Arise

Watering:

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?

…

Arise, O Lord!
O God, lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the humble.

…

But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.

…

Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart

(Psalm 10)

Watching:

David never pulls any punches when he talks with God;

he is always authentic

… but he always stays put and waits.

He reminds himself of what he has known in the past.

And so, he waits for the God he knows,

planted firm

… ready to be changed by a God that hears.

Wondering:

Things are running amuck:

Craziness.

Covid.

Conspiracy

Death

Destruction

Despair

Like David, it is easy to see the evil all around. It is easy to forget who’s the enemy.

Even harder to remember Who has already won.

We are scattered into the darkness – sent as stars to shine

But Truth is, we’re tarnished

The Truth is, we’re needy.

The Truth is we’ve forgotten how to shine.

Arise oh morning Star – in our hearts first – and show us once again how it’s done.

We are waiting

… for the One

Joining up with Five Minute Friday

Watering:

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:3

Watching and Wondering:

In the morning,

In the beginning of each new day

Before my mind shakes away its sleepy fog

Before my heart finds a thought to pounce

Before my body bullies its way to urgency

You will hear me

Yes, I will greet the love of my life.

 

In the morning

As Night stretches thin its midnight mask

Shifting sure to Morning’s icy blue

I will listen for Your voice

and I will wait

for the One who scraped my heart from Life’s trodden roads

Who held it firm with love, and formed it fresh,

brand new

for the One who gave Life to what was dead in me.

for the One who fashioned for me each day,
    when yet there were none

 

In the morning

You will hear me

and I will wait

For You who takes my breath away

with the whisper of my name

For You who soars on the wings of the wind

Yet hears my every cry,

For You who ushers in the sunrise

and wraps each day in Hope

 

In the morning,

You will hear me

and for You alone

I will wait.

 

Psalm 59:16

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Complete

Watering:

 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

 

Watching:

God had finished what he was doing.

Finished. Done. Complete.

Then Satan came, and did his thing. And Eve came and did her thing. And then God wasn’t finished anymore…

until Jesus.

Until the cross.

Until one more time – forever- he could say,

“It is finished.”

Done.

Complete.

Wondering:

I write. But I am never done. When I go back and reread, given the slightest change in mood, I could revise forever. The only rest of completion I ever have is turning away from my work and never looking at it again.

 

But God is not me – He is complete. In all ways.

And his works are complete. In all ways.

 

So maybe, just maybe… he sees me as complete? Perfect? Not needing any revising?

 

Ha. Both he and I know that is not even remotely true

… or is it?

“And you are complete in Him,

who is the head of all rule and authority.”

 

“Because I trust concerning this, that he who has begun good work in you

will complete it until the day of our Lord Yeshua The Messiah.”

 

But I have to wonder then: is “complete” a verb or an adjective? ( I am complete – adjective. He will complete… verb)

 

Maybe completion, isn’t static, but living motion.

Maybe stamping a seal of completion, is based on the living, working-it-out intention of the vision at its creation.

Maybe it’s perfect love – and not a perfect me –  that can bring the peace of His rest on this desperately  imperfect heart.

 

 

I am complete,

knit together with un-stringed love and numbered days,

with all my hair follicles perfectly accounted for.

 

It is finished.

In the apple of his eye,

and the timeline of his palm

…I am complete.

Complete

Watering:

 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

 

Watching:

God had finished what he was doing.

Finished. Done. Complete.

Then Satan came, and did his thing. And Eve came and did her thing. And then God wasn’t finished anymore… until Jesus.

Until the cross.

Until one more time – forever- he could say,

“It is finished.”

Done.

Complete.

Wondering:

I write. But I never finish. When I go back and reread, given a slight change in mood, I could revise forever. The only rest of completion I ever have is turning away from my work and never looking at it again.

 

But God is not me – He is complete. In all ways. And his works are complete. In all ways.

 

So maybe, just maybe… he sees me as complete? Perfect? Not needing any revising?

 

Ha. Both he and I know that is not even remotely true… or is it?

“He will complete that which he began.”

… in him, I am complete.

 

So, I have to wonder: is “complete” a verb or an adjective?

 

Maybe perfection isn’t static, but living motion.

Maybe stamping a seal of completion, is based on the intention of the vision at its creation.

Maybe it’s perfect love – and not a perfect me –  that can bring the peace of His rest on this desperately  imperfect heart.

 

 

I am complete,

knit together with un-stringed love and numbered days,

with all my hair follicles perfectly accounted for.

 

It is finished.

In the apple of his eye,

and the timeline of his palm

…I am complete.

And he rested

Watering:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Watching:

Done. Finished. Voila! … … And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Then He rested.

Apparently God never does that. Rests, that is. That was the one and only day.

All thought, all creation, all systems set.

All dreams planned, all lives known -from beginning to end.

Every star named, quantum physic theorum executed and inner beings wired for action. A nucluear explosion of Love

… and then God chilled.

This no-working thing was a BIG deal.

Wondering:

What did God do that day of rest? How did He enjoy what He had just done? Climb Mt. Everest? Travel the depths of the ocean floor? Hang out with the lion and the lamb?

No, I’m pretty sure God spent it with His children

watching them enjoy His gift

waiting for the next amazing ‘first’

smiling at each discovery

He was, after all, a father.

And I bet my whispering breath that He spent that day of rest simply in love with His children – enjoying their ever-waking moment.

And He called it a blessed day. A holy day. A day worth memorializing forever,

…because it would be a long time before he’d say “It is finished” again

~~~

Waiting:

Lord, I don’t rest well. Caught up in the busy-ness of all I think is important, I forget what truly is important. Help me remember. Help me hang up my hat and just be. Help me recall, remember, re-create that sense of knowing that you finished what you started — even in me. I want to learn to rest in You and simply be part of creation that whispers, “I love you, and thank you”

… I don’t tell you nearly enough.

“Don’t Quarrel on the Way!”

 

 

Watering:

Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”

 

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Exodus 17:7

 

Watching:

Quarreling draws the line and says, “I’m right, you’re wrong.”

Quarreling leaves the Creator out of the picture altogether, and forgets that He is listening.

Quarreling births empty words – ripe with hurt – and leads to confusion and doubt.

… and here’s the clincher: this statement wasn’t even addressed to them and the idea of the arguing with their enemies. This was about quarreling among themselves!

 

We are not instructed to agree.

… we are instructed to

stop quarreling!

 

Wondering:

If I don’t take captive every word, before it exits my mouth,

If I don’t wrestle it, hog tie it and walk away,

If I don’t first take my complaint to God and place all my ‘rightness’ on the altar

… then quite simply I have failed.

Sinned.

 

The enemy is looking for us to fall flat on our faces – cheering us on to “speak our minds.”

The enemy, and our own self-consumed selves, goad us on to

Argue which “side” is right,

Argue which anointing is real,

Argue which truth is more true…

But ultimately, at the heart of it all, our quarrel is not with man but with God.

 

“Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

This question is not inherently wrong – no question is. When we ask with sincerity and humility, bringing our cares straight to the God of all truth and comfort and love, He listens. He answers.

But, on the flip side, I can take a question – dressed in impatience and arrogance – and spit it out to a watching world. In the end, all that is accomplished is testing God with sarcasm, doubt and misguided truth.

I have a choice.

 

Waiting:

Lord, help shut my mouth. Change my heart and forgive me. You are so above any stupid quarrel or point of argument. If I cannot speak the Truth in love that is real and grounded in relationship, then I better shut up.

 It is never about being right…

it is always about love wrapped in grace and mercy.

Noticing

Watering:

 

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.

 

Watching:

We will always find what we are looking at…

If we are looking at things to worry about,

or thundering Goliaths to cower under,

or a world going to hell in a hand basket… they will fill our view.

But the Truth is:

the whole earth is filled with his wonders.

The Truth is:

these wonders deserve our awe.

 The Truth is:

from the first peak of sunshine to its last, God calls for Joy to be sung.

 

Wondering:

The goodness of Life is smack in front of my nose. It is my choice whether I see it or not, whether I pay attention to it or bury it under all the “disses” of the enemy

distractions

disillusionments

discouragements

disappointments

 

It takes work to see each day as brand new.

It takes guts to see beyond the subtle despair and focus on the beauty and abundance of every day life.

It takes eyes to see and ears to hear… that

 

God is good.

He is loving, all knowing and kind.

He is not rattled by my foolishness, nor “put off” by my questions.

He is merciful and faithful

and keeps his word in each turning of this planet.

 

Everyday he whispers.

Everyday he waits.

And every. single. day… he creates joy

orchestrating its song to be sung…

 

Will I listen?

Will I sing?

 

Waiting:

Lord, today, I will remind myself that You are good. All the time.

Today, Jesus, I will awaken the dawn.  I will leave behind my grave clothes, and let you drape your robe and your rightness on me…

I will listen

and I will sing your song of Joy.

 

watchful eyes

 

Watering:

 

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.  All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

1 Samuel 22:1-2

 

Watching:

David left. He boogied. Exit stage left… He fled.

He didn’t take anything with him.

He wasn’t trying to build an army, or make a case for his “cause.” He was escaping. Into a cave… and people around him were watching.

Here was a once great and mighty king

now in distress,

unable to be content or at peace where he was

… like them.

Someone who could see life from their side of the lens.

This man, they were willing to follow.

 

Wondering:

When life is hard, escape has its place and its purpose… and God has his.

 

I wonder,

how many people are looking toward me when hard times come – hoping for a glimpse of what life, when it’s tough, looks like for someone who claims the ear of God?

 

I wonder,

if all of David’s trials weren’t mainly for those waiting, watching, hoping with every cell of their being, that his God could be real for them as well?

 

Waiting:

Lord, don’t let me ever think that this is all about me. Give me an eye and a heart for those “in distress, in debt or discontent” … Let my life lead them to the One who never leaves. Never forsakes. Always loves.

 

Watering Today

Prov 26; ps 26, 126, 1 Samuel 22; 1 Kings 10,11;  Acts 26

Not Coated in Chocolate

 

Watering:

 

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

Exodus 17:7

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Watching:

Meribah means quarreling.

Massah means testing.

The people of Israel had seen the Lord work – up close and personal. They had witnessed their enemy routed. They had stood on dry ground between the walls of a mighty sea.

They had seen

… and just as quickly had forgotten.

Or worse, maybe they were just never satisfied.

Maybe they had let themselves become the spoiled kid who whines for a gift but is satisfied only at its giving – soon discarded, when another ‘want’ comes within view. Gimme gimme!

 

“Do not harden your heart as you did that day when you tested me asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Our hearts are left as pillars of salt when we look back with longing at the gift,

instead of ahead with trust in the Giver.

 

Wondering:

Don’t let your heart get hard.

Don’t let it get cold.

I look across my classroom, across the air waves, and interwoven on the web, and it is so easy to feel the finger of wickedness infiltrating its frigid despair.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold

Matthew 24:12

So, exactly how do we keep our hearts warm when death and destruction circle around like a hungry pack of wolves? How do we keep our hearts soft when doubt and despair tighten their grip like a long and hard winter?

… How do we keep the love from growing cold?

Yet here are the directions, as clear as the sun rising beyond my window:

Don’t quarrel.

Don’t test God with hoops to jump through or complaints to cure.

Don’t question the faithfulness of his presence saying,“Is the Lord is among us or not?” This is a question we should ask of ourselves – to water our mustard seeds –not a question to wag a finger in doubt.

We are reminded to daily

forget not all his benefits … and trust.

The truest trust.

 

Simple.

Not easy.

 

Needful.

Not candy-coated.

 

Waiting:

Jesus, let repentance keep soft my heart.

Let thankfulness keep humble my thoughts.

Let your Truth keep strong my spirit.

 

 

You Have Stayed Long Enough

Watering:

 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

Watching:

The children of Israel have been wandering.

In a desert.

For a long time.

And now, finally, it’s time to get off the mountain.

It’s time to go face their enemy and grab their inheritance.

It’s time to come down from the mountain and get to work.

God is making it quite clear,

“You’ve been here long enough… I’ve taught you. Now, go.”

 

Wondering:

I love mountains.

I love mountain climbing.

I love the hope of a mountain’s peak.

Few ventures so closely mirror the struggles of Life, and the triumph of Grace.

… which makes the mountaintop a very hard place to leave!

But Life isn’t lived on the summit. It’s lived in the valleys, along the rivers, and on the flats. And like the child being pulled to leave a toy store, we can leave a mountain kicking and screaming and end up disintegrating into a lot of unpleasantness if we have forgotten why we went in the first place:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

… He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”

Prayer:

Jesus. I love your mountain tops. I love learning from you where my heart can stretch its wings and soar… Help me remember and embrace the valleys where I get to practice everything you’ve taught.

 

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