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A “Long Obedience”?

Do you ever hear a phrase or expression, think it sounds beautiful, and know that it must mean more than you’re grasping, because, in spite of how eloquently it rolls off the tongue, you just don’t quite “get it”? In my ongoing promise to be honest and transparent with you, I’ll confess that, at the age of 54.972, I awoke at 4:21 this morning, and by 4:25, I thought: “That’s what that means!” The second that is the descriptive phrase: “a long obedience in the same direction.” The first that is what I will attempt to share with these words.

Friedrich Nietzsche is generally cited as the originator of the expression and is quoted as saying, “The essential thing ‘in heaven and earth’ is that there should be a long obedience in the same direction.” On his secular (as opposed to faith-based) leadership blog, “Leadership by Soul,” Jonathan Wilson states it more succinctly than I could come up with:

Nietzsche had a rather narcissistic and exploitative view of what is “worth living for.” Nevertheless, I believe the overall principle he states is correct. Influence may begin with a leader’s courageous initiative to do the right thing, but it is unlikely to reach its potential unless the leader practises “a long obedience in the same direction.” Leadership that influences does not only begin with courageous initiative: it is the long, arduous and often wearisome repetition of multiple acts of courageous initiative. To succeed, leaders have to persevere unstintingly; and to the end. —Jonathan Wilson, Leadership by Soul

This morning I awoke with the same sense of urgency I have had in recent mornings to pray for a friend who is battling this very thing: not in the area of leadership but in the walk of faith. But, as is usually the case with me, I ended up saying, “Lord, before I can pray this for my friend, I must pray for myself in this same area.” And…BAM…that’s when the clock struck 4:25, my aha moment.

You see, it’s easy to cling to Christ when I am able to set aside possessions, people, position, and prestige and realize that Christ is all I truly have and all I truly need. Herein lies obedience: obedience to His command to seek His kingdom first, to set my affection on things above, and to love my Lord and my God with all my heart, soul, and mind.

But then complacency, double-mindedness, and a lack of two-way communication with my loving, forgiving Creator set in…yet again. My crisis is resolved; my urgent need no longer exists; I’m settled back in to receiving the temporary salve of that which makes me feel better…about me…and my direction begins to shift. Sometimes the change is dramatic and seemingly sudden. But more often than not, it is gradual, subtle, and easily denied. After all, I tell myself, “I’m still a Christian who believes in God; I’m still going to church when my schedule permits; I’m still praying eloquently when called upon to ‘say grace’ before the meal.” Oh yes, I’m still moving forward; I’m just moving in a different direction now—complacently wavering instead of fervently worshiping.

It’s that shift in focus—that one-second glance away from the cross and the depth of meaning that it holds—that’s all it takes. In that singular moment my spiritual compass gets off course and leads me in a direction that seems so inviting, welcoming, and exciting that I tell myself I haven’t changed; I have only progressed. I’m so caught up in its “benefits,” that I neglect to see that Christ, previously the focal point of my endeavors, is no longer in view.

Sadly, it often takes yet another crisis, another eye-opening event to awaken me to the fact that I have not only changed course, but, in doing so, I have been disobedient to the One whose simply stated command was, “Follow Me.”

But along with an aha moment at 4:25 in the morning comes the reminder that there are fresh mercies for me to claim and apply today! As the old hymn states, He offers “grace that is greater than all my sin.” Wow. Just wow! His forgiveness is already there. He just opens His arms and with His unconditional love embraces my return as I confess my disobedience and repent of giving in to the distractions and the change in direction they produced. And I find there a more inviting, welcoming, and exciting depth of joy than all I had dreamed possible only a few short moments before.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23, NIV).

And in that moment I choose Christ. I take His hand, determined through its strength and by His grace to retain my focus, to know Him more personally, and to walk beside Him with a “long obedience in the same direction.”

 

By Petals from the Basket | December 22, 2015 | Bible Reading, Family, God-and-I-Time, Life Changes |

Betty Henderson: Life Touching Life

She had a bookshelf that held special treasures and favorite books, and she used it as a room divider in her small apartment, separating the sleeping area from the “living room.” As we sat on the floor and ate popcorn out of plastic bowls that evening, which also left an indelible impression on my young mind, she told me about her boyfriend, and I was enthralled with her stories of their long-distance romance. I was ten years old, and she, in her late twenties, was my babysitter for the evening. During her daytime hours, she served as my father’s secretary at the church.

That’s when it began: life touching life; mentoring by example; soft-spoken, powerful leadership; the Titus 2 relationship of an older woman teaching a younger woman.

I was an elementary-aged child, but she wrote personal greetings in the fronts of the books she gave me—notes that reminded me that she was thinking of me, had chosen this book specifically for me, and that always included a Scripture verse or a promise straight out of the Bible.

I was a pre-teen, yet she chose me—me!—to be one of the guestbook attendants for the wedding ceremony when she married the boyfriend she had let me giggle with her about since that “girls’ night” in her Indiana apartment.

I was a teen, but she wrote me postcards from the travels she enjoyed as she and her husband, an airline captain, saw sites I longed to someday see. She always signed her letters, her post cards, and her notes with, “Love, Betty.” And I knew she meant it. She lived that love by her actions, her words, and her encouragement through both.

I was a young adult with the sorrow of a lost love, and she wrote me a most precious letter, focusing my thoughts heavenward and reminding me that my amazing God loved me with an everlasting love.

I was a writer with a dream, and she sent me a book that she did not know I wanted but that she knew I would enjoy, and she wrote in the front, “I hope this will encourage you in your own writing…because you can!” And I believed her.

I was a Sunday school teacher for the women in my church, and she mailed me a copy of her brand-new, hot-off-the-press Bible study for women. And yes, she included a handwritten note in the front, thanking me for being her friend. How overcome I was with gratitude. And how overwhelmed I was that she thanked me. But then, she always turned the attention to the other person—always.

I was a woman in my fifties and suddenly unemployed, questioning what God wanted me to learn, and she sent me cards filled with His promises, truths about His unfailing love, and a check to help me over the rough spots.

I was grieving my father’s inevitable departure from this earth, and she sent me Facebook messages, cards, and loving notes with sweet memories that reminded me that a life lived for Christ leaves a thumbprint a mile wide. And in so doing, she shouldered my weary soul.

I was a grown woman with a secret crush, and she listened intently, as I had done with her those many years ago in her little apartment. And when I finished telling her about him, she looked me in the eyes with those beautiful eyes of hers that glistened at every turn and said, “Woo hoo! I’m gonna be praying about this one!” And she did.

I was wiping away a tear at the dinner following my father’s funeral and burial, and as she honored me by allowing me to sit next to her at the table, she simply reached in her purse, handed me a clean tissue, and said, in her sweet middle-Indiana drawl, “We love you, honey.”

I was praying for her this morning to be healed from her ongoing medical struggles, and she was. She is now healed for eternity, with the Lord she loved, served, lived for, and died for.

My precious lifelong friend Betty Henderson left “forever lessons” in the hearts of hundreds, if not thousands, of people over the years. She would have been the first to have said that she wasn’t special; she was just willing to say, “Whatever You want, Lord. I’ll do it.” And she did.

And I will miss her, but I will honor her by striving to honor our Lord as she did: with my desires, my words (written and spoken), and my life.

By Petals from the Basket | December 18, 2015 | Events, Family, Friends |

You Go, Gideon!

I found my kindred spirit. And I found him in the Bible. We think alike. We react alike. And we pray alike. Besides, what woman isn’t naturally drawn to a man who was called “a mighty man of valor”—by the angel of the Lord? Wow!

But he’s often “picked on” in our efforts to fit his story into our teachings about the need to trust God. My poor friend Gideon. I totally get where he was coming from. In fact, I am pretty much a Gideon-etta!

Gideon starts out in Judges 6:13–15, asking why and how and when. But I need to give you the backstory first: Gideon’s people, the Israelites, had been overtaken by some evil icks, the Midianites, who were taking their land and their possessions and their food. So Gideon–ah, that Gideon–goes into a sheltered area, a winepress, where no one will see him threshing wheat in secret so that his family will have food to eat. While he’s there, a messenger from God, an angel of the Lord, greets him by reminding him that the Lord is with him, and that he is “a mighty man of valor.”

Gideon doesn’t waste time on empty pleasantries. He was working hard, probably dripping from the heat, and undoubtedly miffed that these evil icks had made it so that he had to hide out in a winepress and thresh wheat where no one would see, or they might steal it right out from under him. I kind of gather from his immediate response that his mind was already on thoughts of what his grandparents and parents had told him about God’s miraculous hand rescuing them from Pharaoh in Egypt those many years ago. He had been watching for those same miracles and that same deliverance, and it wasn’t happening. So he was, it seems, a little worked up over it before this situation even took place.

So as he began his why, how, and when questions, the angel told him that he, Gideon, the one hiding out so that he wouldn’t be seen, was not only a man of valor, but he was also the one that was going to be used by God to be the earthly deliverer for his people.

Here’s where it gets fun. Stick with me!

Jump with me to Luke, where Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was greeted by an angel. (Luke 1:26–38.) Mary was not only fearful and “troubled” by his sudden appearance, but when she was told that she, a young, sexually pure virgin, was going to have a baby, she immediately asked, “How can this be?” It was out of the ordinary, and faith prompted her to ask for an explanation.

Now pop back over to my friend Gideon and his very similar reaction. He told the angel that this whole leadership thing was pretty unlikely, because not only was his clan the weakest in Mannaseh (i.e., they were the lowest on the proverbial totem pole), but he, Gideon, was the lowest man within that clan.

But the angel bottom lines it and tells him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16, NASB).

Well now, Gideon–ah, that Gideon–basically said, “I’ve heard about God’s amazing acts, but since I’ve never seen them in the midst of these Midianites and the trouble they’ve brought with them, I’m going to need something to show me that it’s really you. So you stay here, and I’m going to bring out an offering of some of the best things I still have available.”

Without scolding him or giving him a three-point outline on how to increase his faith, the angel says, “Sure, I’ll wait.”

Now, this was not a five-minute, run through the drive-through kind of thing. Verse 19 gives us a realistic view of the timeline and of all that Gideon did: “So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. [The man prepared a goat, made fresh bread, and whipped up some broth! Yep. He’s my kindred spirit! But I digress.]

After all that work, here’s what happened in verses 20–21: “The Angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.”

Because God had created Gideon, had his hand on Gideon, and had a purpose for Gideon, He just showed him–right then, right there–that this message had come from Him. He knew Gideon was a visual person. He knew that Gideon’s past disappointments, failures, and fears made him hesitant to jump into something until he was certain. God knew…and so God provided a personality- and experience-based response just for Gideon.

Oh, friend, God knows you. He knows what you need in order to make a decision. He knows that your faith might not be of the kind that jumps but is the kind that has faith to ask for proof that you’re really supposed to jump. And so He’ll answer in kind.

As you may or may not know, this was just the beginning of Gideon’s need for a visual confirmation of his choices. So I’m going to do the next set in the next blog post. But until then, allow the lives of my kindred spirit Gideon and of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, remind you that God may not choose to lead you in the same way as someone else. Exercise your faith in the way He created you, because He made you that way for a reason, so He’s not going to be upset with you for asking Him to make the way clear for you to see!

By Petals from the Basket | December 15, 2015 | Bible Reading, God-and-I-Time |