SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Author: J Brad Mitchell

  • Choices: The Mundane and the Consequential (Devotion 2.3)

    Choices are something we are faced with every single day.  We make them, often without thinking about them.  Sometimes we don’t feel like we have a choice, but in reality, we made the choice anyway.  It can be really difficult when there are multiple options in our choices.  This is displayed in way too many households, friendships, partnerships and the like today.  It begins with a familiar and almost haunting sentence…”what do you want to eat?”  It is a question that is asked way too often, likely to end in giving up, giving in, or just settling.  I can’t imagine how many times this question is asked in a day.  Because most of us are not actually hungry, this is more of an issue of what would seemingly make us happy in the moment.  It is one of the most difficult questions because while there seems to be nothing in our cabinets, the options are way too vast.  We are spoiled.

    There are some choices which are not so mundane and frivolous.  We are faced with choices of where we will work, if we should marry at all and if so, to whom, where we will live, and where we will be educated.  There choices have more consequences and outcomes are more serious.  They are still not permanent, though.  We can change jobs or move homes or go back to school for a different degree.  We may find the love of our life or find we are best alone.  They are choices of a higher caliber.  They carry more importance.

    And then there are choices which make an even greater impact than all of these.  In the Bible, the leader and follower of God, Joshua, challenges the people of God – choose this day… Choose on this day… and keep choosing… Whom will you serve?  It is a simple question with consequences which affect every area of their lives.  It is a question we continue to ask ourselves today.  Whom will I serve?  All too often, the answer is me.  I will serve me.  And yet, the challenge is to serve God.  Joshua reminds the people all God has brought them through.  He reminds them how powerful God is.  He helps them to remember the faithfulness, even when they weren’t.  

    To choose to serve God is a life which is full of love and compassion, which isn’t always welcomed.  It is a life of kindness and patience, self-control and joy.  But it isn’t easy.  And we must continue to choose…on a regular basis.  

    In the end, our actions reflect whom we have chosen to serve.  What does your life say?  Whom do you serve?  Today, I choose the Lord.

  • Beauty in Chaos (Devotion 2.2)

    Finding beautiful things in the middle of chaos can be so meaningful.  This is one of the joys in this life.  When I am aware, I am searching for the hidden beautiful.  I say the beautiful are hidden, but actually they are in clear sight.  They are just missed, overlooked, and bypassed.  They are always there.  We just tend to see the over brush instead.  We miss the amazing and instead focus on the mundane.  At least, I do if I am not careful. 

    I try to slow down a bit, which is not an easy feat for me.  Actually, it is one of the most difficult tasks ever.  I try to do everything quickly so I can get to the next task – there are always tasks waiting, aren’t there?  Instead of enjoying moments as they come, I am already focused on the next thing.  I call it “preparedness” but it is really anxiousness.  It doesn’t help when people tell me to slow down and just enjoy.  That’s not natural and seems contradictory.  Let’s face it – it isn’t going to happen just because someone told me to.  I’m stubborn like that.

    Instead of pushing myself to slow down, I begin the hunt.  What’s right in front of me that I miss when I rush through?  What is it that I miss when I don’t take the time to breathe?  What is God showing me that I have chosen not to see because I have already moved on to the next thing?  What is my anxiousness preventing me from noticing?  

    There is the most beautiful trail I visit as much as possible.  There are water views, bridges, marshlands, crabs, birds, and so much more.  But do you know what catches my eye every single time I pay attention?  There are flowers growing in the middle of over brush which appear even more vibrant and beautiful than an entire bunch in a garden.  They are resilient and determined, appearing from out of seemingly nowhere to simply bring joy.  And when I look, I see.  They are the beauty in the chaos.  

    May you find the beauty in your own chaos today.  Walking carefully and searching intently reveals the most amazing creation.  Blessings as you tread lightly today.

  • Traveling (Devotion 2.1)

    If I give you directions, it is probably best you consult a GPS.  My directions consist of landmarks which may or may not be located where I tell you they are.  In my mind, it is clear.  But when I speak about it, somehow it gets jumbled.  If I’m honest, though, I really don’t know where I am going most of the time.  Directions just aren’t my thing.  I am probably as directionally challenged as they come.  Some days I don’t let this slow me down.  I am blissfully lost and just keep moving.  I’ll find my way eventually.  But at other times, it has caused me to not try challenges for fear I will be forever lost.  I find this in life as well.

    We can get caught up in the movement of life that we forget where we are going, how to get there, or why we are even on this path.  We can wake up one day and not know how we got there or what in the world we are even doing.  It can even be so distressing that we feel hopeless and maybe even…lifeless.  But waking up is the key, even when it is painful to realize this isn’t where we intended to be.

    I have some wonderful guides in this life.  My wife, children, family and friends have been lights to help me on my way.  But they can’t ultimately do anything but show me where I am.  I have to find the way.  I rely on my faith but can get lost there too (my own fault, of course).  Waking up, realizing where I am, and finding where I should be heading is so important.  For me, this has been most realized when I am in silence.  When nothing else can impede or distract my thoughts, I can listen.  I listen to nature, singing the songs of goodness.  I listen to life lessons I have heard from those who have gone before me.  I listen to God as he seeks to show me the way.  

    And…I get up and travel forward.  I travel one step at a time.  But this time, I travel with intent, not aimlessly.  

    Move forward, there is still lots to see.

    Psalm 94:18-19 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised)
    When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’, your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

  • the Pause

    It can be difficult to pause, to stop for a moment and just breathe. My nature is to simply keep pushing until I collapse. But pausing can be so refreshing and important.

    When I pause, I open my ears to hear what is around me. I can clear distractions to see what God may be teaching me. I notice good things which would have been otherwise overlooked in the rush of life. I can focus for just a moment and hopefully adjust my path to reflect following God.

    When I don’t pause, I feel anxious and rushed, overwhelmed and chaotic. It’s hard to focus when there are constant distractions vying for my attention. Because my attention span is short, I tend to simply go from one thing to the other without recognition of the valuable. It’s ultimately unproductive.

    So I pause. For a moment, a day, or whatever it may take. I seek to redirect my path, find peace in the journey, and follow God on this amazing thing called life.

  • Won’t He Do It

    I enjoy Sunday mornings so much.  This is the time when I can slow down and take my time.  I sit with my coffee by the window and watch the world awake to another day.  I can slow long enough to hear the birds sing and pause the rush of my otherwise busy life.  It does my soul good to simply be still for a few moments.  

    Music is an important part of my life (though I don’t sing or play).  It is in these moments I hear a message in my mind from something that has become stuck throughout the week.  I’m sure you know how tunes or phrases can begin to play in your mind and continue despite your best efforts to move them along.  Today, that tune is “Won’t he do it, yes he will.”  It’s a fairly new song with upbeat music. It plays in my mind today and I let it.  It takes on a unique message for me on this day.  

    One year ago today, we opened the bakery.  I had no idea what would happen.  If I’m honest, I had very low expectations.  This past year has shown me that I was dreaming way too small and I just need to hang on for what’s next.  That’s exciting and scary, all wrapped into one.  But if this year has taught me nothing else, it has taught me that I can’t do this alone.  

    There have been so many people who have stepped up in my life and I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  I have an incredible family and friends who have become a vital part of my family.  I have watched folks put in long hours and do amazing things.  And again, I have learned I could not have done this alone.  

    For someone who is a driven, independent person, this has been a beautifully difficult lesson to learn.  I could not do this without those who stand with me every single day.  And I have realized, most importantly, I could not do anything without God.  I’ve tried, I must admit.  I’ve tried to do it all by myself.  But I can’t.  And the best part is, God doesn’t expect me to, and neither does anyone else.  

    So as challenging as it may be, I seek a deeper relationship with God.  I seek more moments where I can sit and be, listening to where he may be leading.  I seek to live in gratitude for the people who walk with me on this journey.  And I seek to live in community with amazing people who will not let me do this alone.  Won’t he do it?  Yes he will.

  • The Table Builder

    The phrase “I want to be like Jesus” has caused many people to do great things, and also some pretty horrific things.  We all have an interpretation which leads us to act in a particular way.  Most of the time, if we are honest, we really want Jesus to be like us.  In other words, we would like to do what we want to do and feel justified in it.  We want to think and act, believing this is the way of Jesus.  It might be – or it might be an illusion we have created to make us feel better.  All too often, it creates a wall, deciding who is “in” and who is “out” – and it is interesting, in the wall we build, we are always “in”.  I am not a fan of walls and here is why:

    As I read the Scriptures, I hear a message of welcome.  Jesus was, by trade, a carpenter.  His father (Joseph) was a carpenter.  He grew up building things.  He was a master of the craft, taking lessons from generations of hand crafted builders.  I have to imagine that at some point, he built a table (or a lot of them).  I can only wonder if this informed his theology as he began to preach.  His ministry was, after all, about being a table builder.  He wanted to make room at the table for all people.  His table began as a space for God’s chosen, the Jewish community.  He didn’t kick them out.  He built bigger tables.  And this was not a welcome sight in the judgmental eyes of those around.  His table building caused anger and made people generally uncomfortable.  They didn’t want THOSE people at THEIR table.  How dare he?  

    Remember who he invited to the table?  Yes, he ate with the religious leaders.  But he never stopped there.  He didn’t even consider that was all who were welcome.  He actually didn’t want to give them the prized place at the table.  They thought more of themselves than they should anyway.  He gave the place at the table to the tax collectors – those who were despised and disgusted so many.  They were the problem children.  He gave the place to the sinners (the Bible says this and I’m wondering – wasn’t this EVERYBODY?).  Those who clearly had sins which were open for all to see were given a place.  He gave a place at the table to those who thought they should be washing feet, not partaking of a meal.  He gave a place to those who knew they needed love.  And they found love at the table.  He gave a place at the table to those who would walk away and those who would betray (remember Judas sitting at the table?).  He was the master table builder and this scared those who thought they deserved and earned a place.  He included where the religious people had excluded.  

    I am so thankful he is the master table builder because this means I have a place.  I don’t deserve to sit at the table with Jesus.  I haven’t earned it.  I’m not better or more qualified or more chosen than anyone else.  I’m mostly a mess and yet, Jesus built a table which includes me.  

    So I want to follow Jesus – I want to be a table builder.  I want to invite and sit down and dine with those who have no idea they have a place.  I want to sit with the despised and forgotten and excluded.  I want to sit with the betrayers and the sinners.  These are my people.  Come sit at the table with me.  There is always room.  Jesus built a table big enough for us all.  Welcome.

  • The Other Way

    It seems to me that we live in a world with so many angry people.  Anger fills our TVs, social media, the highways, and the streets.  It is even more pronounced when some event takes place which ignites fear.  Anger is a by-product of being fearful.  When people are scared, feel as though they are losing control, or simply don’t know what to do, they can easily find anger as an enduring friend.  Anger causes us to lash out, to stop listening to anyone who opposes us, and to ultimately drive a wedge which should have never been created.

    This, though, is not the only way.  It is the easiest and most convenient.  It will show up with no effort and is fueled by the fire of others (there are always other angry people to get something stirred).  It happens almost instantaneously and just grows like the forest fires in the dry heat of summer.  But there still is another way.  I’ll admit my first response is to cut it all off – it seems to work better for me.  I can cut off the news, I can turn the other way, I can stop looking at social media – all in an effort to cut it out.  That works for a while, but, if I’m honest, angry people show up in all areas of life (and feel the need to vent about all their anger).  

    The other way can seem soft and cheesy.  But it reality, it is the only real way.  It is love.  If we stop to consider what whole groups we may be slandering to make a point, we may pause.  If we think of those we point our fingers and yell at for their supposed stupidity or imagined immorality, we may not be so quick to point.  If we pause to get to know someone who we have demonized or considered “the other”, we may find they are more human than we initially thought.  If we choose the way of listening rather than lashing out in fear, we may find real people have real lives and real love which may look different than ours.  It may just be we could live together, even if we don’t agree (what a concept).  

    I know this can sound ideal and a bit of a utopia.  But if we don’t work towards something, anger becomes our chosen output and no progress is actually made.  We simply become a bunch of angry, hateful folks who don’t even know what we are really angry about anymore.  And I just don’t want to live in a world like that.  So, today, I’ll choose love.  Maybe you will too.  That’s how change begins.

  • To Be or Not To Be

    I love to sit on my front porch with my cup of coffee and just breathe.  I don’t do this often enough and there is one simple reason…life.  Life seems to throw things my way which interrupt my moment of peace and quiet.  I think of things I should be doing other than sitting.  The time tells me I should be somewhere soon.  There are places to be and people to see, so the saying goes.  So I let the quiet go in exchange for the fast paced life I have not only grown accustomed, but have set up for myself.  I did this. 

    One of the reasons this happens is because I tend to value busy over rest.  Too much of either can be a problem, but I always tend to lean towards the “too busy” side of things.  Taking it easy doesn’t come naturally for me, it requires actual effort.  While this may sound odd to some people, my fellow doers will get it.  We were made for doing, or so I tell myself.  That is all great until I am reminded that sometimes we have to simply be.  I am told we are human “be”ings not human “doers”.  I’m not comfortable with this and I’d prefer to ignore it.  I’m fairly good at ignoring it until I completely run my body down and I am forced to be rather than do.  Crazy how that happens.  

    Today, though, I wasn’t forced.  No one made me sit here.  I am not sick or in pain.  Today, the breeze is perfect, the temperature just right, and the view from my front porch, medicinal.  If I’m honest, I don’t know when it will happen again…I’m not suddenly a changed man.  But just for this moment, I breathe and enjoy THIS moment.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t promised.  Today I take a moment to be.  Maybe you can too.

  • Big Excuses, Little Accomplished- January 23, 2024

    I’ve got big plans.  In my mind, I can accomplish so much.  But I also have big excuses.  When it comes to exercise, I want to run every day.  The excuse is I’m tired or it’s too hot/cold outside or I have to be at work early or I can sleep for another hour instead of getting out of the comfy bed and running.  These excuses are legitimate, at least in my mind.  And, this is just the beginning.  I have a plethora of them, especially when it is 445 am.  I am super creative then.  Actually, I have more excuses than a mechanic has tools.  I’m equipped for any occasion.  The problem is excuses don’t really get me anywhere.  They actually just leave us stagnant and stuck.  We don’t get to where we need to be when we ride the excuse train.  

    It isn’t just exercise for many of us (me included).  We have excuses for our spiritual lives, our work lives, our home, our dishes, those clean clothes that will not jump out of the clothes basket into the drawers…and whatever else we find more excuses not to do.  We don’t start out like this.  We often have good intentions.  We get tired, and if you are like me, we get creative…creative with the excuses so we don’t have to do the things we should.

    The issue is when we live with excuses, we don’t find the land of freedom or peace or joy.  We don’t have a chance to live out our lives as God has created us.  We don’t get the opportunity to truly become better and live each day to its fullest.  We just find excuses.  I know I do, even though I know better.  So I come back to my favorite verse.  It is a reminder of how we are God’s handiwork and we are created for good things.  God made something beautiful and remarkable (that’s you and me).  We just have to use what he has given us for his glory.  And if we do that, we may find there are fewer excuses and more life lived.  

    May we see how good God has been to us.  May we see our opportunities as gifts.  May we feel encouraged to move forward with fewer excuses and more intent to follow God.  And may it begin with me…because I sure need it.  These excuses need to go.

    Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

    Photos included in Devotions by David Cain of The Cain Gallery.

  • Forgiveness To Follow

    Making mistakes, speaking before thinking, jumping the gun, and reckless abandonment are all his attributes. He was far from perfect, actually he was pleasantly imperfect.  He seemed to enjoy life and when he was in, he was all in.  So when he fell, he fell hard.  ‘Go big or go home’ seemed to be his life motto.  But he was also the one you wanted around if you were struggling.  He seemed to know what to do to help.  He was that kind of friend.   And this time, he has been hurt.  He let his fears get the best of him.  It was irrational, he knew it as soon as it happened.  It wasn’t part of his character, anyone who knew him would know this.  Regardless, here he was, trapped in his own despair, understanding the mistakes made and wondering if redemption was even possible anymore.  All he once knew had been pulled out from under him and he was left trying to catch himself.  He just wanted to be free – free of the guilt and shame, free of the despair, free of the fear, free of the chaos.  He simply wanted to be free.  So he did what many of us might do when he found himself in a difficult spot, a place where there seemed to be no resolve, he went fishing.  It was in his blood.  The water was his resolve.  He could clear his mind and focus when he was in the middle of the water simply waiting.  He wasn’t alone – good friends know when company is needed.  Fishing seemed like a good first step in a situation which felt more like a whirlwind of grief, despair, with an all too dim glimmer of hope.  It was all so confusing.  Maybe the water would have the answers.  

    Most, if not all of us, have been there.  We thought things were going great.  We felt good about our path.  We were on the right road.  Then, out of nowhere, it all fell apart.  Everything we knew collapsed.  Life as we knew it simply exploded into unrecognizable pieces, scattered as far as our eyes could see.  It’s a frightening place to be.  We long for something familiar, something to take our mind off the things which cause such despair.  We just want things to return to normal, so we seek some sense of normalcy in a place where our hope and faith is wavering, maybe now more than ever.  We cling to the things which hold familiarity and cause us to have some sense of control, even when we actually have none.  We look for solutions as we cry out to God.  

    This is the place I feel Peter has found himself in this scripture.  Jesus, his best friend, teacher, faith guide, and Messiah has abandoned him.  Jesus called him out of the ordinary and to the extraordinary and wow, had it been a ride.  He saw demons flee, dead men rise, lame people walk, blind people see.  He watched Jesus out-smart those who were in control, over and over again.  It was crazy but it was also very peaceful.  Jesus’ presence had made all the difference.  He had given him everything and just being with him made everything better.  It felt as though they could conquer the world – until they didn’t.  Peter was ready to fight for Jesus, only to have Jesus tell him this wasn’t the right way to fight – no swords allowed.  What do you do when your only weapons are not physical?  You run, that’s what happens.  You run for your life and take out anything in your path.  It was the most frightening time ever.  And you run so far that you forget the destruction you leave in your path – denials and such.  At least that’s what Peter did.  It all came apart so quickly.  And now, Jesus is back, sort of.  All of it doesn’t seem to make sense just yet – this here but not just yet.  And what does Jesus think of all this running Peter did?  Surely he knew.  Peter knew and that made all the difference.  So, he went fishing.  

    John 21:1-19

    It wasn’t really about the fish, was it?  Peter wasn’t really fishing to feed his family that day.  He just needed the familiar, something he could hold on to.  He needed to find his place one more time.  So the fact nothing was caught wasn’t necessarily a problem, probably just an annoyance – fishermen who can’t catch fish seems about right for where they are in life at that moment.  And Jesus did what Jesus does – he begins to turn it all around.  Fish appear, John proclaims it is Jesus on the shore, Peter swims ahead of the group.  The others had to be thinking – it would have been nice of Peter to help with the fish.  But they also likely weren’t surprised, this is Peter.  

    There is breakfast – Jesus made them breakfast.  Jesus spent a lot of time around a table, sharing meals with so many others.  He ate with the most despised and avoided.  He gathered around wedding tables and preparation for death tables.  He ate with friends and enemies alike.  He shared bread with those who were willing to sell him for a price.  And he loved immensely around those tables.  This breakfast would have been no different.  There are fish and bread and most of all, fellowship and love.  The table – whether a plot of sand around a fire or an actual structure in a home – was a place where stories are shared.  I don’t know this, but I am guessing Peter probably did a little more listening at this table than usual.  What did he have to say?  They had abandoned Jesus but Peter ran with full force in the other direction.  Peter had denied him.

    And Jesus continues to do what Jesus always does – he begins to heal Peter.  He begins by asking him of his love – it isn’t that Jesus doesn’t know how much Peter loves him.  It is more that Peter doesn’t know how much he loves Jesus.  And so the questioning isn’t to convince Jesus but rather Peter.  It is a part of the healing process.  It is forgiveness.  Jesus’ love doesn’t change.  It doesn’t fail.  It is perfect in every way.  It is our love that seems so fragile and situational.  It is our love which is often so flimsy and flippant.  Jesus restores Peter because he isn’t done with him yet.  Peter’s sins, his flaws, his fears, do not stop Jesus from loving him and calling him.  Jesus’ love isn’t dependent on us.  He loves us despite ourselves.  And this is what forgiveness looks like.  It looks like restoration, redemption, and healing.  It looks like Peter being called to follow, one more time. 

    We can feel so broken, so unworthy.  We can beat ourselves up for things not said or too much being spoken.  We can give up on ourselves, knowing we are not the disciples we are called to be – it’s too hard, there are too many things going on, our lives feel in utter chaos.  We may run to the safety of what we know.  But that urge, that deep longing to follow, will remain.  We can’t run far enough to escape God’s love – the Psalmist reminds us of that over and over.  There is no where we go where God is not.  We haven’t run too far or become too hopeless.  Our situation does not define us and neither do our mistakes.  We are not useless or abandoned. We are God’s.  And he isn’t done with us yet.  

    Despite what our situation may tell us or the lies in our minds may feed us, we are not too far gone.  We are a child of the King.  We are God’s beloved.  We are made for good things and called according to his purpose. We may look like are nothing more than a hot mess, but God doesn’t see what we see.  He knows our heart and our longing.  And just like with Peter, he restores us and calls us to follow.  Follow me – he says to us even when we feel like we have let him down.  Follow me – he calls when feel unworthy.  Follow me – when everything else has collapsed.  Follow me. 

    What restoration and healing do you need today?  Where have you run so far only to find there really isn’t any place to go?  How have you felt unworthy?  God is not done with you.  He sees something in you that is beautiful and treasured.  He sees good where you see flaws.  God knows you and he calls you to follow.  What will your answer be?

    Peter followed all the way to death – may we do the same.