A Call to Change

I had a blog post in mind today but I decided to write something different after reading what my dear friend Pam wrote in her blog, "In The Shadow of His Wings".  You'll find the link under 'Blogs I follow’ on the side of this page.  Now when you read her post today, "Change of Direction", you'll see that she refers to me and my blog.  We are not having a mutual admiration society meeting today, I promise…although I am truly blessed by the way she expresses what God lays on her heart.  I’m bringing it up because I too had a “change of direction” experience today.

I spent the early part of this week on vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey and during my short stay, I developed a routine. 
 Up by 6:15, I made a warm cup of tea, grabbed my Bible and my Jesus Calling devotional (Pam also refers to this book – I highly recommend it!) and went out on the back porch to read, journal and pray while I watched the sunrise over the ocean.  Then I’d head out for an hour long walk along the beach before plunking a chair in the sand and relaxing. 

I came home Thursday and, I’m sorry to say, while I started with a devotional and prayer time, there was no walk, just time spent catching up on church business, checking my work and personal email, Facebook and the like.  Friday was worse.  NO time with God, just hit the ground running after spending a fairly sleepless night fighting a stomach bug.   It bothered me all day as I kept thinking “there’s still time to read and pray…I’ll get to it right after…fill in the blank.”  Needless to say, that time never came.

So this morning I knew there were no excuses.  I fired up the tea kettle, grabbed my books and headed for my front porch.  I live in the city - Trenton, in fact.  Know anything about the capital of New Jersey?  Let’s just say clean air and beaches, it doesn’t have.  Still, it was a cool, clear morning and no one was up and about in the neighborhood yet.  I spent some time with the devotional, my Bible and journaling, but got a chill.  I moved inside, sat on the couch and started to pray.  Now, when I pray at home, I tend to do so with my eyes open.  I hope that doesn’t shock anyone.  I do that, because it becomes much more of a real conversation for me when I pray out loud, eyes open, just like I would converse with any of you.  Problem was, my email was up on the computer, and my eyes kept being drawn to it.  Finally, I said, “You know what God?  Why don’t we go for a walk?  It’s been too long since I’ve been to the lake – why don’t we walk and talk for an hour?”  And just like that, things changed direction.

As I eased my car into the marina parking lot, I saw a sign “3^rd Annual Walk to End Homelessness.”  I’m not sure if I’ve ever really gone into what I do at my church, but I oversee an outreach ministry called “CommunityConnections” and we do a lot of work with the homeless.  I laughed out loud and said, “Well, God, I thought this walk was my idea, but it would seem you wanted me here.”  I got out of the car, walked up to the registration table and introduced myself.  The woman behind the table was the founder of the organization holding the walk. “Homeless to Independence, Inc.”  She and I chatted for a little, exchanged business cards and I was off on my walk.

The path around the lake and through the park is about a mile and a half one way.  I prayed and praised and softly sang as I made my way through the park.  At one point, two doe came silently out of the woods, turned and gave me just the slightest of glances, then crossed into the stand of trees on the other side of the path.  In the seconds it took to reach where they’d been, they had disappeared into the vegetation.  When I hit the halfway point, I turned around.  About a quarter of the way back, I noticed a sign on one of the trees.  Someone had written in fancy script, Eph. 3:18 “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”  That verse was especially meaningful to me because as I was de-stressing down by the ocean just a few days before, the lyrics to a Dave Pettigrew song haunted me as I looked at the vast expanse of water…"Every day I think so small.  Not seeing who you are or how you surround me.   There are so many times I fall.  But from my knees, I learn to see, how high you carry me.   What could separate us from your mighty hands?  Not death, not life, nor hell on earth could ever stand a chance. How deep, how wide, how strong, is the love of Jesus.”  I was surprised by the sign, because I was sure it hadn’t been there on my first pass, and yet I didn’t see anyone carrying signs to hang.  I smiled and thanked God for the personal message. 

A few hundred feet down, I spied another…Isaiah 40:9 & 10: I am God, the only God you've had or ever will have— incomparable, irreplaceable— From the very beginning telling you what the ending will be, All along letting you in on what is going to happen, Assuring you, 'I'm in this for the long haul, I'll do exactly what I set out to do.'  A few hundred feet more and there was another sign, then another, and yet another…all the way back, messages of God’s love and faithfulness. 

When I got back to the registration table, the folks from Homeless to Independence and I chatted a little further and discussed possible ways our ministry and their organization could work together.  I don’t know what God has in store, but I know there are no coincidences…only Godincidences.  And I know the change of direction this morning - both in thought (my purposeful decision to spend quality time with God) and in action (getting off the couch to head to the lake) - were changes that honored and pleased God.  Pam obeyed the invitation to change her plans and was rewarded with beautiful sights and a peaceful time with Jesus.  I obeyed the call to change my behavior and was rewarded with a sweet time of communion with God, words of encouragement, and a possible new ministry connection.  What reward will you miss if you don't listen for the call to change? 

Beyond the Beyond

Last year, I attended a Bible study where, via DVD, one of the speakers was Priscilla Shirer.  She is a wonderful speaker - funny, down to earth, and powerful.  She's also the daughter of preacher Tony Evans.

I have seen many of her teachings on DVD, but one has stayed with me more than the others, perhaps because I've seen the subject played out so many times in my life.  Priscilla was talking on Ephesians 3:20 and 21.  "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.  Amen." 

I've heard the words from those verses spoken many times as a benediction or in sermons, and I confess, until I listened to her teach on them, I never fully grasped the enormity of them.  Perhaps it was her examples.  She gave several, and each time she was done with the example, she'd shake her head and say...no, no, you still don't get it...let me tell it to you this way.

Her last example was of a friend who had a special birthday coming up.  She was lamenting to Priscilla that her husband wasn't the type to make a big deal of such things, and while she loved him dearly, she wished he'd a least make a minor fuss by giving her a card.  The day of her birthday came and her husband gave her more than a card...he actually presented her with a gift!  An...umbrella.  Well, it wasn't candy, flowers, or diamonds, but she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth - it was more than he'd done before.  Then, he handed her a card.  It said 'don't forget your umbrella - I hear it rains a lot in Paris this time of year.'  Yes, he had gotten her a trip to Paris! 

Okay ladies - focus - this is not about what you didn't get from your husband on your last birthday...and guys, this isn't a tutorial on how you should right that wrong LOL.  This is an example of how we come at God with low expectations...hoping for a card...and how he not only meets them, but exceeds them...he goes beyond the card by giving us a gift...and then beyond that by giving us the gift of a lifetime!  Beyond the beyond.

As Priscilla describes Paul in this passage, she says Paul is running out of words - he is piling superlative upon superlative to get the point across of how much God is able to do - "far more abundantly beyond"...some translations say "exceedingly, abundantly more".

Why do I write about this today?  Because I'm in the middle of watching it happen...again.  In an earlier post, I described what I learned in Kids Camp, which is my church's name for Vacation Bible School.  At the end of Kids Camp this year, an announcement was made.  An opportunity has arisen for us to take this same program to a location in a more economically challenged part of Trenton the week of August 22nd.  It's the first time in our over 155 year history that we have done such a thing, and our goal is to register and reach 150 children.  I accepted the task of creating a menu and finding ways to feed those 150 kids not a snack, but an actual dinner for 5 nights on a budget that amounted to less than $2 per child.

I immediately began writing to different organizations requesting donations of food, but I know many of the chains like a lot of notice - at least a month - and the day I began writing was a month to the day of when the food will be needed.  One large chain sent me my first turn down yesterday.

Of course, 'me' of little faith begins to fret.  Not sure why my first reaction is so often doubt and fear when I've seen God come through time and again, but, the tiny time frame silhouetted against the enormity of the task allowed them to come in, kick off their shoes and make themselves at home in my mind for a bit.  Then after the person in charge told me last night she was going to have to cut my budget to move monies elsewhere, doubt and fear got really comfortable - they even ordered take out because they figured they'd be there awhile.  Enter God.

A few minutes later I was in my meeting planning what the menu would be, detailing who I'd contacted for donations, soliciting suggestions on how we could cut costs, when one of the team members walked in.  It seems while I'd be courting doubt and fear, she'd been counting stock...and arrived to tell us she had access b to 5 types of entrees - kid pleasing foods - and there was enough for 150 kids.  Did you catch that?  God not only provided food, he took care of ALL 5 DAYS from one source.  We still need to provide some side dishes, but I'm not worried anymore...I'm just looking to see when and how many are coming our way.

As Priscilla would have said, you aren't getting this, let me put it another way!  I walked into a pizza place before my meeting...a place where I know the owners...and said to one of the guys 'do you ever do donations?  I'm hoping to get some free pizza for something my church is doing.'  'Sure, sure' he says...and he hands me a receipt for 1 large free pizza.  I thought...that's not what I had in mind...at this rate, I'm going to have to hit a lot of pizza places!

My efforts netted very little.  But God is not a one pizza God.  God was already going exceedingly abundantly beyond what I was asking for or could imagine he'd do - he was taking care of all 5 meals at once.

How big is your God?  Do you trust him to meet your needs?  Do you trust that he can and will do that and even more?  Don't let fear and doubt limit your perspective of what he's capable of...as I learned again last night, He loves to go beyond the beyond.