Reluctant Obedience

 

            Like the commercial with the ‘most interesting man in the world,’ I think Moses is one of the most interesting men in the Bible.

- He was adopted by a king.

- Raised in a palace with all the royalty that went with that.

- Killed a man, and then ran from his crime.

- Hid out, and then started a humble life as a shepherd in the desert.

- Was called by God in the most dramatic way, from a burning bush.

            Moses saw the burning bush and knew it is God speaking to him. He took off his shoes because he knew he was standing on holy ground. Then, when God told him what to do, Moses argued with God! Not once or twice, Moses has five excuses as to why he didn’t want to do what God called him to do.

            I have often said to myself and others, “If God would just send me a burning bush, then I could be sure of what He wants me to do.” But the truth is, if God asked me to something I thought was impossible, I would probably argue too. Of course, it is ridiculous to tell the God who created the universe that something is impossible. Since He can do anything and the Bible says all things are possible when He gives us the strength to do them.

            Moses’ excuses to God as to why He called the wrong guy to lead two million slaves out of Egypt to the Promised Land are interesting.

            First, He tells God he is not qualified for the job. This seems to be true because at the time Moses was tending sheep. Then again, maybe herding sheep was the right skill, since he would be herding people for many years.

            Then, he says he doesn’t know enough to do the job. As an example he tells God he doesn’t even know His name.

Third, showing his pessimistic side, Moses says he doesn’t believe he can do what God wants because he doesn’t believe the Israelites will follow him.

            Then, grasping for straws, Moses tells God this can’t be his calling because he doesn’t speak well. This one is a little hard to believe because he was raised in the palace and probably had the finest education a king could provide. (And certainly in the movie, Charlton Heston had no problem delivering eloquent speeches!)

            Finally, Moses tells God he doesn’t want to do it and He should find someone else to do this huge job.

            We know from reading the book of Exodus God did not take no for an answer from Moses. He equipped Moses to do everything He called him to do and Moses liberated two million people from slavery in Egypt. It is an amazing story.

            Do we use these excuses with God? I’m not qualified to teach kids at church or home school my kids because I am not a teacher. I don’t have a teaching degree.

            I often think I don’t have enough knowledge to do the task. I need to read, study, ask questions and take a class before I feel I have enough knowledge to do something.

            Number three is a biggy. We (I) just flat out don’t believe God. We say we do, but we don’t trust that He can do what He says He will do.

            I wrote about giving my calling to someone else here, when I knew God was asking me to do it. That was not one of my proudest moments.

            We don’t want to do it. We don’t want to stay home with our kids, when all our friends have fun, fulfilling careers. We don’t want to work outside the home, when we would rather stay home with our kids. We don’t want to move when our spouse is offered a great job opportunity. Or when the going gets rough where we are, we don’t want to stay and deal with it, when it seems easier to move.

            Moses reluctantly obeyed God and he became one of the most admired men in the Bible.

            I don’t want to be reluctant to do the things God calls me to do. I want to be all in with God, and enthusiastically obey, knowing He will equip me and give me the strength to do whatever He calls me to. It helps to start by making the decision to say yes to God, no matter what the assignment. It is easier to do what He calls us to do, if we have determined we will say yes ahead of time.

            Have you ever been reluctant to obey what God has asked you to do? Have you ever used one of these excuses?

We have all heard this verse before,

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

but is it enough to cause us to say yes when God calls us to a seemingly impossible task?

Press 1 for Answers to Prayer

            It is frustrating to make a phone call and get trapped in the endless automated system. Hearing the robot lady’s voice say over and over:

Press 1 for this.

Press 2 for that.

Press 3 to leave a message.

Press 4 to return to the main menu.

            She asks for my account number, but then when a real live customer service rep  answers they ask for the number again, like it was just a stall tactic by the robot lady. I have started immediately saying, “customer service rep” as soon as the robot lady starts speaking. Even then she will say, “I understand you want to speak to a customer service rep. If your question is about this, press 1. If it is about that, press 2.” Aaugh!

            Recently I was at the hospital for my son’s surgery. They needed me to call my insurance company and find out what I owed. It seemed like a simple request, surely there was a simple answer.

            First, my husband called. I could tell by his deliberate answers he was talking to the robot lady. After 20 minutes he gave up and said it was my turn. I called. I answered all the robot lady’s questions just like he did. Finally, I tried to override her and said,

“Customer service! Customer service! Customer service!”

Somehow this baffled the robot lady and she sent me back to the main menu.

“If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911.”

“If this is a mental health emergency, press 1.”

            That was interesting. They must have added the mental health option, because after being on hold for 20 minutes they knew there would be a mental health emergency.

            Finally, she said, “You are caller number 14. Press 1 to leave a message and someone will call you back. Press 2 to continue holding.”

Since this was not my first rodeo with the robot lady, I knew better than to leave my number. I tried that before and nobody ever called back. I lost my place in line and had to call again and wait another 20 minutes.

            Sometimes I think we view prayer like that. We call God and we want to:

Press 1 to have a good day

Press 2 to bless the food.

Press 3 for help on a test.

Press 4 for God to be with us.

Press 5 for a close parking spot.

And if we have a bigger request we become frustrated when we have to wait longer than 20 minutes for the answer.

            Prayer is so much more than that. God is not a robot guy dispensing immediate answers. Prayer is talking to our heavenly Father who loves us more than we can understand, about things that truly matter to us. It should be like a continuous conversation with our best friend. It is more about our relationship with God, our love for Him, our reliance on Him, and our faith in Him than it is about Him blessing our food.

            I never did get through to a real person that day in the hospital. No doubt they will bill me what we owe for the surgery. Thankfully, God never puts us on hold or makes us wait to get through to Him. He is always with us, always hears us and truly cares about the details of our life.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14

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Don’t you love that God always hears us when we talk to Him?

Finish

            Well, it’s finally happened. My word for the year, chosen in January, is ‘Finish’, and it is now April and I finally finished some things. I started working on this website in November and voila! Here it is finished.

            A family member, who shall remain nameless, suggested the word Finish when I was trying to decide what to focus on for the year. Last year I chose the word Joy, and that was a good year. I wanted to choose another word like Happy, Cheerful or Fun, but those didn’t seem right. After looking around at all my unfinished projects, stacks of paper and writing assignments lying around, I agreed the word Finish would be a good focus word for the New Year.

            I love to start new projects, but after a while my enthusiasm wanes, and sometimes I have trouble finishing the projects, especially with mundane tasks like balancing the checkbook or filing insurance claims. So, after much determination I focused and attacked the piles of paper clutter that had accumulated on and around my desk. It took some hours but now that these things are truly finished, I feel like a huge burden has been lifted.

            During Easter week when we are reminded of Jesus’ famous words on the cross, “It is finished,” I am grateful for the burden He took on for us. To know that He took the burden of our sins on Himself, and paid the price with His life, is overwhelmingly humbling.

            A woman whose husband recently passed away told me she was so grateful she learned that Jesus loved her and forgave her for her sins. She became a changed person a few years ago, after the burden of carrying her past and her struggles were forgiven. She said she knew about Jesus and Him dying on the cross, but never knew He did it for her personally and that she could come to know the God who loved her. She said her husband received Christ as his Savior on his deathbed, and told her it was because he had seen her life change when she started following Christ. Amazing.

            I’m thankful Jesus finished His work on the cross to pay for our sins. But I am also thankful He is not finished with us. The Bible says,

“ I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6.

            Do you have any unfinished business, personal or spiritual, you need to do this year? Feel free to share my word for the year. Finish.

Once a Month Cleaning

          I love to read organizing blogs and articles. I like to read about systems, simplifying, becoming more productive and yes, even better ways to clean and organize my house. Many blogs like this also cover organizing meal plans. One of the concepts I tried, without success, is once a month cooking. I read about it. I planned. I bought all the food. I even attempted to chop, sort, bag and freeze some of the items. I’m not sure where exactly it fizzled out, somewhere between the prepping, chopping and freezing. It seemed easier just to cook everything.

           As I was vacuuming this week I contemplated why I was not more successful with once a month cooking. Then it hit me. I may be a once a month cooking failure, but when it comes to once a month CLEANING, I am a rock star! I am a natural at once a month cleaning. It must be a gift! I have never had to read a book or a blog about once a month cleaning. It never occurred to me that this is a skill or something to be valued. I am considering starting a new website dedicated to once a month cleaning!


           Why and how does once a month cleaning work for me?

1. First, it helps to be a minimalist when it comes to home decorating. I think I fell into being a minimalist naturally when I couldn’t decide how to decorate and what to buy, so I didn’t. The house we are in now has a lot of windows, thus very little wall space to hang things or put decorative items.

2. I also realized having kids helps. I know this seems contradictory because kids are the ones who mess up the house. But, when they are old enough to do chores and value money they can be bribed rewarded when they clean the house. (i.e. a dollar to make their bed, a dollar for cleaning the bathroom, a dollar for cleaning and picking up the living room.) As they have grown older it seems they always want something from me. So, I attached that something to a house-cleaning chore.

When they want to go to a friend’s house - “Sure, as soon as these clothes are folded and put away.”

When they want a friend to come over - “Sure, as soon as your room is cleaned and vacuumed.”

When they want to play video games - “Sure, I need the trash taken out and the kitchen mopped before you start.”

The list goes on and on. Just this week, “Mom, can you order something for me from Amazon?” “Absolutely. While I am doing that please empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen. Thanks.”

           This seriously cuts down on the amount of cleaning that is left for me to do.

3. At least once a month we have some type of event at our house. We have a meeting, a Bible study, a party or have friends over for dinner. That is when I do my once a month whole house cleaning. It works out great. The house is not too dirty because little cleaning chores have been taken care of throughout the month.

           Instead of kicking myself for being a once a month cooking fail, I decided to embrace the skills I do have.

           Being a Pastor’s wife, I see people who treat worshiping the Lord like I treat cleaning house. Studies show the average church goer attends about once a month. If there is an event or a special holiday like Christmas or Easter, more people attend.

           As much as I am in the habit of once a month cleaning, I know it is not the best. There are definitely gaps that could be filled, . . . or cleaned, if I was more consistent. I think it is the same with our worship of God. There are gaps. We miss out on worshiping the Lord who loves us. We miss out on learning and applying God’s Word. And we miss out on the friendship and community of the family of believers.

“We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.” Hebrews 10:24,25  

Do you clean your house more than once a month? How about worshiping the Lord? Are you a once a monther? 

View From the Back of the Gym

            Like many people, I determined to work out more in 2015. We have a free gym membership, so instead of walking outside I have been going to the gym.

            Just walking into the gym inspires me. There are all types of people with the common goal of exercising themselves to good health. Every age range, color, gender, body size and fitness level is represented. The fitness level of people varies depending on the time of day.

• 5:00-6:00am = the diehard athletes, dedicated in shape peeps
• 9:00am = moms with young kids (the gym daycare is open) group classes: yoga,     zumba,   unsynchronized aquatic dancing
• Noon = the lunch bunch, serious business folks on lunch break, dash and done in 45 minutes
• After work = New Years resolution peeps, teenagers, serious body builder types, committed folks using all the machines

             

            I’m with the treadmill group. Whatever time I go, I prefer the treadmill. I have done some swimming, some weight machines, a few yoga classes and one zumba class. Still, I always go back to the treadmill group. They are my tribe.

            At this gym the treadmills are lined up against the back wall, facing in towards the middle of the gym. This makes for great people watching. You can see almost everyone in the gym. The testosterone weight lifting zone, the intense stair stepping sweat-ers, the socializing weight machines peeps, the senior men circuit machine corner, and the specialized speed school sprinters. It is an awesome view of gym life!

            There are some funny sights from the back row of the gym. Here is my short list from this month:

·      A young guy with his treadmill incline set at ‘Mt Everest’ and the speed set at ‘warp’, hanging on for dear life as his size 12 Nikes slapped the tread.

·      The guy on his cell phone talking to the police about a possible fight he may or may not have been involved in

·      The time I accidently switched to the Cooking Chanel and the two guys on either side of me were so mesmerized watching my screen I didn’t dare change the channel. The three of us watched asparagus polenta for half an hour.

·      The time all the back row treadmills were taken and I had to run (ok, walk and run) on a treadmill in front of the coveted last row. There was only one man in my row of 20 treadmills. I had my ear buds in listening to a Michael Hyatt podcast, when I started hearing loud singing.  Over the gym music, and Michael Hyatt, I could hear the guy singing out loud in my row. I looked over to see Clarence the angel, from It’s A Wonderful Life, dressed in street clothes singing “That’s amore!” acapella as he walked! I looked at him and then snuck a glance behind me to the back row tread millers. Snickers and smirks looked back at me as if to say, “Sucker – you are stuck with the singer today!”

·      The time a zero percent body fat person, with a shaved head, jumped up to reach above her head to hang from a bar. She swung her legs straight up in the air to meet her hands. I thought the bars were there to hang towels on. I had no idea it was a suspended reverse sit-up apparatus. The gal’s abs looked like they were sculpted with photo shop for a super hero costume. She did 10 sets of 10 torturous reps right in front of the treadmills. It was an incredible athletic feat. I had never seen anything like it. I turned to the guy beside me to see if he was impressed. Nope. Pretending to watch basketball highlights.

            I’m sure I look equally amusing wearing my faded red Avon running shirt from 1997, which doubles as my painting shirt, and my favorite visor that my daughter refuses to be seen with me in.

            I just love the view from the back row treadmills!

            It reminds me of how different we all are, and yet God loves each of us equally. At the gym people have to earn their washboard abs with days, months and years spent on the reverse ab bars. Thankfully, we don’t have to earn God’s love. No amount of good works or spiritual workouts improve our standing with Him. He accepts us just as we are, physically, emotionally and spiritually in shape or out of shape.

“For physical training is of some value (useful for a little), but godliness (spiritual training) is useful and of value in everything and in every way, for it holds promise for the present life and also for the life which is to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8 (Amp)

How is your view from where you are?