Stones in the Jordan

Maybe I should say square peg, round hole instead! 

By now most everyone knows how much I love the giant timber bamboo that grows in our labyrinth. It is an amazing plant to watch grow and work its way thru the seasons! Well, as has been the case the last few years, new shoots are coming up and trimming needs to happen. BUT, this year I wasn’t paying attention to all the new growth and getting it out (or chopped down) in time. 

So today, as I walked the labyrinth, there was a part of the path that was just totally blocked! Well, if I squirmed sideways I might have made it…or been stuck forever. Just to the left, tho’ there was a path and not only that, it was a full on straight path that wasn’t an option when I first laid out the labyrinth! Oh Life, we squeeze and squirm with things and try to force our way thru, only to get stuck somewhere God never intended!

This all got me to thinking about how to avoid the squirm, how to see the new path and get moving in the right direction sooner. I am so thankful for the people that God puts in my life to help give me direction, to point the way when I’m not paying attention (or I’m squirming!). I know I don’t always heed the advice, or hear the wisdom they are speaking into me, but oh how I want to learn to listen better!

I am so thankful for the “markers in life ~ the people and experiences God marks our steps with, the ways HE marks our way and shows us HIS way for our life. Those things – the “stones” – that point us to Him and remind us of what He has done in our lives.

It is soooo easy to get lost in our own stories, our own narratives of the day…but, oh how our Father has a way of reminding us, gently prodding us back to The Way of Truth, the straight path. Difficult to see in the darkness of our world, but HE shines on and in the stones of each of our Jordans to help encourage us that we do not walk alone… and we get to choose where our gaze falls and our heart follows.

Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’

Joshua 4: 21 & 22 ~ The Message Version

The Vessel Life ~ A Prayer

Poured out and overflowing with You, that is the life I want to learn, Lord. Teach me to step up, or lean back. You “risked” everything for us. You gave up time in the glory of heaven to come meet us in our self absorbed world. You stepped right into our darkness and You loved, without boundary You love. And Your Love, THE Love, abides in us. We, Your children, are the vessels You created to bare Your Love in this fallen world. Help me, teach me to bare it well.

God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I hope for comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

Psalm 62:5 & 6 ~ The Message Version

You are the “breathing room for my soul.” May each breath renew Your love in me, enable me to be risky, as You are. Help me to see this vessel life as You do…the next right step, the opportunities, the fullness You place in every moment to live as You, that others may only see You, my Lord.

You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity.

Philippians 4:19 & 20

Circle of Quiet

How blessed the man you train, God,
    the woman you instruct in your Word,
Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil,
    while a jail is being built for the wicked.

 Psalm 94: 12 & 13 ~ The Message version

 Oh, and that He has done! I am so very grateful to Him for leading me to this adventure of learning in the labyrinth. He continues to teach and guide my soul, like I never dreamed possible. But, beyond this labyrinth, He does so much more!

He encircles all of us ~ deep within our soul His Spirit, the Holy One, envelopes our soul in His care. There He reigns over our every moment, so in the midst of the clamour and chaos that is evil’s way, God’s still, quiet voice speaks His Peace over us. He has dominion. He knows our every step and tendency ~ He is the Circle of Quiet in every storm.

Envision a hurricane swirling around its center. Devastation all around, but the center of the storm is peaceful. It moves over the places that may have been leveled, but in the center, the eye, it is quiet. How we are with our life with the Lord. He brings Peace to every storm, quiets the ragings around us, IF we move with Him and allow ourselves to be centered by His grace.

Today, in the labyrinth, it looked like a storm had hit! Our version of “fall” in South Texas means all the sheaths “fall” off the bamboo! It seemed pretty chaotic and as I made a turn in the path, it was blocked with a new stalk. These were about my height two weeks ago, and now they are thirty feet or more! 

I could have squeezed through and followed the same path…come back later and cut it down…or? Do what Ruby did! You can see in the picture that she couldn’t fit thru, so she turned and went along the path by the fence…where there’s more light!!! Hello?!?! Just go to the straight, new path!

Oh life! Same ole, same ole. Pushing and prodding our way thru things, just ‘cuz “that is how it is”. BUT, maybe we’re soooo busy with our tunnel vision, that we miss a new path God has provided? We don’t always have to go thru the pain of removing something out of our lives, there is just another route.

Let’s face it, some things we think of as obstacles to overcome, were never meant to be overcome….they were meant to move us along, to divert us from a storm and keep us in His Circle of Quiet.

God will never walk away from his people, never desert his precious people. Rest assured that justice is on its way and every good heart put right.

Psalm 94: 14 & 15

Motive

mo·tive:  ˈmōdiv/

noun: motive; plural noun: motives

    1.  a reason for doing something, especially one that is hidden or not obvious.

    "a motive for his murder"

    synonyms:     reason, motivation, motivating force, rationale, grounds, cause, basis, object, purpose, intention;

Motive, quite a word. Almost as if it has a motive of its own. To encourage us to look deeper, to discover it, uncover it. Just as interesting as the discovery, can be what it was hidden under in the first place!

I love words, puzzles, mysteries….all of that ‘looking beyond the obvious’ stuff. Which brings the question of, why don’t we humans like to dig for our own motives? The very definition says that it is “hidden or not obvious.”

That doesn’t mean everyone else’s is hidden and our very own is obvious to us! The Psalmist wrote, 

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. Psalm 139:23

If I had cherished sin in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened

Psalm 66:18

The irony is, we have motives behind not wanting to know our own motives. Thankfully, we have the One we can trust to be our very own Motive Revealer.

One of the ways He reveals things to us is thru His Word. There is a particular reading/study method that I like and it is really easy. Select a passage that you would like to read, like  a chapter or parable, then you do these 4 steps.

1 ~ Read the passage just to familiarize yourself with the people, places, setting or event.

2 ~ Read it again, this time paying attention to whatever may seem to stick out to you. Sometimes this is a verse, or just one word.

3 ~ Read again, this time praying as you go. Ask God just what it is He wants to show/teach you from that word, or phrase. I like to read the same passage in different versions, or grab a dictionary to help with meanings. Always take notes and journal through this.

4 ~ Read again, and this time ask God to show you what He wants you to take from it…meaning, what “new” thing can you take into your life to help you grow closer to Him.  Pray for an epiphany!

I hope you’ll try it and explore some familiar passages and see what God has for you there! This reading process is what I am doing in 1 Thessalonians …

God was pleased to trust us with His message. We didn’t speak to please people, but to please God who knows our motives.

I Thessalonians 2:4 ~ CEV

I think this is one of those wonderful connect-the-dots kinda verses, especially when prayed like this, working back thru it:

What are my motives, Lord? You know them, reveal and set me on a path that pleases You. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart please You. That this vessel pour out Your message to those You place in my path and my days be pleasing to You.

That places us at the heart of verse 12 ~

 We begged, encouraged, and urged each of you to live in a way that would honor God. He is the one who chose you to share in his own kingdom and glory.

Remember step 2 from above? Well, I didn’t get stopped by a word or phrase, I was stuck on the dot! Staring at that period between “God” and “He”…just staring. Then it hit me!…to live in a way that would honor God, because He is the One who has chosen us to share in His kingdom. There is our motive! It lies in the “dot”; That pause of the period allows a breath and then our motive comes clear. Take Him in, fill up, “because” it is not our works, not our choices, not our thoughts ~ but right there between “…honor God. He is the one…”  That it is…all the motive of our soul, every beat of our heart ~ for HE is the ONE.

Live to honor the One who chose us, what a gift! The forever gift of grace. It is more that we can take in. To live with, to walk in every moment with God because we are chosen.

You alone are our glory and joy!

I Thessalonians 2:20 ~ CEV