What Not To Wear

Do you remember the TV show, "What Not To Wear"? During this time of lockdown and 'Stay at Home', many interesting things have been worn that will never be seen in public. It reminds me of the moment during my husband's long recovery from back surgery. We decide to get out of the house and make a dash to the local theater for a change of scenery. As we waited for the movie to start I looked down and my eyes widened - before laughter burst out of my mouth and eyes. I had different shoes on each foot. Clearly, what not to wear! 

What have you worn during the last few months? I know one woman that wore the same yoga pants every day, except for laundry day. Perhaps you tried on some clothes from that box in the back of the closet. You know, the one marked “Will-fit-again.” Relax, this devotional is not about weight, it's about choice.

This morning when you went to your closet what did you choose? Something to make you feel good, something comfy, something old, or something new? The Bible has some specific instructions for these choices. In Colossians 3:12 we are told we cannot just wear whatever we want, we are called to do better, to choose wisely, to be holy! “Since God chose you to be the holy women he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (NIV).

Since God chose us… we must! He loves us and calls us to be holy! God chose us to wear the best, He chose us to display Him to the world. He did not leave us unprepared, He fills our closets with everything we need for life and godliness. He puts mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience on the hangers but we must put it on. Don’t reach for the will-fit-again box of thoughts. It might be a good time to get rid of it. Just a few verses earlier Paul tells us that we must get rid of all anger, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, filthy talking, and lying. He says get rid of the old and put on the new self. I wish that getting rid of our old way of thinking was as easy as taking a box of outdated clothes to the curb. It's not. Three things keep us going back to our old ways.

First, we believe that we need to defend ourselves with anger, wrath, malice, or speaking evil of others. That’s a lie. There is a better way dear friends, don’t take revenge… leave room for God's wrath. "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord, according to Romans 12:19. Leave room - don’t take over the situation, let God do what He promised to do. Leave room for God…perhaps leave the room as well. 😀

Secondly, we believe that being holy is unattainable. God is holy, we are not. Would God tell us to be something that we could never be? “His divine power has given us everything (Yes, everything!) required for life and godliness (How?) through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). When God calls us to something, He always supplies the means to do it. That’s what He means when He tells us, we can do all things through His strength in us (Philippians 4:13). He thinks we can be holy, so go for it. 

Thirdly, we are afraid to fail so rather than fail we claim we can’t. Imagine a child learning to walk, we open our arms and encourage them, but they fall. We don’t scold them. We stand them up, hold our arms out to them, and cheer them on. That is how our Heavenly Father cheers us on. He says be like Me. We try and fail. He picks us up, dusts us off, and cheers us on until we are like Him. 

Now we know what not to wear and what makes us look most like our Father. 

In the Middle of the Mess

In these days of super-cleanliness, disinfecting, and hand sanitizer, we are trying to eliminate all the messes in our lives. After all, the good book says, cleanliness is next to godliness, right? Not! The Good Book, the Bible, says that the One who loves us without limit or condition cares for us in the middle of our messes. Psalm 23 says He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies, in the middle of our mess.

 

Imagine the battlefield scene in a war movie where the smell and smoke and gunpowder hangs in the air. Soldiers in camo with dark-smudged faces are crawling in a muddy field. In the middle of the dirt and the noise is a table; a table with a white cloth, fine china, cloth napkins, and food prepared by God Himself! Not the perfect setting but the perfect table, and the perfect dinner partner. He invites you to sit, to rest, to talk, and to be refreshed. In Song of Psalm 18:19 David says of the Lord, "He led me to a place of safety, he rescued me because he delights in me." (NLT)

 

I don't know what your mess is. A relationship? A job, or jobless, situation? A child? Grief? A habit? A fear? Whatever it is, Jesus is inviting you to focus on Him, not the dirt, the pain, or the turmoil. As women, we tend to see dirt, clutter, and the mess! If the room is 90 percent clean we will see the 10 percent that is not. Jesus tells us to keep our eyes on Him, His is the source and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Take your eyes off the distractions around you for a minute and look across the table at the Lord who is sitting across from you. Your Host calls you to enjoy personal time with Him. In the middle of the mess, in the darkest hour, He is there at the table saying, "Look at me, let's talk and eat." Just like Jesus called Peter to focus on Him when he walked on the water, and when he looked away he sank, Jesus is calling us to keep our eyes on Him.

 

So what is this Good Shepherd offering us? "He is all that I need...He lets me rest...He leads me...He strengthens me... He guides me...He is close by me...He protects and comforts me" (Psalm 23). Wow! I DO have ALL I need! Before He asks anything of us, He gives to us; and then HE extends the invitation. "Come! Come sit, I have prepared this meal for you. Before the mess is clean, before the pain is gone, before everything is fixed, my feast is ready for you."

 

The choice is clear, focus on the mess or eat with the Master? Easy choice if you keep reading and see the aftermath of enjoying the meal with Him. "My cup overflows with blessings... goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life..." Cleanliness may not be next to godliness but godliness IS keeping our eyes on Jesus in the middle of our mess.

                                                              

Staycation, learn from the sea

Summer is here and escaping to an island may not be possible, but escaping from the routine pressures of your job, the traffic, and the everyday ordinary is an option. You can spend a few days on the beach relaxing in the sand with the clear water lapping at your feet and the gentle breeze stirring the palm branches overhead. Ahh!

The scene I just painted in your head sounds like freedom, freedom from the restrictive routines that regulate our everyday lives. Sometimes a change can give us that very needed rest. Take a closer look at that picture, and notice that beach scene is filled with routine, rules, and restrictions. Jeremiah 5:20-25 tells us many things we can learn from the sea. Take a moment and read it with me and see if you don’t hear the same things I did, and maybe more.

Jeremiah 5:20-25 (in Martha’s words). Tell my people to listen to the wisdom of the sea. Learn from her. You see the waves washing on the shore but do not understand. You hear the rolling breakers but don’t listen to what they say. This is what they show you. This is what they say. “Fear the Lord! Do not go beyond the limits of His Word. Live in respect and response to His ways and directions and the seasons will come as expected. The sea understands that and respects the one who put the beach at the water’s edge then drew a line in the sand and said, “don’t cross this line.” The waves try, they wash over the line only to recede again and come back to rest on the seaside of the line. “The sea knows, understands, and fears (respects, reveres, responds to) Me!” But my people do not. They don’t understand, don’t comprehend that fearing Me is for their own good. They resist the boundaries I have laid down for them. They have made their own tsunami by departing from the Lord and not fearing Him.

Fearing God, we may not often think about it and we may not understand it, but it is a good thing. In fact, “the LORD delights in those who fear him,” He takes pleasure in those who understand and respond appropriately to how awesome and powerful and mighty and loving He is (Ps 147:11).

Job gets it. After talking and listening to his friends talk on and on about his sorrows and pain, he hears the voice he has been waiting for. In Job 38 the Lord speaks, and Job knows that God is in charge and he is not. God is just and he is not. The Lord asks Job, in a telling sort of way, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Who told the sea, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Have you ever given orders to the morning? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do you give the horse its strength?” Ok, ok, ok, Job gets it, he knows that fearing God is wise and right and good. Perhaps taking some staycation time to ponder that would set our minds right again, see the wisdom of the boundaries that the waves do not cross, hear the wind come from nowhere and whip up some whitecaps. Now, tell me again, whose in charge?