When God's answer is "NO"

Tonite our pastor continued his lessons on prayer. This one hit that "sweet spot"; spoke to me; "nailed it"...in other words, I GOT THE MESSAGE!

Talking through I Chronicles, he spoke about how God had honored David in so many ways:
1. He helped him successfully beat up on a bear and a lion
2. He gave him rocks and a sling and David beat up on a dragon
3. He put him with an army and together they beat up on their enemies

God gave David victory, honored him, heard his prayers (I presume these were "Yes's")...it was all good. However, David wanted more than anything to build a temple and God said:

NO

Yes, that is right, God said NO. Yikes...not the Hollywood ending we all expect of God, huh? I never really thought of this before, but here's what David did as a response to God's NO...

1. He sat before the Lord (I Chronicles 17:16)
David didn't pout; refuse to spend time with God; complain; lament; question...He did,
however keep company with God
2. He did "get historical" (my pastor's phrase) with God.
He remembered with God who God had been in his life, who he (David) was in God's eyes,
and who God is-always and forever, no matter what. He reviewed God's faithfulness and
blessing in the past, and believed that that was still true in the present and would also be
true in the future.
3. He got courageous and prayed, as he had prayed in the past when the answers were YES

It was such a good lesson for me and I've been thinking about it a lot this evening. SO...here's what I believe and decide:
*God is God. He gets to do what He wants to do, because He can
*God is good. He gets to say YES and He gets to say NO...and in both situations He is still being
good.
*My interpretation of God's NO's is almost always a negative one. Often my response is to
"take a time out"; to ask "WHY?"; to lament; to doubt; to be sad; to FORGET who God is and
who I am in Him.
*I want to be different. I want to respond like David. When I have a dream, whatever that dream is, and God says NO, I want to come before Him, remember who He is, who I am, and courageously keep praying and "keeping company with Him"
*I want to change. I want to be excited about any and all answers from God: the NO answer, the YES answer and that dreaded WAIT answer.

And you know what? Something else that's pretty painful for me? I want to do a better job with the leadership at work. I'm not equating them to God, but they do get to say YES and NO to things in my work life. I don't have to worry about whether they are good or not; or whether they are right or not: because I know the ONE who is GOOD and RIGHT all the time. SO...when they say NO (or nothing for awhile, which may become a NO), I need to
1. Keep company with God
2. Remember with Him all the answers He has provided through the months and years
("get historical")
3. Don't fret, become anxious, whine, or worry
4. Be courageous and keep praying

God is in control, when He puts me under the leadership of others--He is still in control. I choose to believe that; to stake my reputation and my life on it. God, help me live it out in a daily way; help me to remember who you are, who I am in you, and that I can trust you with the "NO's" of others, as well as the "Yes's". Amen and Amen

My siblings are grown ups?

It's TRUE...sort of. This past week my sister, brother and I spent a week together in South Haven, Michigan at a cottage just a couple of blocks from the beach. We had the BEST time...but it's still weird to think that we are really grown ups, and here's why:

1) My brother can still make me laugh so hard that I pee my pants

2) Ditto for snorting Diet Coke up my nose and spitting it out of my mouth at the same time

3) My sister can get me laughing so hard and long that I literally can't stop unless I remove myself from the situation (which happened in an outdoor museum last week)

4) We still have some of the same habits and fall into them quite easily (not pretty to the outsider, but we get them!)

5) They get me...even when I don't and know the rest of the world doesn't!

HOWEVER, even though those old patterns never die (I'm betting we'll be a huge pain to the staff in the nursing home!), I'm excited to see how well they risen to the challenge of adulthood. They both are respected, work hard (a HUGE attribute in our family), they are well-read, can engage in stimulating conversation, care about people and issues (even though we don't always agree!) and have overcome some pretty significant hurdles in life, while somehow maintaining a sense of optimism and humor about it all.

YEP, I'm pretty sure we are certified adults, it's just not so obvious on the outside!

The anecdote to work stress:

is an evening with someone who's known you since college and her two young sons...cause it just doesn't get any better.

The day started out bad and "went" south from there...you know, you've had them too! CRAZY schedule, lots of issues, etc....really makes you want to throw on a caftan and move to a remote village. Surely one wouldn't have to work so HARD to communicate through email, phone, fax, etc. :-)

Anyway, I rushed home and walked the dog and then April drove in with Nathan and Will (they now live in Portland, Maine and I don't get to see them often). We laughed, walked around Broad Ripple, ate on the roof of Bazbo's and had snocones at the SNOSHAK for desert. We sat on some rocks by the Monon and"people watched" and laughed at our own silly stories...then we road around, Radio Disney blaring, with the top down on the "Bug". It was a great way to end the day.

What is it about friends who've known you for a long time? You can sort of "pick up" where you have left off, not have to explain yourself and laugh yourself "wet in the pants" (not pretty, but there it is!)...what a gift. AND, you don't have to OVER explain yourself in an attempt to understand and be understood. Communication isn't so laborious or difficult. Again...what a gift.

It's a reminder...you need someone now and then who you can just be yourself with. Also, bad days pass, and usually are made better with old friends, cool kids, and...SNOCONES...

Proverbs 3:3 (New International Version)
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you: bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart."

I started reading Proverbs again. I mark in my Bible every time I start to read and meditate in one of it's books. Guess what? I read Proverbs last July too. It must be something about Independence Day and my own need to seek out wisdom from the One I never, ever want to be independent from (and I have such an independent spirit...dangerously so!) Anyway, I'm always a bit surprised when I "land in a book" again, and sometimes the timing is so very interesting!

Anyway, I love how God's Holy Word is truly "living and active", and boy do I see just how true that is. He always uses it in a fresh, new way. That's certainly true of Proverbs 3:3...

Sitting on my porch swing this evening, I was thinking about why, in particular, love and faithfulness would need to be bound around my neck? I think it's because they are the two foundational outward signs of seeking God inwardly for wisdom. I also think it's because the neck connects the head and the heart. Why is that of interest? Well...it's with one's thoughts and mind that decisions are considered and made; but it's with one's heart that passion and feelings are displayed. I think those emotions are what mostly fuel our decisions: sometimes for good, and sometimes for bad...because we haven't harnessed them well. I also think I'm someone who needs to engage my head (my thoughts) over my feelings. It's easy for me to be passionate about many things, but to step back and think them through based on the wisdom of Divine Guidance, lessons learned by others and my self, etc. doesn't come so easily!

Father, tonite and this week, help me to be bound by love and faithfulness: to thoughtfully exercise them in all aspects of my life. Let how I use my head to think them through be scribed on the tablet of my heart...so that passion will fuel my steadfastness...

Amen and Amen!

Emma Lazarus, a Jewish American poet wrote these words placed at the feet of the Statue of Liberty:

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Emma got it...but do we? Today is July 1st and of course everyone is gearing up for the July 4th Holiday: our annual celebration of Independence as a nation, and this "grand experiment of a land governed by the people". As much as I am thankful and proud to be an American, I am also a very disappointed patriot-citizen.

Why, disappointed? America seems to be fragmenting and disintegrating into something I don't recognize and frankly, that scares me. We are pompous, spoiled, proud and unyielding in so many ways (I'm part of that "we" by the way!)...how did we get that way in just a couple of short hundred years? When did we become so threatened by those who want to join us from other nations, when did we get so belligerent and stiff-necked about our unalienable rights...so convinced we are the center of everyone else's universe? How do we turn that tide, do we want to, and can we...should that even be our collective desire?

Apparently, we think we have "arrived": we have MORE than we could ever have hoped for in years past. Having MORE has only seemed to hurt us...more time, more things, more money, more choices...we have all this, and it has surely opened us to more selfishness and greater apathy toward those who "have not". Every great civilization has died when it becomes so "successful" that it starts to decline for lack of attention to the poor; to the aliens; to growth and setting new goals that stretch it's people. I think that is us.

In the midst of my discouragement about us, I am still encouraged about many things. We do expose our own mistakes and mischief. We do let that happen. We do TRY to help others outside our borders, and we do "spar" about things that are important to us and keep trying...all good things.

Freedom is so hard, and with it comes certain boundaries that have to flex base on the times and events. Can this grand experiment continue? I hope so! I hope this is one of those "seasons" in our history that is purposeful in the following ways:

• gives us a reality check and "wakes us up"
• helps us to think, and make hard decisions, about our citizenship
• provides us with resolve to talk, argue, make-up and decide to be what are founding fathers envisioned (but applied to the 21st century)
• humbles us enough that we can turn things around and change
• encourages us to become more of a partner with the world; to be gracious servant-leaders and not wreckless, aggressive bullies

Celebrate 4th of July this week? I certainly will, but I also will hope and pray for significant change for all us that live here in America,

A Disappointed Patriot, that still has hope,

S :-)