The Most Wonderful Time of Year

It’s that time of year when I begin to feel a little overwhelmed.  School is almost out and graduation party announcements have begun coming to my door and my email; where did this entire year go? Registration for summer events and fall activities all need to be filled out and paid for. Summer Sunday school classes loom with their need for teachers, interns need to be hired, and can there really be just over two months left before Summer Blitz (our church's version of VBS)? Are we ready? These are the times when I stop and ask myself, “What were you thinking? Why would you be on a board, a steering committee, and say that we would take every kid who wants to come to Summer Blitz? Who gave the teachers the summer off, was that really a good idea?”

At times like this I am reminded to stop and think of the one who has called me. The one who said these were all good things. The one who said, He would provide all that was needed.

If you were to come into my office today and snoop around you would find several reminders of God’s faithfulness: a circle drawn on a chalkboard to remind me of missionary Gypsy Smith’s prayer for revival, a verse about confident hope on the sticky note on my computer monitor, and a sign reminding me that “it is easy to be happy”, because happiness comes from God not my circumstances.

I know I am not the only one with teetering piles of responsibility surrounding me on this Monday morning, and so I remind you as God has reminded me, “So know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He will keep his agreement of love for a thousand lifetimes for people who love him and obey his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:9

Today, rest in the assurance that the God who loves you has called you, He has strengthened you, and He is faithful.

Beauty of Life

I taught preschool for years. One of the things that we covered every year was the life cycle of a butterfly.  Butterflies have a very easy life cycle to follow and clearly illustrate the circle of life: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and at last:  butterfly. 

In preschool you never talk about the fact that the beautiful butterfly that you have loved, possibly named, and set free will also die.  It’s a part of the circle of life that we ignore if we can.  It just isn’t very friendly to say to a group of 4 year olds:  “Well, we have set the butterfly free.  Maybe it is strong enough to survive.  Maybe it will get eaten by a bird. Maybe another little kid will catch it and rip its wings off”.  We say, “Look!  The beautiful butterfly is free!” We focus on the amazing transformation of an ugly caterpillar into a butterfly.  We focus on the beauty of a transformed life.

God’s word has a wonderful life cycle as well: creation, man-kind, failure, restoration, more failure and restoration; then miraculous life, death, atonement, redemption, and eternity. The true beauty of life is presented through the ugliest death and triumphant resurrection, bringing with it the reality of true transformation to all who believe.

Sometimes the weight of the world and the dailiness of life make me feel as if my wings have been ripped off, but I know that in Christ I am truly free. I have been transformed from the ugliness of sin to one that can stand before God blameless because of Jesus Christ’s great love for me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Running With Scissors

There are some great phrases associated with childhood. One of those is, “Don’t run with scissors!”  Can’t you see it? Cute kid, excited about an art project, grabbing the scissors and waving them overhead as he runs without a care in the world to work on his masterpiece! “I’ve got the scissors! I am ready to create!”

The phrase “Don’t run with scissors” could easily be changed to “Be careful how you live”.  It’s not about the running or the scissors, it is about the combination.  Running with scissors implies carelessness and a lack of attention to the things going on around you.  People do this all the time. They do things in their car that make you think that they believe they are in the privacy of their own home.  People talk on cell phones and text everywhere they go, no matter where they are or who they are with, as if the person seated across from them doesn’t exist.  They thoughtlessly wander through life without a single thought for the people walking along next to them. I once saw a video that showed someone so busy texting while walking that she didn’t see a giant fountain and fell right into it! This is an extreme lack of attention to the things around you.  God tells us to be careful how we live, and that doesn’t include running with scissors or walking around without care for the moment we are in. 

Ephesians 5:15& 17 say, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”  This is a follow up to a list of things that are not part of careful living. It is the exhortation to be imitators of God and to live a life led by the power of the Holy Spirit in you. 

How do we understand what the Lord wants us to do? Pay attention to His Word. Pay attention to the way he is working out his plans in you and in the people around you. Not paying attention leads to carelessness in the way we live our lives and in the way we treat others. 

Are you living with reckless abandon waving scissors of apathy as you go?  “…don’t live like fools, don’t act thoughtlessly…” Don’t run with scissors.

Be careful how you live.