction on how to use it.

Sometimes the blessings are people.  I heard this voice over last week when I was about to take on another project.  “You don’t have to do everything, let someone else have some fun.” Which led me to give the project to someone else to do.  Sometimes it is duck tape. With a recent mishap with the handle on my tennis ball machine, it was duck tape that was the solution.  However it wasn’t until I had become completely frustrated trying to fix it myself that I finally cried out to God for help. The first thing that came to my mind was duck tape.  I instantly told God that there was no way it would work, but I’d try it. Guess what? Duck tape worked.

The hardest part about realizing God has given us everything we need is acknowledging Him in the process.  We get so busy trying to fix everything ourselves. We think we’re doing God a favor by not bothering Him with this small task.  After all, doesn’t He have enough on His hands saving the world? The least I can do is fix a ball machine without Him. But that isn’t what God wants.  God wants to be a part of every little thing in your life. Not only does He want to partner with you as you walk through your days, He wants to be controlling partner.  He wants the deciding vote on what you do, 51% God, 49% you. That’s hard to understand, even harder to swallow sometimes. God will call you to do things you have no desire doing, but yet He is the one we should listen too.  His way is always best, even if we can’t see it in the moment.

God has given you all you need to do what you need to do.  Just listen and follow His directions. He’ll show you the way.

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.”  Nahum 1:7 CSB

Nahum’s name means “comfort” or “consideration” (of God).  He was a minor prophet sometime around 620 B.C. He’s answering questions similar to ones we have today: Has God forsaken us?  Why are our enemies prospering? Nahum’s message to the people still stands strong for us today. God is our stronghold in the day of distress, He will prevail.  He did then, He will now.

Here’s the bottom line:  get used to storms, they’re a part of life.

Living the camping  life, you pay a lot more attention to the weather.  This spring, we have yet to go camping and not get rained on at some point.  The last two weekends, massive storms have blown through with tornado warnings, high alerts, the whole nine yards.  Last night, as I sat through the latest one with my husband I realized something: You need to take advantage of the calm when you have it.

Watch any radar when there is an approaching storm, you’ll see bands of weather.  The first line is typically the worst. That’s when you’ll get the most violent winds and rain.  It’s the moment in life when you get the phone call you never wanted to get, when the bottom drops out and you didn’t see it coming.  That moment when you feel like you’ve been hit by a rogue wave at the beach. That moment when you feel like you got hit by a bus. That’s always the first line of a storm.

But then there is usually a little lull between the first and second band of weather.  This you need to take advantage of to its fullest. In camping terms, it means pull the chairs back out, light the fire, grill the burgers.  Just do it fast because you know there’s another line coming. Before you know it, you’ll be back inside, hunkering down, praying that this blow won’t be as bad as the last.

That is the cycle of a storm, they blow in fast and furious then leave you with a little lull to recover before the next round.  Take advantage of the lulls. Trust that the Lord is your stronghold in the storm. Learn to move with the cycle, stop fighting the inevitable.  Learn instead, to enjoy its rhythm. The rhythm of the storm, the rhythm of life. God is your stronghold, of this you can be sure.

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Yesterday I talked about God answering my prayer about not sinning in my anger.  I wanted to circle back and talk about the prayer warriors that helped me do that.  It really is what made the difference, them standing in the gap for me.

They each helped me focus back onto God when I was going way off track.  One reminded me that in this world, we really don’t deserve anything. All of the blessings we have are gifts from God, none of them are deserved.  We are all sinners fallen from grace, it is Jesus that makes us whole. One reminded me that there was no way I was going to be able to do this on my own.  The only way I could do it was if I did it with God. So she got that assignment, praying I would do it with God. Another prayed for the hurt I was feeling.  My Weight Watcher’s prayer warriors prayed I wouldn’t “eat” my anger. Yes folks, by the time the clock struck 1:00 I had enlisted 6 different people to pray for me, each was praying very specific things, none of them the same.

God had people stand in the gap for me when I could not pray.

He will do the same for you.  That is why it is so important to build friendships with other Christ followers.  That is why it is so important to develop daily disciplines. If I didn’t start my day out every day in my prayer closet, I wouldn’t of been there when all hell broke loose in the Morrison household.  I wouldn’t of been there to fall to my knees and ask God for help. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t done that. Because I did that, I knew I needed people to stand in the gap for me. Because I have spent years developing the friendships of the people I called,  because we’ve been journeying with Christ together for a long time, they were there to answer the phone and stand in the gap for me.

God has people to stand in the gap for you.  Develop those friendships now, because you don’t know when the day will come that you’ll need them to keep you from sinning in your anger, or whatever other struggle you have.  Take time today to think about who those people are in your life. Develop those relationships. Take it from someone who knows, you’ll need it one day.

“No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity.  But God is faithful; He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13 CSB

I fell in love with God a little bit more yesterday.  He showed me that He truly does give you a way out, and that through Him you really can do all things.  If I haven’t told you before, I have anger issues. It is something I have struggled with me entire life; I’m sure I will continue to struggle with until the day I die.  I have learned many techniques for dealing with this over the years, but there are things that can take me from zero to the name for a female dog faster than anything.

One of those things is when someone hurts my husband.  You do not want to hurt the people I love or the Beth I hope you never meet, comes out.  I’m Mama Bear on steroids when it comes to my man.

Yesterday morning, as I sat down in my prayer closet to write, my husband was hurt deeply by a phone call he was on at that time.  He yelled upstairs to tell me and my anger flared. I could not focus on God, I was so mad I couldn’t see straight. Probably a good thing I was in the prayer closet when I received the news because here is what I did.  I immediately dropped to my knees and I said these very words:

“Lord, I am very angry.  Please keep me from sinning in my anger.”

That was it, I got up and went into battle.  Now this is a very delicate situation. My marriage was under attack, and it was a big one.  I knew that it was a pivotal moment in our marriage that needed to be handled well. I knew I needed back up.  I called in my prayer warriors, told them what was happening. I told them I was so angry I could not pray and I needed them to do it for me.  I told them my main goal was not to sin in my anger.

And I am happy to say, I did not sin in my anger.  The Lord provided a way out. The situation was resolved by 5:00 p.m.  I’m sure I sinned some other way, because we all know I’m no saint. But I did not sin in my anger yesterday.  My marriage, as a result is stronger at this moment than it was 24 hours ago. We went through a storm, but the Lord drove the ship and the glory goes all to Him.

Whatever struggle you’re facing, whatever stronghold you’re trying to overcome, there is only one way you can do it:  with God. Do what I did, drop to your knees and ask Him for what you need. Call in your prayer warriors to cover you in prayer, then go get ‘em.  He won’t let you down. He’s got your back, He’ll provide a way out.

“I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the people on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:3 CSB

These words are found in Genesis when God is calling Abram to move to Canaan.  This is just the beginning of “Abram’s” big adventure. I put his name in quotes to highlight the fact that this is before God has changed his name to Abraham.  Nothing has happened yet, he hasn’t gone to Egypt, he hasn’t saved Lot from destruction, he hasn’t had his name changed to Abraham. But he did believe.

He believed God when he said leave his home land.  He believed God when he said I will make you into a great nation.   He believed God when he said he would make his name great. He believed God when he said he would be a blessing.  He believed God when he said all the people on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:1-3). And so should we.  We should believe what God has said; God has said He will bless us through Abraham.

Abram doesn’t waste time, the very next verse he “went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him” (Genesis 12:4).  It’s interesting that not only did Abram immediately go, but that he took his brother with him. He immediately shared the blessing even though he had no idea what it would be or how God would do it.  He just believed he would.

God has promised to bless you.  His word says it. We should live our lives, like Abram did, believing it.  God was true to His word. He did bless Abram, but it took time. It was 24 years before God changed his name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5). It was 24 years before God established His covenant with Abraham, the one in which He promised to be his God and the God of his descendants, which is us (Genesis 17:7).  In all that time, Abraham was faithful. He didn’t give up, he kept believing. He was righteous in God’s eyes for his faith.

It can be hard waiting for the blessing in the middle of a storm, but God promises it will come.  We have to take a page out of Abraham’s book and keep believing, keep holding on, keep waiting. Eventually, God will fulfill all of His promises, including the one to bless you.  Don’t give up, it may be closer than you think. It might even be today.

“Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord.”  Psalms 9:10

I have a prayer closet.  I was inspired after the movie “War Room.”  My husband and I went to see it one night in September of 2015.  The very next day I cleaned out our guest room closet and put a chair in it.  I have to admit, at first it felt silly to sit in a closet with my Bible. I started simply by just doing my Bible reading, writing in my journal.  Since that time it has evolved into a sacred place in my home. I now have a desk, I sit on an exercise ball, the walls are covered in scriptures and prayer requests.  I have a “bucket” where all answered prayers go. It’s my office, it’s where the Lord and I meet. It is my favorite place on earth. When my heart is broken, it is where I come.  When I rejoice, it’s where I come to rejoice with Him. When I’m not home, I miss it. It’s always the first place I come too when we get back. It’s where I know I will always find God.  It’s our special place.

My desktop has a glass overlay on it.  Underneath it is more scripture and inspirational quotes I’ve acquired over the years.  This morning, when I sat down to write, I saw this one:

FAITH IS ACTING LIKE GOD IS TELLING THE TRUTH!

I have no idea where I found it or who wrote it, but just as I did here, it’s written in all capital letters on my desk.  That means, whenever I wrote it, I was telling myself, don’t forget it. And until this morning, I hadn’t thought of it. But isn’t it true?  Isn’t that exactly what faith is, acting like God is telling the truth.

When God says He won’t abandon you, He means it.  He really won’t. So why do we act like He does? Just because we don’t feel His presence?  Just because He’s not doing what we think He should do? Or is it because we don’t think we’re worthy of His attention?  Or He was never really with us in the first place?

I have no idea why you might feel like God has abandoned you, but  I can tell you for sure, He hasn’t. I know this because His word says repeatedly He won’t.  A quick google search brought up 107 verses saying that very thing. Isn’t it time we all started acting like God is telling the truth?  If we never try we’ll never know, we’ll never grow, we’ll never experience all God has for us. Determine to make that your goal today, no matter what, trust God and act like He’s telling the truth.

“I will be with you when you pass through the waters and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.  You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flames will not burn you up.” Isaiah 43:2 CSB

You won’t drown, even though it feels like you will.  You won’t burn up either. This scripture is found in the book of Isaiah.  I love what my Bible says at the beginning of this book: “The theme of this book is expressed in the meaning of the name Isaiah, “the Lord saves” or “the Lord is Savior.”  Hallelujah! Jesus saves, you heard it hear first.

When I worked for Nautica, there was a time when I covered the children’s line of clothing.  I’m not a Mom, as you all know, but wow, children’s clothing is a lot of work. So tiny and hard to fold.  And there was so much of it. I was working in a store in Richmond. I will never forget the lesson I learned that day.  Our fixtures for children had a table and little bench below it where you could merchandise clothes. I was working hard, had the table and bench cleared off, the clothes separated and ready to go back on it when I noticed a lady sitting on the bench.  I will never forget her.

I was immediately irritated.  Can’t she see that I’m working?  Does she know how much I have yet to do?  Come on lady, move it! Of course I didn’t say any of those things.  I actually didn’t have a chance. Thanks be to God, she spoke first. She immediately apologized to me for sitting on my bench.  She explained she had lung cancer and couldn’t walk very far without having to sit and rest. That of course made me feel like a jerk.  Then she told me the rest of her story. She was single if I recall correctly, the only one in her family who didn’t have kids. She thanked God it was her that had lung cancer, she didn’t want any of her niece and nephews to lose their parents.  She was young, in her thirties. She was beautiful, blond and her skin had a pretty complexion to it. She had never smoked a day in her life. I never learned her name, never spoke to her again. But she sat on my bench and praised Jesus because she had lung cancer and not her siblings.

She taught me a lesson that day, more than one.  She taught me that Jesus is with you when you pass through the rivers.  He is with you when you pass through the fires. We never know what someone is passing through, but if they know Jesus, they aren’t doing it alone.  I don’t know if I would have had the same attitude this beautiful lady did, I hope it’s not something I have to find out. But to hear her praise Jesus in the midst of her fire to a complete stranger, that changed my life.  You won’t drown, and you won’t be burned up, Jesus will see you safely through to the other side.

“I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing.  I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.”  John 15:15 CSB

He has made known to us everything He has heard from His Father, we are His friends.  We are IN! We belong! We are friends!

Just this morning on the news, I heard a clip from Brene Brown.  She’s a NY times bestselling author who has studied relationships for the past two decades.  She has a new Netflix series, “ “The Call to Courage” which is about choosing courage over comfort in today’s society.  She was describing the difference between “fitting in” and “belonging”. I love the point she was making: fitting in is knowing what you need to do to be accepted by the people around you, belonging is being true to yourself and your beliefs, even if it means you are all alone.  That’s not a direct quote, it’s what I heard.

It’s true.  We spend so much time trying to fit in we don’t belong.  I know I’ve felt this way in my life. Some of my loneliness moments have been when I’m surrounded by people because I refuse to do what they are doing.  It’s because I try to live for an audience of One, I’m not saying I always succeed. In fact, there are times I just down right fail but there are two scriptures I cling to when it comes to this:

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.  If pleasing people were my goal I would not be Christ’s servant.” (Galatians 1:10 NIV)  According to our verse today, I wouldn’t be Christ’s friend, since He no longer calls us servants but friends.

The second scripture I yearn to hear when God moves me to heaven is this one:

“Well done good and faithful servant!”  Matthew 25:23 NIV

I don’t want to “fit in” here on earth.  I want to belong to Christ in Heaven. I want Him to be my friend and I His. The song, “What a Friend in Jesus” says it all:

What a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and grieves to bear

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer

Oh what peace we often forfeit of what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations is there trouble anywhere

If we have don’t be discouraged take it to the Lord in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

“And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.”  1 John 2:25 CSB

God’s promise is a “divine assurance of good”, it is life “everlasting”.  Life with Jesus comes with the promise of eternal life. We know that God sent Jesus into the world to save it, not condemn it (John 3:16-17 NIV).  He doesn’t want anyone to perish according to these verses. This promise is one that can be very controversial. I don’t claim to know everything, I’m not trying to prove anything, I just want to focus on the promise of eternal life.

Did you realize your eternal life has already begun?  I think Billy Graham explains it best in one of his most famous quotes:

“Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

We have new life in Jesus.  We can have his peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7 NIV).  We can have His power, love and mind (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV). We have authority in His name to defeat our foes (Luke 10:19).  Death is not a problem, He overcame it (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Your eternal life has already begun. It’s up to you how fully you live it now, here on earth.  I reference it often, but Jesus is very clear what kind of life He wants for us in John 10:10 NIV:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  

Jesus came so you can have life and have it to the full.  He died on the cross for you to make a way for that to happen.  I don’t know what circumstances you’re facing today that are stealing your joy.  I know that this life can be really, really hard. I know there is illness, there is disease, there is death.  I know there are relationships that suck the life from you, I know it can be challenging loving people who don’t want to be loved (or think they don’t).  I know there are addictions and murders and things out of our control. I know there is more in this world that doesn’t make sense than does. There are more “why?” questions then there are answers.  I know that.

And I know there is God.  Who has all the answers, all the solutions.  There is God who sent His Son to help us through this life until we reach our new address in heaven.  I know there is God who will create a way when we can’t see one (Psalm 77:19). There is God who has overcome this world (John 16:33).  There is God who knows every hair on your body (Luke 12:7), every tear you’ve cried (Psalm 56:8), every hurt you’ve felt. There is God who has promised us eternal life, a life that has already started.  Step into it, step into His promises. Don’t let the thief steal a thing from you, embrace all God has for you. Embrace life!