The Penny and the Seatbelt
I don't typically write blog posts like these, but I had to tell this story for the world to read! Actually, I did a couple of posts along the way on Facebook but some only received the last post and had no idea what I was talking about. So here's the story.
Last week while going through the drive thru at some fine fast food establishment (I honestly don't remember if it was McDonald's, Starbucks, or the like), I took the change that I received and went to drop it in the cup holder of the center console like I typically do. However, I missed. When this happens, the change normally falls between the seats and is sucked up by the vacuum the next time I clean up the car.
Unfortunately, this time the penny fell directly into the seat belt buckle. I only found this out when I went to buckle up the seat belt and came against the opposition. As I tried to fasten the buckle, I looked and realized that the penny was wedged perfectly. When I explained to a few people what had happened, I received simplistic solutions like "get out with a magnet" or "use tweezers" to remove it. If you could have seen it, you would have realized that it just wasn't that easy. On retrospect, I wish I would have taken a picture of the sheer perfection of its lodging. After having tried several options for removing it, I decided (while driving) that maybe trying to force the seat belt into the clasp would force it out. To my surprise, the buckle engaged. At that same moment I had the fearful thought that I may not be able to disengage it. My fears were pretty much justified. Try as I may, the buckle wasn't going to open. Once I arrived at my destination, I had to somehow get free. I got as much slack in the seatbelt as possible and then wiggled my way out like a snake. I wish I would have had a video camera to capture the moment.
So, for those of you that saw my Facebook post with the picture of the penny, this is the rest of the story. But that wasn't the end of the story. My seatbelt was still stuck. That's where Carl comes in. No, I did not name the penny Carl. Carl is my friend and great mechanic that took my seatbelt apart to free Abe and allow me to drive safely again. Thanks, Carl. And for the rest of you, be careful where you drop your pennies.
Red Light, Green Light
I recently posted a statement on Facebook and Twitter that read: “God is permission granting not permission withholding. Everything in life is a green light until the light turns red.” As a result of that statement, a few comments and quite a bit of discussion ensued. Allow me share a bit of my background and how I’ve come to this conclusion.
As a child raised in a Christian home, I was taught from a very young age about God. One of the things that I was taught, not so much by my parents but by the denomination that we were a part of, is that God is a “red light” God. I was taught a long list of things that as a Christian one could NOT do. To be a good Christian you didn’t drink. You didn’t smoke. You didn’t cuss. You didn’t lie. From there the list went on and on and was quite long. Being the submissive child that I was, I didn’t have a problem with that. Actually, it was easy for me to adhere to the “don’t do” list.
However, what I have realized in the last couple of years is that this philosophy of Christianity has affected how I view God. You see, if God is a God of “don’t dos” then everything is a “don’t do.” Being a part of a different non-denominational church for the last twenty years, I have gradually learned that Christianity isn’t about a list of things that you can’t do but about a list of things that you “get” to do.” I have tried to teach my daughters that there is a large list of things we get to do. I am focusing more on what we get to enjoy. As a result, we stay away from those other “bad” things because they are lesser pleasures.
So how does this tie in with the original statement, “God is permission granting not permission withholding. Everything in life is a green light until the light turns red.”? I spent most of my adult life waiting for God to open a door or to make it completely obvious to me about what I was to do next. If God didn’t open up heaven a give me a song to write, then I didn’t write it. If God didn’t call me up on the phone and ask me to record a worship CD, I didn’t do it. Everything was a red light. I sat patiently waiting for the light to turn green. I finally realized one day, “I’ve been sitting at this red light for a long time now.” Instead, a friend challenged me. He said, “Everything is a green light until it turns red.” This belief has totally changed my life. I have begun to view God as one who is willing granting permission for us to move ahead and not withholding that permission. If our hearts are toward God and we move ahead on our own or prematurely, He will turn the light to red if our hearts are open to listen.
For all of my friends who are reading this, how long have you been sitting at the red light? Perhaps the light has actually been green and God is asking you to move ahead slowly. If your heart is toward God, He’ll turn it to red (or even yellow for caution) if it’s not His timing or His plan. It’s time to take our foot off of the brake and put it on the accelerator pedal!
Changing Seasons
This morning I woke up to another dramatic change in the seasons. The calendar says it is November 12, yet the last few days have felt more like the middle of May. This morning, with the sun peering through the shades of our bedroom window, fog was lingering over the front lawn. With a bit of a chill in the air, I went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee to curtail the cooling effects my body is experiencing. (I normally don’t make coffee in the morning but today warranted a full pot to help minimize the shock of the cold in the air.) This isn’t the first chill we’ve experienced this autumn. However, it’s the bouncing back and forth between winter and summer that is shocking to my flesh. I’ve thought of the changing of the seasons many times this fall. You see, I strongly dislike the cold. Actually, despise is probably a better word. However, I’m attempting to embrace the changing of the seasons realizing that this is a part of living in this “neck of the woods” as Al Roker would say. (I remain confident through faith that at some point in my life, God will bless me with the opportunity to live in a warm climate such as can be found in South Florida, Southern California, or better yet, Maui. My wife votes for the last option.)
I have often heard it taught, “The physical always precedes the spiritual.” Whether you agree with this concept or not, it’s interesting to think about because it does just that . . . it makes you think. So I’ve been thinking about the changing seasons in the lives of those around me. In my short 42 years of life here on this planet, I’ve never experienced a time like this where the people around me — nearly every single one of them — is experiencing a dramatic change of seasons. Some are preparing for marriage. Others have packed up their bags and moved to another part of the country. Others are changing jobs. Yet others are considering changing jobs. Some are trying to figure out what they are supposed to spend their lives doing. And I’m trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up (and how I can make it Maui)! With all of this happening, I’m trying to learn and impart some of the things that I feel like God is speaking in the midst of the change.
- The changing of the seasons is a normal part of creation. Whether I like it or not, God did not create this planet to exist in the same state 12 months out of the year. He created everything with the principle that life couldn’t be sustained at the same level or intensity. Even nature needs a break. Every climate has varying degrees of changing climate. It’s part of creation. As it relates to our lives, we should learn to embrace the rhythms of changing seasons as it gives a fresh perspective and appreciation of what is past and what is to come.
- Winter may be here, but it doesn’t last forever. If you’re with me, your response is, “Thank God!” Summer will be here soon enough. In the meantime, winter serves a function. It gives us a break and helps us to perhaps stay inside a bit more. It causes us to appreciate the easier, more carefree times. I must admit, I’ve learned more in the winter seasons that I ever did in the carefree times of summer. Winter is tough. Yet it is necessary for things to come to life and grow according to the way they were designed. When God walks us through a winter season, we must realize that it is an absolutely necessary part of life. Without it, there would not be life. The principle is that life flows from death. The Bible is filled with the principle. Jesus demonstrated, and Paul taught it. (Philippians 1:21 — For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.)
- Two seasons, although similar, are never the same. If you think you’re going into winter, and it will be like every other winter, you’re wrong. The same is true of any other season. Every season is different and therefore has different things to teach us. I am reminded to approach the changing seasons realizing that there is something new that I must learn. There are new areas in which I must grow. I can’t approach life the same way I did in the past. If I do, then my life will grow mundane and predictable. The mundane and predictable are safe but pretty boring.
- The changing of the seasons prepares you for the season that is to come. I know personally, I’ve been in a series of crazy seasons that really began during the summer of 2009. The journey has been pretty intense. Although I really can confidently say that I’ve learned more about God, my wife, ministry, life, people, and myself during these last 18 months. As I’ve learned and moved through these seasons (not always as well as I would have liked), I continue to sense another new one coming. It has been a long winter, but I do sense summer coming. I personally believe that this summer is the best that I’ve known up to now. Yet, had I not gone through these last seasons, I would never be able to walk into this new one that is before me.
- How you finish one season determines how you enter the next. Of everything I’ve said, this is probably the hardest to walk out. I don’t know about you, but as I can sense change coming and one season ending, I tend to already be mentally and spiritually in the new season. I “check out” of the current season in a hurry to get to the next. I keep reminding myself that the fruit you sow in one season will be the harvest that you reap in another. Growing up a farm in central Indiana, I understand that all too well. My father ended spring knowing that it would determine what would happen in the fall. What he reaped in the fall wouldn’t just affect fall, it would affect the finances of the winter and the following year. He never had the luxury of “checking out” of a season. If he did, he would literally pay for it for the next two years. We’re the same. God is preparing us and teaching us in one season for what will come in the next. If we try to rush the ending of one season for the coming of the next, we will personally become responsible for hijacking our destiny in the season to come. Hijacking doesn’t mean that our destiny is thwarted. It just means that we end up on a detour that leads us off track for a season — oh yes, another season!
This reminds of Ecclesiastes 3. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (NIV) I encourage you to read the entire chapter. Verse 11 says, “He makes everything beautiful in its time.” So here’s to beauty. I don’t know about you but I want my life to be a beautiful reflection of the One that made me.
Your Everyday Life
Romans 12:1 (MSG) So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Romans 12:1 & 2 are probably two of my favorite verses in the Bible. When I first read the paraphrase from the Message Bible, I loved it even more. I appreciate that they truly have captured the heart of worship in everyday life.
You see, worship is not about a song or about music. Worship is taking our everyday, normal lives — our eating, sleeping, school, work, and family lives — and offering them up to God. When we do this, we really have entered into worship. The greatest thing that we can do for God is to recognize Him as the source and life behind every single moment of every single day. I think this is the kind of relationship that Adam initially had with God. He walked with Him.
Finally, one of the things I love from this Message Bible version is that it says "here's what I want you to do, God helping you." Living our life focused on God in worship can't be achieved on our own with self-discipline or our own human strength. To do this, we must have God's help. We can't do this on our own. We must have God's grace to enable us to live these lives in worship. May we be those worshipers that the Father is seeking as noted in John 4:23.
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