Who Are You, Great Mountain?

 

    In this season of life, I've been experiencing a lot of transition, which can be very intimidating. Sometimes it feels like there is a giant obstacle in my life, blocking me from seeing the pathway forward. Instead I'm staring up at a huge mountain in my way, crying out, asking God to show me how to proceed, but it seems as if I keep running into a wall. In His wise way, God has been speaking to me through Scripture, specifically the story of how the Israelites fled Egypt and entered the wilderness (Exodus 14-15). 

    The Israelite people were held in bondage by the Egyptians for hundreds of years, waiting in faith for God to set them free and take them to the Promised Land. And He did! He sent them Moses to lead them out of slavery. While they were on the run, with the Egyptians chasing them, they came to the Red Sea. The Red Sea isn't just a small river, it's a large body of water, almost 1400 miles long, and at the widest point more than 220 miles wide! That's a pretty big obstacles to cross in their journey to freedom!

    As they approached the Red Sea, the Israelites were afraid, and with good reason. The Egyptians were chasing them, ready to capture and force them back into captivity. But in front of them was a giant sea. Some of the Israelites even considered turning around and going back to Egypt voluntarily. They thought, at least they knew what to expect out of life in Egypt. But God had greater plans. In Exodus 14:13-14, Moses says to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." 

    God then gave Moses directions to raise his staff over the water and the Red Sea split in half! "But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians... And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and put their trust in Him." (Exodus 14: 29-31) After they crossed over, the people celebrated with a song of worship. They sang to the God who delivered them, "The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory!" (Exodus 15: 2)

    So there's two messages I see in this story...

    First, is for people who are facing an obstacle that seems so great, there's no visible way through it. To those people, listen to Moses' encouragement, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today... The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." The Lord will FIGHT for you! You need only to be still. What does it mean to be still? To stop, wait, and put your trust in God. He will make the way known to you! It may just be the next step, but guess what, if you obey and take that next step, He'll give you the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that, until you find yourself having made it all the way to the Promised Land, just like the Israelites! 

    Second, is a word for those who have made it through. Maybe you've recently cross over the Red Sea in your life, you've made it past one of those obstacles that was so great, it seemed impossible. The word for you, is "Don't forget to worship!" Don't forget to praise the God that made it possible. Proclaim as loud and as often as you can "The Lord is my strength and my song! He has given me victory!" Declare to yourself over and over, "My God is MIGHTY, my God is STRONG!" Why? For two reasons. 

One is, there may be someone else who needs to be encouraged by your victory. By sharing the story of how God was victorious in your life, you may encourage someone else who needs help finding faith in their own Red Sea moment. We can encourage others through our testimony of God's goodness, and help them find the strength to put their trust in Him.

But also, you might find yourself at another Red Sea moment in the future, and you'll need to remind yourself, that God is MIGHTY and STRONG and will give you the VICTORY! You may need to look back one day and remember the words of the song you sang in victory, to find the faith to overcome the next hurdle. We need to keep track of how God has been good in our own lives, to build monuments, and keep record of His faithfulness. Because there will always be another struggle, but if we keep collecting those declarations, we'll have an arsenal of faith to aid us in living a victorious life.

"And wind listen to the sound

Of power on my lips

Jesus has broken the curse

He has never lost a battle

Who are you great mountain

That you should not bow low?

Jesus defeated the darkness.

He has never lost a battle"

~Never Lost, Ramp Worship, 2015

    

Walking With God

 

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." 

~Isaiah 30:21

       

         My pastor, Melvin McClease is known for this saying, "Let God take your heart on a walk." Today I followed his advice and took a lengthy walk alone, just me and God... literally. I drove about an hour away from home to a distant walking trail and took a LONG WALK, during which I spoke to God and He spoke back. He and I had some business we needed to attend to, and we did, but this walk with God wasn't a business meeting; it was a date with the Lover of My Soul.
    

        Scriptures gives us several examples of "normal people" who literally walked with God. In Genesis 3, Adam and Even frequently walked with God in the Garden of Eden. In Gensis 5:22-23, we are told Enoch "walked in close fellowship with God" until one day he disappeared because "God took him" out of His love for him. Abraham claimed to walked with God in Genesis 24:40. The disciples and many others daily walked with Jesus Christ, God incarnate (John 1:14).
    

        What did God and I discuss on this walk? Well that's between me and him, because a lady never tells. So why am I writing about it? Because this experience was life-changing! This is a practice that I highly encourage every Christian to participate in regularly. If this is a new concept for you, I highly recommend reading Bob Sorge's Secrets of the Secret Place.
    

        Living the Christian life is not purely analytical. It is experiential! Scripture is alive with the Word of God! But our personal lives can also be packed full with personal interaction with the God who desires to speak to us each and every day. I am so grateful to be in a church that encourages this day-to-day life-filling interaction with the Heavenly Savior. Thank you, Pastor Melvin, for regularly encouraging me to go for a walk, and demonstrating this practice. My life will never be the same!

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me and He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

"In the Garden" (gospel song) by C. Austin Miles, 1912

Revive Us

 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me.”  ~Psalm 138:7

            Lately I’ve been asking this particular question a lot, “When will things go back to normal?” I think it’s a common question to ask when we’re in the middle of difficult circumstances. This verse from Psalms offers us a response, though it might not be the answer we’re hoping for. In Psalm 138:7, God promises to revive us. Revive means “to regain life, consciousness, or strength… that may not sound like an answer to the question we’ve asked, but it is!

            Let’s break this verse down to get to what it is saying. First, “though I walk in the midst of trouble…” provides the timing in which God is acting. God is promising to meet us in the middle of our trouble, not the beginning, and not the end. This is usually when we are at our most distraught. Sometimes we get so excited to see the end of our problems, and “return to normal,” that we try to skip over the uncomfortable part of actually being in it.

Personally, I love action movies, but I hate violence and war! If I can, I will skip over the battle scenes in a movie to get to the happy ending. We often ask God to do the same thing… to rescue us from the scary things. And that’s not bad! That’s a natural part of human desire. But sometimes we need to learn something from the struggle.

            The second half of this verse says, God “stretches forth his hand against the wrath of my enemies. Your right hand will save me.” In this verse, an image is being portrayed for us. When I read it, this is what I see…

            Picture this: you’re in an epic Lord of the Rings worthy battle scene. You’re dirty, tired, exhausted, wounded, and just can’t do it anymore. The enemy gets the advantage. You go down. It’s all about to be over. But GOD shows up in the middle of the heat of battle. And He’s HUGE! Much larger than any human. His presence dominates the battlefield. What does He do? He could stop the battle in an instant and it would all be over. But He doesn’t. Instead, He physically positions himself between you and the soldier about to take you out. He puts his left hand up to hold the enemy back. His right hand extends out to you; it’s an offer of help. You grasp the extended hand and rise up.

            What does this verse NOT say? It never says he stops the battle. The picture of holding a hand out against the enemy implies He’s holding them back, not defeating them. The fact that His left hand holds back the enemy while His right hand reaches out to offer help, indicates His priority. Culturally, the right hand is the hand of favor. By specifying that the right hand extends help, shows us the primary action in this image... to offer respite. While the enemy is held back, that is not the primary objective here!

            This verse doesn’t allow us to see the happy ending; it’s focused in the middle. It doesn’t let us skip over the gory parts to get to the victory. Instead the promise in this verse is that He will REVIVE us… give us life, consciousness, & strength. Does God save us, YES, absolutely! But in this verse, that’s not the main objective. The main action here is to revive us while we are in the middle of the moment.

            Is anyone else tired, exhausted, and feel like they just can’t do it anymore? I know I am! This verse gives us three actions, we can take. 

• First, let God meet you in that place. Don’t try to skip over the difficult parts, but meet God in the middle of them. 
• Second, allow Him to revive you! He is offering his extended hand out to you. Choose to take it! 
• Third, once you’re filled up again with life and strength, get back in there. The battle isn’t over yet. 

            We are promised that the battle is the Lords… but WE are the Lord’s army. We will have the victory in the Lord’s name, but first we must choose to FIGHT.

Treasured Pondering

 This time of year is always FULL! Full of stress, chaos, projects, holiday events, and all other manner of madness. This time of year also happens to be when the Lord seems to speak new and exciting things into my spiritual life... as if I have the time to process new things right now. Often these full and exciting times so overwhelm me, I don't even know how to respond to them. 

Lately, one verse in particular has been present in my mind. "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19, KJV) Other versions say Mary treasured these things. To treasure something is "to keep carefully, as a valued item," and to ponder is "to think about something carefully." One commentator states that Mary "could not as yet understand all that had been said and done, but she received it in faith, and waited until it should be made clear." (Ellicott's Commentary)

I don't know about you, but when I am in the middle of chaos, I very rarely take the time to stop, think, and meditate. (Please don't ask me how long I procrastinated in writing this post). However one truth that we see written throughout scripture, time and again, is that God meets us in silence.

In 1 Kings 19:12, the Lord met Elijah at the top of a mountain. While waiting there for God to show up, Elijah experienced all variety of natural elements. First a "great and strong wind" appeared, so strong that it was actually destroying the mountain and breaking rock into pieces. But that was not God. Then there was an earthquake. The earth literally broke apart and trembled, yet that was not God either. After the earthquake was a fire--hot, burning, glorious, and painful. But even still, God was not in the fire. Finally the Lord did appear! Not in the chaos, not in the beautiful power of destruction, but the Lord appeared in the silence--in a gentle blowing wind. I believe that what the Lord was (silently) saying in that moment was, "Be STILL and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

Are you in the middle of chaos right now too? I think we all are. Take some time to be still. It's hard, I know! Trust me, I know! But chaos can be a precious time of learning too. Let's learn from Mary, who took time to ponder and treasure what God spoke to her. If we don't take the time to be still in the middle of these moments, we may miss a valuable opportunity to experience the sweetness of God's presence. 

"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace"

~"Silent Night" by Joseph Mohr & Frans Gruber, 1818

The Advent of Waiting

 Have you ever heard the advice, "if you don't know what to do, wait?" I don't know about you, but wait is one of my least favorite words. When I'm seeking an answer, there's an urgency in why I'm asking the question. When I'm seeking direction, there's a timeline in which I need a response. Waiting for what I think I need is torturous!

Ironically, my favorite season of the year is Advent. A season of preparing for Christmas. A season of celebration, hope, peace, joy, & love. But did you know that advent is also the season of waiting? Pastor Joel Solomon summarized it well when he said, "Advent is not four weeks of Christmas. It is rather, a season of hopeful, aching, and watchful waiting amidst the very conditions--depravity, disease, division, despair, death--that made Christmas necessary at all."

Advent is about waiting for God to fulfill His promises. In Christianity, it's the rich reminder of a season of waiting and longing for a Savior; of the promise God gave that He would rescue His people, and the waiting that lasted for hundreds of years, culminating in the Christmas celebration of that Savior. Advent is a reminder of the waiting season we still endure. And within the waiting we find four themes: hope... peace... joy... and love! 

But that doesn't make the waiting easy. The waiting season is still oh so painful. Yet the hope we find in waiting makes it worthwhile. The peace we find in waiting makes it endurable. The joy we find in waiting makes it enjoyable. And the love we find in waiting makes it all worthwhile.

Scripture is packed full of encouragement to wait on the Lord. Verse after verse admonishes us to wait. "I will wait on the Lord. My soul does wait, and in His word, I hope." (Psalm 130:5) "Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage as you wait on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14) "I waited patiently for the Lord and He turned to me and heard my cry." (Psalm 40:1)

Scripture shows us time and again that those who wait are not alone in their waiting. And yet, the waiting season can feel very lonely. When we are looking for an answer and not seeing the direction we need, it's easy to lose hope, or even turn again the One we trust. I love how Isaiah 40:27-31 describes this position in The Message paraphrase:

"Why would you ever complain that God has lost track of time? That He doesn't care what happens to you. Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts! He is Creator of all you can see or imagine. he doesn't get tired out, or pause to catch His breath. He knows everything inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people get tired. Even those in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait on God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. They run and don't get tired. They walk and don't lag behind."

Are you in a season of desperate waiting right now? Great! You're in good company. I pray that as you wait, you feel the company of all of us who are waiting alongside you. I pray you feel the Lord's presence give you "fresh strength" as you lean into His loving goodness. May we wait on God together and declare that in the Advent season, there is hope for the desperate. There is peace in the turmoil. There is joy in the pain. And most of all, there is love for the broken.

Come thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in Thee

Israel's strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth Thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart

"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" (Hymn)
~Charles Wesley, 1744