Pieces, Plans & Peace

You know who you are. 

When a friend asks you to do something, you immediately check your calendar and figure out when you can negotiate a social outing.

When there's a church event, school project, or t-ball party, you are put in charge of the festivities.

When someone mentions a vacation, you immediately check airline prices.

Planners of the world....Unite!

Ok, maybe the process isn't as dramatic as all that, but for a lot of us, maybe most of us, planning is something that we take refuge in. After all, a plan gives us the sense that we can ensure that what we want to happen, will happen. It's our way of exerting our imprimatur on the events of our lives. Sure, our very breath is dependent upon God's grace, but somehow we think we can look into the future and dictate what will face. We're given part of the puzzle and think we have the ability to figure out the rest.

But it rarely works like that. 

Instead, many of the times, maybe most of the time, God gives us a piece of the plan. He tells us "Do this; this is the next right thing" and our job is to follow Him in faith.  When He's silent, when He hasn't told us the next move, our job is to rest in His peace as the plan is revealed. We don't obtain peace by trying to figure out the remaining pieces of the puzzle, He's promised that peace comes from Him, not the plan. 

May we faithfully do whatever God has called us to today, and leave the rest of the plan, in His hands.







Question: In what area is it hardest to trust in God's plan for your life?

One Mind

Reading through the book of Ephesians, one quickly realizes that Paul has an inspired concern for the Ephesus church; namely that the Church reflect the unity that is proper for the body of Christ. After all, it is rare that the parts of an individual's body act out of concert with one another and when they do, it's time to call in Dr. House and his famed diagnostic team. Individually, our bodies were designed so that our feet, our hands, our heart and our mind would all be working toward a common goal, whether that goal is to digest food, or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

In the case of the body of Christ, the same thing is true and in Ephesians 2:6-7, Paul demonstrates what this goal should be.  All believers should be actively demonstrating the abundance of Christ's grace.  In saving us, God desires to use our lives to draw others to Him.  Whether we are interacting with family or interacting with strangers, whether we are alone or in a crowd, our lives should be a constant reflection of God's grace to us, because we are constantly reflecting on His kindness expressed in grace. Demonstrating the abundance of His riches towards us is the singular goal of our lives, not to proclaim our own worth, but in acknowledging our unworthiness, to proclaim the magnitude of His kindness. In recognizing that our lives our worthless apart from His grace, we display the costly and incomparable sacrifice of His life.  God choose us to be a demonstration of His kindness and grace not by merely being kind and gracious to others, but by telling of His kindness and grace to us.

May we keep this focus in mind. And may this be the common focus of all Christians' lives.




How do you keep your focus on reflecting Christ? 

A Cry for Others

Somewhere in most of our childhoods, we have a recollection of a time where we were criticized for being who we are. (For the less fortunate of us, we may have several memories.) For me, this time came when a classmate was hurting, and in comforting them, tears welled up in my own eyes too. I quickly learned that this type of sensitivity wasn't received well on the playground of life, and that in order to survive the schoolyard jungle, I had to learn to deal with my emotions in a less public, less noticeable way.

Much to my own chagrin, I was very successful at accomplishing this task. However, the older I get, the more I realize the gift that it is to weep and rejoice for others. After all, I'm convinced, that a one sign of maturity is that I cry for others more than I cry for myself. For in doing so, I recognize not only how small my life is, but the greatness in helping others make their life better.  When I'm more concerned about the hungry, then I am about my inconveniences, when my care for the dying supersedes my concerns over traffic, then my life is more reflective of my Savior's  for He is the One who wept over the city He loved (See Luke 19:41)

May my cries for others always be louder than my own.



How do you rejoice and weap with others?