Today was the first day of school for many students in our area, and for the first time in 17 years I didn’t have a child starting school. No first-day-of-school outfits. No first-day-of-school special lunches.  No first-day-of-school pictures with new teachers.  No first-day-of-school reports (or interrogations, as my children might call them:-) at the end of the day.

Like the many moms and dads bemoaning the fact that summer is over, I, too, sense the transitioning from one season into another, but on an even larger scale.  Summer was the season of having my children with me in our home.  Now that the last of our children has graduated high school, that season is over for our family.   Summer was so much fun—the season of life full of laughter and adventures together with my kiddos. But, just as it did between school years, summer must eventually make way for fall.

Fall’s not so bad, though. In fact, fall is fun, too, just in a different kind of way. Fall has always been full of new beginnings, learning new things, discovering classrooms and teachers, settling into new routines. It’s no different now, except this time, I’ll be the student instead of my children.

What does the Great Teacher have in store for me as the summer of life comes to an end and fall begins? What new subjects does He have for me to learn? What new projects will there be to complete? Will I pass the tests to come? Will I embrace this new season, or miss the joy ahead because I’m too obsessed with trying to hold onto summer?

God of every season, grant me grace to do Thy will,

          to embrace this crisp new season, to live fully even still.

          Thank you for the summer, for the time with children home,

          Help me enter Fall with boldness and find peace in you alone.

What happens when, despite all the guidance offered through scripture and the availability of the Holy Spirit, we insist on living life our own way instead of God’s?  What happens when, as we seek to know more of God we turn more to the words of human beings than to the Bible?  What happens when knowing about God becomes more important to us than actually knowing God?  What happens when, as we make difficult personal decisions we seek the counsel of other people more than we pray seeking wisdom from God Himself?  I believe God says, “Okay. You insist on doing life your way; go ahead.  You’re free to do so.  It breaks my heart, and I wish you wouldn’t because I have so much more for you than you can even imagine, but okay.”

“And my people would not hear my voice, and it was Israel that did not want me.  And I sent them away to the stubbornness of their heart, that they should walk in their own counsels.”  Psalm 81:11-12

I’ve seen this scenario play out in my own life, have you?  Usually the neglect of God is not intentional.  Who wakes up in the morning, puts their hands over their ears and says, “Lord, I’m not listening to you today!”  No one that I know.  In fact, in my own life it has often come because of my over-involvement in really good things.  As a young wife and mother, the busyness of life and trying to serve my family well could easily lead me to replace the important big rocks of life with the more urgent pelting pebbles.  I’d find myself scurrying from activity to activity putting out fire after fire, easily losing sight of God in the process.  When I was leading a large ministry team at church, I’d frequently have to remind myself to slow down and seek God in the decisions that seemed to need to be made “right now!”

Through the years, though, I’ve learned that God always provides time to meet with Him, when we genuinely seek Him with all our heart.  It doesn’t always look like a traditional “quiet time,” but He is with us just the same, meeting the deepest needs of our being.  I can still remember clearly waking in the middle of the night (yet again) to the sound of a crying infant.  As I was rocking her back to sleep, grieving over the fact that I would need every minute of sleep the next morning in order to care well for all three young children the next day and likely miss my personal worship time, God clearly spoke to my heart in that very moment:  “Be still and know that I am God.”  I began to weep right there in the big blue recliner as I realized that the God of the Universe was not only aware that I was up with the baby again, but that He cared enough to meet my need for time with Him.  Then His Spirit whispered to mine, “Even more faithfully than you love and comfort the child you’re tending now, I will love and comfort you all the days of your life.”  Wow.  And then the truth to which I’ve clung so many times throughout the years of child-rearing:  “As much as you love this child, never forget that I love her even more than you can comprehend.  Trust me with your children, Tracy.”  While I have certainly had to be reminded of all of these truths time and time again, the counsel of God from that night has sustained me through many difficult situations since.

Perhaps the counsel God wants to provide you is not related to child-rearing.  Maybe you’re making decisions related to other personal relationships, work or school, or simply how to live life faithfully as a believer.  Know that the Counselor who knows you and your situation best is speaking even now through the living and active words of the Bible.  Take time to read it daily and listen to it faithfully preached and taught.  God truly speaks to His people through His Word.  You’ll be amazed at how personal the counsel can be!

Know too that the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself lives within all who have put their faith in Him.  Seek Him through prayer and quiet meditation.  Find time to “Be still” and remember that God is God, even if the time you find is non-traditional.  Setting a regular appointment for prayer and Bible study has proven the best plan for my personal journey, but even when life gets crazy and I’m unable to have my regular personal worship time, God as been faithful to meet me where I am.  I have no doubt He’ll do the same for you.

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”  Jeremiah 29:13

True and lasting freedom only comes through complete and total bondage.  At least that’s how I read God’s Word.  As is true with so many things, God’s ways of defining freedom are quite different from the world’s.

From the beginning of time, God created human beings to be free.  We were given instructions for our good, along with the freedom to decide whether or not to follow those instructions.  “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…'”  Genesis 2:16-17.  We know how that ended, don’t we?  Adam and Eve did what any of us would have done in the same situation:  they used their God-given freedom to disobey God’s command.  So, what is God’s response to our willful disobedience?  When we cry out for mercy, God hears us and issues freedom once again.  “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.”  Psalm 118:5  God seems to be intent upon blessing His people with freedom.

But what does true freedom really look like?  How can we begin to break the cycles of bondage and live more fully in the freedom God desires for us?  Ironically, we enjoy the greatest freedom when we are most bound to God’s instructions for us in His Word.  I absolutely love the imagery of Psalm 119:32.  “I run in the paths of your commands, for you have set my soul free.”  The psalmist reminds us that God’s commands are not restrictive, but rather they free us to run along the paths of life!  Jesus Himself told the Jews of his day who had believed in Him:  “If you hold to my teaching . . . then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free . . . so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:31, 32, 36

As with so many of God’s good gifts, we are often tempted to taint the gift of freedom to match our own selfish desires.  God, in His goodness, has provided warnings against the misuse of our freedom in Christ to justify sinful behavior.  “You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.”  Galatians 5:13  “Live as free men,  but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.”  1 Peter 2:16

May God grant us grace to faithfully embrace and enjoy the freedom that is ours in Jesus.  Through faith in Christ, we are set free from sin!  May we exchange the chains of sin for bondage to love and goodness for Christ’s sake.  May we freely run the paths of righteousness so that others may also experience true freedom that only comes from being bound to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.                                                                             Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery . . .         The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  Galatians 5:1,6

There comes a time in every baby’s life when he or she must give up the pacifier and the bottle. For some, it’s harder than for others. Despite the torturous tears and persistent protests, the day of giving up what has become such a comforting part of life must one day come. As parents, we realize that, while those things are helpful for a season, there comes a time when a child’s growth would be inhibited if he continued to rely on them. Can you imagine a grown man or woman whipping out a pacifier for comfort or pulling out a bottle with dinner? Ha! Even though babies protest the loss of things they’ve grown to love and cherish, loving parents insist on removing them from a child’s life in order that they may continue to grow and mature.

Like growing children, we, too, often resist giving up spiritual pacifiers and bottles. Like a loving parent, God insists we let them go. He knows the things He’s placed in our lives for a season to help us grow that eventually begin to hinder our relationship with Him. While important and worthwhile in our growth as believers, it’s easy to allow such gifts from the Lord to become idols, to depend more on the gifts than on the Giver. Our ultimate goal is to rely fully and completely on the Father, just as Jesus did. As God lovingly pries the spiritual pacifiers and bottles from our hands, we protest loudly (some of us more than others!) With the spiritual crutches gone in God’s perfect timing, we learn to trust more fully in Him and to walk with greater spiritual strength and purpose.

So what are the pacifiers or bottles to which we cling as believers? Maybe it’s a special Christian friend or mentor. Maybe it’s a faith community in which we’re loved and respected. Maybe it’s a person or persons who love and support us unconditionally. Maybe it’s a particular work or ministry effort. Maybe it’s a person or group of people we’ve been given responsibility for discipling for a season. These are all things God has given me personally for a season and then taken away. For you, they may be different.

Regardless of the brand of pacifier or type of infant feeding method, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” God knows what’s best for each of us and leads us down the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Oh, how much better our lives are when we embrace the One Who created us and Who loves us more than we can fully comprehend, even and especially when He removes things from our life that stunt our growth in Him.

Lord, help us to remember that you love us just as we are, but that you love us far too much to leave us that way. Grant us grace and strength to trust You with all our hearts. Fill us with Your peace which surpasses understanding as we choose to rely on You and let go of the pacifiers and bottles to which we selfishly cling.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”      Romans 5:8

What does it mean to love as God loves?  As I consider the question, I realize I’ve been doing it all wrong in many ways. God’s love is unconditional and not at all dependent upon my behavior. While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me! God didn’t wait for me to say I was sorry and living a more righteous life before He loved me. He loved me in the most extreme way ever expressed while I was still a sinner. That’s amazing love.

My love, on the other hand, tends to flow much more freely towards those who are behaving in ways I deem appropriate. Even in the lives of those for whom my love absolutely never fades, my actions often present a love that simply affirms good behavior rather than a love that is never-ending, regardless of actions. Do people experience the love of God through me, or a world-tainted, pseudo love that depends on how their actions make me feel?

Many experiences related to parenting can be applied to the rest of life.  How to love is one example, I think.  Like most parents, I am so proud of my children when they look their best and are on their very best behavior. It’s easy to show love when I’m beaming with pride! I reflect back on Easter Sunday morning pictures by our front yard tree when the children look so good all cleaned up and wearing their new clothes. I think about times they’ve been recognized with awards at school or church, or when they’ve performed well in a musical or sporting event. It’s easy to show love when we can applaud our children’s behavior.

It’s also easy to show love to our children when we recognize that they’re hurting and they really need us.  I think of the time my oldest had his tonsils removed, the time my middle child persevered through football practice with painful foot problems, the time the doctors feared all kinds of terrible things might be causing my daughter’s back pain as a toddler….not to mention the multiple visits from the dreaded stomach bug and other life-altering, Lysol-inducing illnesses which have affected our family through the years.  While my children’s behavior during these times of recovery was often less than desirable, my love for them was usually patient and kind.  It was, for the most part,  long-suffering, and it definitely endured a whole lot of undesirable stuff.   What loving parent is going to withhold love from a sick, hurting child?

Sin is an illness that affects and hurts us all. The resulting emotional and spiritual pain often leads to undesirable actions. It’s so easy to identify bad behavior in others, but we often deal only with the symptoms instead of the true illness. Could looking beyond the surface actions be the key to having more loving, Christ-like responses to inappropriate behavior? Instead of speaking critically and judgmentally of those whose behaviors need to change, we need to remember the root cause of the problem.  It’s sin.  And we are all sinners in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Perhaps our symptoms are different, but “there is none righteous, no not one.” We all need the love and forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What if Christians chose to embrace the hurting people of the world and help tend their wounds with the salve of Jesus’ grace instead of focusing so much on their undesirable actions?  It’s a tricky balance, I realize, but surely there is a way.  Just as we would never shun a child who comes to us bloody and dirty after a physical fall, we should never shun a person created in the image of God who is yucky and dirty because of actions related to their spiritual fall.

How would we lovingly care for a physically injured child?  First and foremost, we would show compassion for him instead of either turning away or criticizing. Lord, help me to be compassionate and engaging to those around me who are living in unrepentant sin. Secondly, we would begin doing all within our power to help meet their immediate needs. Lord, help me recognize the needs of others around me and do all within my power to positively affect the healing process. Third, we would take a sick or injured child to a doctor for the medical care we are unable to provide. Lord, only You can heal a sinful heart. Use my words and actions to point others to You for complete and total healing.

God of perfect love, I want to know what love really is. I want You to show me. Teach and enable me to show true love to all whose paths divinely cross with mine.

End-of-the-year school events.  Graduation parties.  Wedding prep.  Church activities out the wazoo.  (I hope that’s not a bad word!)  All these fun and important celebrations happen in addition to regular life activities like work, laundry, cleaning, and keeping food on the table.  So what’s a person to do when life gets crazy?  I’m learning as I go that crazy times are the most important times to get busier in prayer.

As is the case with much of the Christian faith,  God’s instructions are incredibly counter-cultural.  I mean, really–how much sense does it make to add another activity to a calendar that’s already overflowing?  In the case of prayer, it makes perfect sense.  God says it best in His word:

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”  Isaiah 26:3

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

“Cast all your anxiety on God because he cares for you.”  1 Peter 5:7

For years I had the idea that quality prayer time had to mimic the habits of Benedictine Monks or something similar.  While those types of committed  prayer times are admirable and would be nice, they aren’t realistic for many of us, especially during incredibly busy seasons of life.  I’m encouraged this morning by another passage of scripture that seems to give practical, realistic ways to “pray without ceasing.”

“I will call out to God, and Yahweh himself will save me.  Evening and morning and noonday, I will muse and murmur, and he is sure to hear my voice…Throw whatever comes your way on Yahweh, and he will himself sustain you.  He will never let the righteous fall.”  Psalm 55:16-17, 22 (from Psalms by the Day, original Hebrew translation by Alec Motyer.)

Do you get it?  As my dear friend Robyn used to say, prayer should be like a phone call with God from which we never hang up.  God is present with the believer always and everywhere through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, therefore we are never alone in our struggles.  We are invited and encouraged by our Creator to give our stresses and burdens to Him.  We were not designed to carry them alone.  We are not able to adequately carry them alone.  Why do we insist on making life harder than it’s intended to be?

Almighty God,

Your love for us is so overwhelming that it’s hard to grasp.  Forgive us when we fail to embrace the peace you offer so freely, even–and perhaps especially–when life seems the craziest.  Order our steps today and everyday.  Focus the affections of our hearts and attention of our minds on you in every situation.  Teach us to lay each anxious thought at the foot of the cross, and leave it there.  Victory over stress is ours through your Son, Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Help us to dwell in it, for your glory.  Amen.