Lessons Learned Part One

May 20, 2009

As I struggled to figure out what passage to select for our devotional this week, I suddenly realized that in a week and a half I will no longer be doing this. Yes, I know I’ve known that these last days of my ministry among you were coming but now the palpability of them is real to me. So I figured that I would leave you, this week and next, with scriptures and lessons that I have learned, re-learned, (and am still practicing learning), while among you. May you find in these, hope for your days.

Psalm 46:10a
Be still and know that I am God.

The most crucial lesson in life that I have learned is the value of nurturing one’s personal relationship to God. Thirsting for God and allowing God to be the driving force in one’s life enables everything else to fall into place. You grow and advance in levels of consciousness until you find God’s peace. It seems to me that this is the ultimate goal of life and the foundational piece for living. If one can’t get this commitment in order, life will always be difficult and frankly it doesn’t have to be.

Matthew 7:1-5
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye, while the log is in your own eye?’ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

This seems to be the hardest lesson for me. Somehow I was pre-wired to see how all of us should operate but the fact of the matter is there really are no shoulds. Things just are and we have a choice to accept them as they are and see the best in them or not. Letting life be as it is, is a very hard lesson but very freeing in the times that we can allow it to be as it is.

As a minister, one finds himself/herself standing as a representative of God which usually means that people feel free to lash out at you for no apparent reason. Learning to let others be as they are, learning that their issues are not about you, learning to allow others to have their journey in life without trying to fix them or internalize the hurt is such a challenge! But if the lesson can be learned, what peace can be found!

Luke 6:38
“Give, and it will be given you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put in your lap . . .”.

There is something powerful to be said for giving. Giving gratitude to God first for what God has done in the past, then for what is happening now (even if it seems to stink to you right now) and for what God will do in the future. There is so much of the larger picture of life that we are not privy to see and if we can practice gratitude through it all, we come to an understanding that (as Romans 8:28 says—all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose) life just seems to flow.

The other aspect of giving is the idea of abundance. I do not believe that God intends for us to lack in anyway. But I also believe that wealth and abundance of any sort were meant to be in constant flow. (Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:19-21). We are called give of what we have been given and if we live from a belief in lack, then we are saying that we do not believe that God is able or willing to care for us. I believe that God is more than able to meet my every need. I just have to let God do it.

Finally, giving of a smile or prayer or a complement can begin to turn a sour relationship toward sweetness. Those are simple gifts to offer and we don’t do them enough, I know that I don’t.

There are many more lessons that you have allowed me to learn while among you and I will hope to finish sharing them next week. For now, may you find peace in your own commitments to being still and knowing God and in letting others be as they are. May you also find wonder in the many facets of giving! Wishing you God’s best this week!