Tuesday's (April 30th) Thought

Tuesday's thought:

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
(Albert Einstein, physicist)

Dancing With God

Last night my husband and I attended a dance recital held at my son and daughter-in-law's church.
Our three year old granddaughter danced in one of the first performances.
About ten little girls scampered onto the stage along with our granddaughter, Autumn.
The audience sighed out a collective "ah."
Of course tears welled up in my eyes at the sight of these darling three year olds in their spring green tutus. They looked like little fairies.
As the evening of dances went on, older dancers performed their routines.
The evening culminated with the most advanced dancers.
The dances and the music stirred my soul.
Oh, how I wished I were young again!
To bend and twist, leap and twirl.

I'm learning another kind of dance, though.
Infinitely more stirring and satisfying to the soul:
the dance with God.

There are many references to dancing in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.

• King David danced without reserve when the ark of the covenant was finally carried into the city of Jerusalem.
• Miriam, the prophetess,  older sister of Moses, led the women in dances and songs of worship to God.

I think of myself of the shy wallflower that the handsome and noble Prince notices as I sit on a chair, far from the fun and excitement of the dance.
He approaches me, and I blush that such a great man would even look at me.
And then my heart leaps when He stands before me, extends His hand and says,
"Would you care to dance with me?"
For a second I"m afraid. Will I look like a fool? What if I stumble and fall?
But He takes my hand and gracefully leads me to the dance floor.
Gently, he places his hand on my back and guides me in a waltz.
We twirl and glide, circling the floor, melting in and out of the swirl of other dancers.
I am alive, exulting in the freedom and the sublime beauty of music and the delight of movement.
I feel no inhibition, no uncertainty in my steps; I do not doubt my partner's capability to perfectly lead me in this wonderful dance.
I look up into His face and find Him smiling at me with such joy and affection that I know it was no mistake that He chose me as His partner.
He loves me!


"Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
Let them praise His name with dancing
and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
For the Lord takes delight in His people;
He crown the humble with salvation." (Psalm 149: 1-4 NIV Bible)

Eyes Up!

I've been teaching piano for about 35 years.
One thing that's a constant is:
 beginning students do not want to look up at a musical score for fear that their hands will get lost on the keyboard.
Some kids quickly acquire the skill of  looking up at the musical score, then looking down to check where their hands are, then looking back up.
Others struggle.
I had one student recently (('ll call him Jon, not his real name) who, in spite of my constant reminders, kept his eyes glued to whatever his hands were doing.
Sometimes I'd take a large notebook and place it over the keyboard so he couldn't see what his hands were doing. This helped remind him to keep his eyes up on the score.

Just like the student who's trying to build his speed and accuracy on a computer keyboard:
you don't achieve much speed if you continue to if you use the "hunt and peck" method.


Over a two year period, Jon clung to his old, safe, ineffective method of staring at his hands.
Even when he couldn't remember what notes to play.

Me: "Jon, your fingers don't know what to play."
Pause.
Jon:  staring at his fingers as if waiting for them to think up the correct notes.
Me: "Your fingers are waiting for your brain to tell them what notes to play."
Pause.
Jon: still staring desperately at his fingers.
Me: "And how does your brain know what to tell your fingers?"
Pause.
Jon: "Oh, right, I have to look up at the music."
Me: "Right!"

I find myself behaving a lot like Jon at times.
In my life as a Christian, I know very well where to look when I am perplexed or troubled.
But many times, looking upward is the last thing I'll do.
I'll spend way too much time "staring at my hands," as if somehow these brainless appendages can direct me toward the right way to go.
I'm getting better at consulting the Lord, first thing.
But for me, it's still a daily challenge to break the old fleshly habit of trusting my fingers rather than the score.

The crux of my challenge is this:
The new nature that God has birthed in me knows that God knows best.
But my actions prove that I trust my old self a little bit more than I trust Him.
My "fingers" may let me down, but I've known them all my life.
And I'm still in love with my fingers.
It's a scary thing to rely on the new way of reading and following the "score."
But if I want to make music that God has designed, I'd better get my eyes up, away from the old finger method!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your paths straight."
(Prov. 3: 5, 6 NIV Bible)

Wednesday's (April 24( Word

Wednesday's Word is:

Obdurate: adjective
Pronunciation: ob-dyoor-it, with accent on first syllable

Definition: 1. stubborn, 2. hardened against persuasion or influence

Wanna try to use this in a sentence? I'd love to see what you come up with.

Last week's word was nabob, a wealthy person of influence.

"All I've got to do to get this bill before the American people is to call a couple of the nabobs in my address book."

Tuesday's (April 23) Thought

Tuesday's Thought:

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games; 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed."
Michael Jordan, Basketball player

When God Delays

During Sunday School, a friend shared about her son's challenges in graduate school.
I shared about my constant battle to give the Lord the reins on my life, especially concerning how long it is taking to find a publisher for one of my books.
Another friend talked about her struggle to understand God's will when her grandchild died suddenly.

Everyone of us expressed our ultimate trust in God and our submission to His will.
But our humanity cries out for the "why"s of our individual tragedies or injustices.

I said, "My fleshly eyes want to see the reasons behind God's delays to my prayers, or his "no"s.

But, scripture says:
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." (Heb. 10:38)

And this is not a blind faith. A stupid, ignorant faith that says, "don't worry, be happy."
No, this is a faith based on:

•  the reliability of scripture,
•  the faithfulness of God,
•  the testimony of hundreds who witnessed His death and resurrection, 
• the faithful testimony of Jesus's disciples,
• the writings of secular historians who were Jesus's contemporaries, 
• two centuries of evidence of the power of God to transform lives,
• fulfillment of prophecies,
• archeological evidence,
• and our personal experience of the work of the Holy Spirit within ourselves and those we love.

When we cannot understand God's answers or why He delays in answering a godly prayer, we cannot say that:
God is not good.
No, we already know that God is good and is never not good. (James 1:16)
We cannot say that God doesn't care.
We know that He cares for us, not only because His Son died for us, but because His word says repeatedly how He loves us. (1 Pet. 5:7)
We cannot say that God doesn't know best.
We know that the infinite, omniscient, Alpha and Omega, Ancient of Days, Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the One not bound by time, Who always has been and always will be...
has more than just an inkling about our circumstances! (Rev. 21)

Every morning the battle begins anew. My heart and my mind begin to question and get upset about the things that I've earnestly prayed about.
"Why, God? The things that I'm asking for are such good things?
Yes, I know that you want me to learn to trust you.
Yes, I know that the work of the Spirit is to transform me.
Yes, I know that I am to live by faith and not by sight.
Yes, it is possible that you are preparing the way for others involved in my prayer,
But... "

Then I sigh, and lift my hands up toward heaven to release my prayer burdens.

For I know that when God does answer, it will be on His terms, way better than I could ask or imagine, and will be by His provision, not by anything I have done, and will be for His glory, not mine. (Gideon in the book of Judges—chapters 6 and 7— is a great example of this.)

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5: 16)



(All scripture verses are taken from the NIV Bible)

Sittin' on the Shelf

Years ago, as a young wife and mother, and a baby in the Christian faith, I got super involved in our church.
I was there just about every day.
Choir,
worship,
Prayer ministry,
bible studies,
children's ministry,
a touring singer,
a teacher and mentor,
partnering with my husband to lead a Young Married Sunday School class,
regularly entertaining friends and new church attenders.

When I look at my journals from that period I see a common thread of thought:
I had to do it all.
I.
Notice the focus on self.

It wasn't that my faith was not genuine.
It was.

But I think my understanding of "works" was incomplete.
I knew God loved me.
But I also felt that somehow God would love me and value me more if I kept busy in His house.

Then I hurt my neck and was laid up for months.
I felt as if God had simply stored me in a dark coat closet.
There I sat, despondently watching a slim light at the bottom of the door while the world of church ministry went on without me.

How I struggled with not being involved.
I felt so useless.
That's when I discovered an unpleasant truth about myself:
I wasn't convinced of God's love for me. I felt I had to "work" for His love.

My earthly experience of feeling devalued as a child and needing to work for my parents' love and respect had colored my faith in Christ.

Fortunately, the Lord intervened in a miraculous way and communicated His great love for me.

I sometimes wonder how great it would be if every busy server in the church were to be put on a shelf for a period of time.
It's a great way to reevaluate what you truly think about your value and significance in God's kingdom.

Have you ever been "put on a shelf?"
Did God teach you valuable lessons while you were in a condition of "uselessness?"

Here are some of the truths God showed me during my period of convalescence:

"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you." (Heb. 13:5)

"For You created my inmost being;
 You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13,14)

"...the Lord disciplines those He loves
as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:12)

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph, 3:18,19 )

I needed my time on the shelf. It was painful, but enlightening.
The Lord showed His faithfulness, His sweetness, and His goodness during this time.
And I fell more deeply in love with Him.


(All scripture verses come from the NIV Bible)