Is God Big Enough?

"None of us knows and this makes it a mystery

If life is a comedy, then why all the tragedy?

Three and a half pounds of brain try to figure out

What this world is all about

And is there an eternity ....Is there an eternity?

God if You're there, I wish You'd show me

And God if You care then I need You to know me

I hope You don't mind me asking the questions

But I... figure You're big enough

I figure You're big enough

Lying on pillows we're haunted and half-awake

Does anyone hear us pray "If I die before I wake?"

Then the morning comes and the mirror's another place

Where we wrestle face-to-face

With the image of deity

The image of deity

God if You're there, I wish You'd show me

And God if You care then I need You to know me

I hope You don't mind me asking the questions

But I... figure You're big enough

I figure You're big enough

When I imagine the size of the Universe

And I wonder what's out past the edges

Then I discover inside me a space as big

And believe that I'm meant to be filled up

With more than just questions."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjwGvCp6n3s

Is there room for doubt in the Christian life?  Can we really profess to be Christians but doubt in the things of God and fear for the future?  So many Christians worry that doubt is a sign that they have lost their way...they are washed up...no good for God.  Is that really the case?  As you look through the Bible you see so many characters who lost their faith, some after miraculous signs and great acts of God. How can we forgot so quickly how much God has given us and begin to wonder if He is there....if it is all worth it...if eternity is only reserved for giants of the faith?

The song by Chris Rice speaks to some of these doubts.  Many criticized the song when it first came out, especially in Christian circles.  How could a Christian song speak of doubt and fear and even wonder about the presence of God?  How could any Christian not be deliriously happy all the time? Therein lies the problem. We think Christians are all superheroes that have it all together. But we are the lost ones hiding in the cave when David finds them.  We are Jonah waiting under a tree to die.  We are Joseph in a pit wondering if God had abandoned him.  We are Mary Magdelene looking up at the faces of the men who would seal her fate, stern looks and stones in their hands. 

If you have never experienced deep hardship and doubt in your walk, you are either a much stronger Christian than me, or a storm is on the horizon.  The good news is that all the characters I mentioned above found the light.  They were rescued, redeemed by God. God showed up in their lives in a big way.  They later came to understand how much God love them, even though their doubt blinded them for a time.  Many Christians today wonder what God's will is. They wait for the next burning bush or water turned into wine. Then they are sad when miracles never happen.  All the while, God is there. He is never away from us, but sometimes we fail to see him because he usually works behind the scenes, quietly and patiently. God's will is right in front of your eyes. Waking up in the morning and seeing the sun rise is a guarantee of God's presence.

The season of doubt will pass. As you wait, don't stop doing what we know to be right.  Don't stop being an example of Christ to all those around you.  Do not lose hope, for the future is yours and whether or not you feel His presence, He is the wind at your back and the breeze on your face when the stress of life makes you weary. Be strong and hang on tight to His silent guiding hand.

Is this the last time you will face uncertainty in your walk?  I doubt it….

A Message to the Underdog

You are not defeated.  The game is not over.  The buzzer has not sounded.  Are you ready to admit defeat so easily?  There are 70 year old men climbing Mt. Everest right now.  There are soldiers with prosthetic legs running marathons.  There are women fighting breast cancer and walking arm and arm across a finish line with their beautiful sisters.  There are single mothers trying to finish their college degree while working two jobs. 

There you are: lying on the canvas as the champion stands above you, the ref is counting you out. I have been on that canvas.  The only direction to look is up. The only place you want to stay is down. But I thought about being down and it is not the place I want to be. I am climbing to my feet.  I am not giving up.

You think this battle is against everyone else?  You really think anyone cares who crosses the finish line first? This battle is against yourself. It always has been.  You run at your own speed.  You move at your own pace.  It doesn’t matter if you crawl across the finish line---arms bleeding, feet calloused and blistered.   You are your own personal trainer.  You are your own motivational speaker. You are your own cheerleader.  You are the one that makes it happen.  No one is going to run for you.  It is up to you. Are you going to give up; stay on the mat and in the gutter with the other poor unforgiven souls?  Those who wallow in their own self pity.  Those who pass the blame and give everyone else the regrets they should carry on their own back.

I know it’s not easy.  There will be pain and tears along the way, but many joys as well. You are Columbus kissing the ground upon arrival to the new world.  You are a miner saved from a deep well of darkness.  You are Nelson Mandela arising from his filthy prison.  You are Martin Luther King, Jr. expressing his dream.  You are the smiling scientist accepting a Nobel Prize.  You are a recovering addict watching the sunrise after a year of sobriety.  You are the mountain climber who empathically pounds his stake at the top of the mountain.

Defeat is not in your vocabulary.  The finish line is always in front.  Your eye is always on the prize. Run as if you want to win.

Oh by the way, this is not just about running.  This is about living.  Join the race.

Sincerely,

You  

Making Waves

"Don't you know that your life will amount to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean?” the father told him. With a smile he replied, “Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?”

from Cloud Atlas

Life begins and ends before we know it. Even the line in between our start and our finish is a dash, which also sounds like a short period of time.  Childhood is a blur and then the teenage years are over before we realize it. Young adulthood leads us to our career of choice and future spouse. That is followed by a long (and hopefully satisfying) career and raising children as we inevitably stare retirement in the face. We sit in our comfortable chair trying to understand where the years have gone. Have we made a difference? Have we changed anything or made a dent in this world of 7 billion?

Like a stone thrown into a still lake, we make ripples that spread out from the impact and rock the area near the splash. If we are lucky, it spreads to nearby boats or laps on the shore. Before long it is still again; the pond waits for the next disturbance. Every generation sees its heroes. It’s presidents. It’s sports stars and celebrities. They come upon the scene, steal their 15 minutes of fame and their spot in a hall of fame, a star on a boulevard, or a website, and they fade into oblivion. Should we give up on making a difference? Hide in our rooms and protect what is ours? Or do we fight?

Speaking from the optimist’s camp, I believe we have to make ripples. We can make people happy. We can love our children and our parents. We can change someone’s life by believing in them and letting them know they have potential.  We can stand up for injustice. We can help people see God and the love He offers. We can help them share in the peace that passes all understanding. We can choose to make waves.

Who are the brave? The ones who get out of bed every morning, take a deep breath, and prepare for battle. They are the ones who throw stones into the water and make as many waves as possible during the time of their “dash”. They know the water will calm when they leave. They know it cannot last forever. But they have not given up on making a difference. They have not given up hope for humanity.

And neither have I. I choose to make waves in the areas my life touches and ride the waves that stir around me, carrying hope with me until my dying breath.   

Kiss the Ones You Love Goodnight

"August evenings
Bring solemn warnings
To remember...to kiss the ones you love goodnight

You never know what temporal days may bring
Laugh, love, live free and sing
When life is in discord
Praise ye the Lord"
~from Paperthin Hymn by Anberlin

Once again I found an obscure song that inspires me. It inspires me to love and never stop telling the ones I love how important they are to me. The song is inspired by a loss suffered by one of the band members. I found the following explanation on www.songmeanings.net:

Singer Stephen Christian said the song was inspired by the troubles of his guitarist Joseph Milligan. 

"Right at the time the album was being written, the guitarist Joey Milligan, his sister had passed away from cancer, and she was very young. She was only 29 years old, she had a one-and-a-half year old son and it really, really, just affected the band. It felt like a giant weight was placed on our chest the entire time we were recording." 

Christian added that the song conjured up powerful experiences of his own. 

"So, while I was writing that song, the memory of my Grandmother and also the circumstances that were surrounding us in the studio really made it almost a necessity to write a song getting that off our chests and really showing the listener what we were going through. So, out of that was derived the song, 'The Paperthin Hymn.'"

When I get to the end of my life, I don't want to regret that I didn't tell the people I love how important they are to me. This song also tells me that tragedy will happen, but God is faithful to see us through the darkness.

I am so thankful for the modern-day poetry of song that inspires me daily to love with fervor, depth, and purpose.

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Perfection and Other Lies (A Message to the Church)

“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.”

~Rich Mullins

Perfect bodies. Perfect language. Perfectly pressed shirts and matching shoes. Perfect people. Can we really be perfect? Of course not. But many of us try. Is it good enough to be good? Or is our good not good enough? Who's standards are we trying to keep up with and who are we trying to impress? Can we find a balance between constantly trying to grow and improve ourselves and reaching for the unrealistic goal of perfection?

Years ago, I wanted my children to think I was perfect. They couldn't know about my flares of anger or my occasional slip of the tongue. They couldn't know that I was like everyone else: human. They had to believe that I was Superman. A hero that never fails and always saves the day. Now I know I was doing them an injustice. I should have been transparent about my imperfection. I should have let them know that it’s alright to be human. It is alright to fail. That doesn't mean that we can't be good people. The Bible wants us to be good. To love others. To feed the poor. To make a difference in people's lives. Do we really change people by painting on a smile at church every week and making them believe faith solves all their problems? I wish we could wear signs that tell the world how broken we really are. I wish they knew the pews are filled with a messed up bunch of sinners. Are we afraid the world will reject Christ because they see that we are human..that we are sinners just like them?

I think the best gift we can give to the world is to stop trying to be perfect. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be like Christ. That means we have to realize we will NEVER be like him. More than anything, grace teaches us how utterly impossible it is to be like Him. Yet we strive and reach and fear and paint on the fake smiles week after week. May we be open and broken to a world that needs to know the job of the church is not perfecting its members, but making them see the importance and dependence we all have on grace.

Sorry if I seem cynical or sound like I am bashing the church. I am not. As I have said before, I love the church. And I love God's people. I just want us (myself included) to realize that perfection is a dead end and a source of frustration at best and insanity at worst.

So stop telling them they are broken if they are divorced. Stop reminding them they are going to hell when they know what it takes to get there and what it takes to avoid it. Stop reminding them of the size of your building or try to impress them with your grandiose and lengthy prayers. Just love them. And tell them what grace means to you and that you don't have it all together. Be transparent to the world and they will respect you for it.

I choose to fall on grace. That is my testimony of brokenness: a Christ-follower who is bumped and bruised and imperfect. Just like the rest of the world. 

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