Chosen

    As the first order of business today I want to honor one of the great unseen heroines in my life, Jimmie Gomez. From the day I met her in 1985 I felt like she was my own personal cheerleader.  When I saw her after being away from Abilene for several years, she was in a wheelchair as a victim of post polio syndrome. She had a phone call ministry from her wheelchair and could pray with the best of them.  As one friend described, "She had the 'red line' to her Daddy's phone."  She encouraged me in my school and in my writing and planned to be a guest blogger here on Unseen. She was very instrumental in praying my child out of the pit. She loved him and believed in him when not many people did.  He loved her too and when he was angry at God and church he always loved seeing her. Now that he is out of the pit, he is committed to praying for Jimmie's grandson who is trying to get out of the same pit. Isn't that just like God?  Now read on for ideas about being chosen by God.

Chosen

You did not choose me, but I chose you that you may go and bear fruit and that your fruit may endure. John 15:16

When I was growing up, I felt like I had a sign on my forehead that said: ALMOST GOOD ENOUGH BUT NOT QUITE. It was more than not being part of the in crowd.  I grew to hate PE, especially if we picked teams.   I was almost always among the last three to be chosen. Academic teams were a completely different story, but the pattern started early of focusing on what I couldn’t do rather than what I could do. As I got older, I tried out for teams and groups, and many times I almost made it. All district choir. All district band. Homecoming Court. There were nine girls in my ninth grade class and eight spots on the Homecoming Court. I was the one sitting in the bleachers. It was the same story with cheerleading tryouts. I had a very rational response. I grew to hate cheerleaders. Interviews, when I made it to the top two or three and didn’t make the final cut, added to the feeling.  None of these experiences by themselves were that bad, but the sum of them left me with deep wounds. I felt like I would always fall short, no matter what I tried. This conflicted with the message that if I tried hard enough I could get anything I wanted and do anything I wanted. I was confused and frustrated.  I coped by trying to never hope so I would not be disappointed. Would you like to guess how well that worked out?

            Even growing up knowing God, I was shocked when I found what Jesus said in John 15:16. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you that you might go and bear fruit and your fruit should endure.” This verse began the slow process of setting me free.

            Maybe you are like me. Maybe you have wounds from rejection. Maybe you don’t see why anyone would choose you, much less the God who created heaven and earth. It is the truth, though. He assures us over and over that we are His beloved and His chosen. Isaiah 43:1 says that He calls us by name. Imagine being at an event where the governor is speaking. When he announces the team to manage a new project, He calls your name. He doesn’t just say, “I want the short lady with the short blond hair.” He says, “I want Susan on my team. I have work for her to do.” What an honor that would be, and that is what God did for each of us. He told Jeremiah that he chose him and consecrated him (set him apart) to be a prophet before he was born. You, like Jeremiah, were made on purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says God had good works prepared in advance for us to do. Finally 1 Peter 2 tells us that “We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar people so that we should show forth the praises of God, who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

            Knowing the truth of our destiny, it is vital that we get that truth into our spirits. We have walked around long enough in hurt, fear and rejection. If the enemy can keep us there we will not do the works that God prepared in advance and we will not show forth the praises of God. The enemy will shine the light on our rejections and replay our hurts in our minds like DVDs. We can choose to take hold of the spotlight and shine it instead on God’s acceptance and show others how to do the same.

            One final note: once, on a retreat, I was dealing with rejection that I felt. I had an image of my hand and it was bleeding from many places, like pin pricks. Then I saw Jesus nail scarred hand superimposed on mine. He said, “What is their rejection compared to my acceptance.” Good question.

Dive!Dive!

It's definitely the Christmas season.  There is a tiny bit of snow on the ground and last night Charlie Brown's Christmas was on TV. Living unseen can tempt us to focus on our concerns and get our eyes off of God and his purposes. Read on to find out how I learned to reach for what God has and who He is.

Lessons from the Dog

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Ps 34:8

                My silly little dog is a treasure. He is always glad to see me when I come in, even if nobody else is. If I am feeling sad or scared in the middle of the night, he hardly ever fusses about being picked up and cuddled. As little as he is, I have no doubt that he would tear up someone who tried to hurt me.  He loves to go for walks. I was saying, “I’m going to take the dog on a ‘you-know-what,’” so he wouldn’t flip out when I said walk. Now he knows what a “you-know-what” is and starts flipping out when I say that. One day we went on a “you-know-what.” It was summer time in West Texas, and it had been miserably hot. (That may be redundant.) We had had a thunderstorm which had cooled it down some, and we took the opportunity to get outside. As we walked along, I guess Benji’s little feet got hot. When we crossed a street about halfway through our route, there was a puddle about two feet across. He stepped into the puddle. I expected him to take a drink and then keep going, but he had other ideas. He lay down in the middle of the puddle with all four feet stretched out. I laughed and so did several people driving by.  I tried to get him to come on, but he had the brakes on. I finally managed to get him out of the puddle and walked home with a pile of soaking wet puppy dog.

                While I was minding my own business laughing at the dog, God showed me something. Many times when I come to worship or have quiet time with God, I am tempted to just stick to the edges. I may read my devotional books but not really focus. I may sing but not think about what I am singing. I may even sit on the end of the pew and be tempted to leave early. I have told my friends before to let me sit on the inside so it will be harder for me to bail out. Sometimes it is busy-ness and sometimes it is feelings of unworthiness or guilt. What I want is to be like my dog. I want to plunge into God’s presence and revel in it. One thing I need to do more of is just sit in God’s presence and be still and listen.  That is not a natural thing in our culture, but we need it.

God is never too busy for you and is always available. He wants you to share your hurts, your fears, your joys and triumphs with Him. The psalmist says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Ps. 84:10). We also read, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalms 34:8) Hebrews tells us that through Christ we can come boldly before the throne of grace. (4:16)

                If you need friends like mine who will help you into the presence of God and not let you skip out on it, I pray that you will find them. Let’s desire the presence of God so much that nothing can keep us away. Whether you meet Him in your prayer closet or in your worship service, meet with Him. He loves you to the very core of your being and sent Jesus to die for you so that you could be His child.

               

Red Rover

Welcome to Unseen today.  We are in the middle of the holiday season. I am willing to bet that as people who live unseen, you have experienced some hurt this holiday.  We are challenged to be thankful, but life is full of pain and it is easy to feel alone in our pain. Today's post is about ways to deal with that feeling.

 

RED ROVER, RED ROVER

Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:3

Remember the old playground game, Red Rover? You divided into teams and team members locked arms. Then one team would call out, “Red Rover, Red Rover, Let Stacy come over!” Stacy would break from the ranks of her team’s line and run as hard as she could toward the other team’s line. She would try to aim for what she felt was a weak link. If she broke through the line, she could take one of the players for her team. If she did not break through, she joined the team that called her, and her team lost a member. The best strategy for keeping a player from breaking through your line was simply to hold on tight to the people on either side of you.

            What we need in the church today is the same kind of determination to hold on to the people on either side of us.  Our enemy is trying desperately to take some of our friends and family off our “team.”  This week in our ladies’ class there were several prayer requests that made me realize how much we are under attack. A young woman was grieving on the anniversary of her daughter’s death. Mothers were struggling with children in addiction. Several had serious health concerns. One of my husband’s oldest friends was killed in a robbery. How can we help each other through things like this? We need to hold on tightly to each other. Just as in the game a player looks for the weakest link, the enemy hits us at our weakest point. We need to be in fellowship so we are not fighting alone.
            The Bible describes the church as a body. 1 Corinthians describes the way the body is supposed to work together as well as some ways that it should not work. It can be tempting to say to our fellow believers, “I have no need of you. I am fine on my own.”  This is a lie from the enemy who wants us to be disconnected. We are encouraged in Rom 12:15 to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Then in Galatians 6:2 we are told to bear one another’s burdens. Many other passages have advice on how to relate to one another. A common theme is that we must stand together.  
            Unlike Red Rover, we are not in a game. We are in a war, and we need to fight together. The unity of believers, empowered by God and his spirit, will be a key factor in the victory. Our ladies have begun to learn this. Our unity is not because of our similarity to one another. We have a wide age span, different financial situations, different ethnic backgrounds and we came to God from some very different places. Our unity comes from being devoted to the same Lord. While I, who came to God from the third pew, may not be able to understand my sister who came to God down the road of addiction and abuse, I can stand with her and draw strength from her.
            Stand together and hold tight to each other. We can’t let our marriages, our children, or our Christian families to be pulled back to the other side.

Lord, Help us to fight together and to fight with you.

A New Pair of Glasses

Welcome to Unseen this week. Adjusting to full time work has been challenging and exciting. I hope to be back to weekly posts soon as I get my time schedule back on track. With Thanksgiving coming up, we are hearing about gratitude. Read on for my perspective.

A new Pair of Glasses

Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:1

    My dad went through a grueling battle with cancer and Alzheimer's disease.  It was very hard to watch this strong, passionate, independent man be reduced to one who was confused and vulnerable.  We found that we had to find humor where we could to cope with the situation.  There were funny things that happened, too. He loved Braum's ice cream, and wanted my sister to bring some every time she came to see him.  To save money, she bought a ½ gallon carton. She brought him some in a Styrofoam cup and he declared that it was not nearly as good as Braum's ice cream.  He would not believe that it was Braum's, so she went to the car and got a Braum's cup. She washed it out and put the ice cream into it. When he tasted it, he said, “Now, this is the good stuff. It's way better than what you brought me before.”

    Dad, like so many Alzheimer's patients, did not feel that he was confused. He desperately wanted to go back to work.  He was telling me about a test that the doctor had done, apparently to check for cognitive loss. He said that he didn't do that well on the test and the doctor had said he was concerned. Dad insisted that the reason he had not done well on the test was that he could not see the questions very well. He stated that he was going to get new glasses in a few weeks and then he would be fine. He would be able to go back to work then. 

    When Dad told me this, I just shook my head and laughed. Then I thought about what he said. How many times in life do we just need a new perspective, “a new pair of glasses”, to get us through a situation?   It is so easy to complain about the way life is. We see the co-worker who is difficult rather than the blessing of having a job.  We see the amazing amount of food that teenagers eat and miss the

blessing of having teens who are home to eat it.  We see the spouse who has to be asked more than once to take out the trash and miss the blessing of having a spouse who for all their faults has been faithful and loving.

      Proverbs has a lot to say about our perspective in life.  For instance, chapter 15 and verse 16 tells us, Better is a little with contentment than great feasting with strife. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows us things that are out of perspective. The beatitudes show us that what we think of as bad, being meek, mourning, or being persecuted, are actually things that will give us blessings.  Later he chastises the Pharisees for tithing mint, dill and cumin, while neglecting the weighty matters of the law, such as love and mercy.

    Christian life requires a new perspective, or a new pair of glasses. The things we are asked to do don't make sense to our natural minds.  Where is the logic in being the greatest by serving others, or in praying for those who persecute us? Romans 12 tell us that we must not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. If you are struggling with a situation, ask God to show you how he sees it. Also, when we talk to each other, let's practice looking for the blessings and not complaining. You never know what you will find.

 

Work in Progress

Welcome back to Unseen. I have started a full time job and have been looking at the changes in my life and my attitudes. Read on to see what I learned.

Work in Progress

            And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit 2Cor. 3:18

            My little boy was very allergic to mosquito bites, and they would swell and itch miserably. He had several bites on his ankles and had scratched them until they bled.  Then the blood dried, effectively gluing the socks to his legs. I did not realize this and when I was getting him undressed that night I pulled his socks off and he howled. He put his little hands on his hips and said, “I wish I had the kind of mother who would take my socks off slow when I have a boo-boo.” Full of remorse, I said, “I am so sorry. Will I do until they can find you a mother like that?” Wiping his eyes, he said, “Yeah. They’re working on that kind of mother but they are not finished with them yet.” God is still not finished with me as a mother.

            Yesterday I was walking to the library to work on proofreading this book. I was a little distracted but my attention was quickly arrested. Our part of West Texas is on the path of the monarch butterfly migration.  Between the sidewalk and the library, probably a hundred gorgeous monarchs flitted in front of me. It was so exciting that I felt like a child. It made me think of the awesomeness of the creator and also of His transforming power. The proud-looking monarchs with their bold orange and black coloring come from a striped caterpillar that bears little resemblance to the adult.  I am so glad that the same God who can make that transformation is at work in me.

            2 Cor. 3:18 says “and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” I am so glad that God did not leave me as I was when I first came to Him in 1978. I am glad He did not leave me as I was in1994 when I re-dedicated myself to serving Him out of love and gratitude for who He is, not just to follow the rules. He has used situations in my life to draw me closer to him and make me more like Him.  He has shown me His glory in valleys He has brought me through and in people who follow Him. He has taught me things in His word and molded me through service. 

The more time I spend with Him the more He changes me.

            It is easy to get stuck at one level of grace or growth. How do you avoid this? If you want to be

changed into God’s likeness, you have to behold His likeness. Spend time with Him in study and

worship. Spend time with His people. James says, “Come near to God and he will come near to

you” (4:8). If you want more of God, He is willing to meet you.

Our greatest fear

Living unseen creates many fears. There is fear of never being good enough, of never being noticed, and of being abandoned. I have learned, though, that there is another fear. Today's post is a poem by Marianne Williamson that teally speaks to me.

Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

Behind the Scene

Living unseen is hard and we can feel that the barriers we have to overcome are too much for us. We feel alone and forgotten. Today's post is about that feeling

Behind the Scene 

    My ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8

 

    In high school, I had the chance to be in some plays.  From the audience everything looks calm and smooth.  Actors enter and exit flawlessly and the scenery is changed at the appropriate time. From the other side of the curtain, though, it is a completely different picture.  Tech people are bringing lights up and down. Make up is being touched up, and costumes are being changed.  When the curtain goes down, prop managers scurry on and off stage.  The props and scenery from one scene are often completely different from the one before.  Places may be marked with glow in the dark tape.  Think of the hours of practice that have taken place beforehand, with movements mapped out and practiced.

Can you imagine an actor making an entrance onto a dark or semi-dark stage?  He has made the entrance dozens of times before, but this time something is different.  The prop manager did not get a piece of scenery off the stage from the previous scene. It happens to be right in the way and the actor trips or even falls.  The audience gasps, or maybe snickers.

    There was a time recently when I was waiting for something from God. I was doing everything I was supposed to do. I had confessed every sin I ever thought about committing, fearing that the reason I was not receiving what I was waiting for was because I was being punished. I begged. I pleaded. I cried. I got angry. I told God that He was not paying attention, and He apparently wasn't doing anything about my situation. Finally I got a picture of a scene backstage, with prop managers scurrying madly. God reminded me that He is in control, and that I would not want to make an entrance until the stage was set, because I did not want to fall over something. 

          I received what I was waiting for, and it has been fantastic. I see some of the things that were worked out, but I know there were many more that I will never see.   I have no idea what God is doing when He appears to be doing nothing.  We need to have faith, because God has seen the end from the beginning. Nothing surprises him and he is in control. Take courage as you wait for what you ask for. God is faithful.

LORD, Help us to remember that there are things we cannot see and that you will never leave us.

Destroyed?

Sometimes when we are living unseen, we feel unseen even by God. If you are in the middle of struggle, hopefully today's post will give you courage.

Do not remember the former things for behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?  Is. 43:18-19

            A few years ago, my children were going through a program with the hospice designed to help them cope with loss and grief. The program included having the children create memorials as a way to honor their loved ones and explaining the grief process to them in ways they could understand. One of the activities really spoke to me. The facilitators had the children draw a picture on a ceramic tile.  It was colorful and really pretty. Then, they smashed the tile into dozens of small pieces. They used the broken pieces of tile to create a mosaic. The point that the facilitators made to the children is that even though the mosaic was not like the original tile picture, it was still beautiful.

            This week my life feels like the ceramic tile. I am not even sure I know where all the little pieces are.  That’s O.K., though, because God does. I have seen His hand in so many ways this week. Remember when God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house? The clay was “marred in the potter’s hand.” Rather than throwing it away, he remade it into something different. God did the same for Israel, and He does the same for us. How many of you are someplace in your life that did not show up on your radar a few years ago?  If you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting at my computer today working on my second book, I would have laughed at you. A year ago there was no first book, just a dream and lots of reasons it wouldn’t work. Here I am, though. My family is having growing pains, but at least there is growth. God is orchestrating changes in so many areas I am frankly a little dizzy trying to keep up.

            Are you dealing with change and loss as well? Chances are good that you are, because if you are reading this you are probably human. It is tempting to try to remake our lives and glue the picture back together, but maybe we need to give God our broken pieces and let Him remake something. There is an old camp song that says:

                             Something beautiful, something good.

                            All my confusion He understood.

                             All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife

                           But He made something beautiful of my life

            I always thought that the song was talking about salvation. While it is true that God does make something beautiful of our sinful lives when we first meet Him, He also continues to make us more and more beautiful when we are broken. If you are broken, let Him help you see the new thing He is doing. If you love someone who is broken, be there. Point them to the Artist who can give them new beauty.

            One final thought—I never noticed until today where the clay was. It was marred in the potter’s hand. What a comfort to know that when the world is spinning so fast and we are being pulled and molded, we are still in His Hand.

LORD, help us remember that you are the God who makes all things new.

Protecting what is Precious

Today we have more wisdom from Kurt Boyland about loving and caring for yourself. You are precious and must treat yourself with love and compassion. Here are some practical suggestions for doing that.

I will argue less with people that like to argue.

I will be pulled less into toxic interactions.

I give up trying to prove others wrong and prove myself right.

I will examine and assess my expectations of the person or situation.

I give myself permission to change my mind.

I give myself permission to have a way out of situations where I feel stuck or threatened.

It's OK to decline invitations.

It's OK to say no.

I will assume less and seek clarification more.

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Living unseen can be especially difficult when you fall or fail.  Read on to learn some helpful hints

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Rom 3:23

                It was a beautiful scene-a peaceful meadow on top of a mountain.  Pine trees surrounded the meadow and tall grass swayed gently in the summer breeze. Then a rattletrap bus wound its way up the mountain roads and stopped at the edge of the meadow. Not so peaceful now. The bus doors opened and 40 teenagers piled out.  OK, forget peaceful meadows and opt for giant playground.  We ran and jumped and yelled. Kids set out tarps and towels for sunbathing.  Braver ones climbed trees. Swaggering boys flirted with giggling girls, and groups of giggling girls whispered about the swaggering boys.

                 I followed a group of my friends racing across the meadow. It had rained earlier as it does nearly every day in the mountains, but the sun was bright now.  Unfortunately, the grass was still slippery. As we ran down a small slope, I lost my footing and went sliding. My fall was broken by something soft and squishy. A COW PATTY! Word travels fast among teens, and my predicament was the talk of the meadow. There were some that tried to help, but it seemed to my 14-year-old mind that most of the others were laughing at me.  This is not good at any age, but at 14 it is awful. Now I was hurt, smelly and embarrassed. There was no wiping off the damage.  Fortunately, one of the girls had brought along a pair of shorts for sunbathing, which she let me use. The rest of the afternoon did not go too badly. The problem came when it was time to go back to camp. The counselors would not let me wear the shorts back to camp. (Someone might lust after me.) I had to put on the stinky jeans to get back on the bus.  It was probably only twenty minutes back to camp, but it felt like the ride took forever. I sat in the front seat alternately seething at the “jokes” being flung my way from kids who refused to sit near me, and crying from the embarrassment of the situation.

                Fast forward ____ years. Let’s just say several. I have been taking martial arts with my children. It really is a lot of fun. We were working on judo and how to fall.  Although falling sounds natural, there are actually things you can do to fall more safely.  I am not 14 anymore and the first few times we worked on falling, I did less than wonderful.  I understand the concept, and when we practice in relatively slow motion, I can do OK. In theory, you practice in slow motion and then when you are thrown or pushed, your body remembers what to do. Good theory. I did notice one important thing, though. When I fell and did less than wonderful, no one laughed. No matter which class member I was working with, they helped me up and the teachers offered suggestions to help me do better next time.

Sure enough, I am getting better.  I only knocked my head off the mat a couple of times last week.

                In life, just like martial arts, falling is inevitable. My question is this. What kind of Christians are we when people around us fall? Are we the kind of Christians who point out the cow patty on their behinds? Do we whisper about their mistakes or refuse to sit next to them in church? Do we help them up? Do we point them to wise counsel who will help them do better next time? The other question is just as important. What kind of Christians do you want around you when you are the one who falls?

                 The Bible says, if anyone sins, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. We are on this road together.  Let's encourage each other when we fall. It may be the difference in someone giving up the struggle and getting up again.

Lord, help us be the kind of believers who pick each other up when we fall.

Use for intended purposes

Use for intended purposes

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do his good works, which he prepared beforehand that we should do. Eph. 2:10

When I was teaching special education reading, one of my favorite lessons was having the students read instructions, disclaimers and cautions from products. There are some really brilliant disclaimers out there. One on a hair dryer says “Do not use while sleeping?” Powdered baby formula says “Be sure to add water before feeding”. Then of course there is the famous “Contents may be hot” in the coffee pots and coffee cups. A sign on an electric blender reminds users “Never remove food from blades while this product is operating.”

I was surprised at the admonitions on so many products “Use product only for its intended purpose.”  Regardless of the infomercials, you should not use the ginsu knife to cut through pipe. You should also not use a blender to grind concrete into powder, although it is done. Ephesians tells us that just like the ginsu knives, the baby formula and the blender we have an intended purpose.  We have been given gifts and talents, and for the best results, we should use them to glorify God.  We know of musicians who spent years playing in bars and night clubs, only to turn their talent to God after being saved.  Many of them say they are much more satisfied than when they were using their talents for themselves.  No matter what your talent, this proves to be true. How wonderful that God not only prepared works for you to do, but empowered you to do them.

We need to be willing to look for our gifts and find how we can use them for the kingdom.  We also must guard against the trap of saying we are not worthy for our works to be used. This book is a perfect example.  I wrote for years and argued with God that I was not worthy to use my writings for him. While I did not bury my “talent” in the ground, I did bury it in the backs of notebooks until God dealt with all of my reasons He could  not use it.  Use your gifts and nurture the gifts you see in  others.  The finished work will be beautiful. 

 As we live unseen, we are tempted to believe that we have no purpose. Do not fall for the lie.

LORD, Help us to see and live in our purpose today.

FEEDBACK: Do you know what your purpose in life is? How did you find out and what makes it hard for you to live up to it?

Why do you go to church

Today's guest blogger is Gloria Bradshaw.  She is another faithworks volunteer and instructor.  She has wisdom today that she learned from her grandchildren

Aren’t grandchildren wonderful? I often marvel at how my grandchildren challenge me in ways that I suppose my children might have if I had taken the same kind of time to really listen to them as I do my grandchildren.

Not long ago, as we were going somewhere in the car, our youngest granddaughter asked me, “Mimi, why do you go to church all the time?” I offered an answer to her something like, “Well, I want to praise God for all that He has done for me.” But since that day, I have often asked myself that same question, “Why do I go to church all the time?”

Recently, answers to that question have emerged more than once from the time spent in worship, but one particular Sunday an answer popped out of the sermon. I go to church to find the strength to continue with the challenges that life brings. In the sermon that day, the preacher reminded us that our individual battles belong to God and that He is already victorious over all that we face or will face in this life. He also said something that really resonated with me. “Satan cannot stand in the face of repentance.” As I meditate on that concept, I realize that as I truly repent and turn from the habits and practices of the flesh that plague me, I allow the Spirit of God to fill me and grant me strength to live in the full power of that life-giving Spirit that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, gentleness, etc. If I had not gone to church today, I would have missed that message and the blessing that it will be to me as I live through the coming week.

But there’s more. Couldn’t God have given me this insight in other ways—through family or private meditation or simply by zapping me with the message as I was navigating grocery store aisles? Of course, I could have gotten the message any of those ways. However, there would still be something missing, and that’s what I finally came to grips with this morning. I have always thought of myself as a competent, stable person with the strength to encounter any difficulty head-on and not be defeated. Yet when I get to the bottom of what gives me this strength, it is not only the power of the Spirit living in me but the combination of that power with the association and support of my community of faith that helps me face temptation with courage and the strength to stand against the “darts” that Satan throws at me. I don’t have to be an army of one fighting my battles; I have the power of the army of God, including my community of faith, standing behind me. Thanks be to God for this great blessing!

Be careful what you ask for

Good morning and welcome back.  Today's entry is about getting what you ask for and the possible problems with it.

How I Got My Dad's Goat

My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. More high as the heavens are above the earth, so far are my ways than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Is 55:8

             For years we had a running joke with my dad. Every Christmas, birthday, and Father's Day, he would say, "All I want for Christmas/ Birthday/ etc. is a goat. No one will get me a goat. No one loves me. No one cares about me." One year my brother and I decided that we would rent Dad a goat. A woman in our church raised them, so we rented Ginger for the day. It was a real experience. First Dad left early from the office and we had to do some fancy footwork to have the goat delivered. When the goat arrived, the woman showed Dad how to lead Ginger by the horns. We took her in the back yard where she promptly tried to head butt the dog. After a little while, I ran an errand. When I came back I was surprised to see the goat looking over our 8 foot fence. It had climbed up the woodpile and was taking in the neighborhood. About sundown, Dad went out to change the water and left the gate open.  Ginger took advantage of the open gate. Dad called for us to help but we did not hear him.  He chased the goat down the street. Ginger stopped to look at the large man running down the street behind her, and Dad finally caught her horns and took her back to the yard. Then he came in and chastised us for not helping him when he called for us. We never heard him. We took Ginger home in a station wagon, and Dad never asked for a goat again.

            We have all had prayers that were not answered. We have also all had God give us things that we have asked for that we wished he hadn't. The children of Israel wanted a king. All the other countries had kings. They should get one, too. Please? Please? Well, guess what? They got one. If you want to see the outcome of that, read 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings.  There are many other stories that are similar.

            What about in your life? Maybe it was a job that you had to have, and it turned out to be a nightmare. What about a man/woman who would make your life wonderful. Sometimes we think we know what we need and feel that God is being unfair when we don't get it. Other times we understand that he sees the whole picture and "sees the end from the beginning."  He has our best interest at heart when He says no. The good thing is that in either instance, God is still sovereign and will be with us. He reminds us in Isaiah 55 that “My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. More high as the heavens are above the earth, so far are my ways than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

  Thought for the day:  Let us encourage each other to look for God's hand in our lives, even when we don't understand what he is doing.

Feedback: Can you think of a prayer that God didn't answer which turned out to be a good thing.

Loving Self

Our guest blogger today is Kurt Boyland. He is a counselor for FaithWorks and Highland Church. He has some wisdom about loving ourselves. Feeling unseen can sap our strength and we often neglect our own well-being. Here are some practical ideas from Kurt about how to love yourself.

Acknowledge the pain in your life. Hurt and pain permeate the cycle of life. From childhood to old age, emotional and physical pains are a dominant thread of life's fabric. Our  hearts are more like Velcro than Teflon. The pain and trials of rejection, neglect, abuse, illness, frustration and loss attach to our hearts, often implanting themselves for many many years. Aboiding, suppressing, condemning or hating the pain often cause the pain to embed deeper, only to manifest itself in a variety of unwanted and "unexplainable " behavior and habits. To love myself is to acknolege my pain from a position of gentle ness and kindness, not fear and contempt.


Honor and respect your pain. Jesus commands his followers to love our enemies. For most people in America and in Abilene, their greatest enemies are not outside but withing themselves. How often do you hear "I am my own worst enemy. In thinking about their anger, shame, pain and guilt, a lot of people react with contempt and hate. Hating parts of ourselves that Jesus died for and wants to redeem only compound the pain and suffering. To respect and honor my pain and suffering means that I regard and treat my hurt and its accompanying emotions and thoughts with the same attitude and behavior that God has for all people. God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In other words, it's important to have a good attitude about you bad self.

Pursue truth  Truth and love are the same. To love is to be truthful and to be truthful is to love. To love myself is to be truthful with myself and others. Truth is pain's guardian. Each time I speak and act contrary to what I know to be true and just, I pour salt on my woundedness. Compromising my beliefs and values solely for the sake of a relationship puts me at greater risk of heaping more pain on my hurt and brokennoess. To speak the truth in love is to allow my brokenness and hurt to have a voice. Truth is pain's advocate. When marginalized and alienated parts are given a chance to speak, there is freedom. Maybe this can be applied to the words of Jesus "The truth will set you free". In love and truth there is freedom.

There is more to come from Kurt's wisdom next week.

Thought for the day: Lord, let us be as gracious to ourselves today as we are to others

Feedback: What makes it difficult for us to love ourselves?

Rocks and Rewards

Today's post is one of my favorite stories God has given me. Being unseen can create resentments. We feel that our good works are overlooked.

Rocks and Rewards

For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.  Mark 9:41

Once there was a girl who was very special. She loved people and loved helping them. She helped her mother and made presents for her father. She was happy and loved. When she went to school, things began to change. She did things to help her friends and made gifts for them. One day she gave a present to her friend, but instead of saying thank you she left it on the table and walked off. The girl decided she would have to be more careful about who she gave her love to. To remind herself, she picked up a rock and put it inside her heart.

            Eventually the girl grew up. She gathered many rocks as reminders of times she was hurt. She even made a pouch to keep them in. She decided that she would shower her love on one person. She married and gave her whole self to make her husband happy. For a while this went well, but eventually he stopped showing his gratitude for what she did.  She decided to devote herself to her children. Surely they would appreciate her. Anyone who has children knows how well that worked. The pouch of rocks in her heart grew so heavy that she stooped when she walked, and she had become bitter and angry. 

            One night she had a dream. She saw Jesus, shining and glorious. He smiled at her and said, “Give me the pouch of rocks in your heart.”

            “Oh, no!” she cried. Then no one will know the things that I did.”

            “I’ve seen every one of them. Give me the pouch, please.” he repeated.

            Reluctantly she handed it over. He poured the contents into his nail scarred hand and she cringed, thinking of the ugly reminders of hurts.  When she looked, she was startled to see instead to pearls, beryl, jasper, emerald, sapphire and many other precious stones. Amazed, she asked where they came from.

            “These are the jewels for your crown. No good deed, however small was ever overlooked.”

            After that she was once again the happy loving person she had left behind so long ago.

            May we all follow her example.

Lord, help us to crave your approval and not that of others.

FEEDBACK: How do resentments and the feeling of being overlooked hinder your life?

Bulletproof

Our guest blogger for today is Paul Mathis. He is an ACU grad student who works with Freedom Fellowship and Grace Fellowship. He has been through the fire and is not afraid to go back and help other people out of it.

       Being unseen involves a lot of hurt and we often wonder where God is in the midst of your struggle. Paul addresses this issue today.


        I know very little about guns and ammo. In fact, all that I know I have learned from watching cop shows on TV. However, I believe it is an accurate fact that if you wear a bulletproof vest and are shot, it is going to hurt. The vest may save your life, but the bullet will still hurt. Depending on the size of the gun and how close the shooter is to you, it may hurt a lot—you may end up knocked out or with broken bones. How is that possible? Isn't the vest supposed to protect you from the bullet? Well, it does. The vest saves your life, but it cannot save you from the reality of the bullet.
         In Genesis 15:1-3, God tells Abram, “Do not be afraid. I am your shield; your very great reward.” God is our shield, but that does not mean that we will never experience pain. God shields us and saves us, but we still have to deal with the reality of life. There will be times of hurt, confusion, desperation, doubt, or uncertainty. God shields us because we do not receive the full brunt of anything life throws our way. We do not face anything on our own. God shields us and saves us. Although we still deal with the reality of pain this life throws our way, we do not need to be afraid—God is our shield.

Lord, help us to know today that you are our shield.

Feedback: How have you seen God as your shield, even when you were going through pain?

Irrational

Living with the reality of feeling unseen can lead to frustrations that are so great it is often hard to control what comes out of our mouth, much less what goes on in our world.   See if your experience tracks with mine. Hopefully you handled things better than I did.

Irrational

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips Psalms 141:3

            My friend and I changed the words to an old song. Our version was, If Your Irrational and You Know it Just Shut Up. Hopefully you are too spiritual for this, but there are so many times that I know I should quit talking but my mouth just keeps going. The most vivid example is a time when I had tried out for a Christian drama and I got upset with the director. If he had said, “All our angel costumes are size 12 and under.”, it probably would have been fine. What he said was, “You have to be a size 12 or less to be an angel.”  I went bananas. The main parts and the angels were given out and the rest of us were told we would be saints.  I actually said, out loud, “Is that a real part or just a place to stick fat people?” Afterwards we were in the auditorium and a teen behind me was saying how she didn’t care what part she got. She would be a prop manager for Jesus.  That just fed my anger, because I did not feel anywhere close to that holy. The next morning I couldn’t resist one more dig. I went up to the director, held up my 4 month old baby and said, “This is why I am not a size 12 yet.” Then I stalked off. I can remember feeling like I was watching myself, wondering why that crazy person couldn’t pull it together and act like an adult.

            Hopefully, all of you are too spiritual to play that game. In Psalms 141:3, we read, “Set a guard over my mouth, Oh Lord. Keep watch over the door of my lips.” Boy, do I need that. I am able to hold my tongue for a long time, but when it gets loose, Katie bar the door.  James 3 talks about the tongue. In verse 8 it says, “No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” I need God to watch over my mouth. If I had been willing to let Him do that that day, I would not have embarrassed myself by ranting. So many times, I get going and I know I should just stop talking before I dig myself any deeper. Unfortunately my mouth just keeps going.

            Fortunately for all of us, God can tame our tongues, even when we can’t. If we can learn the warning signs and know when to ask for help, we can avoid a lot of emotional wreckage in our lives. I need to listen to the spirit, when he tells me to stop talking. I need to listen to my friends who tell me, “Let God take care of it. He can do a better job than you can” Chances are you are like me.

Lord, help us to keep our eyes on you today and our tongues under control.

Feedback: What are the warning signs that you are on the edge of having your tongue run away?

Have you learned how to rein it in?

It's a Twister

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:5

             I live in Tornado Alley and have seen the destruction that a tornado can cause.

I saw the tree outside my window split almost completely in two. I saw a tree that was probably 100 years old picked up and dumped in the middle of the street. My dad saw his neighbors’ car picked up and flung 100 yards away. In Arizona recently there was a storm that measured 50 miles across.  The winds can be up to 300 miles per hour. My sister saw seven tornados in one day.  The danger from tornados comes not only from wind speeds, but from the debris they pick up. Flying or falling debris are responsible for most deaths and injuries from tornadoes. In addition to dirt and leaves, tornados pick up cars, cows, and large parts of trees.

            The same is true in our spiritual life. A thought will cross our minds. It may be a simple thought. (My husband is late for dinner). If we are able to stop it there, not much damage is done. However, many times one thought leads to another. (He was late last week too.) Then another thought follows. (He doesn’t care enough to get home on time.) The thoughts build on one another like larger and larger pieces of debris. (He doesn’t really love me. He is tired of me. He is going to leave me. I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life.) Granted the progression is not usually that fast, but the process is the same. Before long we have entered what I call the Swirling Vortex of Terror. 

            I do not like the Swirling Vortex of Terror. I doubt myself, God, and whoever I am upset with. What is the solution to this situation? Paul gave it to us in 2 Cor. 10:5. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  If we have on the belt of truth, we recognize thoughts that are wrong when they come. I once heard a preacher (I believe it was Chuck Swindoll) say, “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your head.  What can we do instead, though? Again, we get our answer from Paul. In Philippians 4:8 he says; Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

            Let’s practice “thinking on these things”, even if we don’t feel like it. If you see someone heading toward the Swirling Vortex of Terror, for heaven’s sake throw them the lifeline of Godly thoughts and counsel.

Lord, help us to keep our thoughts in line with your word today.

FEEDBACK: What is your first hint that you are entering the Swirling Vortex of Terror?

Dad

Welcome back to Unseen. Our guest writer today is Darell Martin.  He is a teacher at FaithWorks of Abilene and committed to helping people recover from the damage life has inflicted.

Dad

My dad spent the first eight years of my life in the navy, sometimes being aboard ship for as long as six months at a stretch.   His vessel would eventually arrive in Long Beach, California, about one hundred eighty miles from our home in the desolate Mojave Desert, and we would make that trip to pick him up.  That long anticipated day was filled with joy and laughter, even as we traversed that hot and dry landscape. 

As we would arrive at the ship already in harbor, we would see an assembled throng of navy families standing on the dock, looking intently for their fathers, husbands, brothers or sons.  There would be noisy shouts and enthusiastic hands franticly waving as a loved one was spotted among the mob of seamen lined up along the ship’s rail.  The gangplank would be lowered and the men would begin descending in orderly fashion until they reached the bottom.  The jubilant sailors would then sprint toward welcoming arms.   

Here Dad would come ambling down the gangplank, decked out in his khaki chief petty officer’s uniform and wearing a big smile, which spread all over his face.  After Mom was held in his arms for a while, he would embrace my older brothers Bill and Bob.  And then he would pick me up and give me a big hug and a peck on the cheek.  With my small arms around my daddy’s neck, I was happy and contented; and with my head nestled on his large shoulders I felt safe and secure.   Then with expectation, I would whisper in his ear, “What did you bring me?”  Since he had been all over the world, he would always have a gift for each of us.  On one occasion he brought me a bike from Japan and even took me aboard ship to see it. 

Dad would stay home for several months, but when his leave was over he would once again have to ship out.  The journey to take him back to his ship was always sad, and entirely too brief.  With tears brimming in our eyes, he would comfort our anguish with these words: “Now don’t worry, I’ll be home soon, and I’ll bring you something when I come back.” 

I trusted my dad.  He did always come back, and he usually had a little surprise with him when he saw me.  As an adult, years later, after reading Jesus’ final words of comfort to his disciples as he was getting ready to leave them, I would smile, thinking of Dad.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2 NIV 

Feedback: What helps you remember that God is coming back?

Wounds

He was bruised for our transgression and pierced for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and By His stripes we were healed. Is. 53:5

            No one likes to hurt and we avoid it whenever possible. It is a basic instinct. My friend works in a vet clinic. She says that many times when an animal is hurt it will either shy away from someone trying to help it or turn on them in anger. We do the same things, but pretend that we don’t. While working in the nursing home I saw people who had wounds that had healed on the outside. The skin looked healthy, but underneath, the wound was still raw and often infected. The tissue under the skin can deteriorate and even die. No healing can take place while the wound is covered over. The doctor has to re-open the wound and dig out the dead tissue. Then the wound is packed and treated with antibiotic and other things to help it heal from the inside out. The doctor must also continually clean the wound and remove dead tissue until it is completely healed.

            As Christians, we do not want to show our hurts. Unfortunately, we are often justified, because like pack dogs who smell blood, other Christians are prone to key into our hurts and prod at them.  To avoid this we put on our Happy Church Face and say, “Praise the Lord, I’m fine!” There is a place for confessing positive things as we read in Proverbs 18:21. However, there is also a place for being honest with God and our brothers and sisters.

            We went on retreat with our ladies’ group and the first thing I saw when we got there was a sign that said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Ps 46:10. I have a real love/hate relationship with that verse, usually depending on whether I am doing what it says or not.  I realized that I had been running really fast and staying busy so I did not feel my pain.   I cried and cried and admitted to God that I was really hurting and didn’t know what to do. Once I made that step, He started putting the other pieces in place, from songs that were just what I needed to hear to encouraging words and just a sense of His presence. Just before we left for the night, someone said, “If you need to pray for emotional healing, stay and let us pray with you.” With my eyes feeling gritty from the tears there was no use in pretending I didn’t need to be prayed for and God met me where I was and started to heal some deep wounds. It is a process and forgiving the “wounders” is not easy or fast, but I have a time and place to look back to and say, “This is when I chose to start forgiving them.”

            What did I have to do to receive healing? First I had to acknowledge my hurt and my need. In Revelation 3, Jesus says to the church at Laodicea, “You say, ‘I am rich and have need of nothing.’ You do not realize that you are pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire…white clothes to wear… and salve for your eyes. Second, I had to believe that Jesus could heal my wounds. Among many other things, Isaiah 53 tells us that by his stripes (the wounds he received) we are healed. That includes physical, spiritual and emotional wounds. Finally I had to allow Him access to my wounds and not recoil or attack like a wounded animal. He is able and he is willing. Drop the Happy Church Face and let the Great Physician touch the broken places in you.

I look forward to bringing you post from guest writers starting Thursday. The writers lined up have encouraging and relevant information for you.

Feedback: How do you react when you are wounded?

Welcome

WELCOME

Have you felt invisible? Have you felt that people walk by without seeing you, the real you? Do they see your disability but not you as a person? Maybe you are a caregiver who is discouraged and exhausted. You may feel that you are the only one who sees your loved one. You may be trying to rebuild your life after a setback and feel alone and unheard. Maybe you "just" live with depression and suffer in silence, having people tell you to snap out of it. I want you to know your voice is welcome here.

WHO AM I TO WRITE A BLOG

I went to a Christian writer's conference this weekend where we talked about being online missionaries through blogging.  I immediately said, "I can't write a blog." My friend reminded me that a year and a half ago I said I couldn't write a book, and I did that. I committed to being an online missionary. My mission field, rather than people in foreign lands, are people who are disabled, disenfranchised and ignored.

I personally struggle with depression and anxiety. I have family members who are dealing with epilepsy, bipolar disorder, Multiple sclerosis, ADHD and cerebral palsy. My loved ones live with blindness, deafness, schizophrenia and chronic illness. For several years I have worked with elderly and disabled individuals. In short, I can write this blog about unseen people because I have been one, lived with some and loved several.

WHAT TO EXPECT

My plan is to have one post a week that I write and one post from a guest blogger. These guests include

A nurse who has worked with  a variety of people with these issues
A teacher dedicated to encouraging people who are rebuilding their lives
A person with cerebral palsy who is an overcomer
A woman with post polio syndrome who has a ministry encourage people by phone and e-mail
A pastor  who leads a growing church from his wheelchair

Each post will have scripture, a reading, a prayer and a feedback question.  I encourage you to repond to the questions because your opinion is valuable to others.

For today I will leave you with the verse Hebrews 13:6. I will never leave you or forsake you.