WATCHWORD:
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ;believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:1-6
Meditation:
Are We Lost? Part 1
I wonder what thoughts have occurred to us, early in this time of isolation and change, when it felt as if we were lost, out on the desert, or possibly out on the ocean, where the familiar, and the comfortable no longer existed, that all this was somehow planned. Or, perhaps, you felt like you’re in a storm, buffeted about, disorganized, your True North lost in the wind and the rain, desperately seeking direction.
After a time, maybe for you, and for me, the memory of the familiar, that was comfortable and seemed right, gets a bit foggy, and something else fills that space. Maybe this is the hand of the Lord, using the storm as a way for us to be removed from that ease, that comfort, and set us apart where only God is the True North, where Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
In a recent reading of Oswald Chambers, he describes the transformation this way:
“If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life float upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend your time in the calm waters inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself — begin to have spiritual discernment.”
As I read My Utmost for His Highest, it occurred to me, a slow thinker, that the answer to the question I posed last Saturday about how the pandemic and the protests have impacted your Christian walk, had just been beautifully answered: the beginning of spiritual discernment.
What we are going through is common to all of us. We each have been cut away from our comfortable docks, and we are afloat in our relationship to God. The difference, in my mind, is that each of us is unique, and the impact of this change in our lives imprints us differently, according His Holy purpose.
For some, we have found deeper meanings in our devotional readings, and has translated that into different paths of thought and prayer. For others, we have discovered a broader sense of compassion and service, which has translated into closer communication with others, often electronically. For me, it has been the inspiration for these Watchwords each morning.
Beside the common experience of these times, there is a common motivator within each of us, the Holy Spirit. It is that Spirit that nudges us into discernment, and discernment into the unique behavior effect, like a fingerprint, each one different, each one blessed, and, yet, each one the same.
We have been gifted. Let us seek with clear vision the joy in those graces. Amen.
— Stan
Bulletin Board:
From Art Hunn – I heard both Stan Ott and Oswald Chambers speak at our state pastor’s convention in Pennsylvania (when in my first pastorate, 1958), your illustration reminded me of a confident 5-year-old girl Robert Fulgham describes in his little book All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten. Shortly after asking a group of kindergartners to organize themselves into clusters of giants, wizards, and ogres, he felt a tug on his pant leg. The little girl asked, “Where do the mermaids go?” When he explained, that there was no mermaid category, she asserted, “You may believe that only giants, wizards, & ogres exist, but you are wrong. I am a mermaid! Deal with it!”
Closing Prayers:
Lord, thank you for this day. I ask that You would guide my path today and, more specifically, my thoughts, words and actions. Please be with me throughout the day and help me navigate whatever comes my way. Most importantly, help me to reflect and live out my life in a way that is honoring to you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Lord, please use me today in any way You see fit. As You guide my thoughts and actions, please use me to bless others and for Your purposes more broadly. Rather than seeking my own will, help me to align with Yours. Thank you, God, for all you do for me. In the name of your son Jesus, I pray, Amen.
