Soap Watching

    

     I hurried up the stairs, taking them two by two and rushed into the bathroom.  "Are you done yet?" I asked in a classic, impatient mother voice. 

     "What do you mean?" responded my dripping wet child. 

     "You were supposed to wash yourself with the soap bar while I was downstairs," I huffed.

     "Oh, well, I didn't wash but I WAS looking at the soap bar while you were gone," she stated.

     I groaned and began to scrub.

     But how often am I just like my child when it comes to God's Word?  I look at the "soap" but do not wash . . .

     It's no different than the verse in James that says we are not just to be hearers of God's Word, but doers also.  If I faithfully take time in the Word each day and study and memorize Scripture but never DO what it says, then I'm just a "soap watcher" and no more.

     God's Word is like soap; if it's going to have any affect in my life, I have to use it and often.  Just looking at it will benefit no one!

      Picture a brand-new bar of exquisite soap from the finest store; then imagine the thrill of it sweet smoothness running over your skin and the perfume filling your senses -- why pass up an opportunity to savour that in our daily lives? 

     Never does, no, never should a day go by that we are not aware of how much we need God's truth to be active in our lives -- not sitting on a shelf as knowledge, but moving and living in us as we go about our day.  May God show each of us how to stop passively watching the "soap", so that we can begin passionately using it. 

"For if you listen to the Word

and don't obey, it is like glancing

at your face in a mirror. 
You see yourself, walk away,

and forget what you look like."

James 1:23&24

Level Paths

One of my favourite chapters in the New Testament is Hebrews 11 - the chapter of so many heroes of faith. It opens with laying the foundation of what faith is - verse 1 begins with, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." Then it goes on to list some of the ancients, "By faith Abel...by faith Enoch...by faith Noah...by faith Abraham...by faith Isaac...," and on and on it goes. I love that chapter 12 follows like a challenge to us; to improve our living and step up to God's best for us. I don't know about you, but I can be encouraged in doing right over and over and still need to hear it again. That is what chapter 12 does for me, and with such authority when it is combined with chapter 11 because it calls us to higher living, followed by the testimonies of so many that we know and love from the Old & New Testament who were faithful. I am so thankful for the faithful ones; back then and currently around the world today - my heart soars and is refreshed when I hear of stories of those who choose obedience to Christ no matter the cost.

So how does this all tie into the title of "Level Paths"? Let's look at the first part of Hebrews 12, starting in verse 1, "Therefore (because of all those faithful ancients), since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." What a packed verse - calling us higher because of those who have gone before, reminding us of their faithfulness, challenging us to throw off not just sin but EVERYTHING that hinders. There is so much in our culture and generation that can hinder and it is not all "sin". I think of the distractions that I battle against in daily living - they are often not sin but merely time wasters that still pull me away from focusing on God's best for me, my family and those He has placed around my circle of influence. It is in verse 13 that level paths ties it all together for me, "Make level paths for your feet...make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God." That sums up what I want my life to look like as a wife, mother, daughter, friend...there is so much in there to encourage me to more than where I am at right now.

Making level paths reminds me that it will not happen as I go along in my daily life, without intentional effort - hence the verb MAKE - the NIV Study Bible Commentary says this, "A call for upright conduct that will help, rather than hinder, the spiritual and moral welfare of others." Then immediately following that verse we are told to MAKE (again) EVERY EFFORT to live in peace with ALL men - there are no loop holes in that, are there? That is a direct call to work out all frustrations or challenges that we may have in every relationship we are part of.

Then it goes on to speak to the need for holiness, with a strong warning that if that is not there in our lives, we will not see the Lord. I don't know about you, but that makes me sit up and pay attention - we need to moving towards greater holiness, never settling for where we find ourselves. The best part is what closes that verse, though, because we are told that no one is to miss the grace of God - what does that tells us? It says that after all the challenges laid out to us, God's grace is right there with us, to carry us in times of struggle and to help us move forward in more of what God has for us. Not in our own strength but in His strength.

Take a Leap

As we prepare for the seasons to change again - for all of us with the natural turn of spring to summer, but also for some special moms who are welcoming new babies - I want to reflect on what there is in our lives that we can "Take a Leap Of Faith" in. Life is ever changing - which is a blessing in the challenging times but sadness in the good times and we know that the only true constant in our lives is Jesus Christ. But what is there in our lives that we need to surrender over to Him? That is where the Leap is.

It does not seem that long ago that I was welcoming a second baby into our home. As I was reflecting on this the other day, with a sweet friend (who is about to welcome her second home), I got to remembering the very hard, but important heart process that I went through during that time. I remember loving every day with my almost two year old son while feeling my belly grow larger and larger - over and over I wondered, and for some moments even stressed, on how I could possibly love this about to be baby as much as I loved our toddler son. As I reflect now, I laugh at myself, but it was very real then and very important to process through. I share this reflection because it sets the stage for a good example of Leaping by Faith into the unknown.

There is no unknown with God - but there is so much unknown for each of us. Every time we find ourselves in a place we think there isn't unknown, chances are that it is about to change anyway. But as I was thinking back to preparing for that new baby, I remember that there was not any way to completely prepare my heart or convince myself that I would be capable of loving this second child as much as I loved my first. Others told me that I would, but I had not yet experienced God's miracle of my heart doubling in capacity. When it all came down to it - all I could do was give it over to the Lord and tell Him I would trust Him with my fears because I couldn't do anything about it. I told Him how I was feeling and that I knew He had planned all these things and said I would trust Him with the rest.

The joy in this story is that I was able to truly enjoy the end of my pregnancy while loving my little boy and leaving the rest up to God. I would feel waves of panic, but give it over to my Father God and go back to trusting - which was for me, at that time, a Leap of Faith. You all can guess the ending to the story - especially if you have already had more than one child - I was as deeply in love with our second from the moment she arrived, as I was with our first. I still can't humanly explain it, other than the capacity of a mother's heart is truly a gift from God. The best part is that I went on to experience it three more times after that and each one was just as amazing.

God knows the unknown and there is nothing we need to fear. Psalm 119 says, "Lord, you have searched me and you know me...even the darkness is not dark to you...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be...Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts...lead me in the way everlasting."

I don't know what your "Leap" looks like - but you probably do and God certainly does. Please let me encourage you to give it completely over to Him and trust Him for the results...new babies may seem to trivial to what you are going through, but it doesn't matter what it is - He is more than able. I want to close with Ephesians 3:20, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory." Have fun leaping!