Ready or Not, It's Coming!

Okay. We've all been preparing for Hurricane Isaac. Gas? Check. Water? Check. Food? Check. Generator? As of this morning, CHECK! Now, we just wait and hold on for dear life. You just never know what a hurricane will bring with it and leave in its path. Tornadoes, flooding, trees down, loss of electricity. It's the unknown that really bothers us. At least that's the case for me. Will a tree fall on my home? Or worse, will a tornado hit our area? The things we can't control can leave us fearful and in panic. I remember being pregnant with my son, Taylor, in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew hit. He was a mean hurricane with really strong winds. I remember hearing what sounded like a freight train approaching at record speed, which was in fact a huge gust of wind coming our way. I would wonder, is that a tornado coming? I would get tense until it passed. All that was important to me was protecting my baby. That's what storms do. Show us our priorities and what should be important to us. Such storms are: storms of nature, financial storms, storms that threaten our health, and storms that threaten our marriage and families. They remind us we should value most the things money can't buy. People. Our faith. Or they should.

Storms reveal where our treasure lies. They refine us. When a hurricane is making landfall and the winds are buffeting our homes, we tend to look at life a little more seriously. We realize that all we own does not truly give us value. Our material goods are in great danger of blowing away with those gusty winds; and how then will we see our ourselves if those things have brought us status and value? Of course, I am not against having "things." Just don't want them to have me. Surely, God has made us of far greater value than our shiny man-made vices. They do not define us. Or they should not.

What should define us? Well, only God can do that. He is in fact, our Creator. When we allow Him to dictate our value, we are building our lives on the Rock. This Rock is Jesus Christ. He is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful. Glad He's on my side! No matter what storms come my way, He will never be removed from my life. He is my Constant. And when I see the value He's placed upon me, I can see the value of my family, my marriage, my friends, of every human life. My faith grows and grows to be loved with such a love. How is it that He values us so? How do we know that? God, our Creator, sent His only Son to suffer and die on a cross--to take our place of death--so that we could live. He has valued you with His very life, His very blood. Can anyone put a greater value on you than his own life? No. That's the ultimate. And His was an innocent life--one that deserved no wrong.

Psalm 40:1-2 says, "I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure." What does this tell me? My true security is in Jesus. He makes my steps secure as I walk with Him. Everything else we cling to can lead us to a pit filled with miry clay--there is simply no stability in them. When we truly realize this, we'll choose to obey Jesus at all costs, for we know in Him is our life and health.

There's a story in the Bible about two homes. You can find it in Matthew 7:24-27. One man built his house on the sand. Sand is quite unpredictable. When storms hit sand, the sand succumbs to the pounding rain, with the rain carrying it where it will. Whatever is sitting on this so-called foundation is swept away and destroyed.

One man built his house on the rock. Now this is an entirely different foundation! Rocks are solid and immoveable. When the rain falls on such a foundation, it stands firm. Therefore, whatever this foundation is supporting stands firm. Note both houses went through the storm.We need to observe which withstood the storm--the one built on the rock. That rock of stability is Jesus Christ. Remember Psalm 40:2, "He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure"? We are put on this rock by Jesus when we believe that He is Lord. We stay on that rock by obeying Him. Our lives will become stronger and stronger the more consistently we obey Him. So when the storms come, He'll be the one we hold onto for dear life. That's a good thing.

We are not certain what the storms of life will leave in their path. But we can know the One who will never leave us before, during and after the storm. He has promised eternal life to those who invite Him in, and that eternal life can begin while living on this earth. Storms will come our way. I have determined to build the house of my life on the rock, Jesus Christ.

Whatever storms are threatening your life and home, take a fresh look at your life, as I am doing. Put priorities in place. If you are in a place of instability, take Jesus' hand and let Him pull you out. Let Him deem you valuable. He will set your feet on a rock. In doing so, you deem Him valuable. And the house of your life will be stable. Everything else we cling to is shifting sand.

Launching Out

I didn't know quite how to begin this blog.  I've been thinking about it for over 2 months.  I have felt God leading me to do it, but have been waiting for an epiphany with a spoken message like, "Thus saith the Lord...."  It didn't happen.  And I've been sitting and waiting.  Sometimes, I think we just need to move in faith and DO SOMETHING.

In Luke 5, Peter, a professional fisherman by trade (and probably quite good at it), was found early one morning cleaning his nets.  Jesus had His eye on him.  Peter was probably frustrated because he and his cohorts had toiled all night and caught nothing.  Before you know it, Jesus got into Peter's boat.  Peter's boat represented his life.  It's what he did, what he knew and what he had just recently failed at.  And Jesus asks him to put out a little from the land.  I've wondered if the last thing Peter wanted to do was get back in that boat?  But back in the boat he went with Jesus, pushing it away from the shore.  This enabled the multitude to see and hear Jesus right there from Peter's boat.  Peter's life. And most recently, Peter's failure.  (Oh--I know--Peter has much bigger failures later in his story.)   After speaking to the crowd, Jesus hones in on Peter and says, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  Apprehensively, Peter does it.  Everyone's watching.  It's pretty risky.  But at Jesus' word, he launched out and let down his freshly cleaned nets into the Sea of Galilee (aka Lake of Gennesaret).  Nets broke. The boat began sinking from the weight of a multitude of fish.  A great catch!  Peter is face to face with an acute awareness and awe that the Messiah stands before him--humbled and conscious of his own human frailty and sin.  Jesus then said, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men."  Amazed and awed, Peter and his party forsook all and followed Him.  Launched out into the deep and wide unknown.  And the multitude were near, witnesses to this miracle.  Again, where did this take place?  All from Peter's boat.  Is it safe to say his boat had been his identity?  Now his identity was no longer merely "fisherman," but "Fisher of Men," because Jesus had called Him, invited him to launch out and follow Him.  Despite his failures.  Others learned from it, while Peter was changed by it.

Priscilla Shirer spoke on this series of Scripture once and I was so touched by the message.  So I ask anyone who is reading, what is God asking you to "launch out" and do, in faith?  This is my "launching out" for now.  It may not seem like a big deal to you, but for me it's kinda risky opening up my life to the world.  It is what's kept me quiet.  But keeping quiet is not exercising faith if God is asking me to share my life with others.  And I want to please God.  I want to honor Him with my failures, successes, joys and disappointments, from the boat of my life.  And I believe you do, too.