It’s interesting to go back through old photographs. You see things from a different perspective and the events and moments of the past hold clearer meaning. You are able, with the benefit of time to carefully look over the environments you once occupied, to pick out details you had never noticed before.

I love that the Lord knows this about us. He knows that sometimes we don’t get the full picture the first time around, so He encourages us to recall things. At pivotal moments and sites in the history of His people, they placed memorial stones to help their generations to remember how far He had brought them. As the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land that had taken so long and cost so much to reach, He commanded them to take stones from the “very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly” and erect a memorial.

Not to memorialize the priests. Not to venerate their obedience. Not to exalt a nation that had conquered an obstacle. But to remind them that God, who had called them out, made a promise to them, and given them seemingly impossible tasks to perform, was faithful to His word. When they followed His direction, when they did the things that made no sense to anyone else, when they stepped out into waters far too deep for them, HE made a way. HE provided the shelter and food to sustain them. HE overcame their obstacles and their enemies. HE allowed them dry ground on which it was possible to stand firm.

Where are those places in your life? Have you set tangible markers that you can look at, hold, and remember Who God has been to you? Do you have those things that you can set before your children and say, “Look at this! Let me tell you the story of when God…”

If not, let me encourage you to find a way to begin noticing and memorializing your milestones as you walk with God. Maybe it’s stones picked up from the places He leads you. Maybe it is photographs of specific moments. Maybe it is journals where you write the stories out. Maybe it is art in your home that represents a significant time or place where He revealed Himself to you. Clothing, knick-knacks, gifts from pivotal people who He has used in your life, even tattoos; ask Him to show you those ways that will be meaningful for you and your children to recall His goodness in your lives.
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As you share the stories, may you gain a clearer understanding of all that He has done for you in those moments that you knew were important, but that reveal the depth and breadth of His care for you the more you look at them. Like turning a finely cut diamond and finding a million different colors reflecting back, may the detailed beauty of the Lord’s hand in your life hold you in captivated awe. May reflecting on His love empower you to stand firm.
 

I grew up in a household where singing was just part of everyday life. The household that Dan and I established continued the trend. Sometimes it was rehearsed, purposeful singing as part of choirs, worship teams or ensemble groups. Sometimes, it was silliness, making up lyrics that suited a current situation or mood. Sometimes, it was moments when we couldn’t find the words ourselves, but a song that someone else had written seemed the only answer.

My favorite, though, has always been when it is a song – inspired in the moment or borrowed from some other writer – that bursts out of the overflow of one of our hearts. Those verses that combine human emotion with Holy Spirit-filled expression and leave you speechless once their final note sounds are holy things. They help us to boldly approach the throne of God, express our joy, our pain, our need, then lay it at His feet and give Him the glory in the middle of all of it. They connect us to His strength and power to be renewed and refreshed. They embolden our resolve.

There was a time, however, when those songs that I loved were simply inaccessible to me. Life had taken some difficult turns, trials had come, and I had listened to one of the whispers of the enemy of my soul. At a time when my own sense of inadequacy was at an all-time high, the words of one of my children, who I was seeking to soothe through song and who wanted no part of it, hit home. “Mommy. Stop it! You always sing! I. Hate. Your. Voice.”

Make no mistake: the enemy chooses his weapons carefully.  Had I seen the attack for what it was, had I clothed myself in the spiritual armor available to me, had I remembered the weapons at my disposal, all would have been well. Alas, I did not. The arrow found its mark. And I stopped singing. “Children are honest,” I told myself. “Brutally honest, sometimes, but finally someone said it. My voice, as I have suspected all along, is not really any good. Not even for singing lullabies to my own children.”

In allowing that lie power in my life for a time, I lost a huge source of the Spirit’s encouragement. I silenced the words of other songwriters that lent words to my own experience. Joy and silliness, pain and hope in the midst of it; the language for all of that was out of my reach. The “songs in the night” that the Psalmist writes of, the “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” with which we are to encourage one another…gone. I was no longer part of that conversation.

I will forever be grateful for the message spoken by a worship leader in our area at a conference I attended during that time. She noted, in the middle of her set, that there were many in attendance who were not participating fully. Referencing Hebrews 13:15, she challenged us. “Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.” Calling attention to the fact that praise isn’t supposed to flow from how we feel about ourselves or our circumstances, but that it is supposed to flow from His power in our lives (“through Him”), and is to be a sacrifice, she pushed us, ESPECIALLY if we “weren’t feeling it” to praise in song anyway. If song was easy for us, then we were challenged to sacrifice in more physical praise through dance or the raising of hands. Her point wasn’t to get us performing, but to get us to realize that many of us were allowing the voice of the enemy or the insecurities of our own flesh to literally cause us to be in disobedience, dishonoring the God who was due our praise and denying His power to give us the words, music, and attitudes fit for His glory.

Convicted in that moment, I surrendered. I surrendered my ideas about the quality of my voice. I surrendered the humiliation of my child’s words. I surrendered the fear that I wasn’t good enough to be accepted by Him or by anyone else who heard me. I surrendered the sting and hurt. I surrendered my voice – the instrument that He carefully crafted as He knit me together – for His glory. And I sang.

Y’all, the freedom that came from that surrender! A river of tears flowed at the healing and joy that coursed through my being as I removed the restraint I had placed on His Spirit’s ability to  move in my life and voice. Singing was returned to my everyday. Inspiration, a language to bridge my experience and His Spirit’s power, a part in the conversation of the saints – all of it returned stronger than before.   He is a God of restoration of all that the enemy seeks to destroy.
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The enemy is a liar. If you have been holding back your praise – or any other part of yourself – from the God who created you because you have believed the lie that your offering is somehow not acceptable to Him, I challenge you as I was challenged. He has asked you to sacrifice your praise to Him. He has offered you His power to do it. The offering that He has required, He has already made acceptable through Jesus. Be set free by your surrender. I promise you; He is waiting with joyful expectation to return what you offer to Him in greater measure than you can imagine.
 

Today, I’d like to invite you along with me as I practice one of the things that the Lord has used to keep the wick of my thought life trimmed over the years. If, like me, you are prone to overthinking, vulnerable to your imagination running away with you, and susceptible to physical exhaustion leading to difficulty in keeping your thoughts from turning anxious or depressive, this may be a practice that will benefit you, as well.

Its foundation is found in what has become one of my favorite passages:

Finally, brothers, whatever is TRUE, whatever is HONORABLE, whatever is JUST, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is COMMENDABLE, if there is ANY EXCELLENCE, if there is ANYTHING WORTHY OF PRAISE, think about these things. -Philippians 4:8

Here are the things my natural mind woke up wanting to focus and think on this morning:

*I have a headache. *I was less productive than intended yesterday. *I am concerned for some loved ones in my circle that are going through some tough things. *I didn’t sleep well. *That mistake I made yesterday…and the other mistake I made after that… *There is SUCH a long task list for today. *And people. I have to do people later on.

Do you see the spiral that started almost the instant I opened my eyes? Do you see the self-interest and self-condemnation?  The invitation to dig my pit even deeper and destroy the day before it begins? This is the invitation of the enemy of our souls every day. He wants to trap us in the neverending cycle of our short-falls and physical limits, robbing us of the pleasure of the tasks and interactions that the Lord intends to make up our day.

Praise God, He has given us weapons to combat this and the Spirit to overcome it!

So, now. Having asked the Spirit to silence the enemy and give me the mind of Christ in place of my natural mind, here are the things that He has shown me. Here are the things that I will consciously choose to think about:

*There is a blue sky and a gentle breeze, with birds singing. *Although I awoke with a headache, the Father has arranged my schedule so that I had leisure this morning to take meds, lay back down, and give it some time to improve. *I have a husband who is a team-mate, and who willingly helps take up the slack of what I didn’t get done yesterday. *My loved ones are committed to the hands of the One who can help and uphold them better than I ever could. *When I fail, He forgives. *His mercies are new every morning. *The people in my day are blessings He has given: friends, clients, family. 

The more I seek the mind of Christ, the more I look for those true and lovely things as Philippians commands, the less I see my shortfalls and the more I see His beauty. It is incredible the physical shift that takes place. Tense muscles relax. Energy increases. Clouded, directionless thoughts gain clarity and purpose, which then leads to productive activity.
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Science has told us that mindset impacts physical outcomes. Long before man corroborated spiritual truth with empirical evidence, the Father who Created us told us the importance of setting our minds on things above. Gaining His perspective changes us in tangible ways. 

Yesterday, a friend shared a story about how God had prepared something for his family literally thousands of years ago, that has come to light this week. It was held throughout the generations, set aside and forgotten, and was waiting for the right time to be revealed and used to bless others.

It reminded me of the trip Dan and I made with our son to Haarlem, Netherlands, a few years ago. We were on our way to Kenya and had a 24-hour layover through Amsterdam. It was my birthday. One of my faith heroes since childhood is Corrie Ten Boom. So, during that layover, we visited Haarlem and toured the Ten Boom house & museum.

For those who are not familiar, the Ten Boom family was instrumental in saving the lives of many Jewish people during Hitler’s purges in World War II. They built a safe room, secreted ration cards, and funneled people toward safety at great risk to themselves. Eventually, they were discovered, arrested, taken to the concentration camps, and Corrie was the only surviving member of her household when the camps were liberated. Through her family’s sacrifice, it is estimated that over 800 people were saved.

As awe-inspiring as it was to see the tiny hidden room up flights of narrow staircase where the family rescued so many, it was the family portraits in the sitting room that stick with me. It is the story of how this family came to make such a sacrifice, almost as a matter of course. When the time came to act, they were found ready, waiting, and prepared to unquestioningly give their lives for others.

How?

Generations before, Corrie Ten Boom’s great-grandfather believed the word of God. He began a daily practice of praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of God’s chosen. He taught his children to pray for and love the People of the Book. His children taught their children. Corrie’s father became the one who taught his daughters to daily read the Word of God and love people the way Jesus loved. Their lives exemplified it; they held Bible studies in their home, were active in caring for the disabled and needy in their community, and prayed for the Jewish people.

So, when evil came to wreak destruction, it was not a great leap for them to act on behalf of innocents. It was not a matter of weighing risk and reward and tentatively stepping out. They boldly transformed their home, defied the world’s powers, and did what was right before their God.

God has been preparing things before you so that you, too, can step into what He has planned. If you feel that you are being asked to do something way out of your depth, look around! I promise you that He has set provision in place well in advance. The beauty is that he is also using you to prepare things for generations yet to come.
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Make no mistake: what you do matters. How you follow Him has impact you may never see. If you are feeling small, forgotten, and unimportant, remember that you are part of the plan for the whole of His Creation that He is weaving into a beautiful tapestry. Every tiny thread helps to hold the whole together. How awesome is our God!

One of my favorite things as a swim instructor is that moment when a student has it all come together for them. They understand the stroke, the body positioning required, the breath control patterns, and their body seamlessly performs all that their mind is asking of it. Not only is it a beautiful thing to watch, but it is a joy to see their face as they realize what they just accomplished.

That’s an easier thing for some of my students than it is for others. Many of my students are challenged with physical or intellectual hurdles that make those joyous accomplishments more work. One, in particular, comes to mind. She loves swimming. Being in the pool gives her a freedom of movement that she rarely enjoys elsewhere. The compression of the water around her limbs, the warmth and buoyancy of it, all give her sensory input that allows her nervous system to relax a bit and fire more deliberately.

During this student’s last lesson, she accomplished a huge goal. You see, because of the specific neurological condition that she has, control of any part of her body is a hard-fought, conscious thing. Consider having to willfully concentrate on extending your arm, cupping your hand, and retracting your arm every time you wanted to complete a swimming stroke. Exhausting, right? Now, compound that with misfires of your brain’s signals that also cause the muscles you are trying to use (and the ones you’d like to remain still and calm) to seize erratically. Moving just one portion of her body in a deliberate manner takes a will and focus of steel.

Yet, during this lesson, she managed to simultaneously extend her arms forward, her legs back into a full float, close her lips, and exhale as her face entered the water. Not one muscle group, but multiple muscle groups, working in unison and under control! Her whole body working together to perform a safe swimming position! I’m not sure how to describe to you the brilliance of her smile as she completed that motion, came up for air, and collapsed into an exhausted heap on my shoulder. Her mom and I both teared up. She was completely worn out – and her whole face beamed her joy.

Y’all, the more I have considered that moment - what it took out of her, but also the immensity of its beauty and purposefulness…the foundation and courage that it built to continue on…the hope that there is more ahead for her – the more I see a picture of the body of Christ. In so many ways, the many members of the body of Christ experience the same kind of disconnectedness that my student experiences. Arms not coordinated with legs, breathing erratic and labored; all of it getting only partial information from the brain which causes painful, jerking movements in various directions. Never fully knit together as ONE body, with ONE direction, under the control of the mind of Christ.

What if? What if we had the steely determination to really submit ourselves to listening to the instruction of the Holy Spirit? What if we took the time to discipline ourselves to not just go off in the way we feel like, but consider how our movements coordinate with the movements of others in the body? What if we became one unified rather than many scattered? I bet I wouldn’t be able to describe the joy that would bring, either. It will probably be exhausting. But maybe it’s worth a try.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” – I Corinthians 12:12-13
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“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” – Psalm 133:1

I think it’s fair to say that there is a significant amount of uncertainty in our world. Every outlet – social media, news networks, personal conversations, and entertainment content – highlights it; economically, politically, militarily, relationally, and spiritually, people are feeling like there is nothing solid under their feet. There is a sense that everything is changing too rapidly for any of us to adapt, and we are simply being swept up in the current of events.

We’d do well to remember the Lord, our God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The book of Esther paints a picture of people in similarly unstable circumstances. The king of their realm (a vast one stretching from India to Ethiopia), was not a stable man. He was full of pride, puffed up with his own importance, and loved nothing better than flaunting it before others driven by similar appetites. His decisions were made while he was under the influence of strong drink, and turned on the dime of his emotional state. The counsel he received was from men who were willing to say and do anything to get a piece of his wealth, status, or power. Conquest was the name of the game for the powerful, and the common people were often stuck with the unintended consequences of that game. The inhabitants of the nation included those who had been enslaved generationally and women who were sex trafficked for the pleasure of the king and nobles.

This was the environment that led to Esther being trafficked, along with her peers, to appease the appetites of the king. It was in this context that Mordecai, one of the generationally enslaved, crossed a very powerful man. It was in this context that Haman, that powerful man, wheedled his way into acquiring the king’s authority to wipe out an entire people group because of a personal affront.

But God.

By the time that Haman had spent a year stewing in the wrath of his wounded pride, God had laid the foundations of a people’s salvation for two years. Esther had spent 12 months in preparation for presentation to the king, finding favor with everyone in the palace, and another 12 months as his queen before Haman came to the king with his request to kill the Jews. By the time the enemy moved against God’s people, God’s salvation had been in place twice as long as the enemy had been plotting.

The same God that provided a Messiah for all of humanity before the foundations of the world is the same God that placed Esther at the side of the king a full year before the enemy made a move against the Jews. He is the same God that sees and knows and loves and works all things together for His people today.

Be encouraged. Today’s rulers are little changed from those in Esther’s day. Today’s circumstances in the world of politics, finances, domestic dynamics, and societal unrest are little changed. Humanity is as distanced from the ideal as it ever was. And God remains ever who He is. The great I AM. Faithful. True. Foreknowing and working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Laying the foundation of your salvation before you even know that there is an enemy laying a plot.
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In the middle of all of the tangible uncertainty, remember that there is the bedrock-solid certainty of Who God is. Fear not. 

I’ve had several conversations over the years with people who have tried the disciplines of being still and listening…and who are still concerned that they haven’t been actually hearing God. “How do you know?”  “What does that look like?”  “Am I actually hearing Him, or is it my own thoughts?” The questions are often some variation of these three.

Much of the answer comes down to the character of God. From the very beginning, it was – and remains – His desire to have a relationship with us. He breathed His own breath of life into us. He walked with humanity in the Garden. Knowing that we would listen to lies about Himself and act on those lies (coupled with our inflamed desire for selfish gain), He wove the whole of history together to prepare and present a Savior for us. He is not a God who is hiding and doesn’t want to be found. He is not a God who refuses to speak. If we are having trouble hearing, then, it is likely that we need to know Him better so that we can distinguish His voice among the rest of the noise.

In the book of John, chapter 10, Jesus tells the Pharisees that, in the case of a shepherd, the sheep listen to their own shepherd’s voice. They follow him because they “know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (verses 4 & 5) Likewise, followers of Jesus come to know His voice by close and frequent association.

Sheep know their shepherd because He stays with them. He comes into their pen. He leads them out to the grassy hillside to feed. He defines their boundaries of safety for them. He would often sing over them and speak to them. He comforts them when they are ill or injured and nurtures them back to health. He protects them from harm and fights their would-be attackers.

In the same way, we come to know our Good Shepherd’s voice as we spend time with Him. We come to know His character as we read the Bible – the words that He has left us about who He is and how He cares for the humanity that He created. We learn to hear His voice when we are in our still places, asking Him our questions directly and we sense Him nudging us toward a specific verse that answers us.

As we observe His creation in quiet contemplation, He begins to open our eyes to the things about Himself that He has written into everything that He created (Romans 1:20). We learn to hear Him in the voices of our fellow believers that speak encouragement, correction, and life into our lives – and we confirm that it is Him rather than simple well-wishing when we hold their words up against the Scripture and find them matching up.

Sometimes, we hear Him in a thought that enters our mind, whether words or pictures, that gives instruction or understanding that we KNOW we didn’t have on our own. When we act on that instruction or test that understanding and find it to hold true, we know that we have heard from Him. Then we add that to our experience of what His voice sounds like.
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Over time, even as children learn to distinguish their parents’ voices in a crowd, we come to trust the experience of our conversations with God. We become sheep that know His voice and refuse to follow any other. The beauty is that in that knowing of His voice, we find ourselves in a place of provision, safety, protection, and purpose as we follow Him. 

Abide. Be still. Listen. Set your mind.

In this world, we are so often overwhelmed with all of the doing. Jobs must be faithfully attended or we lose our income. Homes must be maintained or they crumble around us. Relationships must be nurtured or they falter and fail. A million distractions call our name – entertainment, expectations, desires…

Yet, the One who Created us repeatedly calls us to stillness. He likens us to a branch on a vine that must hold on tight right where it is in order to grow and bear fruit. He calls us oaks planted by streams of living water. He tells us to be rooted and grounded in Himself.

How does that work, though, if we have responsibilities? How do we be still and still get things done? Doesn’t He also tell us to go, to attach good works to our faith, to serve Him with our actions?

He absolutely does expect us to do things. But only those things which we were designed and created to do. The only way to discern which things are actually ours, and which are distractions of a frantically busy world, is to get still with the One who Created us. To listen to His direction. And then to act in His power.

It seems overly simplistic, doesn’t it? I have found that the simple things that the Father asks of us are sometimes the most difficult because it requires a stripping away of not only the influence of outside voices, but also a stripping away of what I feel compelled to do by my pride or my desire to feel justified or accomplished. The reality remains, however, that apart from Him I can do nothing. Nothing that I was intended for, anyway.

So, here I am. Learning to still the impulse inside of me to do stuff without listening first. Disciplining my mind to seek His Word before turning to Google for answers. Actively, consciously taking a pause before putting my hand to tasks or taking up responsibilities that may be good… but may not be good FOR ME. Keeping my mouth closed and my voice silent until His Spirit gives me the right words to speak that will bring life to the hearer.

In the stillness, I find that once my restless excuses and arguments for action fade, He brings clarity to confused and chaotic thoughts. He distills complex situations into simple steps forward. He speaks peace to trouble and makes paths straight.

Is there chaos or confusion in your mind or life? Are you unsure where to turn next? Are a thousand things demanding your attention right now? I encourage you to strip them of their power by stopping. Give none of those things your attention. Rather, find a place to still yourself. Not your environment, but yourself. You may be in a crowded home, with kids or spouse active around you. You may be in a workplace with all of its productivity and noise. Stand still. Sit still. Breathe deeply and ask Holy Spirit to remind you of the things you have been taught; let Him convict you of where you have been running in your own strength, surrender it, and allow Him to fill you with power and purpose for your next breath. Your next step. Your next action.

Listen. Set your mind. One moment at a time.
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Just like the branch on the vine or the tree by the water, as you allow the nutrients and living water of the Spirit to flow through you, you’ll be amazed to find yourself strengthened, growing, and producing without striving or struggling to “make it happen.” Not by your might, nor by your power, but by His Spirit.