The Avocado of Opportunity

I saw a funny meme on Facebook awhile back, talking about avocados. The gist of it was, not ripe…not ripe…not ripe…overripe. I can relate to this, because I buy and consume my fair share of avocados. The struggle to get that perfect ripeness is real. With not even much experience, we can tell just by the feel when one is obviously, dreadfully, hard-as-a-racquetball, nowhere-near ripe. Other times, what we hold is probably somewhere between marginal and ideal; and we eventually have to cut into it, take that chance, and get the use of it or lose it entirely.

Isn’t all of life like this? We are so bent on perfection that we waste our blessings. We squander the chance to experience gratitude in the present tense. We defer until some future event the permission to be happy: when I’m thinner, when I have a relationship, when I get out of said relationship, when I have kids, when I finally get the kids out of the house, when I get my dream job, when I retire. Exhausting just to think of it, huh?

If what you hold in your hands always feels like it could be/should be a little better, I urge you to pray about learning to let go of your obsession with perfection. I’m a firm believer in all things done in excellence, not sloppily or carelessly; but there’s also the real danger of us becoming like the servant in Jesus’ parable who buried his talent in the ground and just sat on it instead of actually risking using what little he was given.

Be willing to let even your imperfect “avocados” of opportunity be used even when they don’t necessarily feel they’re at their potential best. If you don’t turn loose of that obsession with control, you’ll have a whole portfolio of the unused and unfinished. Songs you meant to finish writing but never got around to. Recordings that you meant to release if you could make them sound just a little bit better. Sermons not preached. Books saved in draft mode and not published, because the author is hoping to someday be able to tag “PhD” at the end of his/her name, and that title implies “more accomplished.” Foundations poured for houses that will never be built because the builder wants to leave the blueprint open-ended. Dreams half-realized, or having sat in limbo for so long, we no longer even dream or remember or care. And the most tragic of all, voids left in society because you hid what could bless God and humankind just because you waited for a better version to evolve.

This is your one short vapor life; and you can live in avoidance, mired in fantasy, and even convince yourself that one day you are going to cut into that “avocado” when the time is right. However, your fear of being remembered for the imperfection of your gifts can cause you to not be remembered at all–because you never shared them. If your imperfect work has the ability to impact many in the moment, why would you settle for impacting only a few…maybe only yourself…maybe no one at all…after that right moment has passed, all for the sake of feeling a little more in control?

Stop keeping your options open. Stop fearing you’ll be judged or ridiculed unfairly. Word: you’re gonna be judged unfairly by someone (probably yourself), no matter how perfect a thing you manage to turn out. Stop being your own biggest hindrance. Know when to just stop editing and revising and filtering, and let it be what it is. Use what you have to the best of your ability and use it before the sand has all run out of your hourglass.

“For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Matthew 13:12)

Grieving to Recover

Grief affects different people different ways; so be careful not to size up the grief by appearance. It’s a time for giving one another a wide berth and much compassion, not judgment. Someone who seems unaffected by loss may be in fact be hurting deeply. Our personalities are unique and so are our coping mechanisms.

And when it happens to you, grieve; it’s natural and healthy. But…when grief begins to subside or lessen its grip on you, LET IT LIFT (even if it’s sooner than you expected) and don’t let the devil make you feel guilty for letting that season pass. Recognize that the overwhelming, smothering, most raw kind of grief is not meant to stay always. Just as a burned-out forest eventually sees sprouts of green pushing up through the ashes, you are meant to keep living!

Recovering from a loss does not mean you didn’t love that person enough; recovering does, to the contrary, do honor to his or her memory by allowing hope and healing to bloom in the vacant place. Grieving oneself to death is not meant to happen and it isn’t a testament of your love for the person you’ve lost.

If you should wind up in a downward spiral or are inordinately long in the place of grief and cannot seem to shake yourself free, please, please seek grief counseling. How long is too long? I think you’ll feel it even if your initial response is to resist healing. There is a balance somewhere down the road where you can reserve a healthy level of sadness over a loss but it can no longer drown out your desire to live.

My prayer for each of you today is that God will comfort and bless you through your seasons of sorrow. May He grant you courage to keep living and to keep finding beauty and gratitude. If you don’t have a relationship with Him, I pray that you will be open to discover that His love is the most important love you’ll ever encounter; and that His healing presence will sustain and renew you through even the most traumatic life experience.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.” (Psalm 34:18 NCV)

The Foolish, Desperately Wicked Heart

Photo by Raka Miftah on Pexels.com

“Well, God knows my heart,” is at the same time one of the most comforting and the most alarming statements ever. We know of His goodness; let’s not abuse His grace. We can fool others, we can even fool ourselves; but He knows what’s really in our hearts and our hearts are usually very fickle, gullible, and fallable. Our hearts will take the same bait time after time after time, even knowing we’re probably going to regret it; but reasoning that maybe this time we won’t.

I can walk away/quit anytime I want. I’m more mature now. This time it’ll be different. I’m strong. I know what I’m doing. Just this once and I won’t do it anymore. How dare you judge me? I can do this and still remain in control. No one knows me here, so it’s okay. I’m a good person, I’m important, I work hard, hey, I deserve to be happy. I earn the right to have a little fun. I have a right to do whatever I want. No one tells me what to do! Ain’t nobody’s business anyway. And the biggie: I’m only hurting myself.

It’s why David, after his major moral failure with Bathsheba, penned Psalm 51. We usually can quote the “Create in me a clean heart” passage in 51; but I challenge you today, go back and read that fairly short Psalm in its entirety. David was broken and repentant and very transparent; but it wound up happening only after the man of God called him out on his not-so-secret sin.

The reason I am sharing this passage today is that we can lie to ourselves all day long that our hearts are always pure, our motives always tempered by sound judgment, that the end justifies the means…oh how I wish it were true! It’s why when I hear someone offer the advice, “Just follow your heart!” I cringe. Some of the saddest trainwrecks in my own history have come from following my heart. But for the grace of God.

Stay in the Word, not just as an observer but as a participant in its teachings. And muster up the courage to examine yourself…identify those parts of your personality and character that are vulnerable to sin and temptation. David prayed, “See if there be any wicked way in me;” and I would add to that thought, “Lord, You already see it…show it to me too, so I can begin to loathe what threatens to destroy me. May I choose to not walk in deception!”

It’s ugly. It doesn’t feel good to be under the microscope! Let God begin to heal and deal with those weak places in your nature; and while you’re at it, make up your mind to start fleeing temptation instead of doing the dance with it. Temptation acted on has no good end. When you feel that sickeningly sweet beckoning toward a thing you know has left ruin in its wake in your life in times past (or even in your family tree), FLEE it! Flee it and throw yourself at the mercy of the cross. Better to avoid the heartaches and shame and mistakes entirely than to have to come and let God put you back together after you’re shattered. He will, of course, when you repent, but you will have some painful scars to remind you of wrong choices made when you “followed your heart.” There are some things that will unleash painful consequences that remain long after you’ve gotten forgiveness. Remember, we have an enemy who steals, kills, and destroys.

For some reason I have a mental image of a bunch of ball players sitting around the table watching as the coach shows a video and makes notes on a whiteboard…they’re watching what cost them the last game, figuring out their weaknesses, trying not to let what wrecked the past become a pattern of chronic failure for the future. That’s what wise people do, isn’t it? Embarrassing as it is to identify our weaknesses, it would be foolish to pretend that they don’t exist when our opponent knows them too…and will mercilessly go for our most vulnerable traits in an attempt to trip us up.

We can’t continue to pursue wrong things and expect the right outcomes. I say this to ME! To all of us! Our “best life now” isn’t a life of disregard for consequences…it’s making better choices than we might have made in the past, which is a setup for true joy, lasting peace, and success.

Trees of Righteousness

“…to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3 ESV

This is one of my favorite Scriptures in all the Bible, in any translation. The “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord” part brings an image that causes pure joy to rise up in my spirit. Every time I see a strong, stately, beautiful tree, this Scripture rushes to my remembrance and I feel at peace.

Think of the many blessings God gives us from the humble tree. A tree’s leaves absorb carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. We are supposed to be a breath of fresh air to our surroundings! It produces fruit, provides shelter, shade, a windbreak against the violent storm; it’s a home to many birds and small animals. It prevents the topsoil from eroding away so that the landscape is lush and full of growth. We put tire swings on trees for our kids, and we have picnics under the comforting canopy of their branches. They are the recognizable landmarks we use to give others directions. Some of them become the paper we write on, the homes we live in, and the fuel that keeps us warm in winter. Their bark, leaves, and roots are medicine. There is no part of the tree that fails to provide value, no season of life in which it has no active role in the ecosystem…and even in the tree’s death, it continues to give.

Lord, make us trees of righteousness, fulfilling every purpose You intended when You planted us. Help us to bring value and meaning and a reflection of Your goodness in our surroundings every day. You’ve brought us through hard times and heaviness, so may we receive Your grace and allow Your healing to set forth meaning as we share that hope with others.

May we glorify You in all we say and do! May we remain aware of the significance and responsibility of being Your “trees” as we display continual evidence of Your goodness! Amen and amen!

Permission to Be Healed

Repeat after me: “Lord, I am Your child, Your cherished creation. You don’t see me as a victim, an orphan, an outcast, marginalized, a less-than. I refuse to see myself as anything You don’t sanction! If You don’t believe it about me, Father, it’s a lie!”

The wrong voices speaking into your life will have you so messed up, you can’t believe anything good about yourself or for that matter, about other people. The enemy of your soul knows that if you can’t believe anything good about yourself, you’ll always question the goodness of your Creator.

I love Psalm 1 for many reasons, and this is one of them. It says we are blessed if we don’t walk in the counsel of ungodly people, we don’t stand in the way of sinners, we don’t sit in the seat of the scornful; but instead we make the Word of God our focus, our counsel, our example, and the influencer of our heart attitudes. Nowadays, we tend to take our life advice from some pretty unhealthy sources–tv talk shows, social media, magazines, even our peers. They’ll convince us that we are broken and just don’t know it yet…and that we’ll be forever defined by what broke us. They’ll condition us to stay skeptical, cynical, vindictive, at odds (even enemies) with anyone who disagrees with us; not just demanding a resolution, but also the right to keep the sore open and oozing with no healing in the future–because if it’s ever healed, it no longer gets to remain our identity. Sound familiar? Turn on the tv or look on your newsfeed…drama that promises to never come to an end.

And the enemy laughs and claps. He keeps us bound and everyone around us pulled into the bondage. God help us, our society has become addicted to it.

If you are compelled to believe that you are forever broken, you’ll never even try to rise above that state. You may even fight to keep that identity of brokenness because it has become the comfortable norm: broken us becomes the only us we recognize. All of us have something in our history that could be used as a measuring stick to what lies in our future. All of us have some tipping point event that could have ruined us, but for the grace of God. Maybe it’s divorce, maybe childhood abuse/neglect, poverty, tragedy, generational curses, a false accusation, maybe a bully, a betrayal, a discrimination, or some unfair outcome from choices other people made that left you or me at a gross disadvantage. Other milestones may be the unthinkably stupid, selfish, or wrong choices that we ourselves have made, which took us down paths we now regret. Truthfully, I have both kinds of situations in my history and you probably do too. Oh the stories I could tell…except, that’s not who I am anymore. Neither the devil nor anyone else gets the distinction of having ruined me. Gee, that felt good. I think I’ll go stand in front of the mirror and say that again:

NEITHER THE DEVIL NOR ANYONE ELSE GETS THE DISTINCTION OF HAVING RUINED ME.

Yesterday is gone, my friend. It’s time to let it be in the tomb of time. God’s mercies are new every morning. You woke up today with a chance for better than yesterday. A chance to grow, to heal, to change. Don’t resist being restored just because it feels more familiar to remain broken! Don’t allow the devil to keep you bound to an identity that God hasn’t given you. You may have been a temporary victim but don’t ever allow yourself to have that identity permanently etched on your soul…not because you got so hardened that no one could ever hurt you again, but because you refused to surrender your joy to a devil or a person or a culture or an event on your timeline.

I’ve shared before about a dream I once had where I was in a corridor with two doors on either side. I had my hand on one doorknob and was trying to reach out and grasp the other doorknob, but my arms weren’t long enough to lay hold of both. I knew when I woke up, God was showing me that I needed to move forward on a matter but I was still holding on to where I’d come from. And the truth is, as long as I viewed it easier or more advantageous to stay stuck in an endless loop of my hurts and disappointments, I’d never be free to be…free.

The good news in Psalm 1 is the flipside. When we pull away from bad counsel, bad company, and bad mindsets, we become like flourishing trees growing right on the river bank. Notice it sometime–trees by the river or a constant water supply are the first to bloom in spring and some of the last to fade in the autumn. I want to have lasting fruitfulness, and I’m sure you do too. My tree bark may have a few scars on it but I’m thankful that they’re testimony of God’s faithfulness to help me bounce back again and again, and not just a story with a tragic end.

May you be healed today. Receive healing. May you be whole today. Wholeness means restoration back to like-new condition, as if you were never afflicted or injured! May all of you reading this be The Comeback Kid. Let’s aim for not just healing, but also wholeness in spirit, soul, and body. When the devil tries to drag you back into the quagmire, stand your ground and say, “In Jesus’ name, that’s not who I am! That door is closed! The past no longer gets a say in my future…I am a child of God!

A RESTORATION WORD FOR BELIEVERS WITH A BROKEN, INCOMPLETE PAST

This is a word I believe the Lord has given me for those who have in recent months or years come to the Lord from a hard past, who don’t know quite where you/they fit in. I know people who’ve come out of prison, rehab, the streets, broken homes, etc., who don’t yet feel as if they are whole, nor do they yet feel like “equals” with their adult brothers and sisters in Christ who come from a healthier background:

“I am filling in the gaps for you by restoring wholeness to your inner person. The years that the cankerworm ate by drugs, dysfunctional families, destructive habits and behaviors, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse are in the past; but though they cannot be added back into your life, I will make you as whole as if those years weren’t missing from your early life. Right now you may be in your 30s, 40s, 50s, a little younger or older but you feel as if you fit in more with children and teenagers than with adults; it’s because you have awakened after a long time in darkness. It may feel a little harder to relate to many others your age because your path is just now merging with theirs.

You are going to be okay. If you will lean into Me and let me grow you, I can bring you up to speed to where you feel more like you belong, even among other adults who’ve had healthy experiences that you missed out on when your life purpose took a detour. I am situating people in your present and future, if you’ll let Me, who will mentor you and help you mature and catch up. I will teach you life skills and how to become responsible and stable. I will grant you opportunities to earn respect and develop confidence. You will defy the odds, and you will be a beacon of hope for others who feel there is no way they can be redeemed. Why? Because My hand is on your life. I have use for your testimony, even the painful part—and I can create a safe-enough distance between you and the pain so that you can share a victory story without being drawn back into depression and despair. Don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Trust me on the days you feel like a failure and stay humble when doors begin to open for you. Be quick to repent of habits, actions, mindsets that need to be changed or forsaken. Be quick to forgive when people let you down or misunderstand you, and that includes forgiving yourself. Release the regret of yesterday. You have today and the remaining days of your life, and My mercies are new every morning. Work with the present and I will heal what’s missing or broken from your past—I will repair the cracks and smooth out the wrinkles. I love you and yes, I value you—just as much as those who’ve never been where you came out of. You are not a less-than, you are a more-than conquerer. Just wait and see how I will make your story amazing and glorious!”

Clear to the Finish

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.

Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.

Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. (Ecclesiastes 12:1-6; 13b-14 NLT)

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Finishing well…

Challenging ourselves to exceed our past victories isn’t necessarily a bad thing; at least, unless it drives us into depression or a feeling of failure when our present isn’t quite as exciting as “what used to be.” Ask most uber-successful (at least in the public’s eye) what their greatest fear is, and many will tell you something like, “I’m afraid of becoming a has-been; irrelevant; a metaphor; obsolete; on the markdown rack of the record store of life.” They’re afraid that they’ll not be able to remain suspended on the high of success, to the status of champion, the blockbuster, the well-known, the respected. A bestseller status may come with a sobering thought: “Will I ever be able to do this again, will I ever be able to break my own record? Can I still be happy even if I don’t?”

Face it, at some point in time, you will do, see, go to, taste, become, experience the greatest thing of your life. Can you be ok with life going back to normal after those singular greatest experiences, or will you constantly compare the present to the past and rob yourself of enjoyment of what’s here, right now, and what’s to come? Can you remain grateful for life even with its ups and downs, the temporary nature of success, or the awareness that those greatest moments only last for a little while? Yes, you can.

The only thing that you for sure haven’t done yet is to FINISH. We will all finish, sometime in our future. Some will arrive there sooner than others. There will be no chance to repeat or exceed that experience because a finish means no more, at least in this one short life. Maybe you cannot roll back the years and be who you once were, or do things you aren’t able to do now, but you can finish well. Even if you’re a hundred years old and on a cane. Even if no one’s still around who remembers the victory lap, the full head of hair, the trophies, the most lauded season you ever had.

You aren’t who you were then. You have grown. You develop character not because of the slam dunks, but more often from the timeouts and the losses and the time spent on the bench. Sure, it’s nice to relive in our memories, but you’ve one responsibility you haven’t yet met, whether you realize it or not–and that’s to finish and finish well.

Don’t be so focused on what no longer is that you cannot turn your attention to the present, and even more importantly, to eternity. Don’t let it prevent you from celebrating others who now are getting to experience what you may once have…because you can be the one to give them an example of how to remain happy after a pinnacle moment passes. They need you to show them how to successfully remain grateful all the way to the finish. You don’t have to live vicariously through other people in order to appreciate when they get to experience their moments–you can actually enjoy it as YOU, and then go right back to being who you are now–happy for who you were then but also happy for who you are now. Gratitude keeps time from souring us!

Lord, help us to be grateful even when life comes with disappointments or downhill paths. Help us to be thrilled when we have those unforgettable experiences, but not jaded when we discover that not every day is full of success, winning, achieving, experiencing a new personal record. If You are the source of our joy, it can’t be taken from us…whether we’re maxing out or bottoming out. You are our constant.

May we give You thanks in spite of it all–the wins, the losses, the mediocre days in-between. Thank You for all the seasons of our life and our growth from the burst of life in spring to the winding down of winter. We can remain at peace in all of it, free from the need for constant affirmation of others. May we keep You first and complete what Solomon described as the “whole duty” of a person–to reverence You and follow your commands. May our eternity be a good one because of the choices we make now–and may we inspire other people to live for You, as gratefully and as intentionally as they can, so that we all might finish well. Amen.

Lacking Nothing

Patience. Are you willing to experience the “almost-but-not-quites” on your journey to your destiny? Brace yourself because there will be some! My biggest need of all, perhaps, is to let patience have her perfect work so that I can be whole and entire, lacking nothing! It’s hard not to succeed immediately. We’ve spent our entire lives watching movies where the whole plot of the story gets resolved in 90 minutes, and we want real life to work out that way too. In our fishbowl society where all eyes are on us, we are so afraid people will judge us if we can’t be a superstar at every single thing…and in record time, no less.

It’s been the ongoing challenge of my life not to rush to the finished product. Lifting the lid on the crockpot knowing good and well that a peek disrupts and makes the process even longer. Not waiting for the nail polish to dry before the next coat. Putting the furniture together without reading the instructions, only to find out I just tightened the nut down on a part that was supposed to go somewhere else. Not waiting a day or two to proofread that manuscript one final time; or better yet, to have handed it over for a second set of eyes to critique. Not waiting to hear from God on a specific request, but rather, figuring that “silence is consent” on His part. I can criticize Abraham and Sarah’s rush for the fulfilled promise all I want; but I’ve tried to get ahead of God’s plan too, thinking He surely must need my input, surely He must have gotten busy and forgotten me…I’ve done it more times than I can count.

I read somewhere once that the way to set up a peach tree for future bumper crops is to pluck off all the first year’s peaches while they’re still green and discard them. Whaaaaaaa?!!! I’d love to have a peach orchard on a big piece of property somewhere someday, but I can only imagine how hard it would be to cast off that first crop! Matter of fact, Levitical law actually requires the children of Israel to do that for the first three years…then the fourth year’s crop is sanctified holy to the Lord, then they may do as they wish with the fruit beginning with the fifth year. Interesting that even HE didn’t want the “first fruits” to be the firstfruits. Why, He even made provisions for rotating ground crops and letting the land rest. It’s little wonder that by obeying these religious laws, their land is so fertile and the produce so abundant. God always knows what He’s doing–He wrote the original Farmer’s Almanac!

What gets us in a pickle is trying to shortcut around what we know to be right. It takes faith in order to trust Him enough to count certain things as a loss in order to attain something better in the long run. It’s the test that we perhaps fail the most often. We might ask, “God, You knew how this would turn out…why did I have to waste my time going through the whole process just to walk away with nothing?” Disappointment is hard; but if we will let Him, God can build character and consistency in us when we choose to keep trying in the wake of failures. We see one scenario playing out, when in fact, He has the entire view from start to finish and has a better plan–something more than we can ask or think! Letting the process run its entire course; it’s what makes millionaires out of ordinary investors–not trying to pull out dividends as soon as they start accumulating, and not trying to sell off shares every time there’s a bear market year. Fear makes us foolish; faith makes us flourish!

Father, help us build this kind of resolve–to count the losses as mere trial runs, and to keep persevering while we wait patiently on Your plan for our lives. When we can’t believe that the invention, the song, the book, the piece of art, the business, the ministry, or whatever enterprise we’ve embarked upon did not bear a bumper crop, help us not to give up. Maybe it was a very good project that seemed foolproof, and then it flopped. Maybe, however, it was one of those first few crops that was meant to perish in order for our tree to be rooted deep and to be stronger and more consistent for many years to come.

We roll our works upon You–we commit and trust them wholly to You–and will do things Your way! We believe that, according to Proverbs 16:3, You will cause our thoughts to become agreeable to Your will. Wow! You’ll even help our thought life to align with what is going to work–Your will. When that happens, our plans shall be established and succeed! Yes, we CAN prune off what seems to promise to be a sure thing if that’s what You know will guarantee a better outcome later. We CAN rest when You say rest, knowing that obedience will take us so much farther than our best efforts to rush to a hasty quick-fix finish. Make us willing to fail in order to eventually succeed. Teach us to wait upon You, and to never give up!

Fallout Shelter

Back in days of the Cold War, “fallout shelter” became a familiar term as people grew increasingly aware of a threat of nuclear war. It wasn’t altogether uncommon for some serious preppers to build an underground bunker similar to the tornado shelters of the Heartland. I can remember, as a child, that I didn’t fully comprehend what a fallout shelter actually was; but I knew that it was protection from something ominous. The symbol on the outside of our county courthouse and other public buildings was an unsettling yet comforting reminder that if some bad thing were to happen, there was perhaps a place to run and hide.

Last night as I was brushing my teeth, I stared at the Psalm 91 print on my bathroom wall and in my mind, I recalled the fallout shelter symbols that were so commonly seen in my childhood. Although the most popular translation of Psalm 91 refers to the “secret place” of the Most High where a believer can dwell perpetually in our relationship with God, I pondered the aspect of that place of safety where the righteous might congregate when peril grips the land. We don’t really grasp what that means because in general, we haven’t felt unsafe out there rubbing shoulders with the world. We haven’t truly sold out to the idea that we’re not supposed to be absorbed into this culture; because though it shocks us from time to time, it holds the same kind of seduction that Sodom and Gomorrah held for Lot and his wife and daughters. The danger is perhaps a little exciting. We’re not genuinely repulsed, as well we should be, by the effects of sin on this world.

I’ve never had to run to a fallout shelter, nor hunker down in a reinforced space during a bad storm, and I hope I never will. Recurring nightmares of floods, wars, tornados, and disasters where I couldn’t find my family are more than enough drama without the real thing coming to pass. Yet, as I think of my most terrifying and vivid dreams, I can put that Psalm 91 shelter into perspective. Yes, it is plausible that something terrible could happen where we might have to be (if not outright hidden from an attacker who seeks to abduct or kill us) somewhere safe and secure from danger. Those of us who’ve lived in safety all our lives can’t really fathom a warning blast and having mere minutes to escape imminent danger. We don’t even have disaster drills in most locations because we’ve never had to have a rapid response plan. Yet the Psalmist, a man not unfamiliar with war, animal attacks, and danger, penned such a wonderful illustration when he wrote:

You who live in the shelter of ‘Elyon,
who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai,
who say to Adonai, “My refuge! My fortress!
My God, in whom I trust!” —
he will rescue you from the trap of the hunter
and from the plague of calamities;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his truth is a shield and protection.

You will not fear the terrors of night
or the arrow that flies by day,
or the plague that roams in the dark,
or the scourge that wreaks havoc at noon.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it won’t come near you.
Only keep your eyes open,
and you will see how the wicked are punished.

For you have made Adonai, the Most High,
who is my refuge, your dwelling-place.
No disaster will happen to you,
no calamity will come near your tent;
for he will order his angels to care for you
and guard you wherever you go.
They will carry you in their hands,
so that you won’t trip on a stone.
You will tread down lions and snakes,
young lions and serpents you will trample underfoot.
Because he loves me, I will rescue him;
because he knows my name, I will protect him.
He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble.
I will extricate him and bring him honor.
I will satisfy him with long life
and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91, Complete Jewish Translation)

David frequently used verbiage that described God’s protective nature, referring to Him in such phrases as “strong tower,” “shelter,” “secret place,” “refuge,” and others. We gloss over these phrases because few of us have ever had to cry out to God from a foxhole with the sound of exploding artillery all around us, or from a sinking ship being inundated with dark water. Our idea of trouble is Him getting us through a rough day at the office, or perhaps help during a financial crisis when we’ve had more month than money. David, Isaiah, and others knew danger when they penned words about Him hiding us in a safe place until calamities be past. I can only imagine the terrifying closeness of death that people feel when a tornado rattles vehemently over the locked doors of the underground shelter, and how glad they must be that they knew in time to run to safety. I feel that in these upcoming days, we will probably get a clearer revelation about what it’s like to be in a protected place while the sounds of disaster shake everything that can be shaken.

We need once in a while to be reawakened, re-sensitized to the fact that we are in the last days. We are about to see hard, sad, terrifying phenomena as the clash between righteousness and unrighteousness creates rumblings in the earth. Whether it would mean literal physical danger from war, or natural disasters, or famine and pestilence, or the intense battle for the souls of humankind, this earth is no longer a neutral ground in good versus evil. We need an established place of refuge in our God–familiar because we have been in His presence already–and know where to run and bring others when the worst day of our lives happens. And we will all have that worst day of our lives. Is He Lord of your life? Are you ready in the event that all hell breaks loose? Is the secret place ready to run to, or have you instead turned it into a junk room where there’s no way you could access it at a moment’s notice?

The interesting thing about museum depictions of the Cold War fallout shelters is that they weren’t just big empty rooms with walls meant to block the direct effects of radiation poisoning. They were ideally equipped with necessities for survival in the event that one might have to remain hidden for a time. Food, water, heat and light sources, etc., were kept stored in these bunkers for use by the hidden ones. I like to think of God’s provision in His Psalm 91 shelter as that way, too: if ever we have to take refuge from terrible life circumstances, He isn’t prepared just to shield us momentarily, but also to sustain us as long as it is necessary. I’ll be honest, I don’t want to think about being in survival mode; I like peace and I like an easy life. I’m glad, however, that my Father sees farther down the road than I do and is leading me to focus on something greater than the lull of my immediate comfort.

We don’t know, as these last days’ cataclysmic events unfold, what our previously free-and-easy lives might encounter. Food and supply shortages, infringements upon our civil liberties and religious freedoms, even invasion of a foreign enemy could change life as we know it. Covid-19 could just be the first of who knows how many more pandemic pestilences that invade the nations. Ungodly cultural shifts etch away at both our children’s and our own sense of right and wrong. We feel the pressure to conform even though we know we must be instead transformed by the renewing of our minds (just so we can continue to discern what’s good and acceptable to God!). If we have been lax in nurturing our relationship with the Father, now it is high time to shake off the complacency and begin familiarizing ourselves with His place of safety. We are going to need it even if we don’t fully comprehend what dangers lie ahead.

The good news is, He’s already got a special fallout shelter ready for those who will make Him Lord of their lives. God’s will is not for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance…which simply means, to do a “180” of heart and mind! When our hearts and minds change, our lives and actions will follow. You don’t have to be left defenseless from the attack of the enemy, because our Lord has already made a way. If the appeal of a cozy secret hideaway where you and God can meet in the cool of the day doesn’t draw you to the place David described in Psalm 91, then consider the non-optional fallout shelter of Psalm 91: for it’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN you’re going to need to be shielded from calamity as sin and iniquity continue to open the floodgates of demonic attack. You’ll not survive the storm about to engulf humanity if you don’t have a relationship with God.

Father, I pray that all of us will discern the times in which we are living, and that none will remain out from under Your protection. Convict hearts, O Holy Spirit, that we who are fickle might run without delay through the door Christ opened for us by His life’s sacrifice. We accept the risen Savior today and we ask You to not only save us, but to keep us, body, soul, and spirit. Teach us to cherish the place You have carved out for our preservation. Teach us to value holy living as well as listening for Your guidance. You will reveal pathways for our good and not for our destruction, through Your Word and through Your messengers. May the lives we live post directions to YOUR fallout shelter so that we might preserve many. In Yeshua’s name we pray, Amen.

The Fine Print

“When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15 ISV

Ever hear the acronym “EULA?” If you’ve ever downloaded a software app or a game, you’ve no doubt met Eula even if you didn’t take time to know her. She’s the lady who makes you so impatient that you check the box without reading it just to get what you wanted. When you actually DO click the link to read the “end user license agreement,” it’s frustratingly long and complicated and full of legal yadayadayada, so you scroll past and select the box to accept the terms of the contract, get your product, and hope like crazy that you didn’t just pledge your firstborn. It doesn’t matter anyway…right?

I’ve done it many times and probably so have you. We have that inherent trust that surely, it’s just a required disclaimer and nothing more—a means to an end. Surely the licensor would not mean the licensee any harm. We just want what we want; then to our surprise, we start getting a mysterious recurring bill for $14.95 on our credit card. When we trace it back, our epiphany moment reveals that yes, it did turn out to cost us more than we bargained for. Oh, most of those checkboxes probably are harmless; but there’s a reason the terms are so long and cumbersome…they’re intended to frustrate you into agreeing without reading the fine print.

The devil is in the details of real life, too, and not just metaphorically. His end goal is to take you farther than you ever intended to go. Eula’s real name is ELLA—the End Loser License Agreement (no offense to ladies whose names happen to be Eula or Ella, btw). Surely the forbidden fruit is good for food; and then your eyes are opened and you find you’re not liking what you see.

Many times we blame God when our life choices go wrong. He allows us to choose for ourselves despite His warnings not to choose a certain way; and then when we override Him and it goes south, we angrily accuse Him of being an unreasonable tyrant. He should’ve made it so that there were no hidden surprises, no consequences, right? Actually, He warns us in clear language not to do certain things. Sometimes He’s been screaming in our conscience so long that we don’t even hear Him anymore. What we view as punishment from God is just the fine print of the devil’s crafty license agreement to do what God tries to warn us not to do.

Lord, You are not a deceiver. Your Word doesn’t trick us into hasty decisions and moral upsets. It’s very much to the point. If something is going to harm us, You say, “Don’t.” If something will bless us, You say, “Do.” You created clear boundaries for our safety, but You gave us free will. You don’t want us to choose what You cannot bless; You want us to choose life.

It’s only within Your boundaries that Your rules are in force. When we override Your written Word and even Your laws written in our hearts—our conscience—we begin to deal with another licensor. His product has no clear guaranteed end result. It can lead us down a thousand “additional in-app purchases available” paths before the end result emerges as death. Oh, it may not be literal death at first, but a thousand tiny cuts. Death of healthy relationships, death of a marriage, death of our health, death of our integrity, death of critical opportunities, death of time.

You came that we might have abundant life and You gave Yourself to give us eternal life. And though our salvation rests in what You did alone, we still must receive Your sacrifice. We still need to operate within Your boundaries in order to ensure an outcome You prescribe.

Thank You for grace and for mercy. You can set us back on the right path if we confess and repent for our sins (our deliberate overriding of what You have warned us and outright commanded us not to do). Sometimes You lessen the severity of the consequences even as You forgive us, but our bad choices will still have altered our lives in ways that won’t change. We may leave here prematurely or damage others’ lives for our hasty rush to accept the terms of the other licensor. Whatever’s in his terms of agreement, the devil cannot fulfill a promise of no consequences for departing from Your will.

Create in us a clean heart, one that responds again to Your guidance and isn’t seared with a hot iron. Give us a hunger for Your presence and a desire to consult You for the choices we make, before we make them. Right choices don’t totally exempt us from opposition or hardship—sometimes we will suffer for doing right—but You will ultimately work all things for our good and will bless us for following Your lead. You can even bring about good things in spite of the consequences of our poor choices and sins.

We love You and we ask You to help us love You more. We will strive to make choices within the framework of Your Word and our conscience today, so that we don’t grieve Your Holy Spirit. Grant us mercy and grace to recover from the outcome of our sins. Teach us to judge ourselves, to pray, to turn from a pattern of repeated wrongs. Help us to do the work of killing the roots of strongholds that promise to keep reproducing cursed results. Forgive us and shape us in ways that please You, for You paid a terrible price to redeem us, we ask in Jesus’ name.