We all have rough days – days when we would prefer to just give in, go home, and pull the covers over our heads. These come, they just do. Many times, those circumstances are out of our control. They happened to us. I can easily find myself getting angry and start ruminating on those bad aspects. I think of them over and over again. They fill my day and they flood my mind. It consumes my thoughts and takes over my entire attitude. That bad day can carry not just through that day, but spill over into many days. Even when I feel like I am over it, when I think of it, the anger comes right back. And I may be justifiably upset. But does it help to continue to let this fill my heart and my mind? Does it contribute to my overall wellbeing to allow this to become a part of me? Am I really doing anything advantageous by allowing this to consume me? I have a bad day, you have a bad day…now what?
Because we all have these rough days, how do we move forward? Instead of allowing this to overtake our heart, mind and spirit, maybe we consider our alternatives. What we are angry about – is it fixable? If it is, spring into action (not revenge but in productive action to better the situation without harm). If it is not, what have we learned that can help us to become better? If there is nothing to learn, what is it doing to us if we hold onto this? What are we accomplishing by allowing this to overtake us? What is good about carrying this bad day forward? The answer is likely…nothing. We probably instead find we are just being torn down by our thoughts and emotions. We are hurting ourselves. There has to be another way.
My best lesson for this comes from the Psalmists. I love the Psalms because they are raw, real, and shockingly honest. They write (or sing) about how they are angry and scared and overcome. They write about how they want to destroy and how they feel abandoned (by God and others). And yet…And yet…they find their way back to center. Where is their center? Read the Psalms. The center comes back to words like this: Deliverance belongs to the Lord, I will sleep in peace because the Lord brings peace, the Lord has heard my prayer, I will give thanks to the Lord for he is due, how majestic is Your name. These all come from just the first few Psalms. They go on to remind us of his mercy, his grace, and his everlasting love. They have the bad day, week, month, etc and yet…they find their way back to the center – the center of God, our Creator, the One who loves us more than we can imagine. That’s what matters. How can you come back to your center today?
May your day be filled with good things, May you find peace, May you be comforted and loved. And if you are having a rough day, May you find your center in God.
Psalm 13 1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
One of the greatest challenges for people who are servants, givers, and followers of Christ is to take care of themselves. When we constantly give, we forget we must have something from which to give. When we are not taking care of ourselves, we run down, get exhausted, and may even find ourselves becoming angry or resentful. We don’t mean to be this way. It isn’t that we want to feel these things. It simply happens because we have taken all of our energy and given it away. And the one person we forget in it all is ourselves. We forget to take care of us. Why do we do this?
When you are naturally a giver, it can feel selfish to take care of yourself. It can be hard to justify taking some time to do the right things for you. It can feel as if we are wasting time. But that is actually the opposite of the truth. We are not God (that seems obvious). And because we are not God, we are not made to be everything for everybody. We are not Creator. We are not the ultimate fixer. We are God’s children and we are the created. And we need to take care of what God has given us. We must take care of us. What does that look like?
For so many, that is a foreign concept. When we go, go, go, we can put our needs on the back burner. But the flames will catch us. They will burn us out. We will eventually crash and become good to no one, not even ourselves. We must catch it before it gets to that point (or start from scratch if you are already there). This isn’t a “one and done” type of solution. You don’t take one day to take care of yourself and expect that to take care of everything for the next month or year. This should be part of our regular practice every single day – in some way, shape or form. Here are some thoughts:
-How are you taking care of your body? What are you eating? Are you exercising and taking care of this beautiful creation God has made? Are you being a good steward of the gift of your body? Are you considering what you are putting into you daily?
-How are you taking care of your mind? Are you taking a few minutes to simply breathe? What or who are you listening? Are you listening to the truths of God or the opinions of others? Are you putting good things in (through your eyes and ears)? Consider what you are watching.
-How are you taking care of your spirit? Are you taking the time to read and meditate on God’s Word? Are you listening to what God is trying to tell you? He isn’t expecting you to be God. He is expecting you to be the best YOU. You won’t know who you are in God if you aren’t reading what he has for you. A little each day can feed the soul.
What are you doing for you today? How can you take better care of you THIS day so you can love God and love others with your everything? This is the day the Lord has made, may we rejoice and be glad in it!
Matthew 22:37-39 (NOTE the yourself in this)
37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Life rarely turns out like we expect – or in my opinion, it never turns out as we expect. There are so many unexpected plot twists. We make some good decisions and we make some really poor ones. Sometimes it seems as if everything is going in the right direction only to find we are on a dead end street and we need to turn around and try again. We celebrate too little and beat ourselves up too often. And yet, through it all, we find that God is with us (despite ourselves).
29 years ago today, Wendy and I went on our first date. It wasn’t fancy. For most, it was unremarkable. But for us, it was the beginning. It hasn’t always been easy. Actually, there have been some really super difficult times. Today, though, we have grown together and found out our love for each other is stronger than even we imagined. Most people who knew us then would have never guessed it. Neither did we at the time. But here we are – and I couldn’t be more grateful.
One of the most important lessons we have learned together is just how powerful God’s love is. As Christians, this idea is thrown around a lot. It is spread as a concept like confetti. But we don’t always practice it. We don’t always live like it. And we don’t always see it in us. God’s love is more powerful than our highs and lows. His love endures through our most difficult times and holds us so very tight. His love reminds us we are never alone in our darkest moments. His love never ends. It is too much for my mind to comprehend. But when I am anxious and overwhelmed, I do my best to remember it.
What does this really mean? No matter where you may find yourself today, you are never too far from God’s love. You are not unlovable. You are not beyond reach from God. You are beautifully and wonderfully made – and you didn’t do anything to earn this. You are created as God’s beloved. You are special to God. As much as I love Wendy, she is even more important to God. That’s hard to take in. And so are you…loved beyond belief.
Love doesn’t mean things go the way we want or expect or deserve. Love means through it all, we are never without. We are never in a drought of God’s love. And God shows his love to us every single day. I’m beyond grateful I went on a date with a beautiful young lady 29 years ago. And I’m even more grateful she became my best friend and my wife.
Here’s a reminder about God’s love for me and for you from Romans 8:
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There are so many things in life we just do not understand. They leave us baffled as if we have missed an entire movie and just joined in for the most difficult parts. We don’t understand why sweet people can have such a difficult journey or why those we love die way too early. We don’t understand how we can plan and work and strive and yet, things can fall apart right before our eyes – despite our best efforts. We don’t always understand why difficult things can pile up so high, leaving our vision of the beautiful skewed and out of focus. We just don’t get it. And if we leave it there, it can make us anxious, overwhelmed, distressed and with a loss of hope. So we can’t leave it there. We can’t leave it there because this isn’t all there is. This isn’t the conclusion. The movie doesn’t just end in tragedy after tragedy. The journey has more – there is more – there has to be more.
I find ‘the more’ in love. God has loved us enough to create us and make us beautiful (yep, he made us ALL beautiful – that means YOU). We are loved beyond our comprehension – we cannot understand it even if we tried. We are loved even in the middle of our mess. And because we are loved, we are also not alone in it. God is with us – it is his name, after all – Immanuel (God with us). So while so many difficult things happen – so many tragedies and heartaches – God does not leave us in them. He sits with us in our grief. He holds us in our loneliness. He calms our anxious minds. He offers us peace. He does this because he loves us. ‘The more’ is this incredible love of God. I don’t get it – all I can do is be grateful and welcome it.
No matter what you are going through today, you are not alone. God is with you. And most importantly, he loves YOU – especially YOU. May you feel his loving presence wrap you tight today. And may you live in ‘the more’.
Psalm 36:7, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Directions are not my deal. We all have our gifts and finding my way around is not mine. I’m okay with it at this point – I’ve learned to adapt. I’ve figured out how to work with my weaknesses and still get around. It does make it more interesting, though. I move through my GPS. She isn’t always right. Sometimes, there is a road that is new or she is a block off. But at least she gets me close. I only have a problem when she starts speaking in a language I don’t quite understand. In direction language, it goes like this – head South on this road. Head what? South? Where is that – and if i knew that much, I wouldn’t need her. So I end up going a direction to see if she validates my move or if she begins recalculating. When she recalculates, that means I’ve done it wrong and now she has to try and figure it out again. I’m okay with all of this. I recognize what I am missing and it is fine.
I feel sometimes like God directs me this way, too. He gives me direction, but it is through some language I do not understand – like go East. I often find myself wandering around hoping i have taken the right turn and checking back in to see if he needs to recalculate. More often, I find myself stopped along the side of the road thinking…this cannot be right…but not knowing where to go from here. Its like finally achieving my Doctor of Ministry degree and then leaving congregational ministry for a season. And that’s where i find myself.
I don’t know about you, but it is an unsettling place to be – the in between. It is a bit unnerving. I know God is still with me. I don’t feel out of place. I simply feel as though the in between space is where i reside for now. And it can make me feel…well, broken. Have you ever felt broken? Not that a part of you is broken, but that your direction, your place, your purpose is off. I call it the in between space – the place where you wander but not aimlessly. God’s presence is there but it is as if everything he says comes through a muffled, bad connection. The in between space can be rough, but it can also be a chance to explore, to breathe, and to reorient.
When I graduated from McAfee School of Theology, we were unable to get together. So they mailed us our gifts. We received an absolutely beautiful pitcher – a perfect symbol of service, of being poured out, of being an instrument of love. I excitedly opened mine only to find out it was broke. It is still beautiful. I considered trying to piece it back together. I contacted the school and they, of course, sent me a new one. But I fell in love with this one. It had so much to say. It was a reminder – broken things are still quite beautiful. Broken things are still useful. And broken things still can be of service.
The in between space is okay, broken things are still valuable, and God is still with us. So where do we go when we find ourselves living in these places, feeling a little beat up, not knowing where to go next and simply broken? We go back to the foundation, the unshakable core that still holds us together. We hear the words of Jesus as he gives us foundational words to build from. We rise from the rubble knowing God is not done with us yet. And this is where i come back to.
Matthew 22:34-40, “34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Jesus tells us these are the most important – this is the foundation everything else is built upon. This is the key, the place we land when all else is in chaos. This is the deal. Jesus is, of course, echoing what has been taught since the very beginning. He is teaching what will always be important. He is giving clear direction – no North or South stuff. He is helping those who really don’t care and those who are ultimately curious. Jesus is making it precise, even in the in between, broken spaces – love. Love God, love others.
Where we are right now – this is the time and this is the space when love speaks the loudest. There are voices yelling every day. There are arguments about most anything. There is fighting. There are wars. There are lines divided and angry words being spoken. As Christians, though, this is the time to love. I’m not talking about a sappy, happy ending movie type of love. I’m talking about a deep in the trenches, stepping into the unknown, sacrificial type of love.
Jesus teaches the most important is to love God with your everything – from your very core, with all your being. Love God with it all. And take that love and offer it to your neighbors, your friends, even your enemies. This love is just hard, but it is also the love that we have been given – the love we were offered when we were unlovable. This is the time to live in this love. This is the time to share this with those around. This is the time to stand out – not for our opinions, not for our judgment, but for the way that we love. There are plenty of opinions out there. There is more than enough backbiting, name calling, hate filled words being spread. There isn’t enough of the love of God.
The love of God doesn’t look like beating someone down with the Bible or quoting every verse we know. It doesn’t look like judging or deciding who is in or out. One of the most divisive thoughts we can have as followers of Christ is the ‘us’ verses ‘them’ idea. We are Christians, they are not. We are worthy, they are not. We have the answers, they are wrong. We are on the right side, they are out. We begin to look like an exclusive club rather than a group of people following Jesus, spreading love. We begin to decide who is in and who is out. And this isn’t for us to decide. Jesus didn’t even give us the option of deciding who to love. He said love God and love others. That’s it. And that’s what makes the difference. That’s the key.
This isn’t the love that sits around the campfire singing Kumbaya. This is the deep in the trenches, settling in the in between spaces, feeling our brokenness and still living in love. Followers of Christ, we have the opportunity to show up when all else is huddled in corners holding fast to opinions and judgments. This is the time to speak to the brokenness, knowing God can still use the broken in a mighty way. This is the time to sit in the in between spaces and allow God to heal and reignite. This is the time to show peace in the midst of utter chaos. This is the time to live – truly live – with a fire to love God and love others. I pray God allows us the privilege of doing just that – to love. And may we love like him.
As a kid, to be put in time out was punishment. It meant you needed time to consider what you had said or done. It was a space to get yourself together and think about the reason you were there in the first place. It could be torture for some. For a parent or caregiver, it was a moment to separate the chaos to try and get some sort of handle on things. It could be challenging. But ultimately it was designed to help regroup and get things back on track.
As adults, we really need to take a childhood punishment and turn it into a mandatory treatment for ourselves. What might it mean if we actually put ourselves in time out occasionally? Could it help to have a few moments to regroup? Could we find benefit from sitting alone to gather our thoughts? Might we make better decisions and react differently if we simply had a little time to breathe?
Jesus seemed to take time outs. It wasn’t a punishment, but rather a reward. It was a gift to allow him time to pray and prepare for what was ahead. He received direction and insight when he took time alone. It could do the same for us.
Today, put yourself in time out. You may remember, it isn’t designed to last all day. It is a few moments to regain composure, reassess the situation, and move forward with a clearer direction. Enjoy a time out today.
Matthew 14:13
13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
It is often difficult for me to comprehend why God would choose to work in me. It seems like there are so many other vessels, so many more capable and talented. And yet – God is working in them too. He is actually working in and through us all. And when we listen, he guides us to a new way, a different way. He works in us to bring about peace (we are to be the peacemakers, after all). He works in us to bring about justice (God’s teachings are packed with commands to work for justice for those being treated unjustly). He works in us to spread his love (love God, love others is most important, according to Jesus). So when these things are not happening, I wonder if it is because we are not being willing vessels. I wonder if it is because we have decided to go our own way and do our own thing, ignoring the God at work in us. Could it be that things are not being done on earth as it is in heaven because we have chosen to ignore the One who created us and loves us beyond measure. Sure, we call on him when we are in need. Yes, we scream for help when there is urgency. We can find ourselves angry when things don’t go as we would want. But could it be that we miss how much God is at work in us if we simply follow the lead? What if we recognized God is at work in us – to bring about good? We may, indeed, see his love, peace, and justice begin to show up – through us.
May God be at work in us today.
Philippians 2
13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
It can be challenging to live in a state of gratefulness. There are many things which compete for our attention. There are angry folks. Life seems to show us its ugly side. We become hyper focused on the things which are causing us anxiety and dread. This often happens on Monday mornings. When there is work to be done and things which await you that you would rather avoid, it can make getting started extra challenging. It can make being grateful even more challenging. When we think about things we are grateful for, it is probably easier to think of the things which we wish we didn’t have to deal with or face. We’d just rather not – not face this, not start a new week, just not. Our views become very narrow on our problems.
What if we widened the scope? What if we took the lens out? What if we slowed enough to take our focus off of our problems and lift up our heads? Might we see the sun rising? Maybe we notice the smile on the person in front of us. Maybe begin to change our view. Maybe our gratefulness grows exponentially and our problems somehow don’t have the same power they once did.
Friends can help us do this. They bring new perspectives. They help us to see the good. They help us to realize this is not the end. They show us all that really is around, even when our vision is so cloudy. Paul was known for writing of his thankfulness for others. We don’t always do that as well. Today, expand the view. Give thanks for those who help us see the good. Live grateful – there is still much to be grateful for.
For many of us, Fridays are automatically a day of praise (TGIF). The week is coming to an end and a different rhythm welcomes us. Some find days of rest to come. Others may find it is a day to visit or go on trips. For me, it has become days to complete all the things left undone by the hurry of the rest of the week. Regardless, there is something special about the shift to the weekend. Now, I do understand if you work in retail, this isn’t such a big deal – I’ve been there. I also understand there are necessary positions that must be filled over the weekend – been there too. So it may be that your ‘Friday’ takes place some other time of the week. Whenever your ‘weekend’ falls, it seems to be a time of praise, naturally. We are grateful the week is wrapping up. We are grateful we made it one more week. We are grateful for something new or different. It welcomes us. It calls us. It invites us.
As I read today’s Psalm, I get the sense we miss the praising that takes place all week long. We don’t notice how the sun and the moon are praising God. We may miss how the stars and the heavens are proclaiming shouts of praise. We probably didn’t notice how the mountains and hills were exclaiming praise. Aren’t they just mountains and hills, the sun and the moon? Yet, simply by rising up as God has created, they are exclaiming praise. As the birds sing, they praise. As the trees sway, they praise. As the animals live out their purpose, they exclaim. And here we are – made in the image of God – and forget to praise him. We aren’t often mindful of all that praises God around us. And we certainly aren’t always joining in on the chorus – except maybe on Fridays.
Maybe it is time to pipe up in praise – and Friday seems to be a good day to start. Maybe we find our voice as we exclaim God’s goodness. Maybe we join in the mighty chorus around us – praising the Creator of it all. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. 6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, 8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! 10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! 12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!
Chaos can drive us crazy. When all seems out of our control, it can be frustrating and debilitating. We don’t know what to do with it all. We seek out things to control – anything that will help us regain the sense that it is not all unraveling. Chaos leads to decisions which are rushed and not always the best. Anger seems to surface to unleash the fear. Our minds tell us we are a victim and there is nothing we can do. Our bodies react to the stories we tell ourselves. We either feel defeated or we come out fighting. Either can be destructive.
What do we do when chaos ensues? It always seems to show up at the most inopportune times. We are often unprepared. We are taken by surprise and all we know to do is react. But what if the point of life is not control? What if we readily relinquish control to the One who is the Creator of it all? What if, instead of reacting, we prepare by learning to give over control to the only One who can actually bring all back into order? Could it be that in the process we realize we were never in control of anything anyway? We might just understand we had a false sense of security in things rather than finding true security in God.
It’s difficult – I’m the first to admit. And this doesn’t mean we give up our sense of responsibility. There are things to do. We are here for a purpose. We are not a mistake nor are we a failure. We are children of the Most High God. That alone gives us enough purpose to move forward. But it seems to me we could rest better and function more adequately if we stop trying to control things and follow the leading of God. I always try to remember I cannot control anyone but myself. And maybe, the answer is for me to give myself to God – he created me and certainly knows what is best. Maybe giving up control doesn’t lead to chaos. Maybe it leads to peace when the control is given to God.
Matthew 7
9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10 Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
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