In a Perfect Storm

In a life-transition, you will never find yourself in a situation where God does not have a plan of rescue in place. Trust him. 

Ship captains don’t start their sea voyages by planning to sink. Neither do we start our transitions by planning to sink. However, there may come a time when you experience a storm, a “perfect storm,” when all the elements for disaster come together and threaten the transition. 

These are relational storms that have dangerous reefs of distrust, winds of betrayal, and waves of conflict that seem too high for your current level of faith. These storms break your heart. Your future and family face uncertainty. Havoc seems to fill the air, and you have nowhere to run because you are trapped on the open seas of transitional turmoil. 

In the stormy moments when you think all is lost, call out to God. He has a plan to help you ride through the storm to a safe harbor. And sometimes, he will supernaturally calm the storm first and have you move forward across calm waters. 

(An excerpt from the book, A Good Place)

On the Verge

Lately, the Lord has been giving me a sense that we are standing on the verge of a significant moment in human history. The days just before any significant event are filled with normal activities of life. The interruptions caused by these significant events have always caught humanity off guard. It is in those unexpected moments when our emotional and spiritual equilibrium is challenged that God will call certain people to carry the significant moment into previously unimagined displays of His glory. Many who are called in these times would never have considered themselves for such a role.

No one can fully know or predict all the details of what is coming. We only see pieces of a much larger mosaic.  What is approaching will be akin to reformation and renaissance. A trigger event will take place setting in motion the falling of a line of dominoes God has arranged. These are not dominoes of fear and dark expectations that some prophets of doom unwisely predict. They are the dominoes set in place by a loving Father.

When the dominoes begin to fall those whose hearts have been aligned to the goodness and faithfulness of God will be the ones He will use in profound ways during a time of unusual cultural transformation. 

The Footprints of Your Faith

This morning Jan and I took our morning walk in the Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon. Near our hotel, we came upon a sidewalk that for at least half a city block, a dog had left his paw prints in the concrete. I am especially dog conscious because in July we will pick up our new Australian Shepherd puppy (by the way, his name will be Boone).

As I walked in the dog’s steps, I thought of some of you who have wondered if the life-path you have chosen to walk upon would leave behind anything meaningful. In the Spirit, your footprints have been set in spiritual concrete for following generations as a witness to God’s faithfulness. You are leaving behind a forever witness of faithfully following the Lord. 

Someday, someone will see your footprints when they begin to walk into a challenging season of life. What you leave behind will be just the encouragement they will need to continue moving forward knowing if it was possible for you to keep going during a challenging season it will also be possible for them.

The Gateway into God's Secret Garden

This week we installed a gate on a doorway that will lead into an area on our property we call The Secret Garden. I went to town to get a set of hinges for the gate. The hinges I brought back were overly large for such a project. They could hold a gate many times larger than the one we were installing.

When I held the large hinges in my hands, the Lord began to speak. 

“I have increased your ability to carry the weight of a fresh anointing. The challenges in the past season have been preparatory. I have been preparing you and hanging new hinges on your life – hinges able to carry the increased weight of the gateway that will lead you into a new anointing for a new adventure in My of Kingdom.”

I knew this word was not just for Jan and me. The coming season will reveal to many of you a hidden Secret Garden of God’s presence and purpose. A gateway of opportunity into this new place has been prepared and it is about to swing open up before you. You will hear the Lord say, "This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21).

The Thread of Our Life

Throughout Scripture, a scarlet thread of the life of Jesus has been present from Genesis to Revelation. This is not just a historic thread to be observed academically from a distance. It is a personal thread revealed to us to help us see the life of Jesus Christ at work in human history. That thread has been used by God to bring together the fabric of torn and damaged lives restoring people when life has ripped them apart.

Just as someone would use a thread and a needle to repair a torn piece of fabric, so it is with our lives. The life of Jesus is offered to us to repair our torn places, but we must be willing to put His thread through the eye of the needle of our faith in order to begin patching together what has been torn apart. A thread of unforgiveness, fear and hopelessness cannot withstand the tension created by the flexing garment of life. 

There is no tear of relationship, no disappointment of an unkept promise or any personal failure so large that it cannot be brought back together by the binding thread of His love. Offering God the sewing needle of our faith is a testimony that tells the world we believe in all things God can rejoin what seems to be forever separated. The scarlet thread of Jesus, when sewn into these painful places, will stand out from the other thread as a heavenly contrast always reminding us that God’s goodness brought things back together.

The Detour

Telling God where you will go or not go is the beginning of a detour you might not return from. 

When we begin to demand that God show us what our future and its provision will look like, we begin taking a dangerous detour. This is a road paved with fear. This road is protected by the sentinel of self and closes off the voice of God that says, “Trust me.” 

These demands on God about our future are sourced in the fear that he will not come through for us. A detour begins when we push trust aside and the responsibility of personal provision and direction falls upon our shoulders. We begin to carry burdens that are not ours to bear. 

As the process of your life transition deepens, you will need to focus more intentionally on God’s voice. This is a time to lean in and strain your ear to hear his whispers. His voice is your only reliable source of direction. 

 (An excerpt from the book, A Good Place)

The Top Line

A Kingdom mindset is not limited to the bottom line. Creating a vision and mission around a bottom line is the product of a natural mindset. This way of thinking is limited by what can be measured and considered by human reasoning. God invites us to entertain the top line. A top line consideration invites Heaven’s resources and empowerment to redefine what we do and how we live. Top line thinking is absent in most endeavors until a Kingdom-minded entrepreneur walks in the door. Be that person.