10.3.2020 - week 74
i love the price is right. when i was a kid, i loved a random day off school and watching from 10-11am with a giant bowl of cereal. the rules are simple in each and every game. get as close as you can, without going over. better to guess $10 short than 0c over. the genius of the game is trying to snuggle up close, but the risk is crazy if you overdo it.
without realizing it, i think that’s how a lot of us approach mercy + grace in relationships. we act as though all the risk is in overdoing it.
mercy is not getting what we deserve. getting pulled over going 105 and getting off with a warning.
grace is getting what we don’t deserve. refusing broccoli but still getting dessert.
giving too much grace can lead to lawlessness, lack of personal accountability, and unhealthy co-dependency. giving too little can lead to shaming, breakage in relationship, and needless separation of loved ones.
both are problematic.
but don’t let yourself think that one error is more godly than the other or something.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27:1
I found myself at Camp Paradise many years ago having a grand time until they mentioned we would be headed to the high ropes course that afternoon. I don’t know about you but fear of heights makes my hands immediately clammy. How was I going to get out of it? Even as I type this 30+ years later my hands are a sweaty mess.
The ‘compliant’ camper in me showed up at that high ropes course anyway and my stomach did flip flops. If I was more of a ‘strategy thinker’ I would have gone to the nurse in perfect enough timing to dodge this ‘cabin bonding activity’ but instead I obliged. They put me in a harness and helmet and we headed up to the course twenty feet in the air amongst the trees. Everything in me was screaming don’t do it but I didn’t want to look like the wuss!! The people guiding me could smell my fear and kept reassuring me, “Kristen, even if you fall the harness and carabiner will hold you.” Sure, in concept I understood but that carabiner seemed much too small to be trustworthy. What I didn’t realize was in order to complete the course I had to sit on a platform that suddenly drops and then you swing to an exit. As this became clear, I cried all the tears but the irony was that there was no other way down.
Isn’t that life? So often we are staring fear in the face as we look at our circumstances. I don’t know about you but fear has powered up over me more times than I could count and do you know what? It’s been a liar EVERY SINGLE TIME. Fear is not from the Lord but so often we look at it as truth. Levi Lusko’s devotional, Take Back Your Life says, “Remember this: God isn’t scared of what you’re scared of. But you don’t have to pretend that you’re not frightened. Naming your fear is part of getting through it. It’s also important to remember that Immanuel means “God with us.” Jesus is with you. You are never alone.” Whether it’s fear of failure, fear of pain in a relationship, fear of letting someone down, fear of messing my kids up, fear of making the wrong decision or fear of opposition we can certainly find a way to validate our fears. But if we live there we paralyze ourselves from action.
Lately when I am standing in the balance I ask myself ‘am I choosing fear over faith or faith over fear?’ Faith tells me to take courage while fear tells me to cower in the corner. Faith says I know who I am trusting in and his character, while fear lies to me saying I’m all alone.
The exhilaration I felt when the bottom dropped out and I went swinging amongst those trees that day was something I still remember. It was courage personified. Courage doesn’t mean that the fear doesn’t exist, courage means I take action by faith in spite of my fears. The truth is that we don’t know who is going to win the election or when corona will come to an end and we most certainly don’t know what 2021 will look like! But, God has given you one life to live. May you choose faith over fear because you know who is always with you and that his power and peace is greater than anything in this world.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
cup of leadership
resident vs. neighbor
most christians and churches are good residents but not good neighbors.
good residents take care of what’s theirs. they mow the lawn + pay taxes + keep their part of the building/block clean. they do their part. do what’s required.
good neighbors make sure everyone else on the block is taken care. they shovel extra driveways when it snows + help those whose homes have fallen into disrepair. good neighbors don’t settle for taking care of what’s theirs, they take care of all that’s gods.
in the same way that common grace allows sinners + saints alike to enjoy sunsets/arnold palmers/sex, good neighbors strive to help everyone around them thrive.
we will make more impact in the world if we start thinking this way.
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
jeremiah 29:7
book review
i have read many books over the last year about race + church. this one was one of my favorites because it was so personal. jasmine holmes made me see differently by helping me see through her eyes. as a mother thinking about her black son. she is wonderful writer, crisp prose + lovely to read. she sees these issues with nuance, not the binary intensity so many of us have come to loathe. if you are looking for a new way in, to these tricky subjects, this book will help you... highly recommended.
super christian guy
stuff for you to click on
1. my friends ben + ainsley arment started an amazing business a few years ago serving the homeschool community … total circle of life surreal to see them profiled in the new york times.
2. my mid-week service this week i think will be an encouragement to you. its a punchy 45 minutes of music + teaching. watch it here!