Hiding from God

The traditional reading for Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"--just ten days from now) is the book of Jonah. This is the story of a man who tried to hide from God. Hiding...several things (a blog post, a movie, old journal entries) have echoed this theme today.

Have you ever hid from God? I believe I have. In friends. In knowledge and Bible studies (ironic, isn't it?). In various distractions. The thing about hiding from God is it usually involves hiding from yourself as well. That makes it hard to detect--and even harder to correct. But God can help you come out into the light, if you ask Him.

Today is Yom Teruah--Day of Trumpets. On this day the trumpet sounds calling to our hearts and piercing to our soul: "Prepare for the coming our King!" How do we prepare? We must lay open our hearts before Him. We must strip ourselves of our pride. Your grades, your art, your career, your friends, your family, your wealth, your knowledge, your good works...I could go on--all must be laid down before we enter the presence of our King. We must approach in humility, laying down our crowns of gold and our crowns of thorns before Him. When it comes down to it, the only thing that matters is His faithfulness and His mercy.

As I read through some old journal entries, I am noticing a pattern. God has revealed Himself to me when I lay my heart bare before Him--when I acknowledge my faults, my guilt, my confusion and cry out sincerely to hear His voice. When I hand over everything--my past, my present, and my future--to Him. He is there waiting to reveal Himself to us. But maybe He's waiting for us to reveal ourselves to Him.

My desire is to pursue God with all my heart--to chase after the Ruach. But sometimes I wonder, who is really chasing who? Perhaps, in a sense, God is chasing after His bride. Shall we hide from Him any longer?

Surrender

My grip tightens. My resolve strengthens. And slowly everything I care about slips away.

Let go.

My hands slowly relax. I look to Him who gives me peace. My life falls away. I lose focus--I reach out to catch all the things I let go of. Frantically, I try to grasp at my fleeting ambitions.

Hand it all to me.

My eyes lock with His. My trust is in Him. Slowly I begin to hand pieces of my life to Him. He takes them. He molds them. I cry out "No! That's not what I wanted!" I reach out to grab my life back. And as I pull, they tear. My hopes. My dreams. Torn. My fears. My frustrations. My bitterness. My life--broken. And He says to me,

Will you trust me? My ways are higher than your ways. My plans are greater than your plans. I can take your life, your love, your hatred, your ambition, your fear--I can take all the broken pieces and turn them into something greater. But you have to give it all to me.

Broken, I hand Him what is left of my life. As He begins to work, I begin to see Him work wonders in my life. And as I see my life restored, I feel empowered to take it back. But He gently reminds me that I am His. Reluctantly, I surrender. My hopes and my fears. My friends and my family. My hands and my heart. I place it all into His hands.

Father, sometimes surrender feels like the hardest thing in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm caught in the middle. Father, help me to trust you.

Prayer of a Butterfly

God of our fathers and of every creature under heaven
Transform my life, make me a new creation
Through death of myself and in you resurrection

In wisdom you are crafting the wings with which I fly
Give me wisdom to use them to sail into the sky
And discernment to know when I have flown too high

With kindness you sustain every living creature
Mend my wings, make my flight sure
Forgive my sin, make my heart pure

Creation groans under the weight of sin
They hiss, they fight, but I won't give in
Gently I'll touch a shoulder or a hand
Sharing your love, waiting for redemption

Stepping Out Of The Boat

If you have not seen the movie Soul Surfer, you should. It is an amazing, true story about faith and courage. It's stories like this that help me see life in a different light.

Where the Dinosaurs Roam

Miles away from civilization, where the dinosaurs roam...


Where water is scarce, and the floods sweep away boulders, and the rain pours on a dry and dusty desert.

A connection is made with the Most High outside the cell phone network.