Thoughts

We sang a new song at church. Well, it was new to me. Very thought-provoking. I scribbled down some of the words. Google is such a great way to find words to a song or look up a quote used in a message. I found it on the Vineyard music site.

If You say go, we will go
If You say wait, we will wait
If You say step out on the water
And they say it can’t be done
We’ll fix our eyes on You and we will come

Diane Thiel (2002 mercy/vineyard)

I remember someone teaching on Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

He made the comment that the problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps trying to crawl off the altar. I think that describes my current state as a living sacrifice — crawling off, retracting my attitude of surrender.

Not all at once. I’m too “polished” as a follower of Jesus to do it all at once. No, it happens little by little, one small decision at a time. Just a little boundary around my heart. Bypassing a little opportunity to serve. Putting myself first just a little.

Maybe I’m not crawling completely off the altar, but I’m sure wriggling around a lot. I don’t want to be a wriggly sacrifice. Father, today I renew my commitment to being a living sacrifice, acceptable and pleasing to you. Because of your mercy. Because of your sacrifice.

I watched Lord of the Rings #2: The Two Towers this afternoon. I had forgotten this amazing conversation.

This is an epic moment in the story. Frodo is ready to give up. His optimistic, good friend Sam steps in and encourages him.

Frodo: I can’t do this thing.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are.

Sam: It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really matter. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you don’t want to know the end … because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was with so much bad happening?

Sam: But in the end, it’s only a passing thing. This shadow, even darkness will pass. But the day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.

Sam: Those are the stories that stay with you. That man suffered. Even if he were too small to understand why.

Sam: I think Mr. Frodo that I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back. Only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

I revisited my thoughts from this morning on how the middle can be messy. It’s our confidence in God who superintends everything that empowers us to move forward through messiness.

Each day, we have a chance to be a story that stays with you. One of the ones that really matter.

I read a thought-provoking article this morning. Andrée Seu writes for World Magazine. She wrote about how it’s often messy in the middle, but the end of the story can change everything.

Some thoughts I’m still chewing on:

• “This is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory” (C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce)
• Satan wants you to believe the middle will last forever.
• Job, stuck in a brutal middle, cried, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25). And that is the key to everything, to surviving brutal middles.

One of the pithiest sentences in the Bible continually provokes me:
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]

Yes, it’s sometimes messy in the middle of difficult circumstances. But the most powerful way to cry “I know that my Redeemer lives” is to give thanks, in the messies, in the middle.

In purchasing my airline ticket to travel to Egypt, I tried to route myself through Rome on Alitalia. I fly Delta and its Skyteam partners. The Delta website routinely routes flights through Paris and their Air France partner.

I wanted to fly Alitalia, who is also a Skyteam partner. But I couldn’t get the Delta website to book a flight through Rome.

Now I know why God didn’t let me book this trip on Alitalia. From the paper here in Paris today:

Thousands of travelers were left stranded on Tuesday because of a strike by Italian air traffic controllers and Alitalia flight attendants that forced the cancellation of hundreds of domestic and international flights.

The Italian national carrier, Alitalia, alone canceled 394 flights Tuesday because of the 10 am – 6 pm strike.

Other international carriers also canceled flights because of the walkout by air traffic controllers.

God used the Delta website to prevent me from booking a ticket on the route I thought I wanted to take.

When God speaks, we are wise to listen.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee.

Eddie and Madia were singing praises to God, even though they lived through the civil war in Liberia and the difficult reconstruction afterwords.

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Lincoln was singing praises, even though he has lived through the war in Sierra Leone (anyone watched the recent movie Blood Diamonds?).

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see…

Charles and Michael and Joseph and Lewis were singing, even though they live with ongoing instability in Nigeria.

We’re back in Africa. Singing praises to God with enthusiastic people who believe in moving when they sing. With people who love and serve Jesus in difficult places and under stressful circumstances. With people whose enthusiasm for God is boundless. The land of rhythmic handclapping that puts our American clap-clap-clap to shame. Before the first song, it was decided that we would use Nigerian handclapping rather than Gambian handclapping. I didn’t even know there was a difference!

It has been good to renew friendships with these men and women who were new staff when we left Nigeria 15 years ago. They have continued in faithful ministry and are now leaders across the area. We first met Eddie in the 1980’s when he joined staff. He’s now the national director for Liberia. Tony was the new accountant when we left Nigeria. He’s now the national director of Nigeria.

Yes, it’s good to be back among people who refuse to stop ministering. They refuse to let undependable electricity, questionable travel options, banking systems that make support raising challenging, universities that are frequently closed because of student strikes, lecturer strikes, or just general unrest dampen their enthusiasm for helping everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus.

Yes, great is Thy faithfulness.