Life with God

The Great Divide

/ Jana / 2 Comments

A lot of people have used this phrase to denote the great chasm between the saved and the unsaved. But I think it is a great description of what separates the Saved and the Living.

I hear lots of stories. What I see as the biggest hurdle for most believers is the notion that God is present, relevant and available in their lives.

Today. Tomorrow. Now.

He is important enough to save us from sins. Indeed, enough to punch a card for entry into heaven. Yet He seems irrelevant and even irrational for our daily lives.

Why is that?

Have we gotten so self-sufficient, so IN-dependent, that we don’t think to ask God for help?
Is He too busy?
Are we too broken, beyond His repair?
Are we unclear of what is ours to handle and what is His?

I was reading a book that lists many of the ways God introduces Himself to us. One is that we are soldiers and He is the King of Angel Armies. The other name and picture was of us being His sheep and He our Good Shepherd.

Don’t know about you, but a soldier and a sheep? In one package?  My friend Meagan said she feels like a sheep holding a sword.  That awkward and that foolish.

Or maybe it is precisely that need and dependence God has set us up for. We are part of the Great Battle Plan. We are also lowly, needy, sheep that can not cross running water, don’t know when to move on to other pastures, can’t get back up when we fall down unless helped, and who are the stinkiest farm animals around. That’s us. Snort. God’s sheep.

Today, instead of scraping to figure out how to make your life work, ask the Lord to be your Shepherd. Ask Him to lead you beside still waters so you can cross safely. Ask Him to lead you to pastures where there is good green grass. Make the metaphors work in your life. Just ask Him. And then watch and wait.

Begin to close the Great Divide by relinquishing your need for control, and acknowledging His Very Real Presence in your moment right now.

Psalm 63 says: “My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me.” O Lord, lead us in your way everlasting. Interrupt our lives. Realign our thoughts and needs to You. You are the Good Shepherd. We need You. Amen.

The Last Word

/ Jana / 2 Comments

Okay. Don’t creep out. I have a tough question. And your answer might be hard or easy based on how old you are, how psychosomatic or how morbid you are. Ready?

What do you want your obituary to say about you?

I have been to several funerals in the last couple of years. The deceased were in their 20s, 30s, 90s, and the last person was even 103. You can glean a lot of wisdom for the living when you sit in the ceremonies for the dead.

There is almost always a recurring theme. She was a lot of fun. She was a great mom. He was a hard worker. She loved music. And all those things are good and true.

But Chuck and I inevitably asked the same question:  Where was God in their lives? We would sit through these long rememberances of people and then at the end of the service, the pastor would ask God to receive this person into His arms.

Yet there was little to no evidence that this person ever received Jesus into his or her arms or life.

Want to clarify your life goals? Write your obituary. It might help you focus on what you and the Lord really want to accomplish while you are in this earthen vessel.