Just Showing Up

I recently expressed my appreciation to someone who has consistently and for a long time been a tremendous influence in my life. With complete honesty, he replied that he “just shows up.” He explained that what he meant was that he shows up where God places him and then allows the Holy Spirit to work and speak through him. He takes little or no credit for any positive effects that he seems to engender: he just makes himself available to the Holy Spirit.

I’m starting to see what he means. I’ve recently had two people thank me for what they saw as significant contributions that I had made in their development. My reaction in both cases was a from-the-heart “I just showed up.” I really had no sense of having worked hard to help them nor did I feel in any way like some miracle worker with magical powers. I had been there, had certainly tried to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit (but I would not guess that I had been entirely successful) – and that is all.

In a similar way, I recently spent three days on a major project which God had paced before me. In the past, such a project would have been so daunting that I might not have started it or, if I had, it would have consumed my every thought and all of my energy, both physical and emotional. This time was different. As much as I didn’t want to start the work, I knew this is what God wanted and so, by His grace and not without a heartfelt prayer or two (or three), I simply showed up. I did that for three mornings with each morning turning into a full day of work. And at the end of three days, not only was I not spent or wound like a top, but the job was done and was done nicely. God wanted something done and He just needed me to show up. The rest was His doing.

I wonder what He has in mind tomorrow should I be willing to just show up.

Fighting the Battles

I have a couple of major battles in my life (who doesn’t?!). To be perfectly honest, I don’t often feel like fighting them. And hey, I tell myself, isn’t God on the throne? Can’t He fight – and win – these battles without my help? Didn’t God tell the Israelites, “YHWH will fight for you; you need only be still” (Ex 14:14)? And didn’t Jesus say to turn the other cheek?

But I have this sneaking suspicion that I am just multiplying excuses for not doing what is unpleasant, time-consuming, emotionally draining and even a little scary (after all, my enemies may hit back). I am reminded of all the times God requires His people to do something as part of the battle that He wins. For every time He sovereignly and independently wins a battle for His people, it seems like there are at least a dozen other times when He tells them to do such-and-such and the battle will be won – still miraculously but with their human cooperation.

I think of all the times David and Joshua were given specific battle plans. I think of Jonathan and his armor bearer stepping out in faith alone against the entire Philistine army saying, “Nothing can hinder YHWH from saving, whether by many or by few” (1 Sam 14:6). Would God have even fought those battles without a person’s cooperation?

I believe God wants me to put aside the easy, the safe and the enjoyable when He sounds the battle trumpet and calls me to war. I’d rather not, to be honest, but if He has called, who am I to second-guess the outcome? After all, He’s just asking me to show up and walk through any doors He sets before me. God is the one who does the real fighting that both gets the doors open and wins the war.

Obedience?

I know someone who believes with all his heart that he is obedient to the authority that God has placed over his life. I also know the person in that authority and know that he does not find his charge to be at all obedient except in doing things he wishes to do. The one in authority has tried in countless ways for a number of years to point this out but to no effect. The disobedience continues unabated while its very existence is denied firmly and without qualification. There is every evidence that the disobedient one is acting with a clear conscience.

Who is right? I would think it would be the one in authority who is able to judge whether or not the one in his charge is being disobedient. Sure, there might be times of misunderstanding, times when he has not made his direction clear. But surely not over the span of years, countless conversations, and various attempts at discipline.

Does this remind you of anyone? Most people I know believe they are obedient to God. Even atheists believe they are doing the right thing according to some moral code whose origin they can't quite explain. But perhaps more troubling are professing, Bible-believing, church-attending Christians who – despite years of admonitions from the pulpit, warnings from friends and the clear direction from the Word of God – pronounce themselves obedient when, by any objective reading of the God's Word, they are not.

The Bible tells us that a person’s conscience may become seared so that it is no longer effective – that the person may be able to walk in sin without even a twinge of guilt. I suspect it’s not an all-or-nothing condition: I think a conscience can become seared in a particular area.

So saying something’s right doesn’t necessarily make it so. Is there anyone in authority anywhere in your life who has been trying to tell you that your ways are not right? A boss, a pastor, a parent, a teacher or a professor? Can you still hear them?

Good Disasters

Just the other day I went for a very long bike ride. Half-way into the outward-bound leg of the journey I got a flat tire. Bad. I started walking. I met a man who told me there was a bike repair shop about three miles away – if it still existed. This was going to take hours. But I kept walking.

I came to a gas station. No help there. But while I stood around searching for bike repair shops on my iTouch, two separate people, in the midst of their own disasters, stopped to ask for directions. I was able to not only give them the direction they were seeking but, as we talked, I was also able to give them some additional advice about the problems they were experiencing – I had been their way before.

Back to walking. This time it occurred to me to ask God for a miracle – an angel, someone – anyone – who could help me.

Within two minutes I came upon another problem, another potential disaster: a traffic light was out on the busy road on which I was walking. And elderly lady had stationed herself in the intersection, directing traffic in an attempt to prevent an accident. She came over to me to talk and, before I knew it, she was offering to give me a ride to a bike repair shop.

I don't pretend to know all the good that God did that day in those situations but I do know that, had my tire not blown, had those two people not gotten lost, and had that particular traffic light not failed, the four of us would not have enjoyed the blessings we did. Oh, sure, we would have gone through the day without those difficulties but we certainly would not have know the pleasure of helping each other or of seeing God's hand at work. In fact, we probably wouldn't have noticed that the day had gone smoothly – we would have expected it.

Sure, these were very minor problems compared to the fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, oil spills, etc. that some people experience. I've experienced one or two “real” disasters in my life. But as with my experience on my bike, I've become convinced that God can and does work unimaginable good through what can often seem to be a unredeemable, unmitigated disaster.

Do You Really Want to be Friends?

As a parent, it is my job to not only tell my kids how to behave but to also teach them to choose to behave correctly. By teaching, I do not mean that I seek to instill in them a fear of punishment (although that may be necessary from time to time) but my goal is to instruct them to make correct choices themselves. To this end, I often try to explain the reason for my decision and I do this with increasing frequency, transparency and openness as they mature. It is one of my greatest pleasures when one of my children decides on his or her own to take an action or avoid an activity that I would have promoted or prohibited had I been required to make that decision for them.

I think this is at least part of what Jesus meant when He said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus doesn’t always want to be telling us what to do; He wants us to so know His heart that we naturally choose the same things He does. Two of the greatest figures of the Bible, Abraham and Moses, were described as friends of God. With both, God shared His heart and even discussed – a two-way conversation – His plans (e.g. Genesis 18:16-33).

But getting back to my kids, at least two of mine would sometimes prefer that I just tell them what to do. Getting to know my thinking and understanding my reasoning takes time and effort. And then there’s the added responsibility. If I tell them what to do and they do it, how much trouble can they get in? If they make the decision, they may make a mistake (which they don’t realize is all part of the process). But I want them to grow up and make wise choices because they see the wisdom, not because they are following a list of rules.

So when we read that Jesus wants to be friends with us, we may think what a nice sentiment that is. But are we willing to spend the time getting to know Him so that He can share His heart? Are we willing to let go of our ways of doing things and consider the possibility that there is a better way? Are we willing to spread our wings and try to fly, knowing that we may fall more than a few times? Or do we really want to stay immature and simply servants?

Beautiful Women

The other night I happened across a new television program, Rookie Blue, starring, among others, Missy Peregrym as Officer Andy McNally. As much as I enjoyed the show, I was really captivated by the beauty of Ms. Peregrym. I could have watched her for hours. Her looks, her smile, her (character’s) personality: wow! And there are other women, both on and off the screen, with whom I have been similarly taken. (As alluded to in a previous post, one such example is Drew Barrymore. Some of my other favorite celebrities are Sandra Bullock, Liv Tyler and Ellie Kemper.)

I realized that my appreciation of the beauty of these women, the enjoyment I experience watching them, and my desire to spend more (or some) time with them is but a small part of how God looks at us. After all, the Bible calls the Church (i.e. all true believers) the bride of Christ. Jesus delights in us, enjoys seeing us and wants to spend all of His time with us.

Wow.

My Relationship with Drew Barrymore

I'm a huge fan of Drew Barrymore. My kids would even say I'm infatuated with her. I love everything she does: I love pictures of her, movies she's in, talk shows on which she's a guest, everything. To me, she lights up the screen in way that is quite unusual. There is a joy she exudes that blesses me in that it uplifts me. I am a huge fan.

But she doesn't even know I exist.

Although I am not, I could be an even bigger fan. I could make it my business to know everything I could possibly know about her. I could devour celebrity magazines and watch celebrity “news” shows to make sure I was up on the latest developments in her life. I could read biographies – authorized and not. I could seek to know as much about her as is humanly possible.

And she still wouldn't know I exist.

As some do, I could start a fan website, a Facebook page devoted to Ms. Barrymore, anything at all to show my appreciation for her and to make others aware of her many wonderful qualities. I could do my part to encourage others to watch her movies and thereby increase her following. In short, I could seek to become her number-one fan.

And if she saw me on the street, she wouldn't even know who I was.

Although I may claim to know Drew Barrymore – and indeed, may know more about her than most people – she and I have no real relationship: I don't know her heart, her passions, her dreams, her heartaches. There's no intimacy.

Jesus has a lot of fans. And many are truly devoted and enthusiastic. But with how many does He have a true, two-way, intimate relationship? How many are just fans and not friends?

About many of His followers, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matt. 7:21-23)

Note all theses fans do for Him (prophesying, driving out demons, performing miracles). But they don't know His heart. There's no intimacy. And that's the only thing that matters.