When God Calls Your Name

P1000158.blessedThen I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

God it is evident that it is time to grow. God help me to see the cues and to use every opportunity to seek you out, to serve you and to demonstrate your love to others.

God help me to be always faithful; even during dark times. Give me the faith of Paul; the courage of David and the resiliency of Job.

God I pray that  through your divine spirit,  I can truly motivate with my words, model through my deeds and heal with my touch. I pray that I will live the truth and be a good steward of your trust in me. Amen

Has God called your name? What has God impressed upon your heart to do?

What is Your Image of God?

Earlier this week one of my students shared with me that she learned that a friend committed suicide. She was really hurt and at the same time very angry. She said that her friend had so much potential and now he is gone. She also felt that he didn’t work hard enough to survive and wondered why he did not reach out to her for help. In her heart, she felt God will truly punish the friend because, in her words, ‘he was young, he had a lot of potential and he didn’t fight hard enough to survive.’ I shared with her that God may be disappointed in her friend, but God would not punish the friend. That God, better than us, understood his pain. She seemed relieved and said “I just wished my friend was still with us.”

After that conversation, I began to reflect how each of us has a different perspective on God. What is your image of God? Or very simply, how do you see God?

As a child my God could do everything. He was omnipresent, omnipotent, all knowing, caring and intervened in people’s lives when they called upon him. Nevertheless, he was a God to be feared. He was the hell and damnation God. Although I knew I needed and wanted God, I was afraid of this God and feared too that I would be damned to hell.

Later in life, God became an all loving God; still Omni-everything and still the God who intervenes in the lives of those who seek him out. I don’t know about you, but my image of God is still evolving.

He’s definitely not the God of my youth or the God of my young adulthood; he sometimes seems to be the God of indifference, a God of distance, a God who rarely intervenes in the affairs of humankind. This is a God I cannot accept and I doubt is real. But like you, I’m still wrestling with who God is.

Mark Batterson in his book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day (2006) said that “how you think about God will determine who you become. You aren’t just the byproduct of “nature and nurture.” You are a byproduct of your God-picture. And that internal picture of God determines how you see everything else” (p.28).

Batterson goes on to say that “our biggest problems can be traced back to an inadequate understanding of who God is. Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small. In fact, we reduce God to the size of our biggest problem” (p.28). I don’t know about you, but I need a God that’s bigger than any problems. I need a God who not only can tackle my problems, but the world’s problems. Batterson continues and believes that God has no dimensional units and that our belief or thoughts of God will determine who we will become. Wow!

Wow is right. I need a God who is greater than all this world’s imagination; especially as it relates to who God is and what God can and will do. I need a God that is as big as this world; still has concerns and abiding love for me and not only showed loved for me on a CROSS centuries ago, but a God who daily reminds me of his love and protection.

I need that infinite God; the God of love and mystery and yes, a God that I or no one else can define or put in a box. I need a God that loves “even me.” I need a big God; the same God that told Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,’’….”As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). To learn more about God’s awesomeness read Job, chapters 38 through 41. That’s a big God and no, he is not in a box.

How do you see God? How big is your God? My image of God is evolving, but each day I love this God who refuses to be defined. I hope you too will envision a God that is unlimited and therefore undefinable and that my friend will make all the difference in your world.

Miracles Witnessed

Waiting for something better? How soon we forget the miracles of our past and yes, even the miracles of today. Today, I want to share with you a prayer that I shared with my faith community on August 1, 2009 and later published at Upward Edge (www.upwardedge.com). It’s time to share it again. I hope that this short prayer will bring to your remembrance your  everyday miracles. 

 MIRACLES WITNESSED

“So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?” John 6:30

God help us not to forget the miracles we have witnessed in our life time. Don’t let today’s burdens make us forget your love for us and your willingness to share our yoke.

 God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of having a place to call home

Of having that job to pay those long overdue bills

Or finding that special friend and the love of our life

God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of being parents—when we and others thought it was not possible

Or re-uniting with family and friends that we thought were long-lost

God help us not to forget the miracle:

Of having spiritual mentors and heroes who strengthened our faith

For witnessing the physical healing of family and friends; we thought would long be gone

Of holding the hands of a dear brother as he departed this world or to be in the presence of friends as they too left us.

 God help us not to forget your peacefulness, your assurances and the promises you have laid on our hearts.

I pray that as we remember the miracles in our lives that we will use our “gift of living” to help others who have forgotten their miracles— to bring hope to the hopeless; to provide shelter for the homeless and like Jesus feed the thousands.

When we remember our miracles we, like Jesus, can speak boldly the words of Isaiah 61:1-3a:

“The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon (us)…; God has sent (us) to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…; to comfort all who mourn; 3 and provide for those who grieve…”

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Will you share with us your miracles?

God, I Need You to Be God Today

But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;” Isaiah 43:1-3.

God, I need you to be God today. I need you to be the God who spoke to Isaiah. I need you to be the God who will be with me on every winding road and detour in my life. I need you to be God during my difficult times, during my scary times, and during the times when my faith is weak. I need you to be God when I want to throw the towel in and call it quits.

God, I need you to be God today. I need you to be the God of love. Be the God who performs miracles, the God that heals. Hear my prayers oh Lord, be the compassionate God that wants the best for me.

God, I need you to be God today; the God I want to follow; the God I want to share with others; the one that the world so desperately needs.

I need a God that knows my heart, my soul, my every weakness, and despites my faults will love me anyway.

God we need you to be God today; the one that not only hears our prayers, but will answer our prayers; the one that brings hope to a new generation of believers and continue to comforts His current disciples.

God, we need you to be the God who spoke to Isaiah. The one that helps us weather our storms; the God whose footprints are in the sands; the God we can always count on.

God, I personally need you today. I need the God who promised to be with me until the end of my time. God, I need you today; will you be my Savior, my Isaiah God today?

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This reflection is dedicated to all those who love God, but at the same time are deeply hurt and are hurting from a “silent God.” We would love to hear how God has spoken to you through this Isaish scripture.
 
Previously posted on Upward Edge (www.upwardedge.com) on October 6, 2009