Psalm One Update - May 2019

What do I bring to the table?

Do you ever struggle with feelings of inadequacy? Or is it just me?

• Do you every feel like you can’t boil water? Everyone else seems so competent, confident, together. I can’t even get your laundry put away. My “to do” list keeps growing instead of shrinking.

• Are you ever intimidated by the size of the task? The entire world is hurting. The needs loom so large. Does anything I do make any difference at all?

• Social media will make you think everyone else has a better life, a stronger marriage, perfect kids, lots of money, a more effective ministry, more exotic vacations—and they have a side gig as a runway model. Comparison will eat your lunch.

One of the things God whispered to me during my last prayer pilgrimage was, “Bring yourself to the table.”

God does not call us to be Marvel superheroes. God will not ask me “How much were you like Moses?”, “How did you compare to Billy Graham or Mother Theresa or Wonder Woman?” 

Throughout Scripture, God asks us to bring whatever we have and put it in His hands.

• The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, " A staff." (Exodus 4:2)

• Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." (2 Kings 4:2)

• "Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found." (1 Sam 21:3)

• "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" (John 6:9)

What do I have to place in God’s hands to be used for the Kingdom?

A staff, oil, bread, fish…?

Education, degrees, or training? Spiritual gifts, fruit of the Spirit, temperament, personality, vision, burdens, talents, interests, and experiences?

What do I bring to the table?

Could God also use my photography, my chocolate chip cookies, my love of remote places, my longing for open ocean, my wacky random connections with total strangers, or my “animal magnetism” that leads to close encounters of the wildlife kind? Doesn’t sound very spiritual. Could God possibly use these?

God doesn’t waste anything. My goal is to be able some day in some measure to say, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” (John 17:4)  How freeing it is to open my hands, surrender all I don’t have and all I am not, and give Him all I do have and all I am. The ordinary can truly miraculous in God’s hands. How I need to remember that! 

What do you bring to the table?

Next month I will head off for another extended prayer pilgrimage (The Jesus Trip, as I call it). God often calls me away from crowds, people, noise, and busyness to let the dust settle, sit at Jesus’ feet, and truly listen to that still small voice. I have learned that for me, this is not a luxury. This is a necessity. If my calling is to invite people into silence, solitude, and deeper intimacy with the Lord. “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”  (Luke 5:16) If He needed it, how much more do I??...

Please pray for me as I pull away from the muchness and manyness to be alone with Jesus…

Much love,

Linda

Psalm One Update - April 2019

I love Spring. Everything reminds me of growth happening where dormancy has been. New life coming up from ground that looked dead. Perfect imagery for me right now, as I recover from an extremely stressful 2018, and hopefully enjoy a better 2019.

Most of 2018 was survival mode. Between my parents’ declining health, my dad’s Alzheimer’s and final days, my own illness, and making the 200-mile round trip to Louisville at least once a week, life seemed to go from crisis to crisis. We never fully understand how much stress we are under until we are in a new season.

Some stress is inevitable and inescapable in the tough seasons of life. Certain stages of life are tough no matter how you slice it. Just. Plain. Hard. One of the things God continually whispered to me during my prayer pilgrimage last year was, “The next few months will be very, very tough.” He wasn’t kidding.

Some stress is avoidable, voluntary, a result of choices I make. Overscheduling, pushing beyond my limits, ignoring warning signs. I have limited capacity. I am obviously not Super Woman. I need to subtract some things from the Day-Timer (yes, I still use a paper planner). Another whisper from God: “Continue to say an enthusiastic yes and a discerning no carefully.” When I try to be all things to all people, when I try to please man rather than God, when I listen to every voice except the Lord, I become exhausted, frazzled, and defeated.

Margin:

o   Protects me from “fraying around the edges”

o   Prevents me from playing Messiah--from thinking it all depends on me

o   Provides life-giving resilience for the bumps and bruises of life

o   Improves my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health

o   Makes me easier to live with! Rested people are more kind.

I had to say no to a lot of very good people, projects, and places in 2018. I need space for recovery, rest, and recalibration. I want to make a special effort to leave space for the Lord to set up His divine appointments.

In “From Solitude to Community to Ministry”, Henri Nouwen says, “In the spiritual life, the word discipline means ‘the effort to create some space in which God can act.’ Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life; discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.”

Is there any margin in my life for Jesus to interrupt and reassign me? Any space for air, light, and water? Any possibility of serendipity?

Some stress can be diminished by adding life-giving experiences.  Yet another message from the Lord: “Tend your soul and you will be protected. Neglect your soul and you will be vulnerable.” I know that in order to tend my soul, I need to reorder my inner life, my rhythms, patterns, and pacing. I need to live a pattern of Rest à Prayer à Work à Play instead of Run à Crash à Burn à Recover. I need to include fun and renewing people, places, and playtime into my schedule.

I look forward to another prayer pilgrimage in 2019. I have learned it is absolutely essential for me to have an extended time alone with God each year. I would not have survived 2018 without my “Jesus Journey”. Through the Prayer Pilgrimage God gave me a well of strength from which to draw.

I will also get away with great friends this year to catch up, laugh, and explore. Good rhythms, good pacing, good friends, good times. Relaxation, fun, connections. Sometimes you need to get out of town with friends. Sometimes you need pizza and board games. Sometimes you just need to meet for lunch.

Here’s to a bit less stress in 2019!

This week, may we celebrate God bringing forth life where death has been. He is risen! He is risen indeed.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Psalm One Update - January 2019

Good riddance 2018. Goodbye. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

The last six months have been incredibly difficult. I have been quite ill with a dangerous lung disease. My father died December 30 after a long and excruciating battle with Alzheimer’s. I know many of you have been there. You understand. We are grateful that he is no longer suffering, but we have been dealing all aspects of grief and loss. Between his escalating care needs, nursing homes, multiple ER visits, hospital vigils, caring for Mom and her own health struggles, driving the hundred mile trek every few days, my own weakness and pain, and constantly changing situations, it’s been exhausting. I’ve been helping my mother with grieving, arrangements, finances, red tape, and other adjustments. I am so grateful for all the friendship, support, and prayers during this very challenging season.

Last July, God called me away with Him for an extended prayer pilgrimage. If it weren’t for the strength and messages The Holy Spirit gave me out there to prepare me, I don’t know if I’d still be standing. It’s almost as if He knows the future, knows me, and is sovereign! Almost as if He’s omniscient, communicative, and loving! So many words, impressions, visuals, and lessons whispered straight from Jesus. But two stand out:

• “The next few months will be very difficult. But you are stronger than you think you are.” Over and over, in so many ways, God warned me, “The next few months will be tough”, “This Fall will be very hard”. There’s a lot of very questionable theology out there that says if you’re walking with God, you will have nothing but riches, health, favor, ease, butterflies, unicorns, and rainbows. To which I say, “Have you ever read the Bible?”

We are promised suffering. We are told, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12) Sometimes believers going through rough times are blame, shamed, and judged instead of encouraged, strengthened, and supported. But God is the ultimate realist. He reminds us that we will go through pain and trials. The Lord prepares us and walks beside us.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 

And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. 

When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, 

Nor will the flame burn you.” (Isaiah 43:2)

When. When, not if. God is not the bridge over troubled waters. He is the One who walks through the troubled waters with us. Immanuel. God with us. Through everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am so grateful for His crystal clear heads-up that I would be heading straight down into one of the valleys of life.

• "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,

But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, 

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken," 

Says the LORD who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

As I traveled over jagged mountains and endless hills, God kept repeating this passage over and over. The world will shake, but through it all, the Lord’s lovingkindness and covenant of peace would remain. The Lord would be my stability, my security, my Paraclete. Through a very shaky Fall, I have experienced a peace that passes understanding and lovingkindness that has held me tight. So many glimpses of grace, reminders of love, experiences of laughter, and abiding security while everything around me hit the fan. My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken. No matter what. What an amazing gift.

I don’t know what the next chapter holds. But I know Who holds me through it all.

In His love,

Linda