MY BLOG POSTS

I’m not much of a sports fan, but I do love ice skating. Especially Olympic ice skating. These athletes are amazing – the spins and jumps and throws. On ice! I can barely stay upright when I’ve tried ice skating. I can’t even imagine the skill it takes to do what those guys do.

But as I watch, I am SO thankful for the commentators. Because I have no clue what the rules are. I can’t tell when the skaters make a mistake — unless they fall. Other than that, I don’t know when they double a triple or when the turn was under-rotated. It all looks amazing to me!

And it’s really fine that I need commentators for ice skating. There’s no need for me to learn all the rules of Olympic ice skating. I am quite content to depend on those former athletes and coaches to tell me what I’m seeing and what the skaters are doing.

However…I think we sometimes go into that mindset with Truth. We listen to pastors or teachers or godly friends, and we just go with whatever they say. Now, there’s nothing wrong with listening to pastors or teachers or friends (says the devo blogger!). In fact, it is critically important to be in community with other believers and to sit under godly pastors and teachers. But God has called us to also search for ourselves to know Truth. We should not just “sit back and listen”. God gives us an example of the Bereans in Acts 17 who were commended as being of “noble character” because they “examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

These noble Christians had THE APOSTLE PAUL as their teacher, and they still tested what he taught to be sure it was true. And how did they test it? By examining the scriptures!

God doesn’t want us “watching” Truth the way I watch ice skating. We are to be active in our faith, passionate in our pursuit of Truth. We should be the commentators. We shouldn’t just bring out our Bibles on Sundays and leave them on the kitchen counter the rest of the week. We need to open God’s word, dig into it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it, pray it. This is the source of Truth! Be like the noble Bereans and examine the scriptures.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

A couple years ago, a police officer knocked on our front door — in the middle of the night.

Dave and I were both sound asleep, and my first thought was that we were being robbed — obviously  I was sleep deprived. What robber knocks?? We warily approached the door, where a very nice cop was standing, her car in our driveway. Dave opened the door and the officer apologized for waking us.

“But,” she said. “Your garage door is open, and we have had some robberies in the area. I wanted to make sure you were all right and that you knew to shut and lock your garage.”

We thanked her and promptly obeyed, walking around the house to make sure no unsavory characters had made the same discovery the cop had made.

While we didn’t enjoy having our sleep disrupted, we were grateful. Who knows what that nice officer may have saved us from!

I thought about that incident for days, and I couldn’t help but compare that police officer to the Holy Spirit. Just like Dave and I left our house unprotected, sometimes we leave our minds and hearts unprotected — we put ourselves in situations where the door to sin is wide open. The temptation is right there. The Holy Spirit warns us – through a gentle reminder, the words of a friend or pastor, a passage of scripture that comes to mind– and we have to make a choice.

Sadly, I find that it was far easier to obey that cop than it is to obey the Holy Spirit. I didn’t argue with the officer. I didn’t justify why leaving the garage open would be all right. I didn’t say, “No one will come to MY house. I’m going back to bed.” I shut that garage! Then I locked the door to the garage. And, for good measure, Dave stuck the key in and set the deadbolt on the door to the garage. We even checked the other doors, just to be sure our house was safe from would-be robbers.

How sad that I care more for my house than my soul.

When the Holy Spirit warns me — “You need to forgive that person.”; “You shouldn’t be watching that show.”; “Respond with gentle words, not harsh ones.” — I rarely obey immediately. More often than I should, I ignore the warnings: I don’t forgive, I keep watching, I spit out a mean response. Then later, I reap the consequences. I ALWAYS regret not heeding the Spirit’s voice. Why do I refuse to listen?? When He is giving me help far greater than any police officer on the planet?

God used that officer for more than just a physical wake-up. It was a spiritual wake-up, as well. A reminder to heed His words, His warnings, to stay within His protection.

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” II Timothy 1:13-14

I have been really convicted lately that I am thinking WAY more about the future than I am about the present. And by thinking, I mean worrying. Stressing. Obsessing.

It’s just so easy. The future is unknown. Scary. Exciting. Daunting. There are so many possibilities to consider. And I know I’m not alone. My students – especially the seniors – have the same struggle. Even worse, in some cases, because they are trying to decide on colleges and majors and life.

But Jesus Himself tells us not to worry about tomorrow because “each day has enough trouble of its own”(Mt. 6:34). And yet, what fills my mind? Tomorrow….and tomorrow…and tomorrow.

What God has been speaking to me about this is that, in all this worrying about tomorrows, I am missing out on the plans He has for me today. There have been people He has wanted me to serve and love, there have been good things He has wanted me to do, there have been lessons He has wanted me to learn, and I have missed them all.

Because my eyes were on tomorrow, I have missed so many todays.

So I am resolved to resist worries about tomorrow. To focus on today. No more missing out on God’s directions and blessings. No more stressing over what I cannot change and what may not really matter, anyway.

I am resolved to be present.