Another Four Letter Word

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Four letter words have a reputation for being foul, slang, or crude. The vocabulary we choose reflects our values. Popular usage can change the conventional meaning of a word. There is a four letter word which, by definition, simply means “being actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime.” By definition, “busy” is not a bad word.

I was recently contacted with a last-minute request to speak at a conference. The organizer admitted that she hesitated to call me because she felt she would be bothering me because I was so busy. I realized that I portray my life as busy. I have bought into the frantic pace of our society that equates busyness with worth, and stillness with laziness. Heaven forbid if I am caught being still.

Godliness reflects the opposite. Jesus beckons us to come away with Him and to learn His unforced rhythms of life. Studying the way that Jesus, with a limited time frame, interacted and lived out His mission, we would be hard-pressed to find Him looking busy or responding that He was too busy to meet the needs of the people around Him. His value did not come from being busy.

“Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10 NIV). As treasured children of the Most High God our value does not come from what we do. Rather, it is our connectedness to God which spawns our values and propels our actions. Time alone with God does not diminish our capacity for accomplishments. Rather, it fuels it. Martin Luther is noted as saying that he had so much work to do that he needed to spend the first three hours in his day in prayer. When our hearts are stilled we are recharged, making our work more effective, which also results in less busyness.

I am choosing to make my vocabulary match my values and for that reason I resolve to not give credence to a word that insidiously shapes my actions. I am eradicating from my vocabulary the four letter word – BUSY. In doing so I am charting a course of Christ-like stillness of spirit within activity.

PRAYER: O Lord, show me how to be still.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

A440 for Harmony

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Picture eight to twelve beginning guitar students seated in a circle. I’m teaching my very first group class. They try to tune their instruments all at once. Feeding time at the zoo produces no greater cacophony.

Obviously, this doesn’t work. Their ears aren’t developed enough to tell whether they have a string on pitch or not. Mine is. So I decide to tune each guitar myself. I set my instrument to perfect A440 (the industry standard of 440 vibrations per second for the A above Middle C). I grab the guitar to my left and get it exactly like mine. The next guitar is adjusted to the one I just finished, and so on, until they’re all completed. I have the students play a G chord together. Yikes! It sounds terrible. As careful as I’ve been, they’re still not in tune with each other. What happened? I keep working at it. This one’s right on with that. Now that one’s good with the previous one. I have them play a chord again. Nasty. Finally I figure I’ll use my own guitar as the master. It works! When aligned with the one, all of them are in perfect harmony.

Isn’t it like our God to build spiritual truths into the very physics of the earth? A hundred instruments tuned to each other will not be in accord. But a hundred instruments in unison with one instrument will match up perfectly with each other.

In the same way, God’s children, hearts duplicating those around them, will be in discord. But if our hearts are attuned to the A440 of God’s Spirit, we’ll be in flawless harmony with one another.

PRAYER: Lord, You are the perfect Master I want to be in tune with. Don’t let me conform to others, but let me be transformed by the renewing of my mind—by reading Your Word and spending time in Your presence.

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV).

Consumed!

By Donna McCrary –

Pitch darkness. Pounding waves. Whipping winds. Mayday! Mayday! Suddenly across the water appears a ghost-like image. Panic and fear race through their veins. The adrenaline surges through their shivering bodies as the flight or fight reflex consumes them. They see Him walking on the sea. Terrified, they cry out in fear, “It is a ghost!” Immediately Jesus speaks to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

After discussing this passage with a friend, I realized all too often I am like the rest of the disciples in the boat and not like Peter. I praise God for coming to my rescue. I thank Him for calming the storms in my life. What made Peter willing to walk on water, to step out of a perfectly good boat into the storm?

Could it be that he wasn’t satisfied with staying in the boat? He wanted more than a calming of the sea in his life. He answered Jesus’ command, “Do not be afraid” with a command of his own, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Crazy! In essence, Peter acknowledged Jesus as Lord and then asked Jesus to help him do the impossible—walk on water.

Jesus didn’t explain Walk on Water 101 to Peter. He didn’t give him any safety tips or swimming suggestions for that matter. Jesus simply replied, “Come.”

Peter made the decision to take action. He stepped out of the boat and onto the water. He eagerly participated in an illogical stunt. He was a fisherman so we can assume he had full understanding of the physics behind “sink or swim” logic. He had an all consuming desire to be in the presence of Jesus. This desire consumed him so deeply he dismissed every logical thought as he stepped out of the boat.

I bet if a modern-day news anchor asked Peter why he committed such an insane act he would simply state with calm satisfaction, “Just to be close to my Jesus!” When the reporter asked how the rest of us could experience this miracle, Peter would answer, “Validate your visions and dreams and live daily to be consumed by the presence of Jesus.”

Jesus said, “Come.”

PRAYER: Father, today, show me how to be like Peter. Show me how to step out in faith and draw nearer to You so I can do the impossible in my life and bring Your name glory.

“But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’ And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water’” (Matthew 14:26-28 ESV).

The Choice of Truth

By Rosemary Flaaten –

As I read and reread the evaluation, these questions ran rampant through my mind: How could I not have met their expectations? How could they think so poorly of me? Am I really this bad?

This questioning quickly turned to derogatory interpretations: I guess this proves that I really am a failure. I knew I wasn’t cut out for this job and these comments prove it. I’m pathetic. Anger, resentment and self-disgust caused each negative comment to swell in intensity, making me feel smaller and less competent.

All too often, I choose to pick the negative out of an evaluation or a conversation and then feed it so that it expands into a much larger and darker issue than what was originally intended. I allow my mind to take me down the path of negativity and resistance. At these times, I am moving away from God and how He could use this to make me more like Him if only I didn’t turn away.

The Psalmist declares “I have chosen the way of truth” (Psalm 119:29 NIV). This advises me that following God’s way is choosing a route which leads away from negativity and falsehood. Instead, it follows a process characterized by examining the facts to create an honest assessment of the situation and myself, thus keeping me from being drawn into excess negativity.

When I choose the corridor of truth, I will no longer be blinded by coddled hurt, unable to see any truth that might be wrapped in their evaluation. Rather, by looking for any nuggets of truth, I will seize the potential for growth.

What path will you choose the next time you  receive an evaluation that seemed unfair or where you felt misunderstood? Will you choose the pathway of negativity or will you choose to allow God to show you the truth in the statements and use it to fuel growth?

QUOTE: “True genius resides in the capacity of evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.” — Winston Churchill

“Keep me from deceitful ways, be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth, I have sent me heart on your laws” (Psalm 119:29-30 NIV).

Blow Torch Anger

By Rosemary Flaaten –

The flash from the blow torch came at lightening speed. Singeing the table, it turned the weathered grey to charcoal black. There was no denying the permanent scar left by the flash of intense fire.

Does your anger ever strike out like a blow torch?

All too often little injustices and irritants pile on top of each other throughout my day. The ledger in my mental accounting system seems to be added to in rapid succession. One more frustration is tallied and then it happens—the flash of anger. Once my blow torch of anger flares, there is no retraction. The person on the receiving end will not be unscathed.

Ephesians 4:26 does not instruct us to avoid anger. Rather, we are told to not sin in our anger. Blow-torch flashes of anger are sinful. They singe people’s character. They raze people’s worth. They force relational chasms. They do irreparable damage.

The Psalmist provides us with a different approach to anger. “Complain if you must, but don’t lash out. Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking. Build your case before God and wait for his verdict” (Psalm 4:4-4 TM).

Consider having a pad of sticky notes in your pocket. Every time one of your coworkers, friends or family members does something that causes you to feel indignant or hurt, write out your complaint on the sticky note. The act of chronicling your complaint will become a physical transaction that symbolizes removing the anger from your heart and mind.

But, rather than posting those complaints for review or accumulation, shred them or toss them in the trash. By destroying them, you indicate that you are handing them over to God, trusting Him to deal with that person as He chooses. Allowing God to be the final judge alleviates us from having to play that role. We can trust Him to always pronounce a fair verdict that is wrapped in love.

The warmth of God’s love will always be preferable to the fire of our blow-torch.

PRAYER:  Lord, help me to be a purveyor of love and forgiveness rather than an accumulator of anger.

“Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (Ephesians 4:26-27 TM).

« Previous Page — Next Page »