A Couple of Thoughts to Ponder...

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet As quoted in To Be Told, Workbook by Dan B. Allender and Lisa K. Fann

So I went down to the potter's house and there he was working at his wheel...Then the work of the Lord came to me...Behold like clay in the potter's hand so are you in my hand. 

Jeremiah 18:3,6 ESV

Thirsty?

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13

As a child, my dad lived in poverty during the worst environmental disaster yet known in the United States. They lived in a farming community during a severe drought and famine in Oklahoma. The family's water supply ran off the roof of their shack during rare rain showers and was stored in a cistern. When they needed a drink, they would take a dipper, scoop up water from the bottom of the cistern, and pull it out.  Often a snake or a frog would hitch a ride out of the cistern along with the warm, sediment filled water. 

They drank from that cistern because there was no choice. It was the only source of water.  

Imagine yourself standing thirsty in that barren landscape. You are standing in the searing sun leaning over the cistern, with your hand on the dipper. Now imagine that behind you is a fountain overflowing with refrigerated, purified, spring water sparkling in the sun. Do you still want a gritty, froggy cistern drink?  

The scene changes.
Now you are Eve loitering in the garden of Eden.

The crafty serpent diverts your attention away from the vast array of pleasant delights available to you. You could take pleasant stroll through the orchard with peach juice dripping down your chin. But, you don't. You walk over to the one tree God has denied you, and sit down its shade, convinced that God is not totally good because he is keeping something from you. You no longer remember the delightful walks with God and Adam in the cool of the day. You no longer remember all the other good gifts that fill your days. You obsess over the thing God has not given you. You don't even need to taste the forbidden fruit to be lost.  The moment you accept the idea that there is something better than being with God, you are dead meat. (I am indebted to Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt's book Trusting in His Goodness for starting this train of thought.)

We walk past sparkling fountains to drink from filthy cisterns all the time. We constantly look for the "good" thing that will quench our thirst. We sit down under the forbidden tree and dwell on finding Mr. Right, or fixing Mr. Wrong, having the money to visit that beach, or replace that broken old thing, finding the cure and being healthy again, or finding the magic pill that will force the kid to make good choices. The thing we want may be genuinely good, it probably is. But that is not the point. All that crafty serpent has to do is consciously, or preferably unconsciously, convince us that God is not totally good because he is withholding something we need. As soon as we focus on what we do not have instead of on the simple fact that "Jesus loves me, this I know", we are lost.

This is where I think Satan's craftiness reaches a masterful level. He twists the message of Christianity, convincing us that religion is a way of getting that forbidden fruit. The lie is preached in pulpets, written in books, and assumed to be from God. Here is the way it goes: 

• Jesus is your ticket to Heaven.
• Once you accept Jesus, the Bible gives you a set of principles to live by.
• Live by those principles. 
• Pray hard, live right, and God will eventually bless you, make your life work, and (hopefully) give you that good thing you thirst for.

Sound familiar? It does to me too. Like any good lie, there are bits of truth in it. . There is a part of me that really wishes that familiar message was the whole truth. But that is not God's way, that is the cistern, not the fountain.  I am not saying that we shouldn't pray and ask God to meet our needs. Of course we should. But if we put our emphasis on keeping the code so that God will give us the good thing we want, we have believed a lie.

Jesus's death and resurrection offers us much more than just a ticket to heaven when we die. Through him God invites us to once again walk with him in the cool of the day.  That is the true refreshment our thirsty souls long for. When he denies us access to something we deeply, even legitimately desire, it is in part because he is helping us release our grip on the handle of the cistern-dipper and waiting for us to turn our attention to Him, the fountain of living waters.

When Disaster Strikes

Like people all over the world I have been riveted by the images of the triple disaster in Japan. "Unreal", "Unbelievable" the TV new anchors say. That is exactly right. My mind is accustomed to Hollywood action films playing on that same television. Pretend disasters created with miniature models and pyrotechnics fill the screen. Within a couple of hours credits roll. I am assured that no animals were harmed, and it is all over.

As I watch the force of the tsunami wave wiping out whole towns with unfathomable force and speed, houses and cars bouncing around like toys succumbing to playful destruction wreaked by a toddler in a sandbox, I can't quite believe this is real. Reality is too awful for me to grasp. The horror that those are real houses, real cars, real people's lives is to much for me to completely grasp.  Today the further devastation of nuclear radiation in the air from exploding nuclear power plants is added to the suffering of people who in a single Job moment have already lost everything.

The inevitable question comes. How could a good God allow this?
I don't know.
I can only hold onto the verse that has been repeating itself in my head for days. "Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God." Isaiah 50:10, ESV

The next verse contains a stern warning. "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you shall have from my hand; you shall lie down in torment." Isaiah 50:11, ESV

In the darkest dark times, when we don't understand God or life, we really only have one small choice. That one choice makes all the difference in the rest of our story though. Are we going to sit in the dark holding onto the good hand of our God waiting for dawn, or are we going to stomp away in our anger, fear, and confusion, and light our own torches.

When people become lost in the wilderness their natural instincts are usually dead wrong. If they continue to stumble around they reduce their chances of survival. Most move further and further from the trail, sometimes splitting up away from each other, making rescue less likely. They often fall into further harm, even death. Survival experts say people should instead make the difficult choice to stay where they are and wait for help.

It is the same when we become lost any other kind of wilderness. We have to choose whether to try to grope our way out of the darkness alone, or stay put and trust God even though we are confused and frightened. No matter how much sense going it alone it seems to make at the time, we won't get far by ourselves.

Worshipping Success

In an earlier blog I talked about the great sacrifices German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer made to try to stop the great evil of the Nazis. I wondered whether Bonhoeffer was discouraged when every effort failed. His participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler was rewarded with prison and eventual execution. Evil continued to run free.

I am reading an excellent new biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. Indirectly, he answers my question. He says that Bonhoeffer was fascinated by the way people worship success. The book quotes Bonhoeffer in his book Ethics,

In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success alone justifies wrongs done...

I find those words convicting and oddly comforting at the same time. I forget that I serve a savior who was crucified before he was resurrected, and calls me to be crucified with him. I am not sure that God cares as much as I do whether I succeed or fail. I think He cares only that through success or failure I love him with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.

If you want to read more, here are the links to those earlier blogs:
http://doorinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2011/02/accepting-hardship-as-pathway-to-peace.html
http://doorinthewilderness.blogspot.com/2011/02/accepting-hardship-as-pathway-to-peace_10.html

Blessings,
Beth

The Good Thing About Being Mediocre

The other day I was a part of a discussion about becoming an excellent writer. It has been said that a writer does not truly find his voice until he writes a million words. One guy decided to calculate it out. A person who wants to find his voice, only the first step in becoming a great writer, would have to write 1000 words a day for nearly three years. If he takes weekends off, he wouldn't arrive for nearly four years. Another guy taking part in the discussion said that he heard about a study that said the people who truly succeed are the ones who have the highest capacity to withstand their own mediocrity. Everyone else gives up too soon.

I think the same principal applies to all greatness, not skill as a writer. Growth takes effort and time. If I want to grow, become a great person, or a great lover of God or a great lover of other people, I have to slog through a lot of mediocrity, and probably some abject failure along the way.

As I reflected on these ideas I decided not to be discouraged by them. In fact, I think I like them. It takes a lot of practice and perseverance to become great, achieve mastery. On the way to that mastery there is a lot a well intentioned mediocrity. If I find myself to be mediocre I should not conclude that I will never succeed and give up. Instead I will shrug my shoulders, accept this as my current place on the journey, and soldier on toward excellence.