Micro Sabbath Moments

Last week, I pulled into the parking lot of a local supermarket to do some grocery shopping. When I entered the parking lot, the song “What A Wonderful World” came on the radio. It was a very tasteful jazz rendition of Louis Armstrong’s classic song. I had a to-do list tugging on my time yet felt compelled to sit in my car in the parking to slow down and listen to the song. As I sat there, a deepening peace came over me with each note being played, and with each word the artist sang. In fact, at points in the song, I felt emotions rise into my consciousness traveling past the demands of my to-do list and my daily schedule. I was being emotionally washed in the pause. After the song ended, I let out a long sigh, got out of my car, and entered the store.

As I pushed my shopping cart through the store aisles, I processed the song, the pause, and my reaction with the Lord. He began to share with me another component of a Sabbath lifestyle. Jan and I have come to believe the Sabbath concept is a 24/7 way of thinking and living that is missing in so many lives. Sabbath is not something we calendar. It is something we carry. It is living and ministering out of rest. 

Walking through the supermarket, I realized how important it is for each of us to experience Sabbath moments throughout the day. I call them Micro Sabbaths. These are the moments when we sense the Spirit asking us to stay in our car and linger with Him just a little longer listening to a beautiful song. It’s stopping along a sidewalk and looking up from the cement at a beautiful sunset being painted across the canvas of an evening sky. It is lingering in an embrace with someone you love without hurrying the release.

Today, as you go about your life, become aware of what God is revealing in each moment of the day.  We can miss these moments when we think spirituality is always about moving and doing, not resting and being. The moment you encounter may be a sound, an image, or a feeling you pushed aside as you continued to move forward toward a goal. Follow these impressions. They will lead you to a place where the pause has an assignment to release a refreshing peace in your soul. That moment will become a place of visitation and revelation that would have been missed had you not taken advantage of a Micro Sabbath.

Navigating a Life-Transition with Hope and Trust

As Jan and I were walking into town, I noticed a line of trees still carrying the fullness of color in their fall foliage. Most of the leaves on the other trees in town had already fallen, but this line of trees was still in the fullness of its colorful display. 

As I walked by the trees, the Lord impressed on me that some of you fear the end of this season and the approach of something new. Don’t fear the new and the unknown. It's all in God's hands. In this transition, the Lord will allow the goodness of what was to linger longer than expected to get you through this change before the promise of something new appears. 

You will always have a representation of God's goodness in each season of your life. Look for the color and beauty in the middle of your doubt and concern. You are not alone. We all have to deal with these things at some level. Learn to interpret each transitional season with an outlook of hope in the goodness of God. Hope will give the promises of God a place to assemble and manifest the future you are about to enter. Hope will also open up a new level of trust for you to see with the eyes of faith what God has planned for your future.

The Prison of Disdain and Dishonor

 

Many of you have been around people who can barely contain their feeling of disdain toward you. You leave these encounters feeling dishonored. What makes the word “disdain” so demeaning is discovering its dictionary meaning – “the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect”. At the core of disdain is the sense that someone is not worthy of our time, our consideration or even the Father’s love.

The older brother in the story of the Prodigal Son was a person who lived with feelings of disdain toward his younger, wayward brother. The older brother lived his life trying to earn his father’s love through performance while maintaining a hardened heart.  The younger brother was returning from a life of disobedience, but with a changed heart. The former is an expression of dead religion.  The latter is the core of our New Covenant relationship with God.

No matter how hard you try to perform for someone with an older brother’s heart of disdain, you will never measure up to the deformed concept of worth they possess.  They have encased their lives in a rigid performance mentality and they use that mentality as a grid through which they evaluate your life.

In those moments when the drip of disdain becomes a flood of judgment – as in the case of the returning Prodigal Son- turn away from the disdain and face the welcoming smile of your Heavenly Father. Receive the robe and ring and settle into His embrace. When the party to celebrate your return begins you are free to dance with joy and eat the fattened calf. Let the Father’s love for you become the true measure of your worth, not the looks and comments that come from people still trapped in a prison of disdain and dishonor.

The Same Old Dance

An old and familiar false promise has appeared once again.  It’s hand is extended inviting you to resume a dance from your past. You gave yourself to the false promise of this music once before and it led you across a glittered dance floor away from your true self and your God- designed destiny. 

You promised yourself this would never happen again.  It is time to keep that promise. As you hear the familiar pick-up line something is different. The music is the same and so are the promises, but you have changed.  This time you can see right through the shallow charade. Because you endured the pain and sorrow of the past with humility, God has been able to transform you and set you free.  You can now see what is true.  You have danced the dance of grace and the music of deceit no longer moves you with its false rhythm.

The Trail Of Your Regret

You have experienced the visit of past regrets. These regrets were produced because of a relationship you had with someone that took a wrong turn and you regret what happened. 

Yes, you and the other person could have handled life differently, but you didn’t and there is nothing either of you can do to rewrite history. Over the years you asked God to forgive you for your part in how things worked out yet a sorrow still lingers in your heart. God is about to show you what He wants you to do with these regrets.

Use your regrets and the emotions surrounding them to create prayers of blessing for the other person. Like a highly trained tracking dog these prayers will follow and discover the other person delivering to them the content of your prayers as an unexpected gift. The knowledge of this delivery will begin to transform your regret into a place of peace. God never wastes a sorrow.

Living Aware

An understanding exists among those who teach self-defense that there are three kinds of people – sheep, wolves and sheep dogs. Sheep are the vast majority of people in our culture, both in the Church and without, who are absolutely unaware of the dangers that surround them.  Wolves prey on this naivety and lack of awareness. And finally, there are the sheep dogs that put themselves between the sheep and the hungry wolves to protect the sheep.

As the Church, we are called to put ourselves between people and the threats of darkness that seek to devour them. This requires that we actually recognize the threat and develop a plan of offense against the aggressor.  We confront wolves with weapons powerful enough to bring down the most elaborate plans of darkness.  This is an aggressive form of spiritual warfare much like David confronting Goliath. A wise pastor once told me, “You don’t convert wolves - you shoot them!”  To most sheep this will sound harsh, but it is really an act of love.  What this pastor meant was a wolfing spirit will only back down if it is confronted with truth.

Many times this confrontation can take place with a stealthy prayer offered in the middle of the night or an act of kindness to an unloving recipient or granting forgiveness when we would rather hold a grudge.  Because sheep have very little situational awareness they may not even know you are there standing between them and the hungry wolf that sees them only as prey. Your participation with the Spirit of God will dismantle the attack strategy of darkness and give a sheep time to become a sheep dog.

The Crux Of The Matter

In the life of every person there is a lifelong search for the bottom line or what we would call, “the crux of the matter”. This familiar phrase, “the crux of the matter”, is a word that comes from the Latin language meaning “a cross”.  The cross being a place of torture, pain and sacrifice.

When Jesus died on the cross He reset the default for all human history. He reset the bottom line for everything.  Because of His death, the resurrection and His eventual enthronement were made possible.  Jesus went to the cross under His own power and will. Once Jesus was in the tomb and helpless everything that followed would be accomplished by God’s power and will.

The crux of the matter for each of our lives is that personal Ground Zero – that memorable moment - where we made the life-altering choice to die to our personal agenda and demands so that God could release resurrection life in us. This is called Lordship. This choice is the crux of the matter for every broken marriage, every broken friendship and every broken circumstance a believer will ever face.

Today, find that place where only a supernatural resurrection will bring life and freedom.  Be that one person in the midst of all the turmoil who is willing to die to a personal agenda or a demanded outcome.  If you make this choice you will see resurrection life begin to flow into dead situations because you invited the crux of the matter to have His way in your life.

Jumping Into Nothing

You jumped without considering the consequence.  It was a reflex action that now has you airborne and you don’t know where you will land. 

As you fall you hear the Lord say, “Declare a landing zone”. His words seem strange because you know what you did was impulsive without asking the Lord what He wanted.  The Lord’s request reveals His heart for you.  He wants you to know that it’s not over until He says it is over.  There is always hope when God is involved. Though your initial leap was without inquiry, God in His mercy still wants to deliver you safely into a good place. 

As you continue to fall through the air of your impulsive decision and begin making your declaration for a new landing zone some people in your life will think you are playing games with God and with your circumstance.  Their opinion is not what matters in this moment.  What matters is that you are obedient to God.  Declare a new landing zone and you will find your feet landing in a place of strength and security.  In this newly declared landing zone, you will land possessing a humble heart because you realize you were just rescued by the mercy of God.

The Mask Of Laughter

You keep laughing because you are afraid that if you stop the tears will begin to flow. When people look at you they are not able to see the sadness in your heart behind the mask of laughter.  You will not be able to hide the true emotion of your heart forever.

In the past you became vulnerable and trusted someone and your trust was violated.  You promised yourself you would never open up in that way again. You have not allowed yourself to become vulnerable in an attempt at self-protection.  You are tired of all this emotional labor. God is about to take you on a labor-free journey to experience real joy. On this journey He will help you release so much that has been pent-up inside your heart.

God is inviting you to trust Him by letting go of this fear and the resulting control of your emotions.  The ones who truly love you will never shame you in your place of weeping – they will embrace your newfound honesty.  This moment of release will become a threshold to a new life of freedom and peace.

Your Missed Gear

Your life resembles a muscle car with lots of power and potential. God wants you to get all the performance you can out of what He has entrusted to you.

Recently, you tried to shift your life into a higher gear and you missed it.  While you tried to find the right gear your life sounded like the grinding transmission of a car whose gears were out of synch with each other.  This produced lots of noise and commotion. Your missed attempt to find a higher gear caused everyone watching your life to wonder what happened.

You have a choice. You can give up and let your life coast to a stop or you can try again to find the gear you missed.  You can do this. Your life was designed to work having all its parts and relationships fully engaged and functioning. We all miss a new gear from time to time.  Don’t let your embarrassment of this one noisy experience keep you from trying again. There is a long road ahead filled with future opportunities and God wants you in the highest gear possible ready for what is coming.

Your Line In The Sand

In a moment of frustration you drew a line in the sand.  This is a line you now regret making. You have grown as a person and you clearly see the mistake of your impulsive decision. You have moved on in life, but the line is still there limiting access to a relationship you now want to see healed.

You are so far away from the line you drew in the sand that it would be impossible for you to go back and erase it.  You have to trust God to do what you cannot do.

The wind of God’s Spirit is a powerful force.  So powerful is this wind that it can blow on the line in your absence and erase any evidence that it ever existed.  Ask God to release the wind of His presence on your regretful decision.  He knows you realize you made a mistake and need His help to make things right. He will come with His wind and remove this line of judgment setting you and the other person free to finally move on.

You Threw In The Towel Too Early

The phrase, “throwing in the towel” was used in boxing matches when the trainer saw that his boxer was getting destroyed in the ring. The trainer, seeing what appeared to be an inevitable and devastating defeat, would throw a towel into the ring and the referee would stop the fight. You threw in the towel in a personal life-situation and walked away. You thought it was all over and defeat would be the only epitaph for what took place, but God has another plan.

God wants you to walk back into the ring of that painful situation and retrieve your towel. God did not say it was over – you made that decision. You felt it was over because you were tired of watching the fight and you were weary from all the drama.

As you humbly walk back into the ring and pick up the towel you tossed in a moment of frustration, God will do something powerful in your heart. Your entry into the ring will be a visible admission that you walked away too soon. Your act of obedience will give others who have also quit too early the courage to try again. Your example will help them reengage their personal battles and understand only God can say when something is truly over.

The Wrecking Ball

You know negative consequences are coming because of what just happened. A relational wrecking ball has been set in motion and what is about to take place can leave devastating emotional injury.  You are wondering how you can duck below the swinging arc of this destructive situation.

This wrecking ball will swing uninterrupted unless someone stands in its way. You have been afraid to stand in its path for fear of an anticipated relational collision. Put your fear aside. The only thing that can stop this destructive cycle is for you to muster up the courage to step into its path.

When you step out in courageous faith this destructive situation will lose its ability to swing unchallenged. Address what powers the wrecking ball.  Address the lies, the half-truths and the dishonoring words.  Your posture of righteous confrontation will stop this wrecking ball dead in its tracks and leave it hanging lifeless and void of the ability to inflict further damage.