Stop Running!

My trusty German Shepherd and I were about two-thirds of the way through our morning jog yesterday when a small white flash of hair came running around the corner and ran past us.  The owner came into view seconds later and seemed to be in hot pursuit.  

"Catch that white dog!" she exclaimed and the chase was on.  I took off at top speed and my jogging partner, who is always up for a high speed adventure, jumped out ahead.  Even though he had no idea what we were doing or where we were going he strained forward pulling me all the way.  

Down one street and up another we chased that white fur ball for a quarter mile.  However, when an alert groundskeeper at our neighborhood school was unable to get his hand on the little mutt I decided I had had enough.  Shortly thereafter the owner caught up with us, thanked me for trying and continued on.  

Within just a few moments the same little white dog had made a circle around the neighborhood and was now running towards us in front of the school from where she had approached it the first time.  This time however, there were several people and a couple of cars trying to box her in.  

"Now I have you trapped," I thought to myself and I jogged toward the oncoming canine in hopes that she would stop.  No luck.  She darted into the street and I took off after her.  She barely eluded my outstretch arms but my secret weapon was with me.  With his shepherding instincts now kicked into high gear my own pup lunged past my extended hands and pushed the pooch to the side with his big snout.  She stumbled off to the right but her momentum took her beyond where my leash would allow my dog to chase her and she scurried off into the far reaches of the neighborhood.  Later someone spotted her heading off into a sparsely wooded area not far from the subdivision but they too were unsuccessful in calling her home. 

Now this story reminds me a lot of the relationship many of us have with God.  We run furiously away from Him as though the home He has for us were a terrible place.  He comes looking for us be we run all the more.  Later He sends out trying circumstances to nudge us back to where we need to be but we run faster still.  Finally as we cower in the middle of the wilderness panting and out of breath we realize that what we thought was freedom is simply a lonely and inhospitable place that offers plenty of danger and nothing for shelter.

So let me ask you, are you running from God?  Do you live in fear of a loving God that wants to bring you home?  Do you curse the trying experiences that are meant to nudge you back to Him?  Worse yet are you in the wilderness wondering what you are doing there?  It's time to come home.  God will love you and accept you just as you are.  He is out there looking for you, calling for you to come home.  Friend, God loves you (John 3:16).  He wants nothing more than to see you come home. 

By the way, my neighbor told me this morning that she went back to the school a few hours later with their other dog.  When she got there she called and called.  To her amazement her little white fur ball came running back.  She was a bit frazzled and her hair a bit dirty but she was home.  And her owner took her in, no questions asked.

Not Stinky But Dirty Nonetheless

Several weeks ago I came to the realization that my car was badly in need of an oil change.  With my wife unavailable to give me a ride back and forth in the other car I decided to take advantage of the opportunity take the dog with me and leisurely jog the couple of miles back home instead of going on our normal morning run.  Upon arriving at home, however, I was immediately thrust into the demands of incoming phone calls to answer and minor crises to attend to.  Next thing I knew the shop was calling to tell me the oil was changed, the tires were balanced and rotated and it was ready to be picked up.

Admittedly, I had not thought through my plan well but either way I had to make a choice, go back to the garage still stinky from our run or shower first and risk getting hot and sweaty on the walk back.  I chose the former, but with one small change.  I decided what I would do to make it seem less offensive was to spray on a bunch of cologne on my formerly sweat-soaked body.  I figured if I would also put a different shirt on and comb my hair a little then no one would notice.

Well, it worked.  I walked to the shop without encountering anyone on the street, no one at the shop looked at me funny and the service writer was so busy answering the phone and attending two other people at the same time that he wouldn't have noticed if I had been a martian let alone whether my cologne was covering some underlying foul smelling.

The funny thing is though, I did notice.  I spent all 5 minutes in the shop with the worst case of self-conscious nerves I have ever experienced.  Every ten seconds I was sniffing the air around myself or looking at myself in any reflective surface to see if my appearance was giving me away.   I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Which teaches us an important spiritual lesson.  You may be able to fool others about your smell but deep down you know you are really smelly and dirty.  That's right.  You and I really do stink, spiritually speaking.  It's called sin.  And despite the fact that it may not be politically correct to call others out on their imperfections we are all keenly aware of our own.  And they are many indeed.

Now to make matters worse eventually we come to the conclusion that there isn't anything that we can do to remedy the situation either.  We can try to cover the smell and put on nice clothes but deep down we know we are dirty and no amount of cologne can change that.  Isaiah 64:6 says that we are an "unclean thing" and "our righteousness is as filthy rags."

So what are we to do?  The only thing we can do is go to God.  Our only hope is to pray the publican's pray, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)  Any attempt to do otherwise would simply be playing the pharisee.

Take your sin to God, my friend.  Be honest with yourself and Him about your condition.  Confess your spiritual need and He will "forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9)

The Race is to...

When I was a senior in high school I had the privilege of going on a mission trip to help with construction on a Navajo Reservation near Farmington, New Mexico.  So on the way there our principal organized an excursion to Pike's Peak so we could take in the beauty of the Rockies.  The plan was simple.  Since the road takes you all the way to the top we would drive all the way to the top and soon return to our journey.  Unfortunately Mother Nature was not willing to cooperate.  Although it was still late summer/early fall there were snow banks on either side of the road well over 15 ft high.  So after driving fairly close to the top the road was eventually cut off by the drifted snow.  From there we would have to go on by foot.

What would transpire on our trek to the top was something that I would never forget.  We all set out with the intention of getting to the top first.  Richard, the fastest student in the school was with us and gave it his best effort but fell back quickly, mostly from the distraction of the young lady who he eventually would marry.  Don, his second place challenger in the 100 yd dash, was however a leading contender throughout the afternoon.  Todd, the winner of the 1 mile race at the school picnic, seemed to be getting along well too but never was able to adjust to the altitude.  Scott was somewhat outdoorsy and perhaps posed some threat but the last guy in our group, the other Richard, seemed of little consequence.  I, however, was sure I would get there first.  I had taken third place behind Todd and thought that maybe a good combination of speed and endurance might help me be victorious.

So as the afternoon went on I set myself to making it to the top taking calculated rest stops and watching the progress of the others.  Richard and Don seemed to have good bursts of energy but were constantly stopping.  Todd and Scott went along at there own pace.  I tried to maintain a constant pace but the person who seemed to be at the head of the pack every time I stopped to look around was the other Richard.  At every break he just passed me by.  How could that be?  He was tireless.  In fact, the higher we went the more difficult it seemed to keep up with him.  Eventually all the guys seemed to run out of gas and I was not far from calling it quits myself.  So as I sat down to take in the view below I looked up to see who had bested us all and there was the winner, plodding along.  It was the other Richard and his untiring pace.  Slowly but steadily he had outlasted us all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 says: "I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all."

One never knows how things will turn out in real life.  You may think you know what to expect but you never do.  There are people like the second Richard who unexpectedly come in first and there seems to be little explanation.  Frankly, some people have more heart than others give them credit.

The Bible is clear.  No one knows who will win and circumstances are always unpredictable.  Place your life and your trust in Jesus Christ and the importance of winning mere foot races will find it's natural order in a life arranged by meaningful priorities.

Something's missing

It was going to be my first culinary masterpiece.  No.  Another culinary masterpiece.  I was going to make the pot of beans of my life.  I was going to slow cook them overnight in fresh vegetables and spices and the whole church would crown me the 'king of potluck'.

Hyperbole aside, I was very hopeful for the pot of beans I was making.  I had diced up fresh onions and green peppers.  I had carefully stirred in ground cumin and other Mexican spices.  With a touch of olive oil to give it a final touch the crock pot was set to simmer my beans overnight and I went to bed a few hours later with the smell of Latin glory beginning to emanate from the lid of the pot.  I was filled with self-satisfaction.

The next morning the air was filled with the smell of deliciousness.  Olfactory reminders of what was stewing in the kitchen came wafting to my room to awaken my half conscious slumber.  Unable to bear the suspense of not knowing how the beans had fared overnight I got up and headed straight for the kitchen.  Upon arriving my nose assured me that I had done something right, but as I opened the pot and set aside my trial portion my palate began to tell me a different story.  Each bite from the tasting bowl was filled with a flavor that was dishearteningly mediocre.  That's right.  My beans were just mediocre.

What had gone wrong?  I thought I had added everything.  I went down my mental checklist of all I had put in.  All of the quality ingredients I had planned on had made it in.  How had I failed so miserably? Then upon testing them one more time I realized my error.  I had forgotten to add salt.  That's what was missing.  Just a little bit of salt.

In retrospect I am amazed at how few of those little white granules was required to liven up a whole pot of beans.  The transformation was incredible.  Just a few shakes of my not-so-magical salt shaker had turn an otherwise forgettable pot of beans into the Mexican masterpiece I had envisioned all along.  The salt had awakened all the flavors that were already there and waiting to be released.  I was thrilled once again.  My taste buds were doing a Mexican hat dance and I could go the potluck knowing that I, yes I the pastor himself, had made a delicious contribution to our midday feast.  I had been saved from embarrassment by just a pinch of salt.

Matthew 5:13 says "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men."  In this passage God is calling us to be salt in this world.  We are supposed to be that special something in the experience of others.  He has filled our world with many good things but He wants to use us to awaken the flavors He has put into this life.  You can be a catalyst for all the beauty and good God longs for others to experience.  You can be that salt if you let Him into your life and show you how you can make an impact in the lives of others.  It doesn't take much, just a little of you as the Spirit shakes you out of His divine salt shaker.

When the ground is shaking

The other day I had the opportunity to take my dog, Frisky, to the hospital to visit a member of my church and provide a little canine therapy.  Now going into a public place was nothing new for him and he surely enjoyed the opportunity to see (and lick) new faces.  But the part that he did not find so interesting was the elevator ride to get there.  When we first came into the hospital he entered the elevator without any difficulty perhaps thinking it was just another room.  Little did he know that there would be a slight motion in the floor once the doors closed.  As soon as the elevator went into motion he got a bit nervous.  When it stopped at the next floor where another passenger needed to get off he got even more frightened.  Then again it happened.  Finally when the elevator stopped at our destination he was ready to get out.  What was that crazy room where the floor was constantly moving?  He had no desire to stick around and find out.

After a while there on the rehab floor I came to the realization that he need to go out to do his business.  So over to the elevator we went but this time getting in was not so easy.  He hesitated remembering what an unstable room that was behind those metal doors.  Once inside more of the same.  And again on the way back up after his pit stop outside.  By this time he was sure he didn't like what went on in there.  So we went on with our visit.

So with our visit now ending we had to make one final trip down to the main floor.  This time there was no way he wanted to get it.  I called and begged, pushed and pulled but he was not getting on.  After a few moments of reassurance from me and a bit of pushing as well I finally got him on.  This time he was really nervous.  His claws were clinched and scratching at the linoleum floor.  His legs were shaking like I have never seen them tremble before.  And the look in his eyes was of complete and total fear.  So I knelt on the floor, put my arms around him and whispered "Frisky, it's o.k. Buddy.  It's o.k."  And even though the floor still did it's moving thing he began to relax.  Perhaps not completely but he felt a lot better.  The sound of my voice and the embrace of my arms were enough for him to know that everything would be alright, even though the ground under his feet was unsteady and in sporadic motion.

Now it seems to me that life can be a lot like Frisky's elevator ride.  What seems to be an innocuous situation turns out to be unstable and frightening.  And much to our chagrin we find we have to go through it more than once.  So what does it take to get through these earth-shaking moments in our lives? Only the presence and reassurance of our Master can bring us calm.  Only the promise of His Word that everything will be alright and the touch of His presence can get us through.

Isaiah 43:2 says,
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you."

Always remember that God is with you wherever you go.  No matter how bad it gets or how much the earth is moving beneath you God will see you through.  Know that He will guide you and protect you even through repeated trials and tribulations.

-Pastor Dean