friday night lights

I love when a blog is inspired from unexpected things and places. As a writer I always think in terms of this blog. I can't help it. I perceive things a little differently. I observe. I listen. And then so often out of nowhere I'm stirred, and it's time to write.

 I started watching the tv series Friday Night Lights on Netflix (praise the Lord for Netflix) and I haven't been able to stop. I could write so many blogs about this freakin show, but my favorite part about the show is that it's realistic about how hard life is. And it's true, life is just hard. Sometimes it seems hard to simply wake up in the morning. We're faced with heartbreak, sickness, death, disappointment, rejection, abandonment, and who knows how many other things. Everyone faces them. There are no free passes. I think that's why myself, and so many other people relate to Friday Night Lights. I'll be honest, I related to certain aspects of the show so much that it made it really easy for me to feel sorry for myself about things I've gone through in my life. I don't do that often, but sometimes you get to the "when am I going to catch a break" or "when is _________ going to happen" point. The whole "why is this so hard" question.

But I found out it's not just me and you and Tim Riggins who ask these questions. It's Jeremiah, too.

Jeremiah was a prophet, and in Jeremiah 12 we find him crying out and pleading with the Lord, asking why his enemies are thriving when he had been obedient, only to find himself and his family suffering hardship after hardship. See, it's not just me and you who fall on the floor and cry out, "WHY?" "WHY is this so hard?" It's Jeremiah, too. One of the greatest prophets in the bible. He's struggling with his family too. He's struggling with his wife too. Life isn't easy. He doesn't see God's plan come to fruition immediately.

That's all great and comforting and everything. I can relate to Jeremiah. Congratulations me. But God's response to Jeremiah wrecks my perspective. It humbles me. It puts me in awe of God's bigness, and my smallness. God hears Jeremiah cry out about these sufferings in his personal life and responds...

"If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" -Jeremiah 12:5

It's right there. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. It's written down. It's been in there for thousands of years, and God is still answering you and me the same way he answered Jeremiah. I know son. I know daughter. It's hard. I'm sorry, and I'm here and I'm preparing you and I'll pull you through. But then God doesn't miss a beat and grabs us by the shoulders and says IF YOU FOLLOW ME, THERE IS MORE. There's more pain and more suffering and more attacks from the devil coming. They're coming and on a scale you've never seen, because you're called. YOU ARE CALLED. You have a purpose and a gift that nobody else can fulfill, which you must unapologetically embrace. And for that you will be a target. When you run with the horses you will face opposition that you must be PREPARED for. God doesn't coddle Jeremiah. He basically says, if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Jeremiah went on to be attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet, imprisoned by the king, threatened to death, thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials, and opposed by a false prophet.

God's response to Jeremiah's cry called Jeremiah forth, and he had a decision to make. And we have a decision to make. It's either fall back and retreat when you feel the heat. It's easier. You can manage. You can somehow walk with men for the rest of your life and you'll have the same problems we all do and think life is all about you. Or. Or you can go deeper when you feel the heat. You can grab your problems and your dreams and tenaciously run with the horses where you're called even though you know there will be a price to pay. I don't know what it looks like for you. I don't know where you're called or who you're called to go with. But I do know we are never told it will be easy. We are told it will be hard. Harder than anything we've ever done.

I know that the story God is telling is bigger than each of us. I don't mean to say He doesn't care about our lives and our sufferings. I'm saying, do we even care about His plan? Or just ours? What if His plan looks different than ours? What if the path to the dreams He placed inside of you looks more like imprisonment and opposition before His promise to you is fulfilled? The dreams He gives us are not to make you feel good. They're to tell His story. To spread his Kingdom. Sometimes there's great joy in that, and other times, great suffering. God turns both for good.

So as always, this blog is a prayer, a prayer that we'd learn from Jeremiah. That we'd have the courage to say yes to wherever and whoever we're called despite the heat. That we'd turn our eyes on the God of the entire universe. The God who parts seas and shuts lions mouths and turns water to wine. And may we be reminded of God's promise to Jeremiah over and over as we face life and struggle and those who stand in opposition of where God calls us, "attack you they will, but overcome you they cannot." Because our lives and our stories only matter to the extent we embrace the larger story that God is telling. It's not all about us, and until we realize that, we're just going to exhaust ourselves racing with man, when we're called to run with horses.


More to come - J

in between an army and a red sea

Last Sunday at Faith Church we started a new series on leadership. We're looking at the life of Moses, and taking a walk through Exodus. I openly admit, I don't find myself reading in Exodus very often. But during service I ventured further into the book and read about Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh. You know, the infamous line from Moses and Aaron..." Pharaoh, let my people go!"

I'm sure you know this story. The Israelites have been stuck in slavery in Egypt for 430 years! Egypt and Pharaoh are the largest world power at the time. God calls Moses and Aaron to go set His people free. Moses is far from perfect. He murdered and stuttered and got drunk. But none of those things defined Him, God was too big for that. God saw too much of Moses' heart.

So when God says "GO!"....Moses immediately jumps up and races to Egypt like he's taking on hell with a squirt gun. Okay, I'm lying. Moses basically says...."Me? No chance." "There's no way the Egyptians will listen to me. My own people won't even listen to me." Wait...Moses....nobody told you you're not supposed to say that to God, you are MOSES after all. The star of the Old Testament.

Why does knowing this about Moses make me breathe a little bit easier? Maybe because Moses was so freaking human. The God of the universe is audibly speaking to him, and Moses doubts himself and God. Me too Moses. Me too.

"But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt." Exodus 6:13

A charge. Man this is getting good. Here we go. The team is in the locker room and the coach gathers them up tight and gives a pregame speech for the ages. The chants start and the players sway back and forth and jump up and down and bang on lockers. At least that's how I picture God and Moses and Aaron.

So off they go to Egypt all jones'd up. But God warns them that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened. In other words...this isn't going to be easy and Pharaoh is going to tell you no. Moses and Aaron get to Egypt, find Pharaoh, and proclaim "Pharaoh, let my people go!" - Pharaoh doesn't. And God says he's going to multiply signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Apparently to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. In come the infamous plagues...

Water to blood

Frogs cover the land of Egypt

Gnats cover the land of Egypt

Flies cover the land of Egypt

All Egyptian livestock Die

Boils cover Egyptian people and animals

Hail storms pound Egypt

Locusts cover the land of Egypt

Darkness in Egypt for 3 days

Before each plague Moses would say "Pharaoh, let my people go!" And each time Pharaoh responded "no"....the plague would come...and Pharaoh would beg Moses to ask God to remove the plague, and in return Pharaoh claimed he would let the Israelites go. God would remove the plague, and Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go.

Are you exhausted yet? I am.

Finally, there's a tipping point. The Passover. The first born of every Egyptian family is sacrificed, including Pharaoh's. God has Pharaoh's attention now. Pharaoh lets the Israelites go...and they're out of Egypt in a flash.

The Israelites find themselves free. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? They'd been dreaming of that day for a year, or 430. I bet they never thought this day would come. But it's short lived. They're on the banks of the raging Red Sea, and off in the distance they hear Pharaoh's six hundred chariots and hardened heart coming to reclaim his slaves. How could God's faithfulness suddenly disappear? The Israelites cry out "What have you done taking us out of Egypt? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." Exodus 14:12

Behind them is the greatest army known to man, and in front of them is the Red Sea- two things that the Israelites can't fight against. They're exhausted, broken, hopeless, and seemingly stuck. That's when Moses responds...

"Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." Exodus 14:13-14

I don't know what's in the deepest part of your heart as you read this. But you've made it this far in the post, and this far in your battle. So if you're exhausted, this is for you. If you were encouraged and jumped and yelled in the locker room, and now the battle has taken its toll, this is for you. If you've waited 1 year or 430 years for your promise, this is for you. If you've been told no, despite many wonders and signs, this is for you. If you've fought, and risked it, and left the comfort of the known for the wilderness, this is for you. This is for you who had your promised land and freedom in your grasp, but you looked up and found yourself between an army and a Red Sea...and you no longer have a will to fight.

This is for all of you. But this is also for me. I don't know how long you've been fighting, but I've been fighting (sometimes valiantly, and sometimes shamefully) for a promise for about 5 years, and I'm tired. Sometimes I wonder if I made the promise up. Maybe it wasn't really God. Maybe all the wonders and signs didn't really happen. It's been a long time, and over the years the promise was attacked, and there has been a lot of hurt because of it. I'm sure this sounds dramatic compared to waiting 430 years. But I don't really care. I'm giving myself permission to embrace the fact that it's not all on my shoulders. It's not all on your shoulders either. It's just not. Maybe now is the time to do nothing but stand firm. Because God sees the Egyptians coming, he sees our battle, and he's fighting for us even when it looks like there's no way out and he completely forgot about us.

Maybe He's about to part the Red Sea, and out of nowhere provide the perfect path.

More to come - J