Sharing my worship time with my MyChurch friends . . . Desiring to be fully surrendered to the Potter's Hand:
18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Several weeks ago I cut off the tip of my left thumb while trying to push open a stuck lock of a bathroom stall! I stopped the bleeding within about 15 minutes with wet paper towels and opted for a band-aid rather than going to see a doctor, in hopes it would heal itself, and it did, much quicker than I thought possible! Within a couple of days the wounded thumb was no longer demanding any of my attention, and I was using it normally within a week. Although I can still feel that the tip is gone, it is not noticeable to the eye, and I no longer give it any thought. It has healed.
Yet, last week when I exerted energy opening something with the use of that thumb, it hurt, and I remembered the wound. Then a few days ago when I was helping a friend return a trampoline to a high shelf in the store, again normal pressure brought a moment of pain, and I remembered the wound.
Do old wounds ever completely heal? What about the harsh word spoken to us years ago by a co-worker? Or the pain of losing a relationship that we hoped would last forever? Or the grief of losing a loved one to death? Do we ever fully heal from rejection, by a friend, by a job, by a group? Does a season of loneliness ever really get buried without a trace?
Or, even after we have moved on, do similar circumstances bring back the old pangs, attributing to the new circumstances, perhaps, far greater relevance than they would merit on their own?
Everyday we walk amongst people who have been wounded. One careless word may bring someone a flood of pain. Looking past someone as if he does not exist can call up a sea of isolation within him. Leaving someone out of a conversation can tear open a fragile wound.
Just for today, may I be a healer. May I freely give a pat on the back, a hug, a kind word, a compliment, a loving smile, a simple healing touch, to every person I meet, knowing they are all wounded somehow, like me.
1:5 For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 1:6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 1:8 For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.
August is a rough month for my job. As a college program head, getting the new academic year off to a new start is predictably a challenge, especially lining up all my staffing for two campuses, full-time and part-time teachers as well as tutors. This month has not been the exception. After putting in two weeks of 12-16 hour days, with only two 8-hour days of rest, my summer running partner emailed me again about a unique race to be held last evening in Mooresville.
When she first mentioned it, I agreed it looked like fun, but I quickly reminded her that in August I have learned not to make any plans. Plus I thought it very unlikely that following two such busy weeks of work, I would want to drive out of town Friday night to run three races.
But she asked again, and, feeling a need for some physical release, I said maybe . . . I packed my running gear and took it to work with me Friday, changed clothes after my last meeting, and asked my GPS to take me to Mooresville, NC!
I had a blast!
I had previously run 17 races, all 5K (3.1 miles), all in my home county; but this one was unique! It was only my second evening race (I definitely prefer to run in the cool of the morning), my 2nd chip-timing race, my first race outside my own county, and it was 3 races in one. A one mile race, then a two mile race, then a three mile race, for a total of six miles, with brief rests between races. And it was so hot and humid that every runner, after walking three blocks from registration to the start line, was already drenched in perspiration before the race ever started!
I had been intrigued by this race for two reasons. I have often wondered how fast I could run a single mile, in a race setting; and having observed at the end of many races that, after a 10 minute rest, I had a desire to start running again, I wondered if that desire would fizzle quickly . . . This race could give me a chance to answer both of these questions. What I didn't count on was the intense heat of an August evening!
I planned that I would give the 1-mile run all I had, and then take the other two runs at a comfortable pace. A 1-mile time of under 9 minutes was my hope - until I got to the start line, considered the sweltering heat, and decided in that humidity I would be happy just to beat 10 minutes. Start time 7:00. Nine minutes and two seconds later I crossed the finish line, making this the first race ever that I placed first in my age division. The funny part of that story is that it was also the first race I ever ran that gave no finishing awards! :) Oh well, I knew it, and I got a great running shirt!
The second race, the 2-miler began at 7:25. Totally drenched from head to toe from the first race, and with unrelenting heat despite the threat of dark storm clouds on the distant horizon, my goal was to run/walk comfortably, and I did, finishing in 23:35 with a pace of 11:48 per mile, this time 3rd in my age division (out of only 4).
Little by little the runners were dropping out. Apparently the heat kept many from even starting, as I think there were over 200 preregistered before race day (based on my bib number being 228), but only 101 runners finished the 1-mile run. Only 80 finished the 2-mile race, and only 68 finished all six miles. The final race (the 3-miler) started at 8:00. Although the heat had let up by this time, many who started this last race didn't finish. I finished 64 of 68, so I got to chat with the end-of-the-line biker (that's a kind of sheepdog race job, herding all the runners at the end), learning that I had taught his girlfriend and knew his face from her Facebook pictures.
My running partner Elizabeth and her husband George also completed the entire 6 miles, and we had such a wonderful time together - sweating, laughing, and pouring water on ourselves every half mile. And Gatorade is really good after a 6 mile run!
I'm glad I didn't miss this one! It was exactly what I needed in the midst of my unrelenting August work schedule. August is nearing its end, and I am sure I can make it to the finish line now!
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 12:2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
I love my GPS! I tell it where I want to go, and it tells me every turn to make without me having to concentrate on directions. Once in a while, though, I hit an unexpected road block, or I get distracted, and miss my turn. After only a couple of seconds the voice on my GPS informs me that my route is being recalculated. Then quickly it finds a new route to my destination, from whatever starting point I may find myself. The new route probably is not as good or as quick as the original route, but it is the best route from where I am at that given moment.
God is like that GPS. He has a perfect route for our lives, but we sometimes get distracted and veer off course. Immediately He recalculates our plan. There will be consequences to our detour (i.e. we may get there a little later and use a little more gas), but life continues to move forward, never backward. Harsh words, once spoken, cannot be unsaid. Innocence lost cannot be regained. But God does not shut off. He is forever recalculating our route. "OK, you messed up back there. The route is a little rockier now, but here's the new plan . . ." When given wholly to God, even our past failures can be used in serving Him. Once we reach our destination, we will find that only Jesus arrived on the original route. The rest of us all made wrong turns, but God does not stop using us!
Have you recently made a wrong turn? Are you stuck now feeling like a failure or wandering around aimlessly hoping that you will eventually just end up somewhere? Turn on your GPS. Give your failures to God and commit to begin again from where you are now. You can't undo what was done, but you can hear the assuring words "Your route is being recalculated," and you can move forward!
13:5b . . . for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
A friend took this photo a few minutes ago. Look at it closely. How many times do we find ourselves so covered by the storms of life that we miss God's presence in the clouds?
43:1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 43:2 When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
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