God

Weather: Like a Bolt of Lightning

Jesus, you…

hit me like a bolt of lightning, the highlight of my younger days.
Just a taste of that Holy Spirit
and I never felt the same. Your kind of power God makes the knees
buckle, but then again makes us
strong. Oh God, that burning bush for Moses, surely made him come
along. What about Paul, who was
Saul? Baby, after that flash on the road to Damasc’, testimony
forever changed. What a monster
flash! Da dooby doo dooooo dwee up dwee up up up and away in the
upper room, that place was hop-
pin’, there was no stoppin’ shakin’ nearly every day. Like a bolt
of lightning, You hit me like
a bolt… of lightning. Like a jagged bolt, of lightning… oh oh
a bolt of lightning, Hit me one
time! Whoa woh oh! Weee oh oh mmmm’ oh, hmm, hmm hmm… dweedle
oh, oh! and that’s all.

You See Me

kidsnsunrise-009.jpg

You see me
anything false floats away
ash
impermanent as when it was
smoke

You’ve gently
drawn me in
to begin
discarding yesterday’s
clothes

In my dreams
I stop
running
away
anyhow

Your Word
woos me
to here…to You
to
now

Yes

When all is weighed
at the end
of
the night
or your light
would you
rather
have said
more no’s
or
yes’s?
I would much rather collapse
running
for a heavenly flight
than make busy
with trivial
messes.

Relinquishment of Control

Will your car start tomorrow morning when it’s time for you to go to work? Will a freak storm level most of the town you live in? Will your future wife walk into your office, look into your eyes, and see something that she can’t really describe, but which irrevocably changes both of your lives? I sometimes play that game in my mind, where I go back in time, but this time I’m armed with the knowledge of what has already happened. But what if you went back and changed one thing? What if you decided to get your car fixed before that day it wouldn’t start? What if that change in timing meant you turned your head at the wrong time at the office and that magic moment never happened? Going back in time doesn’t seem like such a great idea now, does it?

thelordreigns

It’s easy to see how our meddling with time could mess up our future. We aren’t meant to have that kind of power. But what would change in your future if you gave control to God? What if you actually became so sensitive to God’s voice that He didn’t have to keep hitting you over the head to get your attention? You might say, “That would be great, nothing bad would ever happen to me, because I would always be in God’s perfect will!” Wrong! Even when we do our best to listen to God, stuff happens. A lot of those happenings are things we don’t like. But God knows what we need, long term or short term. His plan is always best, even if we don’t understand. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Father, let me know you so well that I trust you to read the map.
I won’t constantly stop the car and complain that we are going the
wrong way. When you say, “Turn here,” I won’t ask you if you’re
sure, I’ll just turn the wheel. Let a peace wash over me that tells
me I will get to just the right place at just the right time to have
the future you’ve designed for your servant.

Turn to the Sun

In the middle of our troubles it’s sometimes hard to remember that light even exists. All your senses perceive is an opaque wall between yourself, God and those who care about you. Time slows to a crawl. The air is heavy. Just existing can become a physical and emotional trial. This time of year, the daffodils I planted last fall are starting to bloom. For some time their green stalks have been showing. Now, we can enjoy the payoff of color. While winter lingers, spring beckons. An evening of rain is often followed by a morning of sun as the seasons get to the point in the relay race where the baton is passed. I noticed a particular flower the other day that had bent its head following a cold tumult, only to lift up as it dried and pointed to the blue sky. Hope and warmth drew it up as it dared to reveal its brave face. Is that a great leap? Are we foolish to believe a plant can hope? Look around. Everything God has created is brimming with hope and expectation. It’s inside you as well. Dare to lift up your head and find joy.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.
Psalm 98:4-6

Thank You

If God gave me breath for two words,
when I’d come to the end of my time
and let’s face it we can never know
just when that will be…
With not enough words to wax poetic
I’d bring out the best two I could use.
I guess the most exquisite
would simply be thank you.

Thank you,
two words directed at God and then those
He’s allowed to touch my life
even the ones who brought me
some measure of pain.
Thank you,
no matter your intentions
you helped me to grow,
to live a full life
you can’t just have sun,
you also need rain.

Thank you for the dark
and the light.
Thank you for a family
to say good night.
I’ve found that some of the small joys
are really the best.
God, as you see I’m skirting the rules
by using many now
when then I’ll only have two.
I just wanted to get some out now
before I rest.

Thank you for music…
surely the precursor
to heavenly sounds.
I’m pretty sure there’s more to the band
than only the harp.
Thank you for painting,
from our hands though surely from yours.
Thank you for expression of all that we feel.
It seems like hardly enough to just call it art.

I hope to add to the list
before I’m down to my last two

though you surely knew,

I want to say thank you.

Search My Heart

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24

Search my heart, Lord,
the One who sees no difference
between night and day.
For you they are both alike.
Every hour you see all the same.
When the fog in front of my eyes is so thick
my hands could pull it apart like a veil,
You ask for my faith you will see me through
as though you were trimming my sail.

Search my heart, Lord,
purify, burn away all my dross.
All that I carry that is not of you,
I will not count as loss.
Let me value each day as a gift from you, Lord.
As I submit, let me be a gift too.
Guide my steps toward those hurting,
make the words I pen worthy,
while all in me your spirit renews.

Forever Means More

Whenever I worship you, God
I forget about what’s wrong with me
and remember what’s right with you.
I set aside my worries and cares
and I’m thankful for the storms,
because forever means more.

I’m familiar with the war.
I’ve been through some of that before.
Yes, I carry the scars.
It’s a battle that started
in Eden long ago.

Forever in ways is similar to the world we think we know,
but side by side it’s more vibrant and distinct.
It’s like the difference
between behind the curtain
and the very front of the stage…
where the crowd roars,
forever is more.

Everything else fades away
when I think about how much
you mean to me
and the forever home
you’ve readied for your own.
All those things
that seem grand here
are just a portion, Lord
’cause forever means more.

When it’s time for us to rest,
and we’ve learned to give up striving
and passed the test,
I’ll be so grateful for the struggle
and for what you have in store.
I know
forever means more.

When to Worship

Honestly, the book of Habakkuk was not on my radar. It’s a small book near the end of the Old Testament, written by a prophet we don’t know much about. A theme in much of the Old Testament is man’s relationship with God. In a nutshell, man has always had a habit of forgetting God when things are going well and complaining when the situation worsens. The reigning king at the time of Habakkuk, Jehoiakim, was described by the prophet Jeremiah in this way: “your eyes and your heart are intent only upon your own dishonest gain, and on shedding innocent blood and on practicing oppression and extortion” Jer. 22:17 It was against this backdrop, during a time of increasing evil in Judah and oppression by the Babylonians, that Habakkuk writes of praise in chapter 3. I quote chapter 3:17-19 here: “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds feet, and makes me walk on my high places.”

It’s easy to praise God when the sailing is smooth and complain when we are buffeted by storms. The self discipline required to stop for a moment to consider how we might grow and learn during those times is neither automatic nor easy to come by. However, God is always worthy of our praise and deference, and although we may not always be able to understand His ways, He remains on the throne. Of that we can be certain.

God, please accept my worship.
Let my song be lifted high.
When I focus on what’s difficult in my life,
help me remember the times
you’ve renewed my strength and joy,
carried me when I couldn’t walk.
When my foundation felt unstable
You were always my solid rock.
Increase my understanding,
in the darkness let it be my light.
Give me the same breath to sing in the valley
that I breathe when I sing on the heights.

God’s First Bandmember

First, a couple notes:
1) Friends who are drummers, don’t get a big head over this.
2) I won’t pretend there is any biblical basis for my poem. I am not adding or subtracting from what is between the covers. I’m just sayin’.

Do you think something was left out?
Maybe it was just inferred.
Perhaps when God wrote Genesis,
He assumed we’d understand that in his word,
in the background sometimes subtle,
sometimes quiet,
sometimes loud,
is the presence of a great drummer,
who, thank God, is not proud.
Although he or she could certainly be,
because when God first considered man
and everything else in creation
and (come on, of course!) the first band,
for His first band member, He found a drummer
who could put Buddy Rich to shame.
If you’re too young, or not into big bands
you’ll have to Google his name.
For proof I offer my heart,
or yours,
or a friend’s.
I imagine at the end of the first day
there was a drum solo no one wanted to end.
So the next time you hear music
of, I suppose, any kind,
imagine God’s first band
without a drummer to keep time.