A Little Hope in My Pocket

Today I officiated the funeral for Tammie’s Uncle.  As you can imagine, I used scriptures which encourage those who find themselves in a season of loss.  If you have been to a funeral, you have probably heard the very same ones.  As I was committing his body to the earth, reading the last passage I would share for the day, I was struck by the last line.

 

On a side note, a little known secret among pastors is, as we are teaching or reading scriptures to a group, the passage often strikes us in ways we had not planned on sharing.  Sometimes, I want to stop in the middle and say something like, “I was not planning on talking about this, but a thought has just struck me.”  Usually, I just keep it to myself, continue to share what I had planned, and think about it later.

Now, as I was finishing up this passage, getting ready to say the final prayer, I found myself wanting to pause and think about the last line.  It was simply this, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”  The passage was written to those who were grieving the loss of those who had died, and giving them hope regarding the fate of their loved ones in the life to come.  It was imploring us, especially in times of grief, to encourage each other with this truth.   

This was exactly my intent in reading the passage in the first place, but as I stood there getting ready to pray, I started thinking about what it would be like if we simply went around encouraging each other with words of hope.  What if it was not something we reserved for readings at funerals?  What if we went around, every day, encouraging people with hope?

I had a prayer to get to.  There were lots of people standing in the hot sun and I knew this was not the time to ponder this thought, but it was worth pondering.

Later, I was walking through the park, thinking back on the events of the day, and in the distance I saw a homeless woman pushing a grocery cart.  She was wearing a beanie cap and jacket on a very warm day.  Despite the heat, she was fully covered up, almost as if she was trying to hide.  My mind went back to that passage of scripture and I wondered when was the last time she had anyone encourage her with words of hope.  I was not quite sure what to say, but I knew I wanted to say something.  In the end, I decided to simply say hello, but not the “I am preoccupied and just being courteous hello” but the “I want you to know I see you, care for you and want you to know my hello is a sign I value you" kind of hello.

Just as I got close enough to look in her eyes, I said in the warmest way I knew how, Good Afternoon.  I then smiled the kindest smile I could.  I wanted her to feel as if she had been seen and loved as she passed me.

She looked a little surprised, and then smiled back. She said with kindness, “God bless you, take care of yourself.”  My heart warmed.  This homeless woman, who probably has spent the last umpteen nights on the streets, was encouraging me to take care of myself.  This made me smile with joy.  I knew she had felt seen and valued.  I knew she was returning the favor.  I knew we had exchanged encouraging words of hope.  
  
What surprised me the most about this interaction was how hopeful her words left me feeling. Apparently, when we take the opportunity to speak encouraging words to another, no matter how small they are, we may also find ourselves being encouraged. It seems words of hope are dangerous that way.  When they are spoken they start having an effect on everyone involved in the conversation.  I guess that is why the passage does not say, "Encourage others", but rather "Encourage one another with these words."  My little interaction with this woman allowed me to see just how powerful obeying this command can be. 

Now, I am hoping I will bump into this lady the next time I am walking.  I want to speak to her again.  Who knows, maybe we will move beyond the exchanging of a simple greeting to an actual conversation.  What hope might we be able to share then?  I am looking forward to finding out.

The Positivity of No

Words have power. It does not come from the vowels and consonants which form them, nor is it born out of the resonance produced in our ears when they are spoken.  The power of words comes from the objects, experiences, ideas and truth which they summon in our minds when we hear them.  These connections are potent and have the ability to move and shape our lives as we respond to the words which are spoken to us, or which we whisper to ourselves.

We begin forming these associations as we learn language.  Connections are made in our memories between our experiences and the sound of a word.  These associations then inform the power a word might have in our lives.  For example, if a baby touches a hot stove and burns her hand, mom immediately cries out, “That is HOT, HOT, HOT!”  She will then in all likely hood scoop up the child and comfort her. If her burn is more than a slight reddening of the skin, the mothers will also tend to her wound.  All this nurture will not erase from the child’s mind the connection between the pain she experienced on her hand and the word Hot.  She has now formed a connection between an experience and the word hot which will exercise power over her for the rest of her life. All someone around her needs to do in the future when she is approaching an object is call out the word HOT and she will retract her hand to avoid being burned.  

This is a wonderful capacity we have as humans to use language to communicate to one another in ways which will shape the way we think regarding the objects, experiences, ideas and truth.  In fact, part of what knits us together as humans is this aptitude to develop a common language which allows a word to have the same meaning to all who hear it.  This is what gives birth to understanding, and community.

This isn’t true of all words.  Some words can lend themselves to interpretation, even very simply words.  Think about it.  What image comes to your mind when I say the word blue?  Is it the blue of the sky?  Do you see the deep blue of the sea?  Do you envision the cobalt blue of the vase which adorned your grandmother’s windowsill?  A simple word like “blue” can mean so many things to so many people, and while two people are nodding their heads in agreement, they may actually be entertaining entirely different images in their minds at the mention of the word.

Still, there are a few words which may appear to be so universally understood we all seem to form the same idea in our mind when they are spoken.  Take the word “No” for example.  I think the vast majority of us would attach a negative connotation to the word when we hear it.  The word No represents not getting what we want.  It implies rejection.  It is a thwarting of our will.  We can interpret it as someone withholding from or holding out on us.  When people say no, we tell them they are not being constructive.  They are tearing things down. 

Even parents of preschoolers, who use the word quite often to keep their children from harm, get tired of saying it.  They might ask in a moment of frustration, “Why do you always make mommy say no?”  This is not because the use of No has been harmful, but because their perception of No is negative and none of us want to be seen as the purveyors of a lack of positivity.  We want to people who speak the affirming “Yes.” Deep down we want to be seen positive people. 

What if we have developed the wrong connections and connotations to the word No?  What No is far less negative than we have envisioned?  How would this change the way we respond when the word No is spoken to us?  How would it change our feelings about having to speak the word to others?

In 1967, Milton Bradley introduced a game which should have changed our perspective on the word No.  It was called Battleship.  In this game you placed models of various war ships on a grid which your opponent could not see.  They did the same.  You then took turns guessing at what point on the grid you might locate your challenger’s ships.  You would call out a location such as B-15, A-21, or G-4.  If part of their ship was on that point on the grid they would call out “It’s a Hit”.  If it was empty, they would simply call out, “It’s a Miss.”  You kept track of your hits and misses using red and white pegs.  In the process you improved your ability to make educated guess about where you might find your enemy’s ships. Rather than being a loss, each Miss honed your capacity to discover where you might get a Hit.  While it was always great to get a Hit, the misses were not negative.  They were instructive and helpful if you saw them as a chance to develop a better understanding of the board.

What if we saw the Misses or "No’s" in our lives as being similarly helpful in our journey of understanding where to go next in life. Rather than seeing the No as rejection, not getting what we want, or unconstructive, what if we saw them as an opportunity to discover who we are and where we are going?  This little shift in our perception of the word "No" might just change everything.

When I look at Scripture I see No playing a significant role in the development of the people of God and the unfolding of His purposes.  Think about Samuel showing up at Jessie’s house to anoint a new king.  As each son is paraded in front of the prophet what he hears from the Lord is "No."  This had to be frustrating, especially when so many of Jessie’s sons seem perfect for the job.  All the "No’s", however, lead to the only man among them who was a man after God’s own heart.

Think about that man, David, when he was in the cave and his adversary had inadvertently come into his hiding place to relieve himself.  David’s men recognized the opportunity which was before them and encouraged David to strike Saul down while he was in this vulnerable position.  Though tempted, David said no, and in the process trusted God to protect and deliver him.  God did it, David knew it, and the experience made all the difference.

Think about the one who came from the line of David, Jesus.  He was led in the desert by the Holy Spirit and the enemy came and tempted Him.  Satan offer to him all His Father had promised, without the cost.  It must have been tempting, since the cost would mean rejection, suffering, torture, and death, but Jesus said no.  The result was not only His glorification, and having all things given to Him, it was also the birth place of the life that is now made possible for us.

There are many more stories I could recount for you of where “No” provided the positive move which enabled the understanding and unfolding of the purposes of God.  Think of Rehab’s saying "No" to turning giving up Israel’s spies, it resulted in the “Yes” of her family being saved and her being included in the bloodline of the Messiah.  Recall Daniel’s saying "No" to praying only to the king; it resulted in the same king saying "Yes" to issuing a decree which required the people of his kingdom to fear and show reverence the Daniel’s God,  protecting God’s people in exile in the process.  Do not forget Paul’s staying "No" to fleeing the jail when the doors were thrown open by an earthquake, it resulted in the jailer’s saying "Yes" to believing in God.  These are just a few of the positives results which were born in the word "No".

I know on my journey "No" is becoming very important as I seek to discern and understand where I will eventually discover the "Yes".  It is as if a lens is being ground and polished by the course texture of the "No."  With each "No" another application of rubbing compound is buffed into the glass through which we will eventually see clearly.   Just like the misses in the game of Battleship, each "No" is instructive and helpful in developing an understanding of where God is leading.  They are also an opportunity to develop the capacity to trust in the God who already knows what the "Yes" will be.  With this perspective "No" is anything but negative.  It is a tool of discernment.  It is an exercise which expands your ability to trust.  It is a refusing of what is not, in order to be able to make space for what is.

If most of us were honest with ourselves, we are uncomfortable with embracing the "No".  It feels so negative.   It appears much more secure to simply say yes.  It is less awkward to say, “I have moved into something,” than to declare, “I am waiting.” It seems wise to take the little we can grasp in the present, rather than remain empty handed and trust something much more valuable is waiting for us in the future.  It feels better to be willful and make something happen, than it does to seek only move when we are confident the Spirit is leading. 

We need to have the courage to embrace the discomfort of the present moment, in order to take hold of the blessings which only come by walking the path of "No".  Then, and only then, will we see clearly the "Yes" which God prepared in advance for us.  When we arrive there, we will see clearly the traces of the sacred on our journey and know full well just how positive "No" truly is.

“The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” - Lamentations 3:24

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”  - Ephesians 3:20

It Resonates Deeply

A month from now I will celebrate the anniversary of receiving an email which would change my life forever.  I should have known it was coming.  A woman told us as much in a time of prayer a month before it happened.  Even though it was not a total surprise, it was still a complete shock. 

Looking back now, I can also say it was grace.  It began a long process of becoming unglued from a place where I had invested and lived my life, and from people to whom I had given my whole heart.  I do not know if I would have survived being torn from it suddenly, without any time to prepare my heart for the severing.  God was gracious to give me a year to adjust to what I knew would come.  Still it hurt, the kind of hurt which you know you will carry with you until all hurts are washed away by the wonder of heaven. 

This weekend I heard a phrase which, though possibly familiar to you,  I do not ever remember hearing.  Maybe I had never taken notice of it before because it simply did not touch my soul.  Now, given the point of view my life currently affords, I find it resonates deeply. The kind of deep in your gut visceral feeling which make you know, in ways you cannot yet fully put into words, the reverberations of this truth has changed something inside of you.  At the sound of the words, an understanding was born in my spirit which has become a way point on my journey.  It gives not only a sense of where I am, but where I am called to go.  It is freeing, and exciting, and a bit terrifying all at once.

I realize what I heard may not resonate with you in quite the same way.  Maybe your journey has not yet taken you down the path I have walked these past two years.  More than likely, however, most of you have taken, at some point in your life, a similar road.  You may even be on the journey now.  Because I know we are never alone in our experience of affliction, it might be possible what I heard may just touch you as deeply as it did me, and thus provide you a way point for your journey.

This is the phrase I heard.  It comes in two parts and the first is simply this: hurt people, hurt people.  Without going into any detail, because it simply would not be of any use, let me say these last two years have taught me the truth of this statement.  People who are wounded and broken will end up wounding and breaking others, unless the cycle is interrupted and a choice is made to take a different way.  Every one of us can point to a place in our lives where we have been injured by someone who is carrying the scars of their own hurt.  Whether they are compensating, lashing out, or unconsciously injuring those around them, their wounds becomes the birth place of hurt in others.

While this is true, and we ought to be aware of it, it is not what impacted me the most.  It was the second part of the phrase which struck a deep chord in my heart: free people, free people.  The reality is will all be hurt by others in this life.  I know there are those who could point to me and say I have injured them.  If I am willing to open my eyes and see clearly, I can trace a path back from their hurt to my own woundedness.  If you are honest with yourself, you know this is true about you as well. This truth has the potential to suck the hope out of our hearts and cause us to build walls between us.  Our intention is to keep our self safe, but the untended consequence is being imprisoned within fortifications of our own making.  It does not have to be this way.  Listen carefully as I say it again: free people, free people.  In this simply little phrase there is so much hope.  It is pregnant with the promises of life and love.  This weekend, the revelation of this truth called out to my heart and changed it.

Jesus said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”  Jesus came to set us free from sin, death, unrighteousness, and the pattern of hurt people, hurting people.  He came to give forgiveness, life and freedom.  We have a choice to make when we are hurt.  Will we simply take the hurt we have received and pass it on to another, thinking somehow this will alleviate the pain, or will we recognize the only way to heal the hurt is to walk in freedom, and in the process help others to become free?

Having experienced great hurt, I want you to know my desire is not to pass along the pain.  I long to live in the freedom which has been freely given to me.  In my reading of Scripture and understanding of the human heart, I see no other path to life.  If you have been wounded, I invite you to unburden yourself from the chains with which your hurt has shackled you, and walk in freedom.

Now before you give me your hearty “Count me in,” there are a couple of things you will need to know. 

First, being free will not erase the scars your hurt has caused.  While death could not hold Jesus, and His resurrection provided the path to freedom, when Jesus appeared to his disciples there were still scars on his hands and feet, and upon his side.  You may be raised to life and freedom, but the scars will never fully go away.   Take courage, for as you walk in freedom, what now feels like an unsightly wound will be transformed into something quite beautiful.   It will not happen overnight.  You may not even notice it taking place, but one day you will look back and see God indeed has the ability to make all things beautiful.

Second, freedom does not come cheap.  It cost Christ everything, and it will cost you.  You will have to set aside your desire for justices and embrace trust.  You will have to lay down your longing for punishment and offer forgiveness.  You will have to give up trying to protect your heart and make yourself vulnerable.  It will feel as if you are moving out of a place of safety and security and taking a great risk.  This is not true.  Yes, you may risk being hurt again, but the safest place you can walk is in the freedom which Jesus has made possible.   

This freedom begins in forgiveness.  There is no way around it. Honestly, at times I wish there was.   It can feel like too much to pay, but this is only in the beginning.  Once you have begun to walk in freedom, once you have tasted what it is like to move without any encumbrance or hindrance, you will think it was worth everything you have had to give, and more.

One of the things which will make it worth the cost is the simple fact: free people, free people.  As you learn to walk in the unforced rhythm of grace and freedom, your life will become an invitation to others to break out of the cycle of hurt and be free.  Instead of spreading pain, you will become a instrument of healing.  For those you touch, this will be a new way of living.  Like a child learning to walk, their steps may be unsteady at first, but they will soon learn what it is to run in freedom.

Lest you think walking in this kind of freedom comes easy, or is even possible in our own strength, let me tell you about my Friday.  On that day, I walked into the place, where except for a handful of mornings, I have spent every Friday for the past 12 years.  Every time, my friend and I sit in the same booth.  It is there we share our life, our hurts, our hang-ups and our desire to live like Jesus lived.  It is the place where we confess sin, offer to one another love, acceptance and forgiveness, and encourage each other to run the race in freedom.

On this particular morning, sitting in the booth next to ours were the men who, in all likelihood, gave birth to the notions which would grow into the decisions which have caused me so much hurt these past two years.  I, along with a guest who was joining us for our morning ritual, stopped at their table, shook hands and made small talk.  We then abandoned our normal booth and moved to the furthest point possible in the restaurant.  I did not want to hear their conversation, and I certainly did not want them to hear mine.  Still, we could not find a place where I could not see them.  As I sat there, occasionally catching glimpses them in my peripheral vision, I noticed something in my heart.  It was no longer crying out for justice or making excuses for holding on to the hope things would be set right.  It was as if something in my heart was being changed and softened.  For what purpose, I did not know, but it felt like movement in the right direction, even if it was only a matter of degrees. Sitting there I could feel the resistance to forgiveness melting into indifference. 

Now, indifference gets a bad rap.  We hear it and think it represents not caring.  This is not what I mean.  What I am suggesting when I say indifference is the capacity to not have circumstances, or people, determine your response.  It is your reactions being rooted and grounded in the love you have received from God, and nothing else. It is a powerful way to live.  Sitting in the restaurant I could feel the first hint it might be possible to live like this, even in the place of my deepest hurt.

On Saturday I eavesdropped on a conference a group of women were participating in at our home.  It was here I heard the simple phrase, Free people, free people, and when I heard it my heart quickened.  I knew in that moment it was possible to choose.  I knew I wanted to live a life which was born in freedom, not hurt.  Several of the speakers told stories of their and willingness to love, even in the face of great hurt, and the power of being free.  Their testimonies bore witness to how this freedom is now being used to free others.  What had the potential to be used for such evil in their lives, has been redeemed by God for good, precisely because they choose to walk in the freedom they have been given.

Can you think of a better way to live?  I cannot.  While this simple truth (free people, free people) has resonated deeply in my soul, it has not changed my circumstance.  In this place of unknowing, however, it has given me clarity on how I will live now, and into the future.  I cannot yet see the destination, but I walk with confidence knowing I am on the right path.

I do not care if I am ever again called pastor, preacher, professor, or to professional ministry so long as the Spirit of God is at work in me,  manifesting my faith in love and freedom, and in doing so, growing me into a person who He can use to encourage others to take risk of laying aside hurt and learning to be free.  This is the ancient path.  This is the good way.  Walking in it, my soul is at rest, and I am indeed free.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” -Luke 4:18-19

“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” - John 8:31-32

"If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." - John 8:36

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls." - Jeremiah 6:16

 

 

A Big Hairy Audacious Goal

In 1994 James Collins and Jerry Porras published their book entitled Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.  In it they introduced the idea of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal or BHAG for short. This was a statement designed to focus a company on a single, medium to long term, organization-wide goal which was so big and audacious those on the outside would question if it were possible and those on the inside would think it was impossible.  The goal of throwing this gauntlet down was to unify employees to work together to accomplish a seemingly insurmountable goal.  It was to be both strategic and emotionally compelling.  Almost immediately it became the duty of anyone leading an organization to identify and rally their people around the organizational BHAG.  Soon in boardrooms, conferences, and shareholder meetings the question became what is your BHAG. Often they would employ more common language by simply asking, “What do you have big going on?”

 

It probably took less than one business cycle for this new way of thinking about unifying, motivating and emotionally engaging employees in the business world to make its way into the church.  I remember being at a conference where a pastor shared each month he would meet with a mentor from the business world to help him in developing the capacity to lead his very large church. Each month when they met, the first question his mentor would ask was, “What do you have big going on?”  As you could imagine this made him feel both pressure and anxiety as he endeavored to come up with a vision and goal which was worth attaching the title of BHAG.

He is not alone.  Right now there is a Pastor somewhere, sitting in his office, begging the Lord to give to him some vision which will unify, motivate and emotionally compel his congregation to achieve strategic measurable goals.  Maybe he is thinking about growing the church by 10%, baptizing 50 new people in the coming year, launching 2 new multi-sites by 2015, or increasing traffic to the church website by 60%.  Coming up with a good BHAG is harder than you think..  This pastor has to make it audacious enough to be emotionally compelling and motivational, but achievable enough that it might actually happen.  It is also hard because in the near future he probably has a meeting with an elder chairman who wants to do something big, a board who is getting impatient for results, his staff who is wondering where he is going to take them, or a church-wide leadership team who is going to ask him the question, “What do you have big going on?”

I wonder what would happen if he answered the same way the pastor who shared about meeting with his mentor answered, “I got nothin’ big going on.”  Would he feel he failed to hear from God?  Would he wonder if his ability to lead would be questioned?  Would he fear being fired?

Maybe he would be bold enough to simply point out the obvious truth, that after two decades of the trying to implement the best business practices in the church it simply has not worked.  In his book The Great Evangelical Recession, John Dickerson builds the case that the American Church is on the precipice of a spiritual recession.  Attendance is shrinking, donations are drying up and young Christians are fleeing the church. Simply put, more and more people do not care about the church's answer to the question, “What do you got big going on?” Soon, if Dickerson's research is correct, there will not be enough people sitting in the pews to enable the Pastor’s latest BHAG to make much of a difference.

Despite what the researchers tell us about the near future of the church, I actually have great hope. Not in the business models we have built, but the family of God that is bound together in Christ Jesus.  I have great expectations for His body which shares one faith, one hope, one love, one Spirit, and one Father. After all, Jesus himself said, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

Still, I cannot help but wonder what it would be if we put away this silliness of trying to motivate people with a Big Hairy Audacious Goal and instead helped them grow in the capacity to love, listen, follow and when necessary, wait.  As the man I had coffee with this morning put it, “You want a BHAG? Learn to wait on God and trust him.  That’s a BHAG for you.”  I think he is right, and not just because he said it with passion.  He is right because his is point of view agrees with scripture.  Isaiah 64:4 says, “For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him.”  You want something big going on?  You want to be blown away by the audacious?  Wait on the God who acts on behalf of those who are willing to trust Him, and then you will see that which seems impossible and unimaginable.

The ability to wait is not born out of our fortitude.  We do not try hard to stay in this place until we are called out of it.  It is born in developing the capacity to listen for and hear God's voice.  We can wait, because having learned to discern His Voice, and when He is silent this give us the confidence He has not yet told us to move. Jeremiah 6:16 bids us, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”   Asking, listening, and discerning is the way we discover tthe ancient path.  Once it is revealed we are to walk in it.  Much turmoil is experienced when, in our impatience, we do not wait for God to reveal the good path.  The ability to wait is also born out of developing an intimate knowledge of the One whom we are waiting to hear from.   Growth in our experiential knowledge He is present, wise, trustworthy, loving, and kind gives us confidence to wait.  If He has not beckoned us to move it is because He knows what He is about.  He knows what is best. 

We think that waiting is unproductive.  It is anything but.  It is the place where we learn to hear God’s Voice.  It is also the wilderness where we are prepared for what is to come.  It is here character is formed and refined to reflect the nature of Jesus.  Nowhere is this more evident than in our capacity to love.  Galatians 5:6b says, “For the only thing that counts is our faith expressing itself in love.” In waiting we are forced to lay everything else aside; our ambitions, our desires, our selfishness and open to what God might be doing.   We learn to love God by trusting Him in the uncertainty and obeying His commands even when the fruit is not immediately apparent.  We also have opportunity to engage His command to love our neighbor as our self.  The space created in waiting forms the room necessary to be present with your neighbor.   Rather than churning to make something happen, you can open to the opportunity to listen, love, and be with your neighbor.  

Maybe if we adopted learning to loved like this as our Big Hairy Audacious Goal the church would not be shrinking, young people would not be leaving it in droves, and we would not have to worry about the finances.

I think of Jesus.  His ministry was pretty simple.  It began in His incarnation.  He is Emmanuel, God with us.  He is present.  He did not worry about what His goal was going to be, He only did what he saw the Father doing.  He developed the capacity to listen, discern and follow wherever His Father would lead, and He waited 30 years to begin his ministry.  Above all He loved. He loved the Pharisee who would sneak to see Him under the cover of night.  He loved the rich young ruler who would decide the cost of following was too great.  He loved the disciple who would betray Him, the one that would deny Him and those who would desert Him.  He loved the sick, the marginalized, the unclean, the outcast and the half-breed.  He loved the demon possessed and those possessed by their own lust, pride and greed.  He loved the Jew and the Gentile.  His love was kind and compassionate. It was full of grace and truth.  It was given freely and completely.  It was selfless and sacrificial.  I do not have time to describe all the facets of His love, but I sum it up by saying, it was a love which is so much more than we could ever possibly envision or imagine.

What if we made that kind of love our aim?  What if we were willing to allow God to develop it in us in our times of waiting so we would be ready for whatever He might call us to, and what if in the waiting we sharpened our ability to listen for and discern His voice so we could say like Jesus’, “We only do what we see the Father doing.”  I have a sneaky suspicion what would be unleashed would be far greater than anything which could be accomplished through the latest Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  The possibility of it gives me great hope for the future of the church.

Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

Jeremiah

“Those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” – Isaiah 40:31

“I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.” – Isaiah 49:23

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” - John 5:19

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John13:35

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20 & 21