Have you ever been someplace where it was so loud that it was impossible to talk to the person next to you? In fact, after leaving, you say to that person, “It was so loud I couldn’t hear myself think.” Just curious, what does thinking sound like anyway?

Now, picture meeting your college roommate, whom you have not seen in many years, for coffee. You get to the coffee shop early and immediately look for a table in the corner, away from people, near the beautiful art that hangs on the wall. My wife and I do date night every week, usually going out to one of our favorite restaurants. If we can, we ask for a table away from the constant flow of people. Does the coffee or the food taste better at those faraway tables? Of course not. But to have quality time with the other person, without too much distraction and background noise, we often need to look for quiet places. 

The same can be said of our conversations with God. While it is true that God can speak to us in noisy rooms, in crowded coffee shops, in busy restaurants, and just about any other place, we often struggle to hear Him due to the endless distractions and interruptions. The problem is not God’s ability to speak, the problem is us being able to listen. Most often, God is not the loudest voice in the room. (Read 1 Kings 19:1:13, paying particular attention to vv.11-13.)

Throughout His life, Jesus withdrew from people, daily life activities, and the demands of his ministry to be alone with the Father and pray. After He heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded, we are told “he withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place” (Matthew 14:13). In Mark 1:35, here is what we read – “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” And on the night before His death, in the quietness of the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there [to a quiet place] and pray” (Matthew 26:36).

Even as the crowds grew, and He got busier and busier, Jesus knew he still needed to regularly get away from the noise and the people, simply to be alone with His Father. We find this in Luke 5:15-16 (GNT) – “But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.”

Quiet time is also simply being silent and still in God’s presence, listening, meditating on His Word. We read this in Zechariah 2:13 – “Everyone, be silent! The LORD is present and moving about in his holy place.” Psalm 46:10 begins like this – “Be still, and know that I am God.”

If you want to hear God and allow Him to speak to you, lead you, guide you, and direct your steps, then it is imperative to carve out time to be alone with Him, without interruption, without distraction.

So, where is your table for two?

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How we shop has changed over the years. General Stores, carrying a broad selection of merchandise, were commonplace in the 18th and 19th century, most often because mobility was limited. While these general merchandise stores have pretty much disappeared, where I live, they do still actually exist.

By the early to mid-20th century, due primarily to urban sprawl and the ever-increasing ease of transportation, retailers began to specialize in specific types of merchandise, meaning you had to shop at many different stores to buy all the various items you needed.

You went to the grocery store for food and beverages. In my childhood, we had milk, eggs, and fresh bread delivered to our house by a milkman. The corner apothecary dispensed medications and carried personal hygiene items. The department store was the place to go for that new suit or dress. The hardware store had paint and items for what we today call DIY projects. The appliance store sold refrigerators. And, the toy store, well, let’s just say, it was my favorite place. We went there as a reward for when I was a good little boy or got good grades on my report card. However, my parents and I had a very different understanding of what “good” meant, so we did not go too often.

Those types of stores do still exist, but these days, with the growth of the big box retail stores, you can pretty much load up on all of life’s necessities and luxuries at one place. You can buy everything from groceries to underwear to new tires all under one roof. While you shop you quite possibly can have a mechanic at that store put a new set of tires on your car. And if you are hungry or thirsty, never fear, there is probably a food and beverage kiosk nearby. Before heading home, you stop outside and fill up the car with gas, maybe even catching up on the latest news via the television screen on the gas pump. Those retailers that used to specialize in a few types of products and services have been forced to expand their offerings, just to stay in business.

Editorial commentary – I encourage you, whenever possible, to shop and eat local, supporting those small businesses in your community.

Not only have brick and mortar retailers changed how we shop, now with the explosion of the Internet, we don’t even need to get up off the couch to purchase goods and services any longer. Pretty much these days, you can find most everything you need (or want) via e-commerce: online shopping Not only can you shop online, but with subscriptions such as Amazon Prime, what you buy today can often show up on your doorstep as early as tomorrow. The Internet has made “one-stop” shopping as easy as a click here and a click there.      

We also have a God who is a “one-stop” shop; a place to go for all that we need. And just to be clear, “need” is different than “want.” In Genesis 3:21 we read, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and His wife and clothed them.” God has been providing for His people since the very beginning of time and He promises to meet your needs today.

The well-known 23rd Psalm begins like this, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (translated: I will not be in need).

And we are told in Psalm 34:9-10, “Fear the LORD, you holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Fear in this context means a healthy respect and reverence.  

So, do you trust God to supply all your needs? Or do you sometimes run from “store to store” trying to locate what you can’t seem to find?

Dear Father, grant us all the gift of ever-increasing faith so that we can trust You, and always look to You, for all our needs. Thank you for being our one-stop shop and for holding no good thing back from us. Amen

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Yesterday I posted a writing looking at how to respond when “out of the blue” happens in our lives. Today, let’s look at blue in a slightly different way. So, here we go.

Admit, some mornings you jump out of bed and the sky is blue while other mornings you simply have the blues. The expression feeling blue has been used throughout history in a number of ways. One comes from the tradition of ships flying blue flags when its captain or a crew member died. Another usage is derived from West African cultures in which mourner’s garments were dyed indigo blue to indicate sadness and suffering. Slaves working in Southern Plantations would sing songs of lament, songs of misery and oppression; this became the origin of “blues” music. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in his short poem Complaint of Mars wrote this – “With tears blue and a wounded heart.” You’ve heard some people say they have the winter blues.

Having the blues is understood to mean feelings of melancholy, being downcast, misery. And these feelings often lead to us hosting a pity party, one in which we feel sorry for ourselves. When we are, or at least when I am, feeling blue, I too often listen to the “what if” conjectures of my blue heart, leading me deeper into despair, from light blue to deep blue. It is a vortex that sucks us down and down some more.

The psalmist who penned Psalm 42 and 43 appears to be in one of those blue moods. Three times (42:5,11; 43:5) he says this – “Why are you in despair my soul and why so restless in me?” But instead of simply listening to his blue mood, he seems to be arguing with that blueness by remembering all the good that God has done – “My whole being is depressed. That’s why I remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep called to deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all your massive waves surged over me. By day the Lord commands his faithful love; by night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life” (42:6-8, CEB).

In those same three verses where the psalmist cries out “Why are you in despair?,” he also says this – “Wait for God, for I will again praise him for the help (hope) of His presence, my God.” Here the psalmist announces what he actively intends to do to combat his blueness. He will wait on God and praise Him again. Elsewhere in these two psalms, in the midst of crying out, we also see the psalmist’s soul panting and thirsting for God (42:1-2) and making God his citadel, his stronghold (43:2).

So, when you feel blue, do not simply listen to your troubled soul. Instead tackle your blueness head on, arguing with it, hungering for God’s presence, remembering His love, and securing yourself in His strong tower, putting all your hope in Him.

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To me, sailing conjures up an image of peacefulness as the boat smoothly sails through the water. The sun would be shining, the seas calm, albatrosses gracefully soaring overhead, and the winds just enough to blow gently against the sails. In sailing, depending upon the direction of the wind and which direction you want to go, and whether you are sailing upwind (windward) or downwind (leeward), the boat’s sails take on the characteristics of either an airplane wing or a parachute.

In a perfect world, life would also be smooth sailing. But life is not perfect, and it certainly is not smooth sailing. “Out of the blue” sometimes happens, threatening to capsize your boat, messing up your well laid out plans, tossing you and your possessions into the raging seas, and leaving you feeling helpless in the grip of the storm. The origin of out of the blue has evolved over time as a shortened version of an old idiom, a bolt out of the blue, referencing lightning that suddenly appears in the blue sky.  

Not only does the unexpected happen, but life also gets twisted, it gets made crooked. I have a t-shirt that sums up the story of my life, and I suspect it sums up yours as well. It shows two graphs; What I planned and What happened.

Have you or someone you know recently experienced one of those out of the blue , what happened, moments?  

A little over seven years ago, we heard those words nobody ever wants to hear – “You have cancer.” In that case, prostate cancer. It certainly was a punch in the gut. One that came out of nowhere. One that took our breath away. And just a few years ago, we experienced another one of those out of the blue, life getting twisted up moments. I suffered a stroke. Prior to the stroke, there were no warning signs. Thankfully, my wife got me to the hospital quickly, affording me the ability to receive the clot-busting drug, which breaks up the clot causing the blockage and helps restore blood flow to the brain, lessening its damage.

While life is different these days than it would have been without cancer or a stroke, we do press on, looking for, and continually learning, new ways to thrive with a body and brain that function differently than they once did.    

Our efforts to try and figure out that twistedness, to straighten things out, to supply what is lacking, often leaves us exhausted and confused. We just do not always have answers. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we find that very thing – “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (1:15).

Staying in Ecclesiastes, we are told that some things are just not in our control, and we are to accept both prosperity and adversity, knowing God is sovereign over both, without being able to explain just how it all will be worked out. Here is what we read – “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him” (7:13-14). Those two verses do not say that God initiated my health issues, but what I do believe they do say is that He can use the out of the blue, the unexpected crookedness, to test my faith and grow my faith.

Do I sometimes have moments of frustration and sadness? Do I sometimes wish things could be different? Yes, I do. But it is because of God’s unwavering faithfulness to me, even as my ever-growing faith sometimes wavers, that I can live out these words – “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD” (Psalm 112:7). And these – “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

So, today, and every day, amid the out of the blue and crookedness of life, when what is differs from what you planned, will you rejoice, pray, be thankful, trusting that God knows what He is doing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)? For me, some days that is easier than others, but I am committed to unfailingly trusting God and giving Him thanks, even when it is hard to do so.

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You have probably heard, or even used, one of these two phrases – “The glass is half full” or “The glass is half empty.” If the glass is filled to 50% capacity, is it half empty or is it half full? That rhetorical question is often a litmus test of a person’s perspective on a certain situation or circumstance. What you see as half full someone else might view as half empty, or vice versa. A person with a “half full” perspective generally has cause for optimism, and conversely, “half empty” often implies a pessimistic outlook.

To look at it another way, let’s turn to football. When does a punter come onto the field? The punter is most often called upon when the offense has failed to gain ten yards on three attempts. So, on fourth down, the punter takes a snap from the center and punts the ball to the opposing team, hopefully taking away their field position advantage, or better yet, pinning them deep in their own end. The punter on my college football team used to occasionally run with the ball to try and gain a first down instead of kicking it to the other team. That drove our coaching staff crazy, but George would run off the field and say, “Coach, even though it was 4^th and 20, I saw a first down!” Now that is definitely a glass half full mindset!

[As a side note, George was a three time all-conference selection and one of the best and most consistent punters in the league.]

The Bible tells us that we should sing to the Lord whether we face 2^nd down and 1 yard to go or 4^th and 20. Psalm 104:33 says this, “I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” Psalm 47:6 puts it like this, Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. And in the Book of Acts (16:25) we read that when Paul and Silas were in prison – that certainly would be cause for a half empty point of view – they were praying and singing, and guess what, other prisoners were listening.

The Westminster Catechism puts it this way – “Man’s chief aim is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy him forever.” We worship not based upon how we feel. We worship because God is worthy of our praise (Psalm 86:9: Revelation 4:11).   

So, I ask you today, what is it in your life that has a grip on you? What is it that is zapping your joy? What is it that is causing you to want to punt on 4th and 20? You might not be able to change your circumstances, but you can change your outlook. Worshipping every day, whether you feel like it or not, will change you and it will change those around you.

And remember this, even if your glass is half empty, it is also half full!

[As a postscript, sadly, George died in 2013 after a long and courageous battle with cancer, and even on his death bed, as cancer had eaten away his body and he only had hours to live, George still had a glass half full mindset, he still saw a first down possible, even at 4^th and 20. The last time I talked to George was only days before he died and he ended the call with these words, “Dave, thank you for your friendship, it means a lot to me.” I replied, “No, George, thank you!” Love you and miss you ol’ #42!]

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We all like those places of safety. As a child, the first place you probably wanted to run to when you were afraid was into your parent’s arms. Those big arms wrapped around you offered a safe haven in the face of fear. As a young boy, my friends and I built hideouts out of plywood, dirt and tree branches, and without the secret password nobody could enter our fort. We were safe from our parents, and most of all, also from the neighborhood girls.

Most of us today consider our house a safe place. The metal, wood, brick, concrete, stone, and asphalt offer us a measure of safety that isn’t found in hideouts made by boys. We can regulate the thermostat to a comfortable temperature while outdoors it could be 100 degrees or below freezing. We are told that the safest place during extreme weather events such as tornadoes and hurricanes is in the basement or an interior room without windows. Not only do our homes provide protection, most of us agree with Dorothy Gale, “There’s no place like home.”

But, while our homes do provide us with some measure of safety and security, we also know that they need regular upkeep and maintenance, along with the occasional major repair, in order to not start decaying, becoming unsafe. Even with proper upkeep, our homes at times let us down, they fail to be safe places. Have you ever seen a tree fall on a house? Did the roof or the tree win?     

On the contrary, in Jesus we have a safe place that will never let us down. The Bible calls Jesus our dwelling place, our safe shelter. Psalm 118:8 tells us, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans.” Psalm 91 is a beautiful testimony to the security we have when we trust in God. I encourage you to read this psalm in its entirety; today I offer you just four verses:

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust’” (vv. 1-2).

In these two verses we see four different names for God – Elyon (Most High), El Shaddai (Almighty), YHWH/Yahweh/Jehovah (LORD), and Elohim (my God, plural, as in Father, Son, Holy Spirit). These names reveal to us that –

(1) God is elevated above all else, He is the sovereign ruler,

(2) He is the all-powerful One, our sufficiency,

(3) YHWH is God’s personal name, the self-existent One, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3, and,

(4) He is the Creator, found in Genesis 1:1.

“If you say, ‘The LORD is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overcome you, no disaster will come near your tent” (vv.9-10).

To be clear, those verses do not say that bad things will never happen (read John 16:33), but rather, they do say that Jesus is our safe haven in both good times and in bad times.

And we find these hopeful words, Psalm 46:1-3 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”  

So, I ask you today, where are you putting your trust – in the decaying things of man or in the safe and secure permanent shelter of the Most High?

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