Rear View Mirrors

What’s in your rear view mirror for 2011?  Did you meet those New Year’s resolutions? (Do you even remember your resolutions?)  Did you meet performance objectives for your work?  Stay within budget?  It’s the time of year for self-reflection.

Maybe, though, we need to focus on more than a simple evaluation.  If we want to know where God is taking us, our first task should be to look back on the ground we’ve already covered with Him.

So, with that in mind, think back to 2011:

•  Did you celebrate any victories?
• Where did God show up in an amazing way?
• What were the specific things you very clearly heard Him say to you?

Whatever the answers, WRITE THEM DOWN!!! You may think that they’ll stay forever engraved in your memory, but unfortunately, we have a tendency to forget.  Even the really good stuff.

Why bother to do this?  Well, for one thing, it’s great to know where you’ve been so you’ll recognize it if you detour through there again.   Life is too short to be battling the same wars over and over, but so often we end up walking in circles.  So if you have experienced a victory, build an altar in your mind there – it’s a done deal, signed, sealed, and delivered to you from the hands of your Almighty God.

Looking back is critical to building your faith.  There will be days in 2012 where you feel like you are wandering in the desert.  There may be times when you can’t hear God’s voice, much less know His will for you and your ministry.  You may be in the midst of yet another refining fire. 

When you’re stuck, remember what’s behind you.  Look briefly in the rear view mirror, and remind yourself of the road you’ve already traveled.  The times that God miraculously came through for you.  Quiet times where you knew without a doubt that you were hearing from God.  The hard fought lessons learned from experience.  Stories and encouragement from people you have ministered to, reminding you of God’s ability to use you. 

The more you have in your rear view mirror, the easier it is to hope and trust God’s provision.  God did it for you once, He’ll do it again – so you can have yet another faith-builder in your life.

Let’s begin 2012 with the intention of journaling and celebrating how He is moving among us, storing up our own inventory of faith builders for the challenging days that will inevitably come.  Make it a habit of sharing them with those closest to you, so that we may “spur one another on.”  And if you’d like to share any of your 2011 look backs in the comments below, post away! 

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far.

And grace will lead me home."  --"Amazing Grace," John Newton    

Refining Fire

If this were a typical blog, this post would focus on all of the new opportunities available in the new year – a time of rejuvenation, rededication, and peace on earth good will toward men. 

This isn’t a typical blog.

For some of us, the outlook for New Year’s isn’t quite so pretty.  2011 may have been a year of change for you, and very little of it good.  I know of many “seedling” ministries who are desperately trying to become established – and 2012 is the “make it or break it” year.  It’s the same for a number of my friends, struggling to find employment, sell a house, or worse yet, regain their health. 

I’d dearly love to make the struggles vanish, but I’m no more able to do that than I can wipe away my own problems.  So here’s my message for all of us:  Remember the Lodgepole pine tree.

(I bet you weren’t expecting that, were you???) 

A good friend told me recently told me about this amazing tree.  The pine cones of the Lodgepole are sealed with a resin that only a fire at just the right temperature will melt away.  The seeds in the cones could be trapped for years before a forest fire releases them for germination.  Out of heartwrenching, barren destruction, a new tree can arise, full of promise and hope. 

What an incredible example of God’s provision, and an encouraging reminder for us all!  The best option available to you may be to just sit in the middle of the fire - knowing that you are there only temporarily, and knowing that God is working in the situation.  Even when you’re engulfed in the flames, or you’ve been fighting the same fire over and over for years – the seeds of growth are waiting for His perfect timing.  

Our human nature makes us prone to panic and start looking for the best escape route.  Pain is to be avoided at all costs.  Sometimes, though, fire is necessary to move us forward into God’s plan. 

Take Scattered Seed, for example.  I knew that God had plans for me – He virtually handed me both my undergraduate and law degrees on a silver platter, with no debt.  So I worked as a lawyer for a year, and then after the birth of my first child, right before I was going back to a job that I loved, He told me to stay at home.   WHAT????  It made no sense, but I obeyed – and immediately plunged into a forest fire of depression.  On the outside, I was functioning perfectly; on the inside I was empty.  The joy that I found in my precious boys was wonderful, yet incomplete.  I tried to find my own escape path by applying for part time legal work for jobs that I was perfectly qualified for, but to no avail.  God wanted me to stay right where I was, and I was frustrated, to say the least.

All this time, though, God was working in me.  Tearing down all of the pride I had stored up based on grades, credentials, and past successes.  Until finally, there was simply me – unadorned, definitely imperfect, humbled, but still usable by God.  Out of this brokenness, God slowly began to rebuild me.  It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen overnight.  But as He worked, the depression receded, and a new career path/ministry emerged.  It seems so natural to me now, but I would never have gotten here without His refining fire.  Painful as it was, I'm now grateful for the lessons He taught me.

So if you’re in the midst of your own forest fire, I pray that 2012 will bring you comfort, even in the midst of upheaval.  God is working, even when you cannot see Him – and new growth awaits!