Simple Journey

I want to know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life... --Mike Donehey, 10th Ave. N.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Psalm 40

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. [a]

5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced [b] , [c] ; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. [d]

8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me.

12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.

14 May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

15 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!" be appalled at their own shame.

16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"

17 Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

Footnotes: 1. Psalm 40:4 Or to falsehood 2. Psalm 40:6 Hebrew; Septuagint but a body you have prepared for me (see also Symmachus and Theodotion) 3. Psalm 40:6 Or opened 4. Psalm 40:7 Or come / with the scroll written for me

I opened my mouth the day before yesterday. Well, actually, I opened my computer really. I saw something I felt called upon to respond to in a rather long-winded fashion. Not out loud, of course, just through my fingers on the keyboard. But it was posted to a forum seen by others, some of whom I don't even know. When I saw a comment the next day, I wondered: "Was I wrong to respond to the questions I had seen, aimed directly at me?"

I decided to trust God with this one. It's often hard for me to trust God with things. I see what I think should be righted, or corrected, or realigned, and I think it my job to do it. There are so few who see straight these days, and I sometimes think I'm one of them. I fear I am arrogant in a backhanded kind of way without ever knowing it. But didn't Jesus call us to be salt and light to the world?

"A city set on a hill cannot be hid", and "if the salt has lost its flavor, it is good only to be thrown out the door and trampled under foot." - Jesus

I fell to wondering how a devoted disciple could know the right thing to do in this society of people who fear the emotions of others and quail in the face of strong words.

Then I open the Bible and start reading. I've been reading the Bible in 90 Days along with my church, and this morning I was hoping to catch up again. I would need to read about 50 Psalms this morning to do that. Knowing I probably would fall asleep before I got a chance, I set out to read 10. When I got to 10 I decided to read to 15, as I was getting sleepy again. I struggled to keep my eyes open and not drop the mostly empty coffee cup in my hand (that was how I was keeping myself awake, not drinking coffee, just holding the cup!). I kept reading on because I knew if I'd kept my eyes open for 20 Psalms I could do it for 5 more. This is how I at last reached 40. I was about to stop when I noticed a section break across the page and decided to finish that section: Book I. Psalms of David, my favorite hero of the Bible, as he was a singer.

As I read Psalm 40 I was suddenly shaken out of my doze by the underlining I'd placed on verse 5, years ago, I don't remember why. But verse 9 opened my eyes even wider: "I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;I do not seal my lips,as you know, O LORD." Oh yes, You know, Lord! I certainly have not kept my mouth shut like a good little woman. I have not appeared meek and coy and retiring in the presence of my "betters", or in front of "non-believers" as I was taught to do as a good Christian model for girls. I really did it this time. I said just what I thought, answered those questions from a confused boy straight head-on, I did. I really tried to be compassionate and understanding of his youth. I really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt - HIS doubt, not mine. I seriously wanted to share the Truth with him.

He really was doubting, that boy, if not downright mislead. Maybe I felt a little defensive. Maybe I got just a tiny bit up on my high horse. Maybe I was carried away just a smidgen by the sentiment expressed in verse 15: "May those who say to me, 'Aha! Aha!' be appalled at their own shame." Maybe, without realizing it, I wished "may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace" and "be put to shame and confusion"(vs.14). Maybe I hadn't had the right motivation, or the right Spirit...

It's so hard for me to tell sometimes: "...my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see." (vs. 12). And now I began to fear "troubles without number surround me" and will be "more than the hairs of my head" (vs. 17). Maybe those who've read my answer or who will read it are going to say I've behaved incorrectly, even sisters and brothers of my faith. Maybe other young people are going to despise my name, and will cause trouble for my daughter whom they know. Maybe I've just done the stupidest thing in the world!

"But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation always say,

'The LORD be exalted!'"

"Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;

may your love and your truth always protect me."

What should I do? Should I write a mea culpa? But I said nothing wrong, really, only answered the questions the best I could. Why this feeling of wrong-doing then? Or is it just fear, am I simply unable to stand behind my words as I claimed I would do, a coward at the last?

"Yet I am poor and needy;

may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

O my God, do not delay."

I prayed, "If I've done wrong, Lord, then You correct me, please. If it wasn't Your voice I heard, then let me be deaf. Put to death this spirit of falseness, this desire to do right, to correct those lost in the confusion, to lead them to a better understanding of You."

"Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;

O LORD, come quickly to help me."

"Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;

may your love and your truth always protect me."

Then my eyes drifted up again to the preceding verses:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but my ears you have pierced (opened);

burnt offerings and sin offerings

you did not require.

"Then I said, 'Here I am, I have come—

it is written about me in the scroll.

'I desire to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.'"

And there I was back again:

"I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;

I do not seal my lips,

as you know, O LORD.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.

I do not conceal your love and your truth

from the great assembly."

Wasn't that where all this started? With me opening my mouth? So maybe.... maybe it was the right thing to do after all. Oh bother! I'll never figure this out, I'm a simple human with quite a simple mind here. How can I possibly fathom the intent of GOD?! I figured all that's left for me to do is trust: trust His grace and mercy, trust His infinite wisdom, trust His amazing love beyond all other things.

"I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD. "

Resting in that thought I felt the most amazing peace come over my heart and soul. Never since my childhood days have I felt anything like it. The thought that I am not required to figure out the complexities and purities of God's own will in the midst of my sinful, human condition is so freeing, it is like being a young child again. There is nothing to compare with this - not wine, not friendships, not physical pleasures, not drugs, not mental pleasures, not even music itself - no thing on earth, not anything, can possibly equal the peace of letting God be God. This peace which passes all understanding is the greatest treasure I have found.

"Blessed is the man

who makes the LORD his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods."

Oh yes, blessed!

"Many, O LORD my God,

are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us

no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare."

So I will stop declaring for a while, and let one more "wonder" do the talking for itself. Maybe I didn't get all 50 Psalms read today, but I think something more important was accomplished.

"And now may the peace off God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen".

Simply and peacefully yours,

Patty

Monday, October 12, 2009

On the Lighter Side

Traditional Mac and Cheese It Is Not!

I just tried to put together the WW recipe (a filling foods recipe) that purports to be "traditional" mac & cheese. Well, I have to confess, I did not do all the ingredients or all the steps, as my college age daughter was starving and breathing down my neck. I just cooked the noodles in one pan, while I threw the two cheeses and a little milk in another pan. It seemed similar to what you do when you buy the boxes, right?

Wrong!

After a minute the milk began to heat up enough to melt the cheeses, and it looked at first as if I was going to have an A-1 cheese sauce for my FF mac and cheese. But suddenly it did NOT look like a sauce, as it separated and looked like something you don't want to think about if you're about to eat.

Well, I took it off the heat, and stirred and stirred, then it became very stringy and chewy, almost like caramel.

I threw it in with the drained macaroni, thinking that would help it. But I tell you, that cheese took on a life of its own! It refused to marry itself in any way, shape, or form to the noodles. It sits in globs among them, but that is it! And if you try to scoop some pseudo mac & cheese onto a plate or bowl, you can never sever the cheesy strings that come along.

I tasted it, just to see. It is palatable, but just. And it is most definitely NOTHING like traditional mac & cheese!! LOL!

I hope you've enjoyed this little kitchen encounter of mine. I know I have. I enjoyed laughing at myself trying to provide a fattening meal with no fat for our daughter who has been away at college and therefore is not tuned into my fat free existence yet.

Have a nice day. I'm off to find some REAL mac & cheese, ready-made at the store - for my daughter, not me! 6:D

P.S. Yes, I know I did not follow the recipe as I ought to have. But what I want to know is, would it really have made any difference?

I shared that on the Weight Watchers website, and people got a kick out of it. But I thought it could have another application. Now doesn't this just apply very well to our walk as Christians? Sometimes we get in a hurry, or I know I do! And we want to see results NOW, Lord! We're tired of waiting, and we've done what we should all along - we think to ourselves.

Wrong!

You forgot to include ALL the ingredients in the recipe. So, what did you leave out? Let's see:

Bible - check! Prayer - check! Meditation/prayer time - check! Fellowship - check!

What's missing? This seems like a pretty exhaustive list to me. I mean, I even included TIME, which is what I usually prefer to leave out.

Well, I'm not saying you'll get immediate results, but there is one more thing I've found I must have in my recipe before it even begins to resemble the joy-filled Christian life spoken of in the Bible: Forgiveness.

You see, if I have all my ducks in a row, and I'm still holding out for something from someone who I think deserves to give it to me, I get nowhere. I just go on treading water, or running in place like a hamster on a wheel, wondering what's wrong. The best and most immediate results I've ever gotten in this life have come after I stop expecting some other human being to provide something I think I need before I can move forward. This doesn't mean my life is always perfect when I've forgiven someone, and everything flows smoothly in the direction I want it to. But it does mean I can begin again to move forward, and I certainly lose a lot of dead weight, extra baggage, from my sinking boat. The recipe does begin to resemble the one I've come to use most often for my direction.

Next time, follow the Recipe - oh I don't mean my little one up there. That one's for me. I mean the one in the Book. Take it and make your own recipe for life from it. I know I will, or at least try to from now on! And don't let someone else decide the state of your Walk.

Simply yours, Patty

Saturday, October 10, 2009

"Those dumb Kings," I keep thinking. "When WILL they ever learn?"

I've been reading the Bible In Ninety Days, or BIND, as we affectionately call it, along with my church. I have just finished the books of I and II Kings, which is a chronicling of why the writer thought God allowed the Israelites to be defeated and taken off to Babylon in captivity. I continually asked myself, "Why can't those blundering kings get it right??"

But I suppose I wouldn't have been any better. How much am I tempted by the material things in my culture? I don't want to admit. But wasn't that the Israelites' problem too? They wanted what they saw the pagans having: sensual and material pleasures. Don't we all?

I was struck this morning when I read the prayer of Jabez and realized he did not ask at all in order to contribute more to God's kingdom - he just asked. (I know I'm leaping ahead here.) I think I tend to judge the Israelites too harshly, now that I realize the surrounding culture was already rife with the Godlessness they sank to. And growing up, the kids' Bible stories we were read painted the Bible heroes as such god-like figures themselves, not subject to normal human needs really. But they weren't, they were simple humans, only their devotion was often single-minded and their purpose unswayed by those around them.

How do we get this same devotion and single-mindedness in the midst of our fallen society? The Israelites failed often too, so we needn't imagine we are any less able than they were because we don't always see success. God honored faithfulness late in life, even after someone had lived a life full of sin, if he or she turned to God at the last.

So we can reach for the gold (so to speak), no matter what came before. We can keep our eyes on the prize, our hand to the plow. We CAN be people of purpose, God's Purpose, in spite of all the shortcomings we see in ourselves.

Somehow, Israel's failure inspires me more than if they had always done the right thing.

What about you?

Simply yours,

Patty

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Joshua 7: 10

“The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?’”

I love this scene. Joshua, like me and a whole lot of other people, immediately assumed he had screwed up big time, since Israel got “routed” out of Ai. I wanted to hear Joshua say, “What the h-e-double-hockey-stick do You think I’m doing down here?! You're the one who told us to do this when we've sinned, for crying out loud. Now You ask me what I'm doing? I don't think so! I don't think so...”

But along comes God and says, “What the hey? I’m not mad at you. Why ever would I be mad at you?? Get out of your self-centered depression and self-doubt and self-deprecation, and get out there and show them who’s boss, for My sake already!”

I love it. God is so funny sometimes!

Do you ever feel like that sometimes? I mean, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we can get downright depressed about it. Sometimes we can feel like there's absolutely no way we can get out of this hole we're in, and it's all our own dumb fault. All we can even think of doing is simply lying down flat on our faces and waiting till something good happens again. Cuz there's no way on earth we're gonna put ourselves out there again until we know for certain exactly how to do what it is we're trying to do, if we're supposed to be doing it in the first place! Do you ever feel like that? Boy, I sure do!

But along comes God - surprise! Yes, there still is a God, even though evidence of Him is mighty lacking right now, it may seem. Just like in Joshua's case, we did what was right, we followed the rules, we lead the people in the right direction, we were carrying out our destiny. What went wrong? So horribly, terribly wrong? We get down on our knees, even on our faces sometimes, and pray and search our hearts and wait. And wait. And wait. On our faces. For a long time.

Then along comes God. "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? I never told you to get down on your face, did I? I told you to go out and get the enemy! So get out there! But first make sure you have all the right people with you, and they follow my rules to a T."

"Ok... So You don't want me on my face?" says Joshua, or me, or you. "That's right," says God. "I want you up on your feet! Working for Me!"

"Wow," I say. That is truly awesome. I messed up in some way, I know I did, but He doesn't want me grovelling, bowing, scraping, genuflecting, etc. He wants our hearts humble, yes. But in our humility He wants us active! Alive! Standing straight and tall in the work He gives us to do. And He does give us work.

To Joshua He gave the job of clearing out the false gods from among the people of Israel, so they would again be brave in their trust in their One True God.

To us He gives the job of clearing out other false gods, so we can be brave and stand tall in His calling. Right now He is calling Lake Grove Presbyterian Church to cast off other time consumers and steep ourselves in the knowledge of His Word. For some of us this has meant a clearing of focus, simplifying our days. For others it means adding one thing more, but this one thing so profoundly trumps the others we wonder why we haven't done it before. Still others find ourselves in a race to get our reading done, yet oddly intrigued by the archaic stories of God's revelation to His people of who He really is.

As God calls us to get up off our faces and do His work of learning about Him, we prepare for the first step of taking this knowledge out to the parts of the world He sends us into. May we remember those messages He wants us to remember from His Word, precisely, and may we keep false gods away so we may be brave to do the work He gives us to do.

So remember, next time you find yourself wondering what went wrong, don't simply fall on your face and wait for the answer. Keep working. Keep praying, but keep working at His work, whatever it is for you.

And I'll be working right beside you.

We are one in the Spirit,

We are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit,

We are one in the Lord.

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love,

By our love,

Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other,

We will walk hand in hand.

We will walk with each other,

We will walk hand in hand.

And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land,

And they'll know we are Christians by our love,

By our love,

Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other,

We will work, side by side,

We will work with each other,

We will work, side by side,

And we'll guard each one's dignity, and save each one's pride,

And they'll know we are Christians by our love,

By our love,

Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

I hope this little blog has encouraged you a little for Today.

Simply yours,

Patty