wyhr.orgWendy’s World

I read this today and thought I would share:

With a handful of Cheerios, I tip-toed across the deck in my backyard trying to sneak up on the fish in the pond… As I approached the railing, 15 enormous goldfish raced toward me, their large mouths frantically opening and closing in eager anticipation of an expected treat.

So, why did the fish so furiously flap their fins? Because my mere presence set off a conditioned response in their tiny fish brains that told them I had something special to give them.

If only we always had such a response to God and His desire to give us good gifts—a response based on our past experience with Him that flows from a deep-seated knowledge of His character.

“Growing up, everything is pushed on you,” she said. “You’re trying to be the smartest, trying to compete with everyone.

Heroin, she said, was an escape.”*

Escape is defined as getting free, freeing oneself.
Transcendence is defined as going beyond one’s self.

The two are very similar in my mind and it reminded me of what I read in The Sacred Romance. We are in fact seeking to transcend. We were made that way. We were designed with heaven in mind. We weren’t meant for this world and that’s why we constantly try to escape it via alcohol, love, food, drugs, work, sports…

It’s sad.

It’s sad because we don’t go to the only One who can curb our craving for escape, who can give us a taste of heaven. We don’t go to God and He’s the one we need.

*This quote was from a New York Times article titled Young and Suburban, and Falling for Heroin.

I know, I know. I finished this study up months ago. The thing is – there’s an epilogue. Since it was such a great study I felt compelled to complete the whole book (this is not a common occurence). I’m glad I did because I found this:

Were there but some deep, holy spell, whereby
Always I should remember thee…
Lord, see thou to it, take thou remembrance’s load:
Only when I bethink me can I cry;
Remember thou, and prick me with love’s goad.
When I can no more stir my soul to move,
And life is but the ashes of the fire;
When I can but remember that my heart
Once used to live and love, long and aspire–
Oh, be thou then the first, the one thou art;
Be thou the calling, before all answering love,
And in me wake hope, fear, and boundless desire.
~George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul

I’m reading Tony Dungy’s new book, Uncommon. Basically, it’s his perspective on how to live a life of significance…and it’s not about how he coached the winners of Superbowl XLI. This quote should sum it up for you:

“Both (Reverend Billy Graham & Coach Landry) began as ordinary men–submitted and available to God–whom God then used to touch the lives of others. Interestingly, that is often  how God works: through ordinary, available people who have submitted their lives to Him. He transforms the common work that we do into something majestic and eternal. Something uncommon.”

It’s so true. God has given each one of us a unique set of experiences and talents that only we can use right now where we’re at. We all have the opportunity to make an ordinary life uncommon.

P.S. – This book is jammed full of good stuff so stay tuned for more quotes.

As a Christian there are times when I feel that my every action is being scrutinized by those on the outside, like I’m a fish in a bowl. Well as I read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 today and verse 2 caught my eye.

“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception…”

Sometimes I get disheartened at how un-Christlike I behave – snapping at a co-worker, cursing, etc. But this verse says it all: I’m trying. Those times where I act “un-Christian”, well that’s brutal honesty, the opposite of deception. I’m not perfect nor am I trying to be. My ambition is to try to please God each day with how I live my life, knowing that I will make mistakes along the way. I just hope that those on the other side of the fish bowl can see it that way too.

David says this phrase in 1 Samuel 17, as he tells Saul why he should let him fight Goliath. David was able to defend his sheep from a lion and a bear prior to his meeting with Goliath.

Prior to his meeting with Goliath. A key point highlighted in today’s Streams in the Desert devotion. Without the lion, David might not have been prepared for his meeting with Goliath. As the author says, “Every difficulty that presents itself to us, if we receive it in the right way, is God’s opportunity…When the “lion” comes, recognize it as God’s opportunity no matter how rough the exterior…May God open our eyes to see Him, whether in temptations, trials, dangers, or misfortunes.”

Amen.

Did you ever hear a sermon or read a passage of the Bible and then look over your shoulder because it was totally what you were going through?

That happened to me on the last day before my division closed (July 31). That morning I read this entry in the Streams in the Desert devotional.

As moves my fragile boat across the storm-swept sea,
Great waves beat o’er her side, as north wind blows;
Deep in the darkness hid lie threat’ning rocks and reefs;
But all of those, and more, my Pilot knows.

Sometimes when darkness falls, and every light’s gone out,
I wonder to what port my frail ship goes;
Although the night be long, and restless all my hours,
My distant goal, I’m sure, my Pilot knows.
~Thomas Curtis Clark

Last night in my Life Group, we were discussing Habakkuk 1. The first question in the study asked about Habakkuk’s attitude in verses 2-4. As the group discussed his attitude, I used my recent job situation as an example. Here God had provided me with a job, at my current company NOT in process engineering and I was unhappy. Why?

Because I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. Because it didn’t work out the way I would have planned it.

Right, I was definitely acting like a 2-year old throwing a temper tantrum.

The funny thing is that yesterday as I sat down to write my objectives, I was kind of excited. It’s sorta what I wanted to do and since it’s never been done before I have a lot of freedom to make it what I want.

*sigh* I guess God was right after all.

God knew better than I did. He still does. He has a plan for me and although it doesn’t go exactly how I want or plan it, I should trust Him to take care of me.

It’s just all too easy for me to forget…and think I have to do it all on my own.

Last Monday I had one of the worst stomachaches of all time. I’m not exaggerating. It equalled a gallbladder attack*.

Some people are scared to puke, the flu isn’t a picnic and who isn’t embarassed to admit they have diarrhea. But since I wasn’t purging anything from my body, I just sat there and got worse. Two hours later, I crawled upstairs to the bedroom and started to cry. I cried and, as a last resort, asked God to take it away.

And then it was gone.

No lie, the pain was gone in minutes. I still felt a bit achy, but the pain I was crying over stopped. Could it really be that easy? Could God just take it away? The answer to both questions is yes.

So why did I wait so long to ask God?

* And, yes, I know what that’s like seeing as I had my gallbladder removed in February 2007.

Would we know that the major chords were sweet,
     If there were no minor key?
Would the painter's work be fair to our eyes,
     Without shade on land or sea?
Would we know the meaning of happiness,
     Would we feel that the day was bright,
If we'd never known what it was to grieve,
     Nor gazed on the dark of night?
~Charles Spurgeon