Faith, like a coat.

When chilled by my life’s trails, I reach for my coat. I trust it to keep me warm, confident, at peace.

Wearing my faith, like a coat, banishes all anxious thoughts. It calms all fear. Right?

Right??

So I don this coat of faith and I stroll to the mirror of life’s experiences. I take a good long look. My reflection, still anxious, still fearful, ignores my coat. 

Give it a minute, we’ll warm up here soon enough.

I can’t get warm enough to stop being anxious.

Confused and distressed I quickly take it off. Am I missing something? I turn it over in my hands. Do I have the right one? I check the labels. Is this a counterfeit? I read the wear instructions.

I put it on again.

Not so quick to approach the mirror, I look.

Why can’t I get warm?  

In His Image

Keeping my eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of my faith.

The Like Button

Do I know you? Or do I know about you?

Have I clicked the like button? Or have I engaged in intimate conversation?

Can I recite the rules? Or have I experienced a life of change?

Am I a fan? Or a brother?

One of the hallmarks of a full on, complete follower of Jesus, is the desire to know Him intimately. If we can’t identify where Jesus has intersected our life experience, then we are deluding ourselves in believing we have an actual, real, living relationship with Him. Much of what we call relationship with Jesus is really fandom. We have become Jesus fans. We’ve clicked the “like” button. But we know very little of experiencing Jesus in the reality of our lives.

Perhaps we’ve download the faith app. Expending the effort to learn His likes and dislikes, attempting to find out what He’s all about and how He wants people to live. Unfortunately it’s possible to know about Jesus, even attempt to live the way He taught us to live and still have no real connection with Him. Are we just a fan, following a celebrity we have never really met? Do we talk about Him, but never experience the reality of interacting with him?

Jesus called me a brother, the Father called me a son, have I lived in the experience of this truth?

Walking Around Naked

In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.

Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. This is a sign—a symbol of the terrible troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia. For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot, both young and old, their buttocks bared, to the shame of Egypt. Then the Philistines will be thrown into panic, for they counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of their allies in Egypt! They will say, ‘If this can happen to Egypt, what chance do we have? We were counting on Egypt to protect us from the king of Assyria.’”   Isaiah 20

So what’s the deal with Isaiah having to walk around naked? Did he really live life buttocks bared for three years? Was this a symbolic “nakedness” or was it really a man walking around sans clothing.

Either way, symbolic or real, it spins me trying to imagine having to live in the vulnerability and shame of what God called him to do.

So how do you live day to day when God, trying to make a point, asks you to be naked? Do you have coffee with people? Do you do dinner at the neighbors? Do you attend the family picnic? How do you interact in your circle of relationships? How do you meet new people?

I’m pretty sure if God asked me to live the next three years with my butt bared, there would be people, myself included, who would ask, “Are you sure? Are you sure God told you to do that?” I’m sure the phrase, “that can’t be God”, would be uttered a few times.

And that is what really spins me. I make the assumption that God would never ask me to do something as odd, or embarrassing as what He asked Isaiah to do. I’m afraid that my ability to hear God’s call closely correlates with how uncomfortable it makes me. The higher the level of unease, the less I can hear.

So I’m asking the question, “Abba, what am I missing for the sake of my own comfort? Open my eyes to where my presuppositions of You keep me from actually hearing your voice.

Faith or Presumption?

When Jesus heard this, He said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do." Then He added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

What is the difference between faith and presumption?

Then one of the teachers of religious law said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay His head."

Do I come to Jesus holding on to the conviction that it’s the “right thing to do”, hoping He will respond and meet my need because I’m doing the right thing? Do I come to Jesus in self deprecation, hoping that if He sees that I know how bad I am and I know I deserve to be punished, He’ll respond and show me love? Do I come to Jesus holding in my hands the hope that He will find something in me that is right, validating who I am?

I’ve come to Jesus in these ways. I find that all are presumptuous.

When I come to Jesus because it’s the right thing to do, my actions attempt to limit Jesus to engaging with me only when I’m doing the right thing and obligating Him to action if I am.

When I come to Jesus in self deprecation, I am left empty, having taken responsibility for meting out the punishment of my own sin.

When I come to Jesus expecting Him to validate the righteousness in me, all I find is the finger of conviction on all that is unrighteous in my life.

…two blind men followed along behind Him, shouting, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" They went right into the house where He was staying, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can make you see?" "Yes, Lord," they told Him, "we do." Then He touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, it will happen." Then their eyes were opened, and they could see!

I desire to come to Jesus with a heart that knows He is free to choose how to respond. He is free to embrace me; He is free to reject me. My hope is that He will respond, anything beyond that crosses the line from faith to presumption. I am learning that humility is the difference between faith and presumption.

'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

Jesus, Son of David, Have mercy on me.

How Do You Live In The Middle Of The Storm?

Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then He got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they asked. "Even the winds and waves obey Him!" Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus, are You sleeping? The storm is ragging and I’m sinking. Money is always needed, it never stops. The dollar waves keep cresting and the bow of our life’s boat is one more wave from being under the water. I’m trying to trust but it's relentless and I can't seem to catch a breath. Is this what it feels like to drown? I keep looking for you, I know You’re there. Are You sleeping, unaware of the storm that’s raging around me? When will You wake up? When will You rebuke the storm? When will I experience the great calm?

How does my faith grow in the middle of the storm? I have the benefit of the entire story, am I to respond differently then the first ones who followed You? When You wake up will You have to say, “Why are you afraid?”

How does one live the day to day in the middle of the storm?

True Substance

When you mess with the security of your life you uncover the true substance of your faith.