Category: Faith Journey

My Plans Are Your Plans

 

This is written for all wise servant leaders and those who ache to do God’s will

 

  “Here am I,” said Mary;

“I am the Lord’s servant; as you have spoken, so be it.”  Luke 1:38 (NEB)

 I surrender Lord. My plans are your plans. My wants are your wants.

Though I have doubts and fear; I trust you will show me the way. But count on me Lord to seek clarifications as I pray daily to be “at-one-ment” with you.

I need not fear for my sustenance; my needs are to fulfill the needs of those who call out in the “wilderness.”

I surrender Lord. My plans are your plans. My wants are your wants. All I ask Lord is that you offer help along the way.

Amen.

Just Believe

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jarius, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?’’ Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:35-36. 

This scripture brought to my remembrance the struggle I had trying to define leadership. I wanted leadership to be more than just a word; I wanted and needed the word, leadership, to be an ongoing living and active statement. Then I realized that leadership is about faith; it is about not limiting your possibilities to the visible. It is about drowning out the noise and believing that there’s more to life than what meets the eyes. Then it came to me: “Leadership is unlimited when you believe in something bigger than yourself.”

What is your definition of Leadership?

Leaders Look Beyond The Obvious

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.   For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

The bible is filled with stories of leaders looking beyond the obvious. Two such stories illustrated Joshua’s perception of current events (see Deuteronomy 1:22-38; Joshua 5:13-6:20). How about David slaying the Giant or Peter’s visit to Cornelius’s house (Act 10:9-48) or how can we forget how Jesus looked beyond the obvious, with the raising of the little girl that was announced to be dead. “She is not dead; she is sleeping (Mark 5:39).

Let’s us not forget our modern day saints who changed the world, such as, Reverend Troy Perry who made it possible for “queer people” to embrace Christianity and believe in a living God again; or the Reverend John Shelby Spong who helps us to look beyond religion and theism to understand the love of God.

It is not necessary to only look at religious figures who challenge us to look beyond the obvious.  Consider Barack Obama who fought the odds to become our first black President of these United States with the theme, “Yes We Can.” Or Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com which has changed our methods of buying, owning and reading books, or Steve Jobs who brought Apple back from near extinction. Who can refute what the internet and the likes of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have done to our political landscape and to our world.

I am sure you know of people, not so famous, who have made your world a better place because they looked beyond the obvious. Let’s not be like the many birds in the picture looking in the same direction. Find the bird that’s looking in a different direction. That’s the one we often need to follow. So what do you see differently that could be changed to improve your life or those around you?

I know it’s hard when you are struggling. What have you been struggling with? Have you taken the blinders off and looked at things in a different way? You are not alone, I am trying too. As I wrestle with the obvious, I know God is asking me to look at things differently; to look beyond the obvious. I pray that you will do the same when you are faced with life’s challenges.

  

What Does God Want With Me?

“Only when we are willing to change and invite God to do his good pleasure in us, will the perplexity of our minds and the ache in our hearts abate” (Richard H. Schmidt, Praises, Prayers & Curses, p.35).

I wish I could agree with Mr. Schmidt. It sounds very logical. It’s an easy out to all the perplexing questions about life and all that our eyes see about life. But, then Psalm 13:2 rang strongly in my ears:

 “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?”

It may be a lifetime for me—because I am so stubborn. I want my cake now. What does God want with me (I have been studying Job)? I am a decent human being. I am no different from anyone else.

If God wants something from me—WHY DOESN’T GOD SPEAK CLEARLY? Why must I try to figure out this puzzle? Why must I play this game? I meditate daily; I am obedient to the commandments, yet, this loving God and the life that I live seem not to be in sync.

What do you have me to do Lord? What would you have me to do? Remove my fears; dampen my will; so I can be obedient to what you want me to do. And then God speaks:

You must remain flexible, teachable. I am the potter and you are the clay (Jeremiah 18:1-6).

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The Pity Party

God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? Psalm 62:1.

I had a pity party yesterday. I felt sorry for myself. Nothing is going as planned. Why should I an innocent, suffer? What is this all about? God, are you teaching me to be patient? Is there’s something better, as we like to say to cheer ourselves, or is this just life; and bad things happen to good people.

I hope not. I have seen bad things happen to good people. It is not pretty and it is not fair. My friends and my colleagues feel my pain too.  But soon they will forget. They have to forget, and life for them will go on as before. But the ones that suffer—suffer still.

Richard H. Schmidt writes: “When we let our happiness depend on some future event, often something unlikely to happen and perhaps something that wouldn’t be best for us anyway, our waiting becomes tense and anxious. The key to waiting contentedly is to focus upon God.”* God, I am definitely focused on you-‘yeah right!’

Max Lucado writes: “(God) said no to good things so (God) could say yes to the right thing….”** I am wondering what that right thing is for me? You have been there too, huh.  

God, I had a pity party yesterday and I want to have another one today. But you know what; I will fight this ‘poor me’ syndrome. I am better than this. I have choices. I choose to embrace the positive and even find good in this bad. This is what I know:

  • God alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:2.
  • For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.

So God, I am reminded that I am on a journey. This wonderful journey; a journey that requires me to be attuned to every facet of my life; an opportunity to yearn and learn, to dream the impossible; an opportunity to re-think my direction, but more than anything; to trust you, to put my faith into action, to live out Psalm 23:1: “you are my shepherd and I have everything I need.”

Who needs a pity party?

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*Richard H. Schmidt. Praises Prayers & Curses Conversations with the Psalms. 2005, p. 123.

**Max Lucado. Cure for the Common Life. 2005, p. 106.

One Person at a Time

“As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but not one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediate her bleeding stopped” (Luke 8:42b-44).

To receive a full appreciation of what I am about to explain please read Luke 8:40-56.  If you read verses 40-56 you learned that Jesus healed a woman who had been seriously ill for 12 years and on that same day raised a little child from the dead. There are many lessons and yes, sermons in these few verses; but the lesson that I want to share today is this.

Jesus blessed one person at a time; even as the crowds pressed against him. Jesus’ sole interest was that one person. That’s our charge. Even with our busy schedules and life pressures, we need to find a way to touch somebody; one person, at a time. And when we do, we can make a big difference in that person’s life and in this big world of ours.

I was reminded of paying forward just this week when I received a very special card and note from a former colleague, and again on that same day a telephone call from another former colleague and emails from so many others supporting me through a difficult time.

I believe when we intervene in the lives others, one person at a time, that we make a real difference in our world. So reach out and touch someone today.

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God, I thank you for the people who made a difference in my life—too many to name—continue to bless me so I can do the same for others. Amen