Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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Distractions

“You were my focuser,” my mother reflected as we sat at the kitchen table. She spoke in past tense perhaps as one recalling earlier days when her brood lived under one roof, or maybe with only weeks left to live, she was viewing life retrospectively as one who had reached its end. Whether a focuser or not had never occurred to me, but I accepted the perspective only a mother could know, albeit with a twist of irony, for I am also fairly adept at becoming distracted. It is a broadly shared trait; consider Martha, for instance. Hosting Jesus in her home, she was “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made,”1 while her sister Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.”2 Her hot-button duly pushed, the miffed Martha elevated her complaint to her Messiah-guest. “Martha, Martha,” Jesus gently replied, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”3 Then came the last thing a tattling sibling might want to hear: “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”4

We would intellectually agree it is better to sit before Jesus and listen to Him than to consume ourselves entirely with the self-imposing dictates of the day. In actuality, though, we naturally succumb to the opposite, filling our time with lesser activities, many of which are unimportant and ultimately unsatisfying. We all have them, and it helps to name them, so what keeps you from talking and listening to Him who “has the words of eternal life”?5 Are we, like David, “surely distracted, because of the voice of the enemy”—those who threaten us in some way?6 Are we diverted by “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things”?7 Do we consume today, worrying about tomorrow—what will eat, drink or wear?8 Or perhaps for you it is a matter of how you schedule, filling the calendar first with the temporal and leaving little room for the eternal.

To the Philippian believers, Paul wrote, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”9 Isn’t this our focal point, where we are headed? Isn’t this what matters, and doesn’t it prioritize our day? It was for the apostle a clear future vision that charted his daily life: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”10 There is no higher purpose in life than to draw near to God—speaking in prayer and listening through His Word—and to live this life undistracted and aligned with His Kingdom purposes. It starts anew each day.

Father, strengthen me in your Spirit to resist distractions, and draw me close to you. Grace me, then, to rest in you as I discern and pursue the things I must do today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

1 Luke 10:40
2 Luke 10:39
3 Luke 10:41, 42
4 Luke 10:42
5 John 6:69
6 Psalm 55:2 NASB
7 Mark 4:19
8 Matthew 6:25
9 Philippians 3:20
10 Philippians 3:13, 14

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Starting Where We Stand

We had never had hurricane damage like this before; we live in Ohio, after all. But Ike was different: making landfall in Galveston, Texas, it held a disproportionate share of its damage in reserve for the upper Midwest part of the country, including our backyard, which was entirely mid-calf or deeper in branches, limbs and twigs. It was September 2008, I was away for the week on business, and there stood Peggy, facing the enormous clean-up job alone and wondering, “Where do I start?” Then starting where she stood, it took this hard-working woman three whole days to bag, bundle and/or burn the debris.

Sometimes on our life-journey, the Kingdom work before us seems overwhelming—paralyzing, even. All around, there is brokenness in need of care, so where do we start? Every day, there is Spiritual birth in need of nurturing; of whom shall we come alongside? No matter where we are, someone is searching for truth, then when must we speak, and what should we say? Far too long, I was so paralyzed by the smallness of my imprint against the vastness of need, that I did very little to start at all. But somewhere along the way I began to see and understand God works chiefly through His people, and His people are everywhere. In my mind, I had limited God to the confines of my own span and abilities, yet every day the body of Christ rises around the globe, each member starting where they stand. This is the beauty of the body.

We must not be overwhelmed by the enormity of need in the world, for God’s people are all around it. We ought not be paralyzed by our limitations, for it is God who works in and through us. We need only to be diligent in seeking His guidance for direction, trusting in His faithfulness to act, and submissive to start where we stand and go from there—ready and eager for whatever awaits us today.

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. (Hebrews 6:10, 11).

Father, you are good, and we trust you. Lead us today to where we should go and in what we must say and do. You will do great things through your people today; you always do. We love you, God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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The Standing Ovation

I once heard Colin Powell speak at a conference. It was a sizeable crowd, but not huge—hundreds, not thousands—just small enough to retain some sense of closeness in the room. Retired from two highly esteemed careers, he engaged the audience with stories and perspectives only a former four-star general and Secretary of State could share. What continues to stir me most deeply from that day to this, though, was the respect given him before he uttered a single word. As he entered the room and made his way up the aisle, there was first the silently spreading hush of awe at his presence and then the thunderous burst of a standing ovation that lasted for some time after he stepped up to the podium. It was the natural and spontaneous recognition of honor well earned.

The recollection reminds me of another standing ovation, that for Stephen, a believer in the early church—his audience of one: Jesus, the ascended Christ. Stephen’s role was a comparatively humble one: feeding the hungry widows, while others assumed the more publicly esteemed role of preaching the word of God. Still, Stephen was a man “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom”1; he was “full of grace and power [and] doing great wonders and signs among the people.”2 Intolerant of the gospel and its adherents, however, local synagogue leaders stirred up a false witness against Stephen, and as he concluded his oratory of defense before them, he “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”3 Normally enthroned in the heavenlies, Jesus now stood as Stephen was stoned to death, the first among all believers to die for his faith in Christ.

To the widows served at his hand and to the One who sent him to them, Stephen meant everything. He trusted Jesus and in faith did what the Spirit led him to do. He had a purpose, he had fulfilled it, and Jesus now stood to receive him with honor. We likewise have divine purpose here, some tasks intimidating in size, perhaps, and others seemingly so small in our eyes they escape our notice if we aren’t watching for them. So, we step into each day with fresh faith and a heart liberated unto obedience. We have purpose here, and when our time is done, we too will be received into the presence of God. Stay focused; stay true.

Father, you have much for us to do today. Open our eyes to see where you are sending us and what you are calling us to do. Liberate us in your great love for us, that we will gladly obey. In Jesus name and by the power of your Spirit I pray. Amen.

1 Acts 7:3 ESV
2 Acts 7:8 ESV
3 Acts 8:55, 56 ESV