Looking Up

Last night consisted of a couple meltdowns. The first involved my laptop and the second one had more to do with my emotional frustration level. God has been speaking to me for a few months about the way I respond to computer issues. If mine goes haywire, I want it fixed RIGHT NOW. If my hubby’s machine is not working as it should (or he cannot figure out what to do to make it behave), I get antsy and irritated because I must stop what I’m doing and fix it. The Lord says this attitude must change.

So last night we are in a motel with slow Wi-Fi and I asked my laptop to do two things at the same time and wound up with a program freezing up. When I tried to fix it, I made the same ‘in a hurry’ mistake and (long story) lost not only the functionality of that program but lost my entire Office 365 — and could not reinstall it. I had to turn the PC off and go to bed. Sleep? Sort of.

No devotions in the morning, at least not able to key them into Word. But I had the Bible on my phone and went to Colossians where I left off yesterday (sort of) and read this passage:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1–4)

It’s funny how God can use something deeply profound to speak to me about my silliness. We are driving through the mountains and all day He is telling me to get my eyes off the things of earth, the mundane, that computer problem, and look up . . . up at the treetops, up at the Rocky Mountains, up even farther — to Him. Get my mind off the little issues and think about the largeness and magnificence of Almighty God.

It was a wonderful day. We drove about 6-7 hours through the most amazing of God’s creation and I worshiped Him. Would that have happened if my computer and I had not had that parting of ways? Maybe not. I might have enjoyed the scenery but not with the same attention to the One who created it. Instead of a mere lovely day, today was a day of great blessing in His presence.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I know that sometimes You look at me and chuckle. I can be such a dummy. The irritation that I always feel until the technology is fixed was not there today. You replaced it with grace. How nice of You! And tonight, most everything is back to normal, and as with all fresh downloads, my Office programs are updated and working even better than before. I learned a much-needed lesson; You are sovereign over all things, including technology. I can trust You and RELAX when these finicky computers try to ruin my life.

Today’s thankful list . . .

God’s grace to hide my silly short comings in Christ and bless me in unexpected ways.

Creation: magnificent mountains, tall, lush greenery, blue sky, rivers and streams, and wildflowers.

Decent traffic almost all day on wonderful roads.

Picnic at a roadside table made of stone.

Warm sun and cool breezes.

Joy that I knew would not go away even if this PC refused to be fixed.

In harmony with His world

Near our home is a wildlife sanctuary. It isn’t famous nor does anyone charge admission. Instead, it is a deep coulee, heavily treed that runs from a highway on the south toward a main avenue on the north. This subdivision was purchased and built from a man who insisted these several acres be left in their natural state. Some have seen moose in this wild and tangled place, but it is inhabited mostly by birds and smaller animals.

The park has two paved trails going in opposite directions from the entrance across the street. I often ride my bike on these trails and am amazed that I can go from city traffic into a forest containing no motors and little noise. The most delightful treasures are the smells. I detect the perfume of clover, wild roses, tree leaves, mushrooms, mown grass (from homes on the park’s perimeter), and wild flowers. These will change as summer progresses, but return in every spring in May and June.

These stressful days under the discipline of God and the pressures of life, I am blessed when I get outside under blue skies and bright sun. His care seems nearer, easier to experience when the leaves rustle and birds sing. Today’s devotional reminds me of the power of wandering in a park even as God is working to change my life…

Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you. (Job 5:17–23)

God’s blessings, even in His discipline are genius. He works to change my life, but in the working, He also brings great joy and peace. I can count on Him to bring June every year, with these aromas, the sights and sounds of renewing growth and nature’s pleasures, yet in Him they never become ordinary. These simple pleasures delight every heart that gives them attention. It is God hugging me with His great love. Is that what it means to “have a covenant with the stones of the field”?

The speaker in these verses is talking of those who trust in God, who are at peace with Him and entered into a covenant with Him. He is saying that if I am in league with heaven, then I will also be in league with the very stones of the earth.

I know that is true. Peace with God changes my relationship to the birds, beasts and flowers around me. Just as those in love say the sky is a brighter blue, being in a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ changes the attitude I have toward the world around me, even changes the way nature blesses me.

Those whose spiritual and moral state is base and in defiance of God tend to mock His laws and His person. They see no reason why they should not toss their garbage on the earth. While some of them hug trees and defend seals, they do it because they worship those created things rather than the One who created them. Godlessness puts the human heart out of harmony with tree and flower and summer delights. When I am at odds with the Lord, I am the same and do not even notice sunsets and gentle breezes.

Being at peace with God, even when God is reproving and wounding me, means having a comradeship with the created world. It means reading sermons in the trees of the forest, the grass of the plains, the stones of the field. This is not about the beauty of an artistic scene, but the morality and rightness of God’s handiwork that becomes a ministry to my heart, that blesses me and restores a deeper sense of His love for me.

Sadly, to be out of touch with God puts me out of touch with God’s ideal in all that He has made. Yet to be in tune with Him joyfully puts me in league with even the stones of the field.

Creativity is more than imagination

Fresh home from our trip to Seoul, my biggest impression was the creativity that I saw. While Seoul is not like Paris or New York in the normal sense of being an art center, creativity is not just about painting and fashion. It is also about making good use of the resources at hand.

We did see some wonderful art (at the International Gallery and the small quilt show), their city design also stands out as good art with thousands of tall apartments clustered in the valleys between low mountains, and an astounding and efficient subway system that is also beautiful. City planners and designers show great creative skills.

Seoul must have an abundance of clay, since most of the city sidewalks are brick or ceramic tiles. The subway is entirely tiled. Their award-winning airport has no carpet; the floors are either tile or wood laminate. Many buildings are metal and glass. The effect is clean, crisp, even modern. They use their resources with wisdom.

Today’s devotional reading is about creativity. It says, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew” (Proverbs 3:19-20).

When people say they don’t have the imagination for being creative, I wonder if that is the best word. Here it says that God used wisdom in creation. Wisdom makes me think that whatever God makes, it is not only beautiful but functional. Like a good writer, He wastes no words. Every part has a purpose in the grand scheme of what He has created.

We might not see it. I’ve looked at the color in a flower blossom and thought that God didn’t have to make it colored; everything could be grey. Yet He created insects, each with an attraction to different colors so each flower could be pollinated by its own species. Do we need sunsets, or cascading waterfalls? Science says so. Even the smallest animals, birds, insects, and microorganisms have their place in the world.

God is imaginative, but if wisdom is the foundation of creation for Him, surely a great deal of the art I create should be given more thought. It isn’t just that a quilt should be warm and comfortable on a bed to be useful, but wisdom also considers the design and the harmony of its structure. It should lift creativity above mere self-expression, give it deeper and more lasting meaning to both me and anyone who sees or uses what I create. Creativity at its purest should reflect the pattern and purposes of the Creator as He spoke the universe into existence.

Another lofty thought is that by wisdom God created me in His image. That suggests that I also have a purpose in His grand plan and a place in the world. These are challenging ideas. I certainly need to ask God for more wisdom (not more imagination) so my creative efforts best represent the His nature, wisdom, and glory. I also need His grace and power to live obediently and with wise understanding so that my life fulfills the purpose for which I was created.

Creators and their work

Today was actually nearly two days long. We got up on Friday, November 21 and are going to bed on Friday, November 21, but we have seen two sunrises and two sunsets. We crossed the International Date Line sometime during all of that. The only thing we didn’t do was eat six meals or sleep sixteen hours. We both feel swacked.

The trip to the airport in Seoul was in daylight so we were able to see the massive construction projects in all directions, including foundations poured for many new apartments, and a long bridge across part of the ocean. Its span has not quite met in the middle, making an unsettling impression with the gap perhaps two car lengths wide.

This and today’s devotional passage made me think about creativity. For instance, every created thing is subject to whoever created it. When I make a quilt, its design follows my ideas and skill. It never takes off with a mind of its own and changes its color or pattern. I might blame my mistakes on it doing just that, but have to admit that is not possible. The quilt does what I make it do.

Yet there is one created piece of art that turns itself away from the One who made it — human beings. The Bible says, “We have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6) and ignored or rejected the Creator who made us. Even if that verse did not exist, I would know the truth of it from experience. Instead of doing what God created me to do (love and obey Him), I resist and try to do my own thing.

Some explain this curiosity by saying we are created with a will and can make choices. I wonder. Scripture says we serve either sin or God. We are not the masters of our choices, at least the Bible seems to say that I really never have my own way. Whatever I decide to do, it will either line up with one master or the other. If God is not ruling my life, then sin is, and certainly not me.

Luke 1:74-75 says that God swore an oath to Abraham that He would “grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.”

These verses are spoken by the father of John the Baptist. He is speaking about the salvation that would come from the house of David (verse 69), meaning Jesus, not John, because John’s parents were Levites.

These verses mark the key to serving God as being “delivered from the hand of our enemies.” The Jews expected this to be their physical enemies so when Jesus didn’t deliver them from the Romans, they were more than disappointed.

However, they misread the text. Jesus didn’t come to lead a political coup. He came to “seek and save the lost” and deliver humanity from the power of sin, rescuing us from turning our own way instead of loving and following God.

He also came to deliver us from the bondage of Satan and his lies. Our enemy is spiritual and coaxes us to continue doing what we think is our own thing. However, if I was not delivered from that sin and that expression of self-centeredness, I could not serve God. Luke says so.

Luke also hints that fear holds us back. We are afraid of what God will do to us, just like Eve in the garden before she and Adam committed that first sin. They were afraid of what they might miss if they didn’t eat from that tree.

Sometimes I wish my unfinished quilts were like me. If they were, when I come home from vacation I’d find that they had sewn themselves together, saving me the time and effort.

On the other hand, maybe it would turn out more like I do when I refuse to let my Creator govern what I do. Then the quilts would be in ruin because they went ahead without someone wiser in charge of their construction.

Creation speaks

Sometimes the Word of God and the situation that I’m in make literal obedience laughably difficult. I’m sitting near a wall of windows in an A-frame chalet with an unobstructed view of the Rocky Mountains, tall pine trees, and incredibly fresh clean air.

It is raining, but the space inside is lovely too, a large stone-face fireplace, cedar walls, lots of light, nice paintings on the wall, comfortable furniture and a few of my own quilts tossed here and there. This is a wonderful place for a vacation.

Then God tells me not to set my mind on this. Oh my, as I look around, how can I not think about what I see?

The verse is from Colossians 3:1-3. That passage says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

The context is really not about the beautiful creation God has made. The things He doesn’t want me to think about are stuff like “fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” A few verses later He adds “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language” and lies.

The reason He says this to me is because I have “put off the old (wo)man with (her) deeds, and have put on the new (wo)man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created (her).” Once I was pulled aside from thoughts of God, holiness and eternal things because I was dead to those things. My spirit had no connection to God and was not responsive or interested in “things above.”

However, when Christ appeared and moved into my life, all that changed. He quickened or made alive my spirit and now I can think of things above, which does not mean tall trees and high mountains! In fact, I know that one day the glory that I will experience with Him in eternity will be greater than the glory that I see out these windows.

Does all of this mean that I’m not to enjoy my view or think about it? Of course not. The Bible also says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1) and that “since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).

Many enjoy the scenery around them without thinking about the One who created it. They look at the mountains and trees almost in adoration, as if they appeared all by themselves. I don’t want to get into a discussion of creation vs. evolution, but the Bible also says that “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

By faith, I know that what I see out these windows was formed by the One whom I cannot see. He spoke the world into existence and did a remarkable job of making it very nice to look at. By getting away from most of which is manmade and lifting my eyes to what He has created, I am startled once again by His incredible power and His creative sense and ability. The God who can do all this is definitely on my mind.