Maintenance Required

The sign above is on in my car. I admit that when it comes to car maintenance, I have no clue. The light comes on when I’m supposed to get an oil change, but I put it off until “I get the time”. I can hear you – “You’ll ruin your car!”. Yes, yes, I know, I know!

I think about this little sign a lot when it comes to how I’m operating my life. How many times do we look at our lives & think there’s a sign on us that says “Maintenance required”? The 20 lbs we promised ourselves we’d lose last January, but are still there. The doctor appointment that’s been put off. How about a little deeper? Knowing that you haven’t darkened the doors of a church in years because of “all those hypocrites”, but you know God is leading you to start going? What about the time with God that you know you should be spending, yet attitudes and emotions are dictating your day instead of His Presence and Word? Ouch…

Yeah, that “Maintenance Required” sign is pretty serious stuff. If neglected long enough, we crumble apart, bit by bit until one day, we crumble into a heap – spiritually or physically speaking – and left hopeless, discouraged and angry.

Proverbs 6:10-11 tells us: A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

God doesn’t intend for us to live a “half-way” life. He wants us to be alert, on top of our game and living at our best. Right now, here in late November, decide that you’re resolving to change. Make the decision TODAY to get out of “maintenance” mode, repent for living below you best and start living in “surrendered” mode – Surrendered to the owner of your life who will do the daily checks (and sometimes, moment-by-moment checks) to keep you working at optimal speed.

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.” (James 4:7-10 Message)

A Tangled Blessing

So today is Black Friday. I haven't joined the ranks of the "crazies" for 10 years. My last experience was that of yelling at a lady, who in a rush of folly, ran into Walmart & left her little child behind. He was smashed into a pole by the crowd, crying and bleeding. I yelled to her to "come get her kid" and after she did, I left disgusted at the whole process and vowed to not do Black Friday again.

Fast forward to today. So now I'm a mom - a mom of a 5 year old who LOVES the movie "Tangled". If you know anything about the Rapunzel doll, little girls all over the country are wishing for this for Christmas & it's not the easiest to find specific items they request without them already being sold out.

So I did what every loving mother who wants to bless her daughter would do: I stood in line with the "crazies" at midnight to get a Tangled bedset for my girl. Foregoing a cart (which would slow me down - oh goodness, I've become "that" woman!), I escape the crowd & wind thru side aisles, as only a seasoned-Target shopper knows the way, to get to the home department. Arriving there, I see a version of the Tangled bedset, but the design is more for a 10 year old girl than a cute kindergartner. So I grab second best, a general Princess bedding set. I go home, look online and FIND the Tangled set I really wanted, but it's sold out online too and at local stores. :( Bummed, I ask the Lord that I can find the one I want before Christmas. We had to run up to our local Walmart at 3:30 today. Right there in the middle of the aisle was a display & in the front of the box, what did we find? THE TANGLED BEDSET!!! We immediately bought it & are so anticipating seeing her little face light up to see it Christmas morning :)

But my very next thought was this: If I go out of my way to bless my little girl, how much more does God want to bless me? I thought of how God knows the desires in her heart & provided for her - regardless of "natural" circumstances. Though she is unaware of the process I went thru, she will be eventually blessed because of it. God is working behind the scenes on our behalf. He gleefully chuckles to Himself as He orders our steps. When we get off track or the enemy throws in something to trip us up and say "You'll never have that",it doesn't deter Him. The blessing He wants to give us isn't because of what we do, but who we are - His beloved children.

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. James 1:17 msg

My challenge to you (& to myself) is to remember that He is my Father & a loving and providing one at that. He wants the best for me. My circumstances may scream that I'll never have or be, but He is always working on my behalf!

Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Isaiah 64:4

It's All Good

He gives beauty for ashes, and provides for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor Isaiah 61:3

He provides for you when you grieve. He understands your pain. He knows there’s a deep dark place where no one sees and no one truly understands the pain you’re in. Yet He gets down in there with you and doesn’t give you a scripture and a pat on the back – He sits with you and listens. There are places inside of your life where it feels like you’re trapped in a cave and alone. But He’s there with you. And better yet, He knows that place far better than you do, cause He’s been there too.

I will never tire of Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But what is “the good”? I thought the good meant “good for me”, what “feels good”, what I “THINK” should be good. The desire to have a child is good, right? The desire to be loved is good, right? How about the desire to feel successful – still good, right? These things in and of themselves are not bad. But we’re not working with what YOU think is good, cause you didn’t create you! That’s really hard to understand when we live in a world that tells us “if it feels good, do it”. Good, in the world’s terms, means personal satisfaction, irregardless of motive, outcome or other people.

The bible says A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9.
And it also says: But doom to you who fight your Maker—
you're a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
'What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!'
Would a sperm say to a father,
'Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?'
Or a fetus to a mother,
'Why have you cooped me up in this belly?' (Isaiah 45:9 Message)

It’s pretty clear that you’re not we’re the best “captain” of our lives. We think we’re so smart & have everything in control, when we have no clue. God has the final blueprint of all. If you could just understand that He’s not some “grandpa in the sky” looking to strike you dead like some character from Disney’s Fantasia. His love for you has been for all time. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3b.) He HATES to see you in pain from what people and circumstances have done to you. I can’t tell you “why” things happened to you. I can tell you that was not His plan for you. There is a very real enemy who wants to make sure that you hate God. He wants to paint God as someone who cares nothing about you and what you think is “good” – that He’s not on your side. This is farthest from the truth!

I could tell you Bible verses after Bible verses where God speaks to us, wooing us with His love and compassion. But more than that, it’s my prayer that you experience His love for yourself. That you know He is there with you in your pain. He sacrificed so we don’t have to – Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). He knows what grief and loss is; He’s looked death in the face. And He’s here for you today.

They call it “Good Friday” because we celebrate His sacrifice, but it definitely didn’t “feel” like a “good” day to Him. 39 lashes, a crown of thorns, a spear in His side, naked, publicly mocked, beaten beyond recognition and died of a broken heart – FOR YOU! FOR YOUR GOOD! There is a greater good. It’s bigger and better than you could ever imagine. Hold on to Jesus in the middle of the storm, He’s there with you in it.