Questions...

It seems that there are multitudes of occasions in life where questions present themselves. Some are little, some are big, some are easy, others are hard. Some questions may find answers within days or weeks. Others cannot be answered until years pass by. Questions are asked with many different motives, and some are so consumed with the asking, that they leave no room for honest answers. 

Yet there are just as many occasions in life when answers will present themselves , if an honest answer is what we are seeking. Books offer insight. Pastors encourage and guide. Mentors walk alongside and support. Friends share. And although many questions find their answers in these ways, others lie waiting for something else...something more...another book, perhaps? Another podcast? Another good, long talk at Starbucks? We wish desperately that our deepest questions might consider going dormant for a while, but they will not. And we wait, and search, and pray, still asking.

There then comes a time, when our readiness is ripe, that God steps in all on His own. His answers may not come with the fanfare of a bestseller, or the emotion of a teary conversation.

He can use these, but is not limited to them. His voice often speaks to us like the clear, long peal of a bell over a quiet valley. His Word speaks, freeing us to step into a completely new reality, for all too often, it is our earthly sense of reality that creates the questions that we have. 

This transformed reality is described as a large place, (Ps. 18:19) a nourishing, rich place (Jn. 10:9), a place with no room left for doubt, (Jas. 1:5-8), and a place of victory (Num.13:30). 

What an privilege to be invited in to that place by The "...Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. 9:6

Perhaps we limit ourselves in asking God only for answers. He is in the business of complete transformations!

 

Time to be alone...

I'll have to say that I have new empathy and much appreciation for our military wives, now that I have experienced Matthew being gone on business for a little while now. I have had a lot of time to think, and pray, and try to adjust to the fact that no one is coming home for dinner. The first few days were great: lots of family and friend activities, projects getting done, and phone calls that were overdue. But after a while, things begin to change into an off-pattern of not sleeping well, waking up at odd hours, not having an appetite, and trying to determine what I can eat that actually sounds good. The interesting thing, and probably the biggest blessing of this whole time has been the volumes of time I have had with the Lord. When I get time alone, things surface that He wants to talk to me about, and I begin to realize how much I am in need of Him. Suddenly, He is right there, especially in the absence of anyone else. And in the middle of this strangeness and missing Matthew so much that it hurts, He brought an interesting thought. What if He, as our Father, misses us, too? What if He misses us so much that it hurts? What if He wishes that we were right there, sharing our day with Him, but sees that somehow we are just too busy? What if He has things to tell us, **world-changing** things, but we just aren't listening, and perhaps put Him off as another 'to-do' project? 

I think He misses us just like that.

The other day, I was making a list of all the words that would describe a person who was completely taken with Jesus Christ. These are some of the ones I thought of:

Committed.

Passionate. 

Focused.

Sure.

Convinced.

Single-minded.

Large-hearted.

Sold out.

Steadfast.

Dedicated.

Do these describe us? If not, perhaps He is missing us. 

Where are we?