31 Days of Questions: Day 8

8

“Where is your faith?”  Luke 8:25

I am a mom.

Therefore, I have heard these kinds of questions:

“Mom, where is my favorite T-shirt?”

“Hey mom, where did you put my math homework?”

“Ah…mom?  Where did my retainer go?”

I am a wife.

Therefore, I have heard questions like this:

Honey, where do you keep the room freshener?

Sweetie, where am I supposed to be at 2:00 again?

Dear, where is that leftover chili?

I am a follower of Jesus.

Therefore, I regularly ask myself:

Where am I being called to serve right now?

Where does God want me to invest my resources?

Where has the time gone?

Sometimes I stop listening to others’ questions and quiet my own soul long enough to hear the voice of my Father.

When I’ve fallen into sin and am hiding from the Lord in the cool of the day: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

When I’m feeling alone and distant from a sense of His sweet presence: “Where can you go from My Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7)

When a storm hits, my boat is filling with water and I’m afraid I will drown: “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25)

When my kids and my husband ask me questions, it means they trust me to have an answer.

When the Lord asks me questions, it means I can trust Him to have an answer.

31 Questions

31 Days of Questions: Day 7

7

“Do you see this woman?”  Luke 7:44

 Of course he saw her.

She was right there in his dining room.

Simon, the Pharisee, looked at her tangled hair hanging down, her shabby clothes, the dirt under her fingernails.

He observed her emotional display of tears and was repulsed.

He watched her unclean hands touch the Teacher, kiss His feet, pour perfume on them.

He thought he was witnessing an embarrassing scene, socially awkward and shameful.

But he didn’t see her.

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the one’s forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

“Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath

31 Days of Questions: Day 6

6

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I say?”  Luke 6:46

PB and I used to sing a song quite often with our kids when they were little.  It went like this:

“O-B-E-Y, obey your mom and dad!

O-B-E-Y, it makes them very glad!

Listen to the words they say, obey your parents every day.

O-B-E-Y, obey your mom and dad!”

They were slightly suspicious of our smiling faces, singing a happy, lilting melody with a clearly coercive message.  And rightly so.  We were unabashedly trying to make obedience sound like more fun than Christmas and Disney World rolled into one.  But children aren’t easily fooled.  Obeying is hard when you’re two…. or four…. or fifty-four.  Jesus doesn’t lead anybody on to believe that a life of obedience is easy.

He also makes it clear that I lose the right to call Him my “Lord” if I refuse to O-B-E-Y.

31 Questions

31 Days of Questions: Day 5

5

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye

and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”  Luke 6:41

Forgive me, Lord,

for focusing on other peoples’

specks of sin

while wildly swinging my I-beam

of hypocrisy.

My Carpenter Savior,

take me to Your workshop,

remove the plank,

sweep up the sawdust,

and renew my sight.

Amen.

31 Questions

31 Days of Questions: Day 4

4

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Luke 6:32

It’s so easy to love PB (Pastor Blake, my hubby).  He’s considerate, kind, and fun.  He is trustworthy, works hard, and loves God.  He also makes me breakfast every Wednesday morning… brings it to me on a tray…. bacon, eggs, English muffin, coffee.  I love him.

It’s easy to love my kids.  They have grown up to be interesting and enjoyable adults.  They are finding ways to make their lives count for the Kingdom.  They are giving me grandchildren.  I love my kids.

It’s super easy to love my grands.  These little people give sloppy kisses and like to rock-a-bye and are so darn adorable.  Love oozes out of me when I’m around the babies.  I don’t have to try at all.

There’s no pat on the back for loving like this, though.  It’s loving the hard-to-love that gives me some heavenly credit.  Instead of staying away from unlovable people, it seems I am to seek them out and pour love into folks who don’t care to love me back.

Sounds like Somebody I know.

 31 Questions

31 Days of Questions: Day 3

3

“I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or evil, to save life or to destroy it?  Luke 6:9

This sounds like a rhetorical question.

(Rhetorical question — def: a question asked in order to make a point with no answer expected.)

It’s like saying, “Is it right to help a little old lady cross a busy street, or is it better to throw her out in front of a Mac truck?”

Or even, “Is it right to help a little old lady cross a busy street on your way to church on Sunday morning, or is it better to throw her out in front of a Mac truck in your hurry to get your favorite pew?”

Most of these dilemmas come to me with a bit more subtlety.

“Is it right to give my neighbor lady a ride to the airport on Sunday afternoon during my naptime, or is it better to make up an excuse and draw my curtains so she can’t see me curled up on my couch?

Or change that to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…..

Is there ever a bad day to do something good?

Is there ever a good day to do something bad?

Don’t answer that — it’s rhetorical.

31 Days of Questions: Day 2

2

Why are you thinking these things in your heart?  Luke 5:22

There are some super-hero powers that I would love to have.  The ability to grow some extra arms would have been nice when I was juggling babies and toddlers.  Being able to duplicate myself would have come in handy when I was running four kids to basketball practices and piano lessons.  The power to make myself invisible might have been convenient when my teenagers were out on dates.  Maybe not.

One superhuman gift I would definitely not want is the ability to read minds.  No sirree.  No way.  I’m sure I would be appalled if I could perceive the thoughts of those around me.  I know that’s true because I am regularly appalled by my own thoughts.

Jesus makes it clear that thinking is a heart matter.  The brain can only process what the heart produces.

Maybe the key to right thinking is to splay my heart wide open and invite the All-Powerful One to do some supernatural maintenance.

It’s something to think about.

 31 Questions

31 Days of Questions: Day 1

1

“Why were you searching for me?”  Luke 2:4

We’ve never lost a kid. Once we got on a train ride at a park and right before taking off, we saw a familiar blonde haired, blue eyed child standing on the platform.  She was ours.  Thankfully, the train didn’t leave the station before we realized we were missing our three year old.

Twelve year old Jesus, separated from his parents for three days, had been in the temple discussing theology with the priests.  When his anxious parents found him, the boy answered their question (“Why have you treated us like this?”) with a question.  It seemed Jesus was the calm one, surprised that Joseph and Mary had been worrying about him.

Why do I search for Jesus?

When I search for Jesus, it’s not because I fear He’s lost.

It’s because I’m lost and need to be found.

I search for Jesus because He knows where I hide and what I hide from.

I search because all that I have doesn’t fill the emptiness like He does.

The first recorded words of Jesus in the Scriptures is a question:  “Why were you searching for me?”

Let’s start right there.

31 Questions

31 Days of Questions

There’s this THING in the blogging world called “The 31 Day Challenge”.  Hundreds of bloggers write on a topic of their choice every day for the whole month of October. It’s a real challenge for somebody like me, who squeezes out a couple of posts a week — sometimes. What the heck? I’ll give it a go and see if I survive!

My topic is “31 Days of Questions” — specifically, questions Jesus asked people in the gospels. When Jesus asked questions, He wasn’t looking for answers — He has all the answers. His questions were intended to make people think. Please note that I’m not offering any answers, but probably raising more questions and hopefully gaining some insight along the way.  I’d love to hear what you think!

31 Questions

Day 1: “Why were you searching for me?”

Day 2: “Why are you thinking these things in your heart?”

Day 3: “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or evil?”

Day 4: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?”

Day 5: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Day 6: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”

Day 7: “Do you see this woman?”

Day 8: “Where is your faith?”

Day 9: “Who do the crowds say I am?”

Day 10: “What about you?  Who do you say I am?”

Day 11: “Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?”

Day 12: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

Day 13: “If salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

Day 14:  “Do you want to get well?”

Day 15: “Are you not in error because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?”

Day 16: “Do you understand what I have done for you?”

Day 17: “Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?”

Day 18: “Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”

Day 19: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?”

Day 20: “What are you arguing with them about?”

Day 21: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they both not fall into a pit?”

Day 22: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?”

Day 23: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Day 24: “When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?”

Day 25: “What do you want me to do for you?”

Day 26: “Why are you sleeping?”

Day 27: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

Day 28: “But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Day 29: “Judas, are you betraying me with a kiss?”

Day 30: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Day 31: “Do you love me?”

Bread Crumbs

breadHe gives thanks for the seven loaves, hands the bread to his disciples, and 4,000 people eat dinner.

The disciples pick up the scraps, but somehow forget to bring any along for the boat ride home.

Well, there is one little loaf….but that’s not enough to feed 12 hungry men…..right?

There is a discussion.  “Why didn’t you bring some of that leftover bread?”  “Nobody told me to.”  “I thought he was getting some.”  “I thought you were.”

The Master asks the next question: “Why are you talking about having no bread?”  The embarrassed silence is followed by seven more rapid-fire questions.  The men manage to answer two of the eight questions.

The easy ones.

“How many basketfuls did you pick up when I fed 5,000 with 5 loaves?”

“Twelve.”

“How many basketfuls did you pick up when I fed 4,000 with 7 loaves?”

“Seven.”

Now the hard ones:

“Do you have eyes but fail to see?  Do you have ears but fail to hear?  Are your hearts hard?  Do you still not understand?  Don’t you remember?”

I think I’m starting to understand.

Followers of Jesus are called to give and serve and feed and clean up after people.  The task can appear overwhelming and some days it seems impossible to satisfy the needs of so many.  And then Jesus speaks blessing over the paltry offering and a miracle takes place.  It’s amazing, but it’s also exhausting.  Servants go home tired and realize they didn’t get to eat the miracle meal.

Jesus says, “What do you mean, there’s nothing left for you?  What’s in your hand?”

I say, “A few bread crumbs.”

And He says, “Don’t you remember?  Don’t you understand?”

Jesus, the great multiplier, is in my boat, where crumbs become a feast.

I’m beginning to understand.

(You can read the Biblical account in Mark 8:14-21)