MESSterpiece

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or so the saying goes. Have you ever taken a good look at yourself and wondered what God sees in you? I'm not talking about surface things, although that (of course) counts. I'm talking about looking at your internal mess; your insecurities, your bad attitude or impatience, your short-temperedness or greed. Knowing God sees it all, what does he really think?

Psalm 139 details how the writer (David) was formed in his mother's womb, intricately woven into the person he is, with God intimately involved in his forming. When one thinks about David's exploits, his courage, his heart for God, his song writing, it all makes sense. Of course God created him for a purpose, just look at his life! But when one lines up David's failures of character, his infidelity and the small matter of ordering someone murdered, the storyline gets a bit messy.

If I'm honest, the full picture David makes me feel a bit better. In fact, all the messy and imperfect characters of the Bible help me hold my head up a bit straighter when approaching the throne of God. God uses imperfect people to do good things. He uses adulterers, gossips, liars and cheats. He uses the lowly and the rich, the stubborn and the meek.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s masterpiece.

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

The thing about being born again in Christ is that we are made new not just once, but continually. Each time we repent, the scoreboard is wiped clean. Each time we acknowledge our failures and sins, asking God to empower us to live differently, He is faithful to do just that.

Unlike a classical painting hanging on the wall of a museum, God is constantly adding new brushstrokes and layers to His perfectly imperfect design. We are a work-in-progress. We aren't meant to be static symbols of His artistry, rather living partners as He creates His kingdom here on earth. He planned good works for us to do, so we can partner with Him in creating MESSterpieces in our own lives.

The Rest Will Come

It's been a long slog these past 2 years. The move to Central America; the uncertainty, the promise, the hope and anticipation...getting plugged into a church community, getting the kids enrolled in public school, only for everything to shut down a few months later. And now, 17 months since the initial lockdown, things are still not settled, still not stable, still in flux.

Friends, I'm weary. I'm tired of being the strong shoulder for others to lean on. I'm tired of looking on the bright side, of grinning and bearing it. I don't want to buck up. I'm tired of bringing the same questions and burdens to the cross week after week, month after month. I'm tired of wearing masks and praying for people who are battling for their lives in the hospital. Are any of you experiencing a similar weariness?

Normally I would seamlessly segue into Matthew 11:28-30, noting that Jesus said to go to him with my weariness and heavy burdens, that he would give me rest. Not this time. I don't want the pat Sunday School answer that keeps me at the center. Part of the problem in all this is that in my fatigue, I am centering myself; the inconveniences I face, the disappointments I manage. I want, instead, to take me out of the picture- to set my sights higher than my own feet trudging along.

Isaiah 40:28

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

God is not worn-out by all of this! And, get this, He understands! Without me even making the effort to explain my situation, He sees it and understands. I need to get out of my head and just sit and meditate on this verse. As I sit in defeat and in mind-numbing emotional exhaustion, I am forgetting who God is. Don't I know this? Haven't I heard? He is the everlasting God and He doesn't grow weary.

Further down in the same passage, it talks about God lending that strength to us. He knows we grow weary, He knows we stumble, but He doesn't leave us in that state. Instead, God gives us the strength we need not only to endure, but to soar.

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

My goal today is to remain back in verse 28. Remain in the steadfastness of my Creator, not the shifting nature of creation. To focus on His strength, not my weakness, His understanding, not my own cluelessness. If I stay here awhile, if I wait upon the Lord, the rest will come.

Facing Dragons

Sometimes it feels like we're fighting battles on multiple fronts: cultural, spiritual, psychological, ideological, political...it's exhausting. Media messages for and against, friends who stand on both sides of any given issue, all exert their own influence and it can be hard to find an equilibrium.

I'm thinking today about the battles I'm supposed to fight, and identifying the true enemy. I don't want to be like Don Quixote, flailing at windmills, thinking I'm on the battle field when I'm really not. Where is the battle? What are the dragons to be slain?

In Jesus' day, there were just as many issues, contentions and problems in his world. Rome ruled the region with an iron fist; poverty, cultural tensions, injustice and oppression part and parcel to empire. What battles, then, did Jesus take-on? In the Gospels we see that Jesus didn't come to lead a military rebellion or political protest. His fight was a spiritual one, one that shed light on darkness, the underlying sin condition that keeps us all from God.

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Not only that, Jesus concerned himself with ministering hope and healing to the poor, sick and hurting, the outcast and the widow. He didn't waste his time on debates; he spoke with authority and backed it up with action. We need to see a whole lot more of that from Jesus followers today.

Rather than getting caught-up in the perceived injustices I feel, can I focus instead on being a minister of peace? Will I actually and actively bring the Kingdom to earth, through how I live? Will I take the cost of someone else's debt upon myself (Matthew 20:28)? Will I walk an extra mile, when an oppressor demands one (Matthew 5:41)? Does my radical, obedient faith require more of me than quiet Sunday mornings and complaints about the world we live in?

This is the battle ground I have been given; my own interior struggle against selfishness, entitlement, putting myself before others. Every day I choose whether or not to go into battle and fight those dragons face-to-face.