But I Want to See What's Coming

     I don’t know about you but impatience remains an opportunity area in my life. It’s quite possible that God will still be developing this particular fruit of the Spirit in me up until my final moment on earth. With His help, I’ve gained ground; friends have commented on my patience in trying times but I think that is more a reflection of my stress management skills than my level of patience. I still have far to go but I can laugh at the comical ways impatience arises in me. It’s so often over the little things in life.


     One way is when I’m driving and find myself behind a truck or van, any vehicle that I can’t see around. I can feel myself growing impatient. I have the urge to change lanes, to get around them. The feeling isn’t connected to their speed; that’s what makes it funny. Even if the pace is perfect, I’m impatience nevertheless. I feel trapped. I just want, no need, to be able to see. I want to know what’s coming.

     As I travel the winding roads of life. I sometimes find myself reacting the same way. I want to know what the plan details are. Will this happen or will that happen? Will God open this door or shut that window? How long will this situation last? Just what exactly is coming around the next turn and when? These thoughts and feelings really all boil down to one thing. I want to be in control. I can believe that I trust God fully but my reaction, my impatience, is an indicator that somewhere deep I’m still relying on myself, even if just as a back up plan.

     And that’s funny. How could I, even for one moment, believe that my way would ever be better than God’s way? Do I really believe that I could have a more perfect plan than the Creator of the universe? Oh, my way might be easier but easy is not the destination. God is more concerned with my character than my momentary comfort for He knows my ultimate destination is to become as Christ.

     I can try to influence my travel on the freeway but I can’t control it any more than I can control life’s outcomes. I can influence them but only God is in control. And that’s the great news. He is sovereign, in control of everything. He doesn’t need me to navigate for him or to edit His plan. What He desires of me is simple, complete trust and dependence. I just need to sit back, relax and follow Him on the roads of life. For whether it is uphill or downhill, moving fast or moving slow, He is in complete control and He is good. God’s character never changes.

PawPaw's Penknife

     PawPaw, my grandfather, had a beautiful yard which he lovingly tended with painstaking care. Every blade of grass was neatly cut and every hedge trimmed in a perfect line. PawPaw worked in his yard daily. Rising early, he would carefully walk the yard surveying his domain. If water was needed, he gave it. If nutrients were missing, he fed it. I loved the feel of his lawn on my bare feet. The grass was always thick and lush, a deep shade of green. You needn’t worry about stepping on a briar for he didn’t permit anything but grass to grow in his lawn. He was diligent in watching out for weeds, keeping a vigilant lookout any time he was in the yard. If he saw one beginning to emerge, he would immediately take his trusty penknife out of his pocket ready to do battle. PawPaw would insert the blade into the ground right next to the weed, press the weed against the blade with his thumb and then pull them out together, removing both the weed and its root. He was a warrior and weeds were his enemy.

     Just like a weed in PawPaw’s lawn, doubt can grow in the garden of our faith. It may sprout from a seed within our heart or it may be planted by the enemy. Either way once there, it seeks to take root and grow, spreading from one into many. Yet, every single weed of doubt must be removed for even one can weaken our faith and the power of our prayer. In the book of James we are told that doubt blocks our prayers from being answered.

     If you experience doubt, you are not alone. We don’t start with a full and perfect faith. We are all like Thomas who doubted what the others had seen or Peter who faltered while walking on water. Thomas failed to believe Christ’s promise of resurrection. Peter failed to believe in His power. When we doubt, we fail to understand the awesome character of God.

     Just as we don’t start with a perfect faith, we don’t each start at the same faith level. In Romans we learn that God gives each of us a different measure of faith. Our task is not to achieve the faith of someone else but to grow whatever measure we are given until the one day “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13).

     While we grow towards the whole measure, weeds of doubt will creep into our faith garden but we have a much better tool than a penknife to eradicate them. God’s word is more powerful than any manmade tool. Along with prayer, it is the most powerful weapon to battle that which would weaken or destroy our faith. Be proactive, ready with scripture to combat doubt when it comes.

     When doubt says:
  •  God’s love is conditional. Faith says God’s love never fails for it is written, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness”.(Jeremiah 31:3)
  • God will hold my past against me. Faith says God forgives completely for it is written, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”. (Psalm 103:12)
  • My sin is too big for God to forgive. Faith says God forgives all things for it is written, He “forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” (Psalms 103:3)
  • God isn’t good because bad things happen. Faith says God is always good for it is written “and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”. (Romans 8:28)
  • God is distant and far away. Faith says God is near for it is written“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth”. (Psalm 145:18)
  • I can’t count on God to take care of me. Faith says God meets all my needs for it is written, “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing”. (Psalms 34:10)

     When Jesus spoke to His disciples, He was also speaking to us. To Peter, He said “you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) To Thomas, He said “Stop doubting and believe." (John 20:27) Like PawPaw we need to be diligent, ever ready to go into battle against our weeds of doubt for we are God’s warriors and doubt is an enemy.

Grab a Telescope Not a Microscope

     The girl looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was happy with what she saw. Her hair was shiny. Her skin was smooth. And her smile was bright. She was happy, that is, until she turned the mirror to the magnified side. There she saw only the ragged split ends of her hair, cavernous pores upon her face and crooked yellow teeth. In a split second her pleasure changed to depression. Seeing herself magnified up-close, this beautiful girl couldn’t imagine anyone seeing her as anything but grotesque.


     The girl’s story seems extreme, yet, much of the stress we feel in life is caused by a similar distorted outlook. We completely lose sight of the big picture as we narrow our attention on the perceived defects in or around us. A co-worker not responding when we greet them in the hall becomes confirmation that no one likes us. A car cutting us off in traffic becomes disrespect warranting rage. An unexpected visit from a friend becomes an evaluation of our self-worth based on the cleanness level of our home.

     The feeling of stress is not caused by events that happen to us but is the result of our perception of those events. The way we view things has a tremendous impact on our ability to cope. We all experience stress in our lives yet some are more resilient than others and much of that difference is found in the view we choose. When we come under stress, a critical step is to take inventory of our thoughts to determine if we are looking at the situation with a balanced perspective or through intense magnification. We maintain a healthy outlook when we choose a wide-angled telescope instead of a microscope; for with it we see the event in perspective, not losing the bigger picture, while keeping our focus on heaven. So the next time you’re feeling stressed, check and see. Did you grab your telescope or your microscope?

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Radio Interference

Have you ever been in a drive-thru when you just couldn’t understand what the voice on the other end was saying? When it happens to me, I feel as if I’ve stumbled into a Charlie Brown television special where the only sound from the teacher is “wah, wah, wah”. Reception problems aren’t limited to fast-food restaurants, the other morning my favorite radio show was plagued with one.

Once in the car, I turned on the radio ready for my commute to the office. I expected to hear the usual program but the speaker’s voice kept breaking up; at times crystal clear then unexpectedly garbled. The reception normally was strong but today it was anything but. Being a problem-solver, I began to consider what the trouble could be.

I checked to see that the tuner was on the right number, it was; no one had accidentally changed the setting. I switched to another station and found them coming in perfectly; nothing was wrong with the car’s antenna. Maybe there was something breaking up the signal, but there weren’t any new transmitters in the area. The weather was clear and the quality didn’t change no matter where I traveled. So that left equipment problems at the radio station. I couldn’t do anything to help that, so I gave up and plugged in my iPod.

I reflected on that experience and realized how much it had in common with my communication with God. Are there times in my life where I’m not hearing from Him, not because He isn’t talking to me, but because of frequency interference? The answer came back a resounding yes.


Tuner off station

There have been times when I allowed my tuner to get off station. I tuned in to my career, a relationship, or worldly success instead of tuning my life to God. When He is not first in my life it is very easy to simply not hear Him.

     You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3


Antenna weakness

At other times, I’ve had spiritual ADD. I allow myself to be distracted by the busyness of life, by entertainment or just by myself, and don’t fully listen. I read the Bible without thinking about what I am reading. My prayers become text messages instead of real communications. There is little quality in my time with the Lord. To have a rich relationship with Him I must be fully present.

     Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30


Interference in the airwaves

Sin, when not confessed, blocks my relationship with the Father. It causes interference in the ability to be close with Him. When I stumble and sin, I place static in the airwaves. When I confess it fully and repent, the airwaves are cleaned permitting crystal clear communion with Him once again.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9


Equipment failure

It is impossible for God to fail. If we are missing out on Him it is because we have moved. He never leaves us. There may be times when God appears to be silent, but nevertheless, He is always in communication with us.

• He communicates to us through all of creation. Psalms 19: 1-3 says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.”

• He communicates to us through His Word. Psalm 119:105 tells us that “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

• He communicates to us through the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us in John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

     Love never fails 1 Corinthians 13:8


How’s your reception today? If you are experiencing difficulty hearing from God, become a problem-solver. Identify the source and make the necessary adjustment. God’s message for you can once again become crystal-clear.

Center of the Universe

I have a long commute to the office, mostly freeway driving, along with many other Houston drivers. Recently, there seems to be a rash of driver’s, usually during rush hour, using the fast lane but traveling slower than the flow of traffic. Being on a time schedule, I found myself getting more than a little irritated at them. “Move over” or “How inconsiderate”, I’d think. But this morning it hit me “Hello…... it’s not all about you, Ann”. I had to laugh for that’s exactly how I’d been behaving, although not consciously. My thoughts were centered on how the driver was affecting me. I'd never given any thought to what was going on with them. Maybe they were having car trouble, maybe they were nervous on the freeway and felt more comfortable driving with only one car next to them, maybe they had a crisis that they were focusing on. How easy it is to slip into the trap of thinking that life revolves around me.


Our natural tendency is to center on ourselves. Yet, when we give our life to Christ, He becomes the center of our universe.  Our orbit has Him at center followed by other people. How do we know when we've slipped back into our old way of thinking? One sure way is by considering what it is that we find bothersome, frustrating or irritating. If it’s generally about how something or someone is affecting us there is a good chance we have placed ourselves in the center of the universe and our orbit is warped.

So how’s your orbit doing? Is the God of creation the center of your universe today, or is it you?

Diplomatic Immunity

I have a confession to make. I like action movies. You know the ones where, along with fight scenes, wrecked cars and explosions, the hero always saves the day. While there may not be much redeeming value in them, sometimes they can teach us a lesson.

In the movie, Lethal Weapon 2, the minister of affairs for the South African Consulate flashes his identification and indignantly invokes his diplomatic immunity to police heroes, Riggs and Murtaugh. Under diplomatic immunity, the minister and his employees are exempt from being arrested, charged or prosecuted for violation of American law. The heroes are forced to leave empty handed, their hands tied, without taking action.

Diplomatic immunity isn’t a creation of cinematic fantasy, it’s a reality; becoming international law in 1961 under the Vienna Convention. It’s a policy between countries, granting legal immunity to governmental representatives; designed to protect them from harm while serving on foreign soil. Not only is diplomatic immunity a political reality, it’s a spiritual one as well.

When you accept Christ as your Savior, you become a child of the King of Kings; no longer a citizen of this world. From that moment on you live on foreign ground. Along with child, you gain another title, ambassador. You become His representative on earth and, as a result, gain spiritual immunity. You are free from the bondage of the prince of this world. Oh, he’ll try to convince you that you are still subject to his rules. Don’t buy it. Your freedom from this world was paid for by Christ’s great sacrifice. When Jesus died for the sins of the world, he “destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and released those who…were all their lifetime subject to bondage”. (Heb 2:15) The prince of lies has no power over you, that is, unless you give it to him.

Had the minister in the movie not declared his immunity, he would have been arrested and tried for his crimes. You will come under attack, but now you have the power to fight against him for the “one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Flash your identification, your righteousness through the blood of Christ, and invoke your diplomatic immunity. As it says in James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Too often we accept assault by the evil forces of this world instead of proclaiming our immunity. We are in this world but not of it. Speak the Word, the sword we are to use when under attack, and tie his hands; through God’s strength defeat him. Remember who and whose you are.

At the end of the movie, the minster shoots Riggs. Outraged, Murtaugh pulls out his gun to arrest him. The minister gloatingly holds out his identification and says “diplomatic immunity”, a dark grin on his face. Pushed to the limit, Murtaugh shoots, saying fiercely “It’s just been revoked”. But unlike in the movie, once a true child of God, your immunity can never, ever be revoked.