Yearly Archives: 2013

Ok. You lead.

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Aunt Agnes' buldingWhen our Nelson was two years old, he was dynamite, and I wasn’t the best mother for this headstrong, impulsive child, being a first-timer with no experience. For example, I remember one day when the two of us visited my aunt for lunch. She lived in a high-rise building on a busy four-lane street. After lunch, as we walked outside, little Nelson (who loved cars and trucks) saw the whizzing traffic and made a bee-line for the street.

Busy roads.“Nelson!” I shouted. “NELSON!” But he was a boy on a mission, passionate about pursuing his own plan, and didn’t look back. Dropping my bags and racing after him, I could see he was going to get to the street before I could get to him, and I was desperate to stop him.

Nate and I had tried to teach this little boy about the dangers of traffic. We’d done our best to lead him sensibly, counting on him to trust our wisdom over his own. But as all two year olds know, their personal agendas trump parental ones.

But what about us adults? Are we any different in our dealings with God? What does it take for us to set our own plans aside and sincerely say to him, “Ok. You lead.”

It’s very possible God sees us as we see our children. He has the ability to teach us how to live well and lead us one step at a time in that direction. And since he’s God, there’s no question his leadership is superior to ours. Despite that, though, we often choose to do our own thing rather than his.

None of us would argue with the idea that God is a fabulous leader, not just of individuals but also of families, churches, businesses, and governments. We can find a variety of scriptural examples showing us what happens when people follow his lead and what happens when they don’t.

“See those?” he says. “So how ’bout we do it my way?” And yet we still refuse.

It’s not that we doubt him as a leader. We all know he has both the ability and the longing to direct us perfectly. The problem comes with his one prerequisite: surrendering self-management. And even a two year old can tell you, that doesn’t come easy.

When Nelson was dashing pell-mell toward high speed traffic, I was frantic to stop him before he got hit by a car. All I could think to do was shout the only word I knew might stop him:

“CANDY!”

Nelson, ready to runNelson heard it, stopped at curb, and turned in my direction. It was just enough time for me to arrive and grab him, the perfect case of my leadership being superior to his. Surrendering his personal car-truck agenda for my candy-plan gave him the best outcome by far.

Now, if only the rest of us would routinely do the same with the Lord.

“We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do…. so that we will grow up healthy in God.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The Correct Analysis

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Nate wasn’t a natural handyman. He didn’t have a work bench in the basement and was mystified by power tools. But as needs arose, he was game to try.

A new toolI remember the day he returned from Home Depot toting a brand new chain saw. Admittedly it was on the small side, but he was determined to participate in cutting up firewood after Bervin and his boys, along with our boys, had cut down a tree. Once Nate got the hang of it, he didn’t stop until all the wood had been transformed into a neat stack of firewood.

That evening as we were getting ready for bed, he began complaining about pressure in his chest and pain down his arm. Thinking “heart attack,” we headed straight for the ER.

After making a thorough analysis of test data, the doctor on duty stood in front of us with his clipboard and said, “We just can’t figure it out. Your heart seems healthy. What’d you do today? Anything unusual?”

Both of us had failed to mention Nate’s afternoon partnership with a chain saw, and when we did, the mystery was solved. He’d worked so hard and long, his chest and arm muscles were having spasms, which then caused pain, which masqueraded as a heart attack. With lots of muscle relaxant and a few pain pills, we headed home, relieved at the simple diagnosis.

How often do we mentally leap to the worst-case-scenario? Sometimes we even do that in our spiritual lives. For example, we make a wrong choice, become overwhelmed with our own sin, and jump to the conclusion of, “Surely God doesn’t love me anymore, after what I’ve done.”

Or we make progress winning over a bad habit only to slip and have to start all over again. “I’m such a poor example of a Christian,” we tell ourselves. “God must be really disappointed in me.”

Or we try to tell someone about our faith and bungle it badly, leaving out important information and landing on the insignificant. Later we beat ourselves up and say, “Surely God sees me as more of a liability than an asset when it comes to sharing his Gospel.”

GraceBut all of those analyses are just as bogus as Nate’s and my diagnosis of a heart attack. These statements of self- condemnation are based on believing lies from the devil rather than truth from the Lord. Scripture tells us our God is a God of grace, and because of that, sin and failure can no longer judge us. (Romans 6:14)

An accurate acronym for the word “grace” is, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense, and because he paid a very dear price, we are allowed to be on the receiving end of those incredible riches.

So, if we’re ever tempted to leap to heart-attack-style conclusions about our spiritual inadequacies, here’s one more acronym: Give Ridiculous Assumptions Clear-cut Endings.

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20)

Business is picking up.

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NicholasMy grandson Nicholas has always been aces at picking up toys. When Katy and Hans say, “It’s time to tidy up,” he jumps right to it without resisting. When I commented to Katy about that, she said, “Oh, he actually likes to tidy up, so much so that he sometimes tries to put away toys the other children are still playing with.”

Now that Nicholas is almost 5, he’s become a pick-up professional, someone who appreciates order and experiences stress when things are chaotic.

A few weeks ago, when I was visiting him and his family in England, Katy decided to make a bold move. In the weeks since baby Andrew had arrived, the 3 giant toy bins had become messy. (Of course Nicholas had kept his toys separate from that disarray, storing his favorites in special places.)

Toy re-orgSo, when Katy announced a re-org, dumping all 3 bins on the living room carpet, Nicholas was thrilled with the prospect of putting everything back in order. His siblings, too, enjoyed the process, finding toys they’d “lost” long ago.

 

But then Katy threw them a curve ball. “We have more toys than we need,” she said, “so as we tidy up, we’re going to set aside some of them for children who don’t have very many.”

Little brows furrowed, and enthusiasm went down a notch, but Katy pushed forward. “Let’s start by making a pile of cars and trucks for our friend Sam. He has very few boy-toys, since he only has sisters.”

Objections came quickly. “But those are mine,” one said. “Let’s give Sam different ones instead.” Deciding which ones was complicated, and so Katy had to gently insist.

All young parents want their children to hold possessions lightly, gradually learning that everything belongs to God. But reluctance to give away what’s “ours” is common among children. Actually, the same holds true for adults. When presented with an opportunity to share, we often have to play a game of tug-o-war in our heads before we can make it happen.

Of course God knows this, which is why he asks (and sometimes insists) we part with things. And it’s not always just things.

Sometimes God asks us to part with people we love, giving them over to him. When this happens, he’s trying to make the same point with us that parents make with children: hold everything lightly and acknowledge that all of it belongs to God. That even includes “our” people, an exceedingly difficult lesson to learn.

Everything fits...As for Nicholas, in the end he rallied and got into the spirit of giving toys away. But the day wasn’t only about giving; he received something that day, too: 3 organized toy bins with enough room to neatly close their lids…. a great satisfaction to him.

 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth….  Store your treasures in heaven….  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:19-2)