Go To Move

What are they? I believe we all have them…wound up in our routines, snarled up in the back of our minds and disguised as something else entirely ~ that is where the go-tos hang out. They are phrases and places, people and mindsets that are so automatic, we don’t even see them for what they truly are. Some are good, great even and some are not so good. The “problem” they all have in common, is that we so very often do not recognize their true nature.

So, what got me to think about all this? Oso, are dear, sweet, lovable Oso. We all came to sit outside on a lovely Sunday afternoon. I lit a small fire in the pit and sat down. Oso ran over, with the other two dogs, saw the fire and turned and ran straight under the deck. ­That is his “go-to”. He is our rescue dog and altho’ he has come a very long way, he still startles easily. Just looking at his sweet face poking out from under the deck made me think, “what is my go-to?” When I’m startled by something, do I react as if God isn’t right there? Do I have routines or things that have become my go-to, my security…instead of The One I should be relying on?

Good thing to know, to ask God to show me when my go-to isn’t Him. John 3:19-21, in the Message version is so very clear as Jesus explains…

“the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.”

John 3:19-21 ~ The Message Version

Our go-tos aren’t interested in pleasing God either, they are our self-preservation moves. (emphasis on self) Phrases that deflect and dismiss others in order to keep them at arm’s length ~ things we do, people we’re around all need to be brought before the Lord, so He can let us know if we’re really just hiding under the deck. That could very well explain a “darkness” we’re in, because we are not standing in His Light, fully open to His will in our circumstance.

I am just like Oso, I am a rescue, too. Jesus came so that we don’t have to live under the deck in darkness, if He is our go-to…To live in God’s Light, fully loved and fully alive.

We’re in no hurry, God.

We’re content to linger in the path sign-posted with Your decisions.

Isaiah 26:8 ~ The Message Version

Clatter

I came to the labyrinth today to just spend a few quiet minutes of thanks. We have experienced several days of amazing Peace during a storm. I wanted to thank God for His care over us, for those who have lifted us in prayer and have asked His Love to overflow to us ~ and it has.

Tho' as a northern was blowing in, it didn’t feel all that peaceful. With the winds gusting above 40mph, the noise was deafening. The tops of the bamboo were thrashing into each other, leaves were falling…it was energetic, to say the least! As a gust hit, I grabbed a trunk to steady myself and the feeling took my breath away. I could feel the trimmers coming down from the reeling above. BUT, all the bases of the bamboo were fine- well rooted and held firm, they still clattered about in the storm, but they didn’t budge.

Clatter, it is the noise life makes. Humdrum, bustling about to raging storms, it is all clattering. It can hypnotize you, draw you in to its clat-clat-clatter, till it becomes your focus. The “thing” to get done before you slow down never ends….and when our clatter joins with others?!?!? The distraction level can seem insurmountable!

Right there, hand on the bamboo, He reminded me again where my roots are and WHO we are rooted in. Yes, there are storms that clatter about, that try to get our focus elsewhere, but our roots run deep and our foundation is Jesus. He came to rescue us from life’s clatter and to still the storms.

He is the Prince of Peace, Yahweh Shammah, the Cancelor of Clatter.

“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace.”

John 14:27 ~ The Message Version

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