Muddy Water Questions

As a Bible teacher it can be a scary thing to allow your students to ask questions during the class.  Many teachers fear not knowing the answer when put on the spot to answer a difficult question publicly.  Last Sunday as I was wrapping up my lesson, one of my precious students asked me a question concerning a difficult and sometimes controversial scripture.  Feeling the pressure to come up with an answer I struggled as I suggested a possible answer, yet I was unable to give one that satisfied her thirst to know more. After class she approached me and asked me to pray for her that the Lord would teach her and show her the answer.  I immediately thought of Ephesians 1:17, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” I cannot stop thinking about the question she asked and her desperation to find the answer.  This week I was determined to listen to the Lord as I searched His Word to find the answer.   He spoke to me a one word answer, “faith.”  He keeps whispering in my ear, “faith.”

Have you ever stood in a puddle of water after a rainstorm?  The rain falling seems so clear, yet when it collects in the cracks and crevices of the ground little pools of muddy water form.  As we walk through the puddles the water mixes further with the dirt of the ground and even muddier water forms. Recently on Face book I saw a picture of my friends adorable Labradoodle after a romp in a pasture full of mud puddles.  He was such a muddy mess he was almost unrecognizable!  If you step in a puddle of muddy water you can no longer see your feet, however you know they are there.  That is the visual the Lord gave me as I was thinking of my student searching for the answer to her question.  The answer seems to be at the bottom of a pool of muddy water.  The more I look for the answer to her question the muddier the water gets!

We have so many questions: When, where, what, why and how seem to be the five most used words in all of life!  We ask, “When will I ever get married or have a baby?”  “Where should I live?”  “What should I do?”  “Why did this horrible thing have to happen to me and why now?”  “How will I ever be able to forgive her?”  The answer comes . . . “faith.” 

Many times we ask about the past and ponder why things happened or what we could have done differently.  Isaiah 43:18 contains an answer, “ Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new.  Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”  We often keep looking back to find the answer that is right in front of us, we need only to have an expectant faith as we watch for God’s hand at work.  The Apostle Paul, a great teacher and preacher was asked, “What must I do to be saved?”  He answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:30) Jesus was asked the question, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”  Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  Jesus has the answer to any question you have today and He is the answer to any question you will ever have!

Late last night I received some devastating news concerning a friend and the first thing that came to my mind was the question of “Why Lord?”  He quietly whispered, “faith.”  So as this devastating news lingers in my mind, I am clinging to my faith in a God who knows all, sees all, hears all, and will work all things out according to His good purpose.  I must choose to first acknowledge and accept the reality that I may never know the answer to my students “what about them?” question or my own question of “why?” this morning. For the Sovereign Lord’s ways and His knowledge are beyond figuring out.  Secondly, I can rest in the knowledge that from Him and through Him and to Him are all things! He has it all under His control! (Romans 11:33-36)  Finally, I choose to believe and have faith in my God who poured out His love when He sent His only perfect Son to take on all of my sin and shame and die in my place the death I deserved, so that I could live eternally in His presence and experience a peace that goes beyond my understanding. 

Today I pray that you will choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who will secure for you an eternity of peace with Him and that you will trust Him for the answer to every muddy water question you may ask.  

Trust Him as the Answer,
Nancy

Finding Hope in the Playground

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity! I went from one meeting to another.  I had the privilege of speaking to a group of young moms, having lunch with a young married woman, and meeting in the afternoon with a dear friend to plan an upcoming event. I went home from that afternoon meeting to change into my workout clothes and walked over to the gym. On the way to the gym I just happened to run into friend in the parking lot and we spent some time talking before I found myself on the treadmill. While on the treadmill, as often happens, my mind goes to all the activity of the day and then I try to listen to see if the Lord will speak to me. He is faithful to speak, more times than not, clearly and creatively whenever I am walking.  There is something about the rhythmic pace on the treadmill that allows my mind to free itself of all the stress of the day and simply enjoy being alone in my thoughts. 

I work out at the gym located in our church, which just happens to be right next door to where I live.  The church also houses a school and the treadmill I walk on is located on the second floor, in front of a large window, overlooking one of their playgrounds. As I was alone with my thoughts, I began to watch the group of children playing as they waited for their parents to pick them up after school.  It was a bird’s eye view of the children and their teachers.  I could see the activity and the patterns of play exhibited by the different children. There was one boy who sat alone by the sandbox.  There was one little girl who loved to challenge herself over and over again by trying to hoist herself onto the monkey bars and with each try she would fall, without ever giving any indication of fear or hurt.  Then I saw two adorably prissy girls who skipped along as if they had no care in the world.  I saw several boys constantly on the move, pushing and shoving, digging in the dirt and doing what boys do.  There were loners, socialites, leaders, and lovers all on the same playground.  I looked at them and tried to imagine what they would become as they grew into adulthood. 

Over the last couple of years I have lived with Proverbs 24:32, which says, “I applied my heart to what I observed and I learned a lesson from what I saw.”  What was the lesson brewing in that playground?  It dawned on me as I walked and watched that my observations of children on a playground was much like God’s observations of us as we navigate through life.  The Lord watches, listens and He doesn’t wonder what we will be, because He knows. He knows what is in our hearts and in our minds. He knows our joys and our fears.  He knows our pride and our shame. 

As I spoke to those young moms I tried to relate with them by telling them my struggles as a young mom.  I could see on their faces stress, fear, and wide-eyed wonder that came from being a young mom.  But only God could see their hearts. As I ate my lunch with a beautiful young woman and listened to her story my eyes were open to the pain that lied beneath such beauty and my mother’s heart was moved with a longing to hold her in my arms and tell her, “it is going to be okay.”  After our planning time, my friend and I sat and shared our hearts with one another.  I have often seen my friend as one who “has it all” yet yesterday she was struggling with some losses in her life.  All of us are truly helpless on our own, but God demonstrates His sacrificial love for us in that while we were still helpless and at just the right time, He sent His son to die for us, so that we might have peace with Him.  Paul’s words in Romans came to mind,  “. . . the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” as I thought of those children and the women that crossed my path yesterday.  God gives us life and knows what we will make of that life.  In fact He died a radically gruesome death in order to provide life for us who were dead in our sin and sadness.  In the midst of the trials of young motherhood or abuse or loss, God reaches down from His sanctuary in heaven, and sees our pain, hears our groans and releases us from the clutches of death.  Psalm 102:18-20   

I walked back home from the gym with the word hope reverberating in my mind.  In the midst of my busy day filled with women and children of various ages, stages and seasons in life I saw the God of Hope filling me with joy and peace (Romans 15:13) because I believe with all my heart that He has something planned for each of us that will bring hope of a future with Him. (Jeremiah 29:11) If you check your heart today and find there is no hope and no peace, I invite you to call on the One who watches from His sanctuary on high and He will hear you and bring you eternal encouragement in the midst of motherhood, marriage, singleness or widowhood. Nothing and nobody is beyond His love! Romans 5:6

With Peace and Hope,

Nancy

An Extravagant Gift

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Romans 5:1-5

The Lord keeps whispering in my ear this week the words "stand in grace."  This phrase is found in the Romans passage that I have been meditating on and studying in preparation for teaching my precious Sunday morning Bible study ladies.  Of course the Lord is faithful to give me opportunities to live out my lessons before I teach them, which can be painful at times.  The Lord continues to show me practically what standing in His grace means.  In fact, He used a Christmas gift I received to teach me the valuable lesson of how to receive His love and grace.

On Christmas morning it was just my husband, William, my daughter, Sarah, and myself as we sat together eager to give and receive the gifts we had bought for one another. We started out by opening the gifts Sarah had bought for us and her opening the gift we had bought for her.  That round went rather well. Then, I proceeded to open the two packages William had given me. My mind wondered back to a recent trip to the mall after my husband had asked me to pick out some purses and wallets that I liked.  I had lost my purse on a  trip a month earlier, along with everything in it, and William planned to replace the purse, along with the wallet, for my Christmas gift.  I showed him several nice purses and wallets that he could choose from.  So, as I began to unwrap the gifts, I envisioned what the "gifts" would look like.  As I opened the first package, my heart sank and it was hard to find words of gratitude as I looked at something totally different from what I had picked out.  Then my daughter whispered to me, "Mom, that is a very expensive purse!"  Okay, I do not think of myself as ungrateful with a negative bent, but out of my complete bewilderment of holding in my hand a very extravagant gift, that was totally not what I thought I wanted, came words spoken as if I was having an out of body experience.  I couldn't fake a "Oh, I just love it!" at that moment, but only a, "It is fine, but it isn't like the ones I picked out." I sounded like some spoiled teenager!  And if that wasn't bad enough, I acted that way in front of my young adult daughter!  I could see the hurt all over my sweet husband's face.

Have you ever wanted a "do over?" At that moment, I wanted to ask if we could all go back to bed and wake up again so that I could have a second chance at responding in a more loving and godly way.  After saying "I am sorry" many times for my negative response and William saying the same thing for not getting what I wanted, we made peace and he suggested I take the purse and wallet back and get what I really wanted.  He said, "I have always wanted you to have a very nice purse and wallet because you deserve it."  I said, "But you didn't need to spend that much money on them.  I could have bought several outfits with the money you spent on one purse. Besides, I don't deserve it!"  I have always struggled with receiving all the love my husband wants to pour out on me, always feeling unworthy. I often call him my "grace gift."

The purse and wallet sat in the same place where I opened them for several days.  I went online and searched to see how much the purse cost (I had no idea who or what a Tory Burch was!) and was totally shocked and realized William had used all his extra money he had been saving and spent every bit on me!  As I was studying Romans 5, the Lord opened my eyes to truth as I read the passage from The Message:

"By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us- set us right with him, make us fit for him - we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus.  And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us.  We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand - out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise."  Romans 5:1-2  

William had done something he always wanted to do for me and there I stood unwilling to accept it.  Isn't that what many of us did (or are still doing) for a long time before accepting the grace gift of salvation from God who wanted to give us what He always wanted us to have.  Too often we step out of His wide open spaces of grace and into our own labor, our own self absorption and gain.  We try to fill up with what we think will satisfy our wants and realize that only God's poured out love will truly satisfy.  You see, God made us with a soul that was void and empty in need of a Savior. We try to fill it with the temporal things of pleasure, prestige, or position only to find ourselves just as empty as we were when we started.  It is only when we walk through the Door, called Jesus, and accept His invitation to live in His wide open spaces of grace that we find complete satisfaction and filling of our souls.

Now when I look at the very expensive designer bag, that I never took back, I am reminded not only of my husbands extravagant love for me, but also of God's poured out love for me that has provided me with everything I need for life and for godliness - I accept once again His extravagant grace gift of love. Also, when I see that bag I am reminded that when I pray and ask the Father for what I want, He is going to give me what He has always wanted me to have - and it may not necessarily look like what I had picked out!  

My prayer for you as you read my story, is that you will open wide your heart to stand fully in God's amazing grace drinking in the love He has for you.  If you have never stepped in to His grace, I invite you to take that step of faith and lay down your burdens, mistakes, and sins and give them over to Him and receive his unconditional love and forgiveness.  It is a gift that never quits giving! If you have accepted His gift of salvation, but have stepped out of His field of grace and into your own striving I urge you to step back in and stand completely still and take in His poured out love once again.  Here's to extravagant gifts!

Proving His Word True,
Nancy

Wednesday Whispers: Listening to Him

I started this blog seven years ago and I must admit I haven't been very faithful to this "blogging thing!" This year the Lord has reminded me of a special verse I hid in my heart a few years ago and it has sparked a renewed enthusiasm to share what God is teaching me with anyone who would read these posts. In Matthew 10:27 Jesus says,

"What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear proclaim upon the housetops." (NASB)

Each Wednesday I will seek to write down what God is speaking to me personally in hopes that it will encourage at least one person who would read this blog. This year the Lord has led me to another "word for the year."  He has done this for the last five years now and I look forward every fall for the Lord to whisper in my ear a word or phrase that He wants me to major on for the coming year.  This year the Lord has led me to center on the gospel: 

To listen to His voice in order to learn the gospel so that I can lead others to Him.  

In my study of the book of Romans the Lord is taking me deeper into the message of the gospel.  Romans 1:16 has been running over and over in my mind for weeks now: 

 "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."  

The Lord spoke to me, not in a whisper, but in a very loud, but loving, voice as I meditated on and memorized this verse.  "Nancy, you have been timid in your witness, even ashamed to boldly offer this salvation message to your lost family and friends!"  But, Lord I love your Word and boldly speak and teach your Word to Believers.  In that still small voice He spoke, "Yes, but what about those who are lost in their sin and darkness." Why have I been stingy with my salvation?  I have enjoyed the peace of God and an inexpressible joy, yet have lacked the compassion and overwhelming gratitude needed to boldly share with any who would listen the glorious life-giving message of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I discovered that I need to be more intentional in listening to the Lord as He speaks deeper things concerning the gospel.  So, in 2014 my aim and heart's desire is: 

To truly take in every detail of God's redemption story, to be in awe of this gift I received by faith, 

and with great passion and boldness offer the Bread of Life to any hungry soul 

the Lord causes to cross my path. 

Here's to listening attentively to the Lord's voice in 2014!

Learning the Gospel,

Nancy Taylor

What Do You Want for Mother's Day?

That was the question my precious daughter-in-law asked last night.  At first I couldn’t think of a thing that I wanted or needed for Mother’s Day.  I vaguely remember replying with something to the effect of I just wanted to be with my kids.  But as I awoke this morning that question kept going over and over in my mind and  the answer came – the Word. That is what I want for Mother’s Day.  I want to give my children something for Mother’s Day – a desire for what I have found to be my hope, sustainer, and delight as a mother.  

You see this Mother’s Day I want my children to know how inexpressibly grateful I am for the Word of God.  For it is the Word of God that gave me hope of conceiving again after my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage.  (Psalm 27:13-14)  It was the Word of God that sustained me through their growing up years as I prayed the Word  for them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind.  (Deuteronomy 6:5) It was those early mornings spent in my “coffee with Jesus” chair with an open Bible that brought me delight and equipped me to share the power of the Word with them as they struggled to find their path in life. I have had the great joy of seeing the Lord answer as I prayed the Word over my children.  I have seen that they love the Lord with all they have and that they faithfully serve Him as godly young adults.  

I have found that nothing lasts forever in this world except the Word of God - it stands forever and we can forever stand on it’s promises as mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.  My prayer for this Mother’s Day and for all to follow is that the Word would sustain me even when I am old and gray so that I may declare God’s power to the next generation and his might to all who are to come.  (Psalm 71:18)

So what is it that I want for Mother’s Day?  The greatest gift I could receive is to see the Word of God give my children hope for their children, sustain them as they raise the next generation and above all else know the inexpressible joy of soaking in His Word for a lifetime! 

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

 

God never wastes an opportunity to instruct us in our faith.  A saying of a wise man found in Proverbs 24:32, “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw,” illustrates that fact nicely.  God has lessons surrounding us everyday, but unless we take the time to truly connect God and His promises with the trials, the distractions, and the miscommunications of our day those teachable moments simply become stressful moments we must endure.

The disciples were urged by Jesus to get in a boat with Him and cross over to the other side of a lake.  In the midst of their voyage, after Jesus had fallen asleep a ferocious storm suddenly developed tossing the boat wildly over the waves.  The disciples were in a panic and feared they would drown. They woke Jesus and accused Him of being insensitive to their overwhelming situation.  Jesus simply stood up and told the storm to quiet down and it did!  Then he confronted the disciples with a lesson about fear and faith. 

I recently took a very long road trip to the other side of the country. The trip was a very eventful one from Houston to Los Angeles in a Ford Explorer Sport with my daughter, Sarah, her two surfboards on top, a bicycle on the back and filled with all her worldly possessions. The goal of the trip was to find her an apartment and move her things into it before the next Thursday when we would be flying back to Houston.  We set out early one Thursday morning full of hope and anticipation.  However a few hours into the trip a ferocious storm engulfed us as we made it to the other side of San Antonio.  The sky grew as black as night, the rain was so heavy that I could not see but a few feet in front of me.  I decided to pull off the road into a convenience store parking lot in Comfort, Texas, of all places.  We definitely needed some comfort!  I began to pray for God’s protection as we sat in the parking lot. Looking down at my phone, I noticed a text from a dear friend saying she was praying Psalm 121:7-8 for us.  Interestingly enough, those were the very verses I had begun memorizing that week!  She had no idea of the storm we were in, but God did, as the verses proclaim, “The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”  I saw the words and tried to connect the promise to the thunderstorm in which I found myself.  My faith was shaky at best.

We drummed up courage and tried to convince ourselves that the storm was weakening.  However as we got only a few more miles down the road the wind began to blow so hard that it was a struggle to keep the car on the road. Sarah made a quick check on her phone and found that we were not only in an area where there was a severe thunderstorm warning, but also a tornado warning as well!  As I was fluctuating between faith and fear, my cell phone rang- it was my mom calling.  Just a couple of weeks prior to our leaving my mom had emergency surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her colon.  My concentration on driving through a storm had caused me to briefly forget that my mom would find out that morning if the cancer had spread. As I answered the phone I braced myself for possible bad news.  To my great relief the words “The cancer has not spread,” brought peace and calm in the midst of facing a west Texas thunderstorm. It reminded me of a scripture I have often prayed, “Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.”  We had rain and wind the rest of that day until we reach our first day destination:  sunny El Paso!  The Lord had watched over our coming and going and brought us safely to the other side.  Another interesting fact is the meaning of El Paso:  “the crossing of the river.” 

As I reflect on this first day of travel many God lessons come to my mind, but one stands out:  When I trust in myself fear engulfs me; when I trust in God’s promise to watch over me His love covers me and causes the fear to subside.  Thank you Lord for calming the storms physically, emotionally and relationally in my life and for forgiving me of accusing you of sleeping in the midst of my storms. 

“He who watches over you does not slumber!”    Psalm 121:3

My Walk in the Park: A Parable of Grace

Early Tuesday morning, before dawn, my husband and I went to Memorial Park for a walk.  As is our pattern, we start off together and then he signaled for me to go on ahead of him, as I will walk and run while he walks. I found myself about one mile ahead of him and thought I might like to run for a while.  Well just as I started off running, the road literally rose up to meet me – or probably a better description would be:  “I came face to face with the dirt!”  I broke the fall with my hands and my left knee.  Being in a bit of shock I simply answered, “yes” to a passerby’s question of concern, “Are you okay?”  Pride lifted me up off the gravel trail and into a jog.  A few yards later I came to my senses and my jog became a determined walk.  I was determined to make it to the public restroom before the sun came up.  I didn’t want anyone to see me in such a disheveled condition.  I felt my hands throbbing as I clinched them into fists and tried to set my mind on finishing the course. 

I finally reached the restroom and discovered my hands were streaked with blood and dirt. I quickly made an assessment of my injuries and tried to wash up as best I could.  Then I made my way to the car where William was now waiting on me, totally oblivious to my fall.  He was compassionate and caring as he helped me into the car.

On the way home I sent a text to my workout partner that I had fallen and would come workout after I cleaned myself up.  Once at home, I realized I was pretty messed up.  I had chunks of skin that had been lifted off of my palms as the dirt and rocks had shoved their way into the wounds.  I had to lift up the torn skin from each gash and scrub out the dirt and pebbles followed by pouring in hydrogen peroxide to try and get any hidden bacteria.  I feared infection setting in and did everything I could to avoid that!  By this time, I realized there was no way I would be working out with my friend and sent her a text letting her know I would be nursing my wounds instead of lifting weights!  That day was a continuous cycle of resting, cleaning my wounds, bandaging my wounds and resting some more.

The next day I headed to the gym with about 7 bandages strategically placed on my hands and knee.  As I was explaining my accident to a friend she reminded me that I should leave the wounds open to air and that they would heal better and the chance of infection would be less.  This made sense, so I took her advice and noticed the healing process speed up. 

What seemed like a lost day or two became for me a lesson to be lived out; a lesson about God’s grace.  Before and after my walk in the park I had been praying and studying, seeking a lesson for Sunday.  I felt the Lord calling me to sit for a while on the lesson from last week of how grace teaches us how to live.  I had been studying for four days and felt no leadership or lesson outline emerge. 

Then on Friday, my eyes popped open at 4:15 am with Titus 2:11- 15 running through my mind.  At the same time I kept reliving my fall at the park and how I had been caring for my wounds.  First, I had to get over the pride and admit that no, I wasn’t okay. Then, I had to wash the wounds with soap and water and pull back the skin to clean out the visible dirt and pour peroxide in the wound to clean the dirt I couldn’t see.  I tried covering the wounds up, but saw that they really were not healing.  The Lord showed me that this is how we take care of our sin wounds.  We must first humble ourselves and come to Him “poor in spirit” as one who is helpless and unable to save ourselves.  Then we must allow the Word to wash over the dirt of sin, pointing us to the truth that convicts and the truth that heals.  It is a painful experience.  Opening up the wounds in our hearts caused by sin is hard, but just as allowing the dirt to remain in my physical wounds causes infection, so too covering up our dirty sin wounds and not cleaning them will result in an infected, bitter heart.

As I reflected on all of this I realized it was so much like our grace walk with Christ.

I thought of my hands being hurt and how I dependent I am on my hands.  I thought of Jesus willingly giving his life by allowing his hands to be nailed to a cross, the hands that had healed blind men, had lifted Peter out of the water; the hands that gathered children and the hands that wrote a message in the dirt, freeing an adulterous woman from being stoned.  I thought of Isaiah 41:13- For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear I will help you.  His hands bear the scars that brought grace to sinner’s hands, hands that have taken part in ungodliness, darkness and wickedness.     Properly dealing with the wounds of sin in our lives so that we can live in this present time as healthy purified followers of Christ – attracting others to His marvelous gospel of grace.   Here are the points to the lesson the Lord gave me: 

1.     Expose wounds to the light of the Word for healing to begin.

a.     “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3

b.     This inward honesty brings healing and blessing.  Matthew 5:5

c.      The truth is peroxide to the old wounded self! 1 Peter 1:13-15; 2:1; Colossians 3:3-5

2.      Openly expose wounds for others to benefit from the grace received.  

a.     An authentic pure life leads to sincere love for others.  1 Peter 1:22; Hebrews 12:15

b.     Open honesty leads to healing and effective prayer life. James 5:16;

3.     Cast wounds on Christ, leaving the healing process to Him.  1 Peter 2:24

a.     To cast my hurt, wounds, worries and fears on Christ daily. 1 Peter 5:7-8;

b.     To take up my cross and follow Him. Luke 9:23;

c.      Only Christ can take away the shame of our wounds. Hebrews 12:1-2; Matthew 27:27-38

4.     Understanding God’s grace, in all its truth, gives you the courage to take another walk!  Colossians 1