What do we ask for?

Psalm 119: 33-40 (NIV)

What kind of things do you ask God for?  I usually have a list – prayers for healing, salvation, protection, and thanks.  But how often do I ask God to change me from the inside out. 

Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. 

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it will all my heart. 

Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. 

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. 

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word.

Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. 

Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.  How I long for your precepts! 

Renew my life in your righteousness.

The Psalmist is asking God for direction, understanding, and to be taught by God himself. 

What are you asking God for today? 

-Julie

Something of Calvary Love

There are those who believe that being more aggressive/assertive will benefit them in life.  They feel that passivity is useless for attaining what you want and you never get the good that you deserve unless you are calloused to the cares of others to get it.

It would appear that this is how businesses find success in a crooked system and how the people at the "top" get their BMWs without a care in the world.  I get it -- why be gentle and considerate when it probably won't benefit you?  Why should you worry about pleasing others when it often brings you no reward, or maybe even causes you to absorb some pain?

But then I remember the psalmist speaks of those who have carved their way comfortably to the "top" and says that they are like a dream that the Lord forgets (see Psalm 73).  

My soul is saturated with adoration for Jesus who never asserted himself for comfort or personal gain despite his unlimited power.  Something stirs excitedly inside my mind and heart and tells me this is the most captivating way to live.  Andrew Murray wrote, "I am sure that there are many Christians who will confess that their experience has been very much like my own - that we had long known the Lord without realizing that meekness and lowliness of heart should be the distinguishing feature of the disciple, as they were of the Master."

It is okay to be overlooked.  It is okay to be put in last place.  Would it be wrong to assume we should even be most content in such a position?  Maybe always getting our way should be a bit unsettling or uncomfortable!  I read somewhere, "If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the twentieth)...then I know nothing of Calvary love."

Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth;" and Paul, remembering Christ's humility says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).

My deepest desire is not only that our nature would conform to the selfless nature of God, but that by doing so we might brush up against the sense of peace that comes with giving up our privileged position.  Perhaps we will find that we can breathe more easily.  A.W. Tozer says, "The meek man will attain a place of soul rest.  As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him.  The old struggle to defend himself is over.  He has found the peace which meekness brings."

-Kelly

Mariana Trench

I read that in March, James Cameron (explorer and Hollywood director) travelled to the bottom of the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep in a special underwater vehicle.  National Geographic followed his journey, noting the Challenger Deep as “Earth’s deepest, and perhaps most alien, realm.”  It is seven miles below the surface and took Cameron’s sub two and a half hours to descend.  He is only the third person to make this journey and the first to do so alone. 

The purpose of his trip was to contribute to the exploration of the ocean’s extreme abyss and collect data, video, and specimens.   He spent six hours in a capsule in what I’m sure was the thickest darkness we could imagine.  What an adventure!

Here are some of the few creatures that are able to live in the desolate conditions of the Trench.  Not the kind of things I’d like to see in my dreams (or ever), but their less-than-attractive features are essential for survival in such a location.

It seems to me that the Mariana Trench is a good analogy to spiritual decay and darkness.  It is often a slow descent (like Cameron’s sub) and existing so far from the light has a gross affect on the soul.

For James Cameron, psychological and physical preparation was required before embarking on this endeavor:

“To prepare for the Challenger Deep descent, Cameron has been running several miles daily, practicing yoga to increase his flexibility, and immersing himself in deep-ocean science, MacInnis said.

"He's got a very quick-study mind ... and he's been talking to scientists for several years," MacInnis said. "But he's really been focusing for the past year.”

In the spiritual sense, this is what TCM is doing – preparing and sending people to minister in the spiritual “Mariana Trenches” of the world.

Later in the article, the writer quotes someone who says Cameron’s preparation “should be worth it” with regard to the scientific contributions it will provide.  What is exciting about TCM’s preparation is that we know it is worth it. 

Please help us pray for those who have been and will be embracing the adventure of offering light where there is dense darkness - the call of the Great Commission.  May they be given God’s greatest courage and may they inspire us to be passionate adventurers as well.

-Kelly

(Thanks to Kevin Kirk for exposing me to the Mariana Trench articles and inspiring spiritual comparisons!)

A Visit to Haus Edelweiss

I’ve worked for TCM in the Indianapolis office for roughly two years.  I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’ve combed through the Haus Edelweiss photo archives more than my own family albums.  I have known much about the mission of TCM and it has been very good. 

But as we all know, knowledge of chocolate cake is nothing like a bite of it. 

I returned a few weeks ago from my first visit to Haus Edelweiss.  During my two-week stay, I tasted just a morsel of what it is like to be surrounded by TCM students and I cannot adequately describe its flavor or effect.   Being among such a diverse yet concurrent group of people, who are all denying themselves in favor of living a more meaningful story in service to Jesus, is intoxicating in the most holy way. 

While the dynamic of the group was captivating, I found myself even more intrigued by their individual stories.   I was so grateful to make a friend close to my age (mid-twenties).  We struck up a conversation during lunch and I quickly realized how fortunate I was to meet her.   Over the course of our time together at the Haus, I learned about her family and difficult culture, what led her to become a Christian, and how that journey is unfolding in her life today.  She is ministering in the midst of the global disaster of human trafficking.  She is courageous and resolute.  Because of her history, she lives unreservedly – ignoring selfish concessions.  She wants to learn how to be effective and is confident God will provide what she needs.  And she laughs with joy even after a sobering discussion about the areas where she will need prayer.  She is inspiring.

My new understanding of TCM is colored with thoughts of her story and encounters with others equally determined to make a difference in the world.  They are the substance that wins the heart and the bite of cake that floods the senses.  Words cannot compete with the experience of seeing their faces, sharing at meals, and joining them in walks through the mountains.  Still, we pray that all who hear about TCM could be filled with deep excitement as they imagine these people and the work God is doing through them!

Kelly

Suffering Song

There is a secular song that I have listened to recently.  Its lyrics are painful until the last verse and yet it is ironically a very lovely-sounding tune with harps and powerful vocals.  When I listen, I like to imagine it being sung to God as if from one who is suffering profoundly (like Job perhaps). 

It is called “Cosmic Love.”

A falling star fell from your heart
And landed in my eyes;
I screamed aloud as it tore through them 
And now it's left me blind.

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out;
You left me in the dark,
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart. 

And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat;
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became.

I took the stars from my eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back;
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness, too,
So I stayed in the darkness with you. 
 

The Bible is full of suffering songs like this one.  Here are just a few that I thought mimicked the song above.

Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life; 
I'm bleeding, black-and-blue. 
You've attacked me fiercely from every side, 
Raining down blows till I'm nearly dead  (Psalm 88 Message).  

My eyes have grown dim with grief;
My whole frame is but a shadow  (Job 17 NIV).

All my hopes are snuffed out—
My hope that night would turn into day, 
My hope that dawn was about to break  (Job 17 Message).

You have taken from me friend and neighbor— 
Darkness is my closest friend  (Psalm 88 Message). 

But he most surely did listen…
he stayed with me, loyal in his love  (Psalm 66 Message). 

I believe that God welcomes and hears us as we cry out with suffering songs.  Like the one above, we may not realize until the end that he has joined us in our despair. 

When suffering abounds, may we remember that He accompanies us there.  And let us always pray for our Christian family that suffers in shadowy places we cannot imagine.  May they find solace in the presence of God.

(Listen to "Cosmic Love" here)

Kelly