Traffic Jam

You are driving down the road, time for vacation! You have gone a little while perhaps a few hours and there is a traffic jam or some type of construction. In order to "save time" perhaps we get off, we try to take a short cut. Early on, you think it is the right decision, but do not realize our huge mistake. After a while, you begin to ask yourself. Should I turn here? Should I go back? One of the worst feelings in the world is to be lost, is it not?  I do not know about you but often when I am lost, my feelings multiply. I become flustered, I become irritated, I become angry, I may get testy (at least I seem to be many of these things). We may tell ourselves, it is not too bad, we can push through...but how long do we go? We may get lucky and find familiar territory, or we even worse get more lost. Just 5 more minutes, or a couple of miles go by, and nothing is better. It is obvious that the situation must change. We cannot afford to continue driving lost. It is time to ask for help. The question then is whom do we ask? We pull over; we ask someone who is experienced, who is knowledgeable and someone who knows the area.

In our Christian lives, we may find ourselves in a traffic jam. We are on cruise control, and we are going well. No major stops, no major accidents for a while, and then in a fury, the storm, the construction zone, and the traffic bog us down.  Rather than pushing through, we think, a shortcut may be in order. Let us avoid anything that is going to slow us down. We think that we know where we are going but we ultimately end up getting lost. We made things harder for ourselves when we strayed, when ironically we tried to make things easier. We thought, well we can set this route aside for a moment, and get back on the real road later. Despite our best efforts, the short cuts will not work. We end up losing more time and expending more energy than if we would have just gone through the jam.  

What do we do then? We cannot afford to remain lost. The best way then for us to proceed is to get back on to the right path, to turn back to Christ. Christ is with us, he has overcome the world, and he knows exactly where we are going and where we need to go. Sometimes that road may take us through roadblocks or trials, maybe sin slows us down too, but we should not be afraid to turn back to God. We should not be afraid to stop and ask for help or directions. Christ came to seek and save the lost. Christ does not promise that the road will be without pain and trial. Going the way of Christ however, should is a joy unparalleled.

Are you and I lost in our Christian lives? The first step that we may need to take is to admit that we are not in control, and that we do not actually know what we are doing. We may need to take the time to pull over and ask for directions. It may be hard, but when we do that, we will find relief, we will find satisfaction, and we will put ourselves in position to proceed to the final destination.

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Among the Ashes

Some of you know, others may not know that our Illinois Classis held a spring meeting on Tuesday and one of the major topics of discussion was the disbanding of Trinity Reformed Church in Fulton, IL. I cannot imagine what it is like for the former pastors, parishioners, and those who held a strong connection to the church over the years, and now the church is closed with nothing left but memories of things that once were. My prayers and thoughts are with them as they transition into a new phase of their lives and ministries. The closing of the church prompted me to think about ashes, death, and new life.

Ashes are a powerful symbol in the Bible. As we celebrate Ash Wednesday in many traditions, we place the mark of the cross on our heads in ashes and the minister tells us something like “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.” It is a very sobering experience, remembering that we are frail, and that we at some time will take our final breath, but the question that I have for us is then, what are we going to do with the time between, and can God sometimes work in the “ashes.”

Too many times in our lives we think that when everything is reduced to ashes, it is time to give up or to move on. And yes, that is true. SOMETIMES. But other times, we have to consider what God is doing. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, there were disciples who thought that everything was done. They had feelings of grief, of shock, and bewilderment. But this was not the final plan, out of the death of Christ, there came new life.

Perhaps then we should look to Christ and see that there might be areas of our life where we need to “die” that we might have new life, new possibilities, and let God work. It may be painful, there may be sorrow, but the joy also can come with the morning.

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Startling Serenity

As I was doing morning devotions this morning, I read some thoughts by Pastor James MacDonald on the Lord’s Prayer, and he noted that this is the only request that they ask of Jesus is to teach them to pray. Some of us know the Lord’s Prayer very well, some of us do not know it well at all but regardless of whether it is something we recite on a regular basis or not, it is still important for us. We may know the various petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, such as “forgive us our debts/transgressions” or “Give us our daily bread,” but one that I am drawn to this morning is “thy will be done”.

My question for us this morning, is ….do we actually pray that petition? We may say yes. If we are honest with ourselves, we may say no. But the question remains do we really pray “Thy will be done”? I cannot answer that question for all of us. There is a (or at least should be J) a startling serenity in praying that petition. There is a fear in giving up that power, but there is a joy and a peace in knowing that our lives our in much more capable hands.

When Jesus is instructing us to pray thy will be done. He is telling us that we are to give up control, and give up our will.  It means everything. It means our whole selves, not simply part of our lives, or an hour a week. It means today, tomorrow, next week, forever.  It does not mean us saying, “God, I will let you choose what you want me to do today, rather, God, set my mind straight. Align my life according to your plan.”

God wants more than lip service, he wants commitment. He wants a complete surrender, and that begins with our will. Jesus example shows us this as well when he prays, “God take the cup from me but that His will would be done.” God’s will is not going to be our will, unless we make our will his. He is will not change his entire will based on our whims. God is sovereign, good, and holy. Together let us change our will, and our minds to Gods and pray remembering that, “Thy will be done” not our own. And let us live into that startling serenity that God reigns over us.

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