Category: Help Moving Foward

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17 NIV

When I started writing I was told that everyone needs an editor.  I did not like that idea.  I didn’t want anyone interfering with the way I expressed myself.  After all, that’s why I wrote, to express myself, like it or not.

My mind changed when I took up the assignment of writing devotionals for the local paper.  Suddenly I felt responsible, to God and to others, to do things right.  So I made a decision.  I would submit every article I wrote to my husband for editing.  And, I would accept all his corrections and advice.    

Needless to say things got off to a rocky start.  I could not believe how fiercely my husband edited my work.  On at least one occasion he crossed out three-fourths of what I wrote.  Three-fourths!  Often he rejected my favorite and most clever sentences.  I did break down and cry at times, but I did not argue.  Why?  I wanted to help people learn about God and I trusted my husband.  He had wisdom.  I had blind spots.  I was in a habit of belaboring my points and being overdramatic or melodramatic.  Sometimes I showed off with the way I worded things and tried to look smart or clever.  I knew my husband was helping me mature as a writer.  And because I accepted his correction and direction, I knew what I wrote carried more power and had a proper focus.  I am so thankful for the help of someone who loved me, sharpened me, and helped fulfill God’s plan for me.  I now strongly believe in editors.  For writing, and for life.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “You show that you are a letter from Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3 NIV).  This verse is speaking to me a Christian.  It’s telling me that I am a letter from Christ and that people are reading me.  If people are reading me, I need an editor.  Because, I don’t just tend to write with over drama, melodrama, vanity, and blind spots, I tend to live that way.  And I am just now understanding that I am not on this earth to express my self.  I am here to express Him, Jesus- his nature, his love, his forgiveness.  For this reason, I try submit myself to trusted Godly counsel and correction.  For this reason I hand myself over if you will, so that God- through his Holy Word, his Spirit, and his people- can make marks on me, counsel me, correct me, and urge me on to a better and purer expression, not of me, but of he who is worthy of being made known.  Christ.          

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…  Colossians 3:16 ESV

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

Last night I watched the news and began to worry.  What if supplies run out and we have to spend 2 weeks on lock down for this Corona virus.  Do we have all we need? 

This morning I showed up at Kroger before the doors opened.  I did not grab a cart but went straight for the toilet paper.  When I had 2 packages I went back for a cart and began my hunt for two weeks’ worth of groceries, dried beans, yogurt… I was trying to remind myself to be kind and gracious which is a stretch for me when I’m worried and wanting.  If I could just get my stuff for two weeks I would be unworried and comfortable, then I could be kind and gracious.   

In the checkout line the lady behind me looked at my supplies and said, “Oh, they had Clorox spray? I didn’t know they had Clorox spray?”  “Would you like one?”  I asked.  “I picked up two and don’t really need both.”  She thanked me and took the one I handed her.    

As I headed for the exit I thought maybe I should just see if they still had another Clorox spray.  I could replace the one I had given away.  A little voice in my heart said “don’t… just trust.”  I didn’t heed it.  Instead I asked the gentleman at the self-checkout if I could leave my cart sit for a moment and went straight to aisle 19.  I picked up and paid for another Clorox spray (that kills 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses) and pushed my cart out the door.  I had gone four feet when something fell from my very full cart and hit the ground.  It was the Clorox spray.  The lid was now cracked and the liquid was pouring out on to the road.  As I picked up the ruined bottle what came to mind was moldy manna… 

When God supplied his people with manna in the wilderness he had one rule (Exodus 16).  Take only what you need for the day.  He was trying to teach them to trust him a day at a time.  Those who gathered to hoard found the manna molded if they kept it overnight.  I felt convicted.  I knew God brought this story to my mind as a caution to my heart.  He wants me to trust him deeply.  And this virus outbreak is a perfect opportunity for me to practice the trust I want to have.   

Will I walk by faith through this?  Will I allow my cart to be less full in order to leave room for trusting?  Will I train myself in this smaller crisis how to act in a bigger crisis?  Will I become the person I want to be when things get really hard and truly frightening?  Here is my opportunity to act on what I say I believe, that “God will supply all my needs according to his riches in glory” and that His mercies are indeed “new every morning.” 

Later that day I pulled out a devotional book I had not looked at in a long time.  When I turned to the bookmarked page here is what I read:

The Cure for Care

… Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:7 NASB

We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are indications of how wise we are.  We think we see the dangers of life clearly.  In reality, however, our fears are only an indication of how wicked we really are. 

As Charles G. Trumbull says,

“Worry is a sin; a black, murderous, God-defying, Christ-rejecting sin; worry about anything, at any time whatever.  We will never know victory over worry and anxiety until we begin to treat it as sin.  For such it is.  It is a deep-seated distrust of the Father, who assures us again and again that even the falling sparrow is in His tender care.”

The only way blunders and destruction can occur in our lives is when we forget to trust God.  When we take things into our own unskilled hands…

(Clippings from My Notebook– by Corrie Ten Boom)

Dear Lord,

Forgive me for trying to take comfort in a stock pile (toilet paper, paper towels, water bottles…)  I want to walk by faith and not by sight.  I want to heed your still small voice.  Teach me how to live with open hands and loose ends.  Help me to be generous like you.  Give me the grace I need to take faith steps each day.  Thank you for your Word.  It is a faithful corrector, a trainer and a guide, the truth.  Thank you for blessing me with a huge stock pile “in the heavenly realms” and “with every spiritual blessing in Christ!” (Ephesians 1:3)   

In Jesus name,

Amen.       

Finally, brothers and sisters, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable… think about such things.

Philippians 4:8-9 NIV

 

“Wounds from a friend can be trusted.”  Proverbs 27:6 NIV

When I was in college, a writing professor returned one of my papers with some remarks that were critical and upsetting.  I was living with my parents at the time and couldn’t wait to show the paper to my father, certain he would join me in my outrage.  When I returned home my father was working the night shift, so I left my paper on the kitchen table with a note that went something like this, “Dad, can you believe how this professor has criticized my work?”

The next morning I saw that my father had read my note and left a reply.  There in his bold handwriting were the words “Dana, I have read your paper, and I think your professor has made some valuable comments.”

“Valuable comments!”

I was mad.  And crushed.  I fumed around the kitchen muttering things like, “I thought you loved me!” and “Whose side are you on anyway?”

My tantrum lasted most of the morning.  And then it began to fizzle.  How could I argue against my father’s love?  How could I question whose side he was on?  On many occasions my father had sacrificed his own time to sit and help me write papers for school.  Often he had spent time talking with me about my future.  He helped me choose a college and was paying part of my expenses.  He was my academic cheerleader.  Why would he hurt me?

Love demanded it.  My father knew if I went to school with a hard and arrogant heart I would never become the person I could be.  He knew if he hurt me for a moment he could help me for a lifetime.

Our Heavenly Father loves us dearly.  Sometimes he will tell us tough things.  We should accept those things with a humble and teachable spirit, trusting that he is working for our good, even when it hurts.

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, 

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines those he loves…”

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;

but God disciplines us for our good,

that we may share in his holiness.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace

for those who have been trained by it.  Hebrews 12:5, 10-11 NIV   

 

 

 

 

 

On my writer’s Facebook page I once compared myself to a cook and my writing pieces to simmering stews.  Stews that I taste and test, as I try to understand what should be added, or altered, in order to make each one… perfect.  Months have passed since I shared that.  And now my so called kitchen is full of writing pieces that have never been served up.  What each piece needs to make it just right is a mystery to me.  Imagine if this were physical food, and I had a family or group of friends to feed?  Imagine if I stopped putting meals on the table in my home, because I couldn’t get each dish to turn out just great.  That would be ridiculous.  And sad.  And that is where I have been.  I am sorry readers.  I have missed serving those of you who have pulled up to my corner of God’s table.

So now I am thinking…. wouldn’t it be better to serve something instead of nothing?  Does a dish need to be perfect in order to nourish or comfort?  Have I been prideful– afraid to give and serve with my weakness showing?

Today, I remember Jesus perfect sacrifice on the cross, and how it came through his vulnerability, humility and nakedness.  I remember how Jesus told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  I think there is something for me to learn about serving weak and trusting God to show Himself strong.

I want to learn to serve this way, to dish up this humble pie, and give what I have to offer even if eggs shells are in the mix.  And I want to encourage you to do the same.  Let’s not aim for our own perfection, but trust God’s.  Let’s count on God to add what we lack– that missing ingredient, that special sauce, His amazing grace that redeems every dish, and day.

Dear Lord,  We are small.  And weak.  We often don’t know exactly what to say.  And we hardly ever know perfectly what to do.  But here we are.  We want to get out of our kitchens, and our homes, and ourselves, and serve others what you have given us to share.  We are not amazing.  But you are amazing.  You have reached out and rescued us.  Thank you.  Please rescue what we dish up and do today, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.