Building a Life

"By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures."
 -- Proverbs 24: 3,4

A relative of mine is so excited this Christmas season because this will be the first Christmas that she and her family will be in their new home. Now this home is not your ordinary run of the mill track home. This is a amazingly huge, custom built, with a lake in the back yard, and a quarter mile driveway from the road to the garages type of place. I have yet to see the finished product, but have had several opportunities to visit while it was under construction. What never ceased to amaze me was the attention to detail that my relative had for every nook and cranny. Everything from paint colors to the multiple types of stone and woods was carefully selected, with no expense spared. The best craftsmen were brought in to fashion a dream that started on paper to the rooms that can now be called home.

I believe that what makes this home so cherished is that it was truly a labor of love that lasted for more than four years. Plans were drawn, scratched, and redrawn. Schedules had to be organized and deadlines had to be met. One decision easily created a domino effect that could be drawn out for several weeks if not months. But the end product is exactly what my relative and her husband had wanted on the outset.

As I read this Proverb this morning, I couldn't help but make a parallel to my own life. I certainly don't have such magnificent living quarters, but I am attempting to design and live out a life that God wants for me. To accomplish this, my mentor has encouraged me to write out vision statements and action steps. This process has clarified my dreams and priorities. Each vision statement I have written represents hours of prayer and study and a hope that it aligns with God's plans for my life. The ultimate goal is that when I come to the end of my earthly life, I can look back and see God's handprint on each day and be confident that I experienced all of His abundant goodness.

But like my relative who experienced delays in the construction of her home, I too have experienced delays and set backs. While I accept that I have the rest of my life to be living out the fruition of these visions I have cast for myself, I sometimes become discouraged in the lack of even the smallest forward progress. And it is at these junctures that I make a decision: do I walk away and never realize the dream or do I press on knowing that if my vision honors God, God will honor my vision?

I must confess that it is sometimes tempting to throw in the towel. But when I stop and think about the alternative - of living a mediocre life - it no longer becomes an option. After all, I have time and tears invested into this; so surely, some day, I will be able to recognize the smallest step forward and know that God moved me.

I don't know where you might be with your thoughts of your future and the plans that God has for you. It can be scary dreaming big dreams for your life with God, especially when you allow Him to be responsible rather than attempting to take those dreams into your own hands. But His word promises us that through wisdom, understanding, and knowledge this life will be filled with rare and beautiful treasures. I am choosing to believe this today. Will you believe it too?

How Much Longer?

Isaiah 55:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
     neither are your ways may ways," declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than your ways,
     so are my ways higher than your ways
     and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Like some of you, I have a prayer that has been on my heart for years and I woke up this morning thinking, "How many more days am I going to have to pray this prayer? I don't know if I can take another day of being told, 'No, sorry. Not at this time'"

Sometimes I think that if I only knew how much longer I would have to wait, it would make the waiting easier. I recently had a friend once ask me how much longer it would be before our plans became a reality. I thought for a minute and calculated that it we would only have to wait 98 hours and 52 more minutes. My friend thought that I was kidding, but I was totally serious. For the next few days, we were able to remind each other of how much more time we would have to wait it out and with each tick of the clock our anticipation grew until finally time was up and we could enjoy our plans together.

Are you like me - you want to know how much time you're going to have to invest before you make a commitment? Even something as simple as mentally preparing for driving time. Just last week I needed to be across town and my drive time happen to be in the middle of rush hour. Knowing that during non peak driving time it would take me 45 minutes, I figured that I should add another 20 minutes in order to be on time. Sure enough, it worked out and I was totally cool with it because I had mentally prepared myself for the long and slow journey. But on the way home when it should have taken me 45 minutes - I was detoured due to unexpected road construction and it still took me more than an hour to get home. UGH! Not how I planned it!

I often feel like my life is like the above scenario. When I decide to take control of the situation - things usually get done on my time table. However, if I let God in control, then who knows what detours I'll end up taking and how long I'll have to wait until my prayers become a reality.

But there is one big speedbump to only letting myself in the driver's seat. I can only go as far as I can see and usually that route is fairly limited. But when I choose to let God take the steering wheel, the destination is guaranteed to be more adventurous than I could have ever dreamed up for myself.

So while I get down on my knees to pray today, again, I am choosing to abandon my plans and go with God - regardless of how long He takes because I know that once he finally answers this gal's prayer, it will be so much more than I could have possibly imagined for myself.

Dancing with the Lord

Psalm 32: 8

I will instruct you and teach you in

            the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over

            you.

I once had an opportunity to take ballroom dance lessons. I enjoyed learning how to salsa, two-step, and swing. To be guided across the wooden dance floor made me feel energized. My heart beat with the music and I felt alive. The reality of my everyday world was swept away as I concentrated on being a conscientious follower for the gentleman who led me from one end of the ballroom to the other end and back again.

At first, though, it was a battle of wills. Never mind that he was the professional and a man, I wanted to lead. I had a difficult time giving up control. We were stepping on one another’s toes, I began turning one direction as he tried to twirl me in another, and more than once, we had to stop and “begin again”.

The situation improved when he gave me three vital instructions. First, relax! Dancing is not supposed to be work, it’s recreation. Secondly, don’t anticipate, trust your lead. The gentleman will guide his partner with his hands. Lastly, keep eye contact. When two people are in close physical proximity, as in dancing, verbal communication is almost unnecessary for direction when they choose to look at one another intently.

Has it ever occurred to you that God wants to be your dancing partner? He longs for the chance that you might say yes to His invitation to hold you in His arms as He leads you through the busy and often crowded dance floor of life. He seeks for the chance to lead you away from potential collisions with other dancers. God yearns for a time that you choose to give Him all of your attention and look Him in the eyes.

But how often do we allow ourselves the pleasure of dancing with our Lord? Are the days of our lives so filled with family, career, and ministry obligations that we forget to relax? Remember, while God has certainly called us to love and serve one another, we also need to give ourselves down time each day. Literally stop and smell the roses, take heart in the sound of children’s laughter, bask in the colors of the sunrise, be soothed with the gentle breeze as it tickles your eyelashes.

Speaking of obligations, has God given you His stamp of approval on your “to do list”? Are you allowing God or preventing God from guiding you into uncharted territory to accomplish His goals? I’m learning that when I anticipate the direction of my life, I am taking control of it. My Lord is anxiously waiting for me to consent to his plan everyday. How is it with you? Is God being permitted to guide you by the small of your back and take the lead as you dance through your daily life?

Finally, dear friends, are you looking God in the eyes? No one can deny that this last suggestion requires the most vulnerability. In reading His Holy Word, we know God’s intention for us. Through meditation we come to understand his love, mercy, and grace. By prayer we humbly submit to his Lordship. Our lives will be changed.

Becoming a professional ballroom dancer demands a great deal of training. Likewise, it takes practice to develop the habits of a disciplined child of God. Every morning as your eyes open to the start of a new day, you can find God’s hand stretched out waiting for you to accept His invitation. Will you dance with God today?