Getting out of ruts

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.  Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

For some reason it is easy to fall into ruts.  In prayer and worship we can easily devolve into self-absorption.  Our prayers and expectations center around survival.  But getting out of the ruts-- or "experiencing real life" -- comes when we encounter His mercies afresh!

Just a few days ago I was reading Thomas Merton's journal entitled "the Sign of Jonas."  He talks about an order of monks who pray the Psalter (all 150 Psalms) twice a day out loud...  Seriously??

All I could imagine was how long would that take (3 hours?) and how hard it would be to get something out of it (revealing my typical Western mindset of evaluating the cost and benefit to me).  

What then hit me was how much the Psalms (i.e., God's Word) would actually get INTO a person who read that much.  

• You would get familiar with His purposes in creation and life circumstances 
• You would begin to see your own weakness and vulnerability
• You would taste of His goodness
• You would be filled with hope in all dire situations
• You would see His greatness revealed
• You would learn to turn everything into worship

I try to read and reflect on one Psalm a day.  The thought of reading all 150 twice a day is pretty intimidating, and can be paralyzing.  "What a wimp..."

But then I thought "God is revealing His mercies anew to me every day."  He hasn't called me to be a monk (whew), but He is inviting me into a deeper experience of those mercies.  

My reading of one Psalm a day is more exciting as I seek to encounter Him.  It gives me a hunger for more.  And that experience will actually reframe how effective I am in the world.  Hmmmmm, out of the ruts we go...

Musings on the "Why?"

Why would God allow a deranged person to kill innocent people?  Why were some spared and not others?  How could anyone have deserved this?  Why does God allow suffering to continue?

If you're looking for some simple answers you'll be disappointed.  We don't have any.  

Everyone goes through loss, and most of us ask these questions.

At the same time, I have found some things helpful in terms of my mindset and focus.

Faith is expressed by drawing conclusions about how God operates (and thinks) based on Jesus versus what I think and feel in the moment.  What a challenge that is...  

In Jesus' day people tried to put everything in a neat little box - "if something goes wrong then somebody must have deserved it."  Jesus confronts this approach and lets us know where our long-term focus is to be -- "look instead for what God can do."

I love the story recorded in John 9.

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."  (Message Version)

Then Jesus healed the blind man.

There is someone to blame for the shootings in Aurora and the Bible assures us justice will be served sooner or later.

But our primary focus is on what Jesus wants to do in our city in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy.  

For the victims who are asking "Why?" we can walk quietly with them.  We can listen, bring comfort and pray for healing.  We can encourage them to be honest with God about everything they are feeling.

We can fight the temptation to give trite answers to make us feel better.  Have you ever tried to give an answer to someone who is suffering and had them say, "Hey, thanks for those insights.  That totally answers the 'Why?' question for me and I feel so much better now..."  Probably not.  Most people just say "thanks for listening and being with me" (even if we tried to give answers).  

As local church communities, instead of being overcome by evil we're going to try and "look instead for what God can do."

For sure Jesus wants to destroy the works of evil.  And for sure He wants to reveal His love and life-changing power to the youth of our city.

Shootings in Aurora

First thing this morning my cell phone was going crazy with texts from all over, "Is everybody okay?"  "We're praying for you..."

What horror.  After reading the news I first wondered about my son Blake.  Sure enough, he had been invited to the movie.  After a few minutes I was able to reach him and he in fact didn't attend and neither did his friends who were planning to do so.

The Aurora Mall was blocked off except for police and media.  I got to Gateway HS at about 9:45.  There were lots of friends and family in shock, awaiting word.  There were police, pastors, counselors, victim's advocates, etc.  And they were keeping the press outside.

Updates were coming every 20 minutes or so.  The guy in charge was doing a nice job relaying as much info as possible and calming everyone given the situation.  

When I left a couple hours later they were still waiting, being told info may not come for another 2-3 hours.

What is going on with Aurora and the Denver Metro area?  It seems like we have a bullseye and evil is pulling the trigger.

For me it is a reminder of the power of evil.  It is a time to grieve as a city with the victims and families.

And it is time to join Jesus in what He wants to do in this city.  Who is going to go after the youth of our families and city and call them to something more?  Who is going to extend the loving acceptance of Jesus?  Who will reflect the affirmation of a Father who loves them?  Who will call them to a greater purpose than finding what makes them feel happy in the moment?  And who will lovingly ask what is going on in their lives and challenge unhealthy anger, bitterness and evil?

"The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give you life and life to the full."  Jesus, in John 10:10

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.