Lent Day 25: Riding the wave

I write on my calendar, "Goodbye, everything."

We spoke together in chapel this morning. And we bought our tickets today.

We've booked the flight that will take us from what we know. From our comfort zone. To a new place across the world.

I'm reposting again today. My heart is too full to write, feeling the swell of the new wave ahead.

---- CRESTING THE WAVE----

Life seems to be experienced in waves. Entire years and decades of Jesus' life go unrecorded. Then  his ministry crests: he chooses disciples and velocity quickens to wash toward his sacrifice on the cross as the Passover lamb.

The ebb of the resurrection, where God pulls back mortality's curtain to showcase His magnificence and power even over death, creates a riptide for the disciples. Jesus spends 40 quiet days with them, expounding on God's mission. He shows them their future as Life-With-God before he withdraws to allow the Holy Spirit to descend.

The Spirit roars into the life of the apostles with godly authority and power. Life and renewal splash throughout the city of Jerusalem and ripples into the world through the pilgrims attending the Pentecostal feast.

Throughout the book of Acts, ebbs and flows in the intensity mark the spread of the gospel:

• Organization and favor.
• Persecution, outward movement, and expansion. 
• Suffering and missionary proclamation. 
• Exile and writing to preserve the record of Christ and the early Church.

Have you experienced such seasons of quiet, followed by building energy and a surge of momentum?

Where am I right now? A bucket of "aha"s have been dumped on me since last weekend. The wave is rising and I am being carried into the future. I'm not certain of the shore toward which the power of "forward" is pulling me. And that doesn't matter too much. God only requires my "being in this" completely, attentive and intentional toward the work of His Spirit.

How do we "ride the wave" in seasons of change?

1. Breathe in the time of calm and stand at ease when there's no direction.
2. Mull over (and record) lessons learned and insights acquired during the pause between what was and what is becoming.
3. Still your fears of change. God is in control. Completely. Utterly. Beautifully. He holds your future securely and will not let you go.
4. Prepare yourself. Embrace whatever comes your way. Pray. Meditate on scripture. Serve at church. Read an insightful book, listen to a speaker, or attend an event. You may unexpectedly run into an acquaintance or eavesdrop on other conversations.
5. Be willing and obedient. When work appears, when a door opens, when God clears away the clutter of the past to a clear future ... say YES.
6. Surf the wave. God's current will direct you. Enjoy the ride: fighting the water will smash you, suck you under, and make you feel like you're drowning.
7. Enjoy the view as you land on the new shore. Wherever God takes you, He has planned this in advance. What is the wonder of this next job, this new ministry, or this fresh relationship?

What's your favorite wave to date? Were you surprised where the current took you?

Read more:
*The Lord said, "I have chosen Abraham, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice." Genesis 18:19 NEV

*Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering. Isaiah 49:13 NLT

*And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matthew 20:17-19 ESV

*Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. Romans 4:9 NEV

Moravian Prayer: God, teach us to do justice by entering into relationships with persons in need. May we learn from them lessons of dignity, faith, and righteousness as we serve—that we may become wholly committed to your kingdom's work. Amen.

CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (Lewis wrote these to show the opposing intentions of God and the devil. In this novel, Screwtape is a young demon-in-training.) In which Screwtape reveals the Enemy’s (God's) intentions:

"Now it may surprise you to learn that in His [the Enemy’s] efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. 

"The reason is this. To us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. 

"He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself—creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct."

Strange, wonderful aloneness

The last of our four children moved out yesterday. Our youngest son, who graduated university in December, packed up his room to live with two good friends.

Of course, the relocation wasn't without hiccups! The first two guys loaded their stuff into the UHaul and went to move it into the apartment. Then they learned they couldn't move in until the next day. So I came home to a UHaul parked at the top of the street - and three husky guys sitting on our LR sofa.

"Hi! I know Bob," I smiled at one of Jono's good friends. "But who are you guys?"

The two roommates introduced themselves. "We are essentially homeless until tomorrow, so Jono said we could sleep over. He's sleeping off his night shift in the guest room while we wait around." Of course, Jono's room had been disassembled. His bed and furniture, while not yet loaded into the truck, were packed up for a quick getaway.

I can't tell you the deep laughter inside this mother's heart. Oh, the resilience and flexibility of youth! We had a nice visit. Great guys. They made themselves coffee on W's espresso machine. (My coffee can be toxic since I'm not a coffee drinker.) I enjoyed my cup of tea.

Then I pointed to the sofa/futons, asked them to use sheets over the slipcovers, and bid them a fine stay before my husband and I headed out the door to an overnight event.

We came home last night to an empty house. The old bedroom is still chaotic. There are papers, a few bags of garbage, and some unsorted boxes left after their whirlwind of leaving. Hopefully Jono will clear it out this week. ("Ha ha, you optimist," I can hear my friends chortling.)

There's a strange wonder to this new season of parents-without-children as we become honeymooners. We're without kids for the first time in 32 years! Lots of people have come and gone at our house. More recently, Jono often had college friends sleep over.

I can tell I'm going to love the new privacy, of not running into young men headed up the stairs to the main bathroom's shower. We can wander into the kitchen in PJs and not find some stranger frying bacon or scrambling eggs at the stove. The sink and bathrooms will stay as clean as we make them. How cool is that!

My new mantra: "Empty nest is not a syndrome. It's a vacation!" Luckily our almost-2-year-old granddaughter disassembles the house one day a week, so I have toys and measuring cups to retrieve and replace in their cupboards.

I bet God loves the seasons of His children's maturity. He holds us when we're youngsters, disciplines us as spiritual "teens," and assigns us difficult and rigorous work as mature believers.

How did you feel, moving out of your childhood home? How about when your kids left?

Do you appreciate the seasons of spiritual maturity as God sees you through life?

Read more:
*In God's hand is the life of every living thing. Job 12:10 NLT

*My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won't be held back; when you run, you won't stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. Proverbs 4:10–13 NLT

*The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11 NIV

*God is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:27-28 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Tending God, you give life and then you draw near to your creation. When we face difficulties, remind us that you are holding us all in your powerful hand and are by our side through it all. Amen. 

How did you feel when you left home? When your kids moved out?