Mowers, Ruts and Revival

Our 15-month son Ezekiel loves lawn mowers. Actually, he loves anything with a motor. Trucks, boats, cars, snow-blowers (even though he hasn't seen it in action yet), buses, motorcycles. But it's like he has a sixth sense in regards to mowers. He'll hear a mower blocks away when I wouldn't have even noticed it without him pointing it out. He sees mowers hidden in garages, behind bushes, and on the back of trailers out on our walks. And every time he sees one - "Mow! Mow! Mow!"

It's cute. I love it and I love him.

Zeke's love for mowers, his excitement at seeing them time after time, his ability to pick out the sound of a lawnmower from all the noises happening outside -- its made me think. Its made me think about my love for the Lord. For my excitement at hearing His Word, time after time. About my ability to pick out the voice of the Lord despite all the other noises and business going on about me.

Sometimes, I get in a spiritual rut. Scripture honestly doesn't excite me. Or I feel like I've heard it all before. Somehow, along the way, the wonderful gift of salvation, of God's mercy and grace, of His incredible love, of His righteousness bestowed upon me - became so . . . normal.

And hearing His voice? Sometimes I hardly feel like I have time to hear myself think. Or I wake up slightly early with good intentions to spend time in the Word with the Lord -- and Zeke decides it's a good day to wake up slightly early too.

But I don't like this rut. 

So what do I do?

Maybe my time in the Word with the Lord needs to happen after Zeke is in bed for the evening. Maybe I need to start doing things that actually challenge my faith; that put it into action; things that make me uncomfortable and give Him the glory. Maybe I have my own "church service" during nap time or in those quiet hours of the evening with my husband before we go to bed since Sunday mornings I am so distracted.

Maybe -- actually, really -- I need to pray for a revived heart. A heart that yearns to grow. A heart that yearns to love. A heart that hears the Word and is changed. A heart that rejoices with the truth no matter how often I've heard it.

"Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts." - Jeremiah 15:16, NASB (emphasis mine)

May this be the genuine prayer of my heart and desire of my soul.

Don't Just Hear. Hear and Do.

I'm not gonna lie: my husband and I have a pretty cute kid. (What parent doesn't say that about their kid?) Unfortunately, though, like all cute kids, our little man doesn't always do as he's told. (What kid doesn't do that to their parents?) But it brings my heart joy when he listens. When he hears me say, "No Zeke; please don't throw your fork on the floor," and he doesn't throw his fork onto the floor's collection of dropped cheerios and cheese. When he hears me say, "Zeke, can you put your toy in the basket for Mommy?" and he adds that toy to the mound of trucks already in the basket. I can honestly say that such simple things make me smile.

And ya know, I can't help but think it's the same way for the Lord. After all, we are His children and He has given us His Word. But He doesn't want us to just listen. To just underline the parts in our Bibles that sound good, to nod our head in agreement at the things we like, or simply feel inspired, encouraged, or hopeful. He wants us to do.

"But prove yourselves to be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." - James 1:22, NASB (emphasis mine) 

So when the Lord, through His Word, tells me to "open [my] mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate" (Proverbs 31:8), then I need to not be silent in a culture that kills more than 3000 children every day. And "doing" involves more than bringing such a sad fact to light on a blog.

When then Lord, through His Word, tells me to "let no unwholesome word proceed from [my] mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment" (Ephesians 4:29), then I better clamp my mouth shut when gossip wants to spew forth. Even if it is gossip in the form of a "prayer request".

When the Lord, through His Word, tells me to "'Love one another, just as [Jesus] has loved [me]" (John 15:12), then I better start showing love to my husband and son by sacrificing what I want. I better get out of my comfortable daily routine and reach out to that new mom, or to that one who's lived down the street for well over a year.

There's no end to the list. Practicing hospitality (Romans 12:13). Not worrying about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Making disciples (Matthew 28:28).

But here's something important - so don't bypass this or stop reading now: 

I don't do to earn His love. I don't do to earn a ticket to heaven. I don't do to be "good enough" or "better than".

I do because I love Him. Because doing brings Him joy. Doing points others to Him. 

 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." - Ephesians 2:8-10, NASB (emphasis mine)

Talking to Walls

I have to apologize. I have not posted in far too long. Living in Africa is not an excuse! Please forgive me.

I spend the majority of my time here at the Crisis Pregnancy Center -- a program to help young (between the ages of 15-18 mainly) women that are pregnant or have just produced. We teach them how to care for themselves and the baby. We also want to show them Jesus.

Yesterday I was teaching my favorite group of women (each group comes once a week) and they just didn't seem to be getting what I was talking about. We shifted gears after the confusion was evident and spoke of the 10 Commandments, heavy Law, and sweet Gospel. I spoke and asked questions for a long time. They answered my questions and sat quietly listening, but at the end of two hours of pouring into these women, there was just more silence. I felt like I had been talking to a wall.

Something I have been learning lately is that God is the One who does the work. It's so easy to think that I need to say the right things, do the right things, etc so that others will come to Christ. But it's God that does that. All I do is point to Him.

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

He knows not how. I plant the seed (by the grace of God even) with the Word and the Holy Spirit in me. God makes it grow.

Friends, I hope that is an encouragement to you today. Wherever you are in life, in ministry, know that it is God's work. It's not up to you to save the world. Jesus already did that! Just point to Him.