Route 66: Oh, The View is Worth It!

Sometimes life has a funny way of flipping on us. One day all seems to be going great and then it knocks us down cold with a sucker punch. If you have lived very long you know this to be true. Life is full of ups and downs or hills and valleys as some would say. If your life is anything like mine those hills and valleys seem to be happening in the same moment. I can't figure out if I going up or if I'm on my way down. Happiness in one aspect and sadness in another. And Sadness has a way of saying, "What do you have to be happy about anyway? Can't you see you're struggling here! You have no space for Happy in your life."

The thing is whether climbing up the side of a mountain slope or going down it is an equally difficult journey. Our legs ache and our lungs scream for air on the way up while we cringe at the thought that one miss step on a steep downward slope could send us tumbling all the way to the bottom. I'm not sure I really get the whole hiking thing but I do know that I appreciate the level path more than the rugged climb. Even if you are not a hiker, you can appreciate the picture of the trail opening onto a beautiful, lush meadow. Your breathing slows and your comfort level rises and you begin to think, "This was totally worth it!"

On my recent trek through Ecclesiastes I had to pause and think. In the midst of woe and meaningless whining about life, its struggles and its distractions we find Solomon encouraging us to find satisfaction in the simple things. He takes it down to the basic level each of us live at. Eat, drink and work. That's it. We can be content with what we have or we can strive, climb and worry our lives away to which Solomon would point out is "Meaningless."

Solomon also speaks to the things in life that come to us through no action on our part-the illness, the accident, the down sizing, the prodigal child- he tells us, "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other." And then he says," Remember that nothing is certain in this life. I have seen everything in this meaningless life, including the death of good young people and the long life of wicked people." [7:14-14 NLT]

Solomon is pointing out there is no checklist or formula to living the perfect life. "Nothing is certain." No matter who we are, how closely we follow the Lord, or how much faith we possess S*** Happens. I'm sorry if I am offensive but lets be realistic. When life gets hard don't you think, "This STINKS!"?

Woe is universal. It strikes us all. It doesn't matter if we are righteous or wicked we will meet up with it eventually. There is no escape. But in the passage from Ecclesiastes it says, "...consider this: God has made the one as well as the other." And that's when we think,"Really, Lord. I'm doing the best I can and now this! There is no hope here." But when the disappointment subsides and we can begin to see clearly again that's when we can actually can start to realize that God is indeed in those dark days as well working to bring about things that could happen any other way. Blessings in disguise some would say.

One 'undercover' blessing came to me at very critical time in my life as they always do. My dad was dying. His body was ravaged with cancer brought on by his lifestyle choices. No amount of prayer was going to turn the tide on this one. Nor did I even think God was working here. After all, Dad had indicated the church would fall down if he ever entered it. So to protect the other parishioners he stayed clear of the building on Sundays. It seemed as though he had turned his back on God. The real truth is he felt unworthy but a few months before my dad's death came a new revelation.

On one of my last visits my dad was calling each of us aside and presenting us with a gift of a personal item he held dear throughout his life. His hunting knife, his hat, his rifle, his watch went to various siblings. They were just things he knew we would like or he just wanted us to have to remember him by. When he got to me he said, "Sis, I don't have anything in my box for you." I shrugged it off with, "That's OK, Dad," knowing his love was really enough. But then he went on to say he wanted me to know he had made his peace with God and he had finally trusted him with his life.

Oh, My God! [reverently, of course] You are truly a God of miracles! I cannot tell you the pleasure I found in hearing my dad's profession of faith. A long season of prayer was answered and a daughter's broken heart restored. And that's not all. When it came time for his passing God blessed me again by allowing me to be with Dad when he saw the light of heaven. He pointed it out to me but my eyes that were still anchored to this earth could not see it. He went on his way to an eternal life with Jesus. A beautiful thing, indeed.

You know, I think I beg to differ with our wise man, Solomon, on the point that nothing is certain in life. I believe you can know for certain what the future holds. For instance, I know for certain that God is with me whether I am in good times or bad. [Deuteronomy 31:6] I know that because of his presence I will survive the bad times. [Psalm 16] But not only that. I will be blessed through them. There will be joy in them. Perhaps not about what I wanted or expected but joy all the same. I will look back and realize it was not a meaningless exercise but a time when God's power and glory as well as his love and compassion were on display in my life. [Romans 8:18, 28] And I have no doubt God will continue involve himself all aspects, good and bad, of my life. That is something I can count on. His ways are certain.

At the end of this particular portion of Scripture in Ecclesiastes Solomon states, "It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all [extremes]." I believe he is talking about grasping the good and the bad that comes to our lives. Hold them in your heart. Look for God and his wisdom in each situation. Know that God is at work bringing not just a good but the best outcome. This is what brings that sense of ease even in the midst of turmoil. When we do this it is like that experience we talked about in the beginning, the stepping onto that peaceful meadow. Trusting that God is in control of all situations allows us to stand in awe of the beauty he is creating in and around us. When we do we will surely find ourselves breathing out, "Now, this is totally worth it."

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Route 66: Days 77-78; Judges 1-5

As a woman the scenes of war recorded in Joshua was a little hard to take. All the "when everyone of them had been put the sword" regardless of gender or age seems so heartless.  It made me think of the saying, "If mothers ruled, there would be no war" came to mind wishing that a less violent solution could have been instituted. But one thing I do know, if God required it, his will trumps that of any mother and always results in the very best outcome. Still, even if our head knows something, our hearts sometimes need time to catch up.

As it has been so far with the Israelites, it wasn't long before they started making compromises. They did not drive out the enemy as commanded but rather chose to coexist with them with the excuse those people would be under the dominion of the tribes of Israel. Little by little, the Israelites faith became watered down by outside influences and by the time only one generation had passed no one even recognized God. One generation! The fathers and mothers, eye witnesses to God's faithfulness, had not done their job of impressing on their children a foundation of faith in God worthy of their allegiance. Perhaps they lost sight of just who had brought them out of slavery and to possess a wealthy land of "cities they did not build... to eat from vineyards and olive groves that they did not plant." [Joshua 24:13]

Now as we start Judges, chapter three reveals God's plan for these little rebels.  God was going to use the nations they had integrated into against them.  This new generation was going to have to learn how to fight. Something they had no experience with. No more compromise. Their faith would also be tested to see what they were really made of and as we start off on our journey in this book, it was a pretty sad sight. They seemed bent on destruction.

We may see a 'slight' resemblance in our own culture.  I'm not talking about the world at large but of the people who say that they follow Christ. Here in our country of wealth it is sometimes easy to forget who is the Provider of All Good Things. We may be found bowing down to make offerings of our time and money to the pursuit of possessions, youth, recreation and importance.  We compromise on principals when choose the wisdom of the world over God's word. We loose sight of God as we move in a direction we think best. We 'intermarry' with the world's ways and our faith no longer rests in our God but our SELVES. Pretty scary.

In 2 Timothy 3, we find -- But mark this: "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power." [1-5]

And that pretty much sums up this generation. By the time the next generation comes along, this will be multiplied in them.  "God who?" will be heard on their lips. We cannot afford to compromise with the ways of the world. Our future generations depend on it.  As seen Judges, the Israelites will get into a terrible jam then God come in and save them. He IS faithful to do the same in our generation as well as our children's but he is equally faithful to those who choose to follow him everyday.

That brings to one other thought about this--If God has to constantly call us back to him, it delays his work among the people who do not know him yet. It's like herding cats rather than sheep.  He wants us to follow him and his voice. It is counter productive for him to be forced to continually gather us back up again.  He wants use our hands and feet to make himself and his ways know to a world that is living without him and it works a whole lot better if we are ready and willing to be used.

So back to where we started, its not 'If" but rather "When mothers rule- impressing the knowledge of God's ways and words on their children- their children will be equipped to live peacefully with God." No compromising on this one! They must know who God is and how he operates. This will enable them to see him at work for themselves. This will give them a good start on building a faith of their own. Pretty cool legacy to leave them, don't ya think?  Oh, by the way, this goes for dads, too. ;-)

"These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life."

Deuteronomy 6:1-2

Route 66:Day 25; Exodus 22-24

Landmark
While in LA's China Town district today, I noticed that the barricades had been delivered for the annual Dragon Parade and celebration of Chinese New Year that will take place this weekend.  During this time the Chinese community 'spring clean' their homes, pay off their debts, forgive their grudges and gather their friends and family together for a 'reunion dinner'. Another year has passed and a brand new one is about to begin. And it is not going to come quietly. Fire crackers, lots of them will insure that everyone within earshot will know there is a celebration going on.

This made me think of today's passage where we find in God's design on the way that the people of this new nation will live, he has included festivals, national holidays, so to speak, that will allow the Israelites time to stop their normal duties of living and refocus on what is important. It's  interesting how the individual  festivals were designed to draw their attention to how God has protected them in the past, how he is providing for them in the present and how he will continue his promise in the future. I don't know how the Israelites celebrated, but when I think of all the Lord has done, is doing and has promised to do, I cannot be quiet. I want to make some noise! Fire crackers, Anybody?

 In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” ~Revelation 5:12