Voila! A Look Behind the Hankie

Can you remember the last time you were frustrated because someone rejected your idea? Or the last time you thought you were doing a good thing for someone else and they failed to appreciate it? It happens to all of us--some more than others; at some times more than other times.

I was reminded this morning that my response to an interruption is more important than the task itself. What?! you may ask. How can a reaction be more important than the real thing? What does one's response have to do with anything? To answer the question, my response reveals my heart--and it is the heart that matters most.

Our society chose the "Leave it to Beaver," lifestyle as a reaction to two world wars in succession. In an effort to bring healing and normalcy to fighting men and families, a facade of peace was erected in homes and communities across the nation. There was an emphasis on morality and appearance (for more detail, see Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley, p.114). With the church culture came a church appearance. Moral, unselfish behavior was expected. It was the norm. Unfortunately, even with a soft-glove-enforced religion, there was a mask of surrealism.

We have come to believe--especially in the church--that what you see is what you get. We don't want to admit our shortcomings to ourselves or others, so we do our best to keep them hidden--behind the hankie. We pull a rabbit out of our hat--a good work out of a bad situation, a kind word in response to a hurtful one--diverting the eye away from "hat", or heart.

But Jesus said, "...the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. " (Matthew 15:18-19).

So when I interrupt our children who are watching a t.v. program or playing on the computer and their response is an outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, or factions, I know that their hearts are being ruled by self, not God (Galatians 5:19-20). When I interrupt an activity and they can say, "Okay, Mom," without strife or argument, I know that God is at work in their hearts (Galatians 5:22-23).

The same is true of our service. When my actions or words are unappreciated, unaccepted, or interrupted, my response reveals my heart. If I respond with peace and acceptance, I was not working on my behalf, but the Lord's. The applause of man is secondary to obedience. If, however, my heart responds with ruffled feathers and annoyance, I know that I am more concerned for myself. My heart reveals the working (or absence) of God--regardless of what I "pull out of my hat."

Speaking of interruptions, I have some hungry children chirping for breakfast....

Challenge: As I walk through the day's activities, I want to be more aware of my response to interruptions. Is my reaction God-centered or self-centered?

Need a Song?

Our children attend public schools, so it has been a treat to have them home on break for the last week. Perhaps it's because we live in the country and have no immediate neighbors or perhaps it's because we limit our children's electronic time daily, in either case we have been blessed by a daughter who spends hours of each day singing hymns. She sits at the piano and plays hymns--new hymns, old hymns, familiar hymns, little-known hymns. She generally sings the alto and tenor lines, working each phrase over and over, leaving us all with bits of a melody that carry us from one "practice session" to the next.

In reading the book of Hosea, God shares His personal, intimate plan for His people. He sees her desire to take the good things He has given her and spend it on that which makes a mockery of Him. He watches as she pursues those things which destroy and draw away life, desiring to reveal Himself to her and lavish her with good things.

Like Gomer, Hosea's wife, many of us seek our own pleasure, using the gifts God has given. He would have us recycle our gifts in ways that reveal Him; too often we use those gifts in selfish, idolatrous ways that distort His character and ways.

But as the story continues, God arranges circumstances to woo His own. Following Paul and Peter's examples, we can apply these same principles to ourselves (Rom. 9:25, 1 Peter 2:10).

God uses all things--even difficult things--to draw us and bless us. He covenants us to Himself (Hosea 2:14-18). This unusual covenant is not a dual agreement in which each side brings something to the table, for God Himself covers the cost of His erring wife/people (v. 18--"I will also make a covenant for them...." emphasis added). God then provides righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, compassion, and faithfulness (v. 19-20).

And what does He desire in return? Simply that I will sing as in the days of my youth (v. 15), that I will know the Lord (v. 20), and acknowledge Him as my God (v. 23). What a natural response to the goodness of God! How could we do otherwise? If He has given all, can I not--will I not--acknowledge Him with songs of praise and thanksgiving?

Thanks to our daughter, I have many songs in my head and heart today. Thanks to this reminder from the Lord through Hosea, my heart is lightened to sing "as in the days of my youth."

Verse: "I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!'" Hosea 2:23

Challenge: Turn off your radio, television, ipod, etc. and ask the Lord to put a song in your heart. Be sensitive to the words that come to mind and offer them back as a prayer to the Lord.

Sheath Splitting

My friend, Emily, had radical surgery this fall. Some of us got to see pictures. When I asked, she gave me the high-school facebook explanation. Later, I asked her dad. "Emily's surgery is very new. In the past, athletes with her condition would push until the sheath that encases the calf muscles split from force. Now they can diagnose the condition before the actual injury and release the muscles surgically."

Wow. Almost more than I needed to know, but fascinating.

As I have been reading the book of Galatians, I am struck by Paul's radical call to faith. It is much like splitting the sheath of our hearts. Not only in the New Testament Jewish population, but even in our churches today, there is a belief that being a good Christian means doing the right things. We belie this with our words: "You catch 'em, Christ cleans em," but even this underscores the "work" of the Christian. Who catches them? You do. So much of the Christian life is about the "worker," that the faith part, the God part, gets short-changed.

Open the sheath of faith, and works expand. When we live by faith, waiting on God's provision, God's guidance, God's revealed purpose, our lives explode with His goodness. We are no longer restrained by our own efforts, our limited perception, our sense of obligation. As we rely on the the work of Christ for us....in us.... we are set free to serve and please Him in a way that brings Him honor and glory.

Passage: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13-14 NASB

Thought: Will I deliberately choose to live by faith today instead of self-effort?