Micah 7

It is no secret in our family that I have absolutely no inherent sense of direction. Even with the little N or SW on the car’s information panel, I often don’t know which way to go. Unless I am driving to my grocery store, my office, my church, it would be anyone’s guess about when, or whether, I would get to the place I intended to go. [I call this my “elongated route syndrome” rather than simply saying that I get lost all the time.]

The best example of one of my elongated routes was the subject of an earlier blog entitled The Elongated Trip posted May 23, 2015. I was to go to Bristol, Tennessee from Knoxville in the days before GPS or the voice of Siri directing your travel. This trip is, for almost everyone, about 120 miles. But, for me, on that day, the trip was over 240 miles, not on interstates but rather on state routes through the mountains, valleys and byways of Tennessee and Kentucky.

As you can likely guess, the yellow is the easy route that I should have taken while the green line shows the actual path that I drove.

Bill and I recently drove through Bristol and, since Bill was driving, I could think about that long drive. While the trip was decades ago, I still remember it vividly.

It occurred on a day when frustrations, fears and financial deficits were facing me with full force; it was a day when I was sure that the future was bleak and that there would be no possible rescue. I did not doubt that God loved me, nor did I think that He had abandoned me … I just did not see how any relief would be coming that would help my dire situation.

When we don’t know what to do or where God is directing us to go, we often become anxious, frustrated, and sometimes resentful, thinking that we are just “biding time” while others are active in the ministry that we want to do. After all, we want to get going!

During times such as this, try to back away from the situation and consider whether God might be trying to teach you a lesson. Remember, the Holy Spirit indwells each Christian and it is His job to transform us into the likeness of God’s Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This transformation occurs by developing the fruit of the Spirit that Paul details in Scripture, such as in Galatians chapter 5. So, look and see where the Holy Spirit is working in your heart, see what God is teaching you.

Think about the lessons in patience that you can learn as you wait for the Lord! Scripture often exhorts us to wait …

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Psalm 27:14

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Micah 7:7

Think about the lessons in peace and faithfulness that you can learn as you trust God to guide your steps …

The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalm 28:7

… For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

oregon-lighthouse-and-gps-c — Lighthouse and GPS — the old and new navigation tools meet along the Oregon coastline.

God will lead us as surely as the lighthouse pointed the way to the seafaring voyagers and as specifically as our modern GPS technology allows. (Both are noted in this picture from the Oregon coast, the lighthouse on the left and the GPS on the roof of the adjacent building.)

We usually don’t know why we have an “elongated route” on our road with the Lord. We can’t see His reason for taking us along that way at that time, but we don’t need to know all that. All we need to know is that we are in the Hands of our loving Father.

Charles R. Swindoll said it like this in Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Zondervan):

“We’re not supposed to have airtight answers! Why? Because our understanding is earthbound. . . . Our focus is from the ground up. . . . We see now, He sees forever. We judge on the basis of the temporal; He, on the basis of the eternal. . . . His vantage point is infinity.”

Trust this Lord who will teach us lessons while we are going along the “elongated route”. He knows our ultimate destination and He has planned our trip so when we get to our destination, we will have the ability to do the assignment that He has for us to do. The lengthened route may be designed to quiet your soul so that you can hear His voice speaking words of calm, encouragement, direction, and strength into your heart and soul. It certainly did that for me.

The classic hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” expresses the desire to grow in our Lord while we are “waiting, yielded and still”. Here is the hymn as sung on the album Hymns in the Vineyard.

Give Him the keys to your life. And keep your eyes on Him as He directs your path.

Father, I praise Your name for Your faithfulness and patience as You teach me lessons even when I am complaining about having to wait or when I am unsure of where You are directing me to go. Enable me to have faith sufficient to simply hand over the keys to my life to You and then let me ride along on the trip that You have planned out for me. Mold me and make me after Your will, so all can see Christ only always living in me.

Boo‐boos. That is one of the terms for that time in a child’s life when they hurt themselves. Children from time immemorial have scraped, cut, and bruised themselves by running without watching where they were headed, focusing on playing with some toy while they are walking around, jumping off a ledge onto a hard surface, or perhaps playing with a sibling and coming out on the short end of the stick! Whatever happens, when there is an injury, the child comes running, crying, to the parent or caregiver, pointing to the newest boo‐boo.

All of us hope and pray that the injury is not serious enough to require emergency medical attention; and, for the vast majority of boo‐boos, we are correct. The kiss from Mom or Dad, the hug from Grammy or Papa and a decorated Band‐Aid will usually take care of the hurt.

Then too we have the child who gets injured and for whom medical attention is required. Broken arms and legs do not heal well on their own – they need the expert guidance of the physician to set the bone and secure it until the body is fully healed.

Little boy's cast after breaking his leg. — Little boy’s cast after breaking his leg.

While adulthood gives some perspective to hurts and difficulties of childhood, simple aging does not eliminate the existence of boo‐boos nor does it stop the creation of new ones. Now, most of my boo‐boos do not result in physical injuries or marks for which a colored Band-Aid or designer cast is the remedy. [Okay, I did break my ankle when I fell on vacation in Alaska and that resulted in surgery with scars on both sides of my foot … so some of my boo-boos are actually physical, but the majority are notl]

Oh no, most of my boo-boos are much more subtle. They are much more longstanding, and they have significantly greater consequences if left to fester without repentance. And, they usually cannot be healed by my actions; rather, they need the expert hand of the Great Physician to attend to the wound.

The temper flare‐up when I feel that I have been misused.
The gossip passed from my lips under the guise of enlisting prayer partners.
A sudden fit of blindness when I fail to lend a helping hand to someone in need and who is plainly in my field of vision.
Doing something good but then being upset when I think that I have been ignored.
And countless others … need I go on?

I expect that your boo‐boos are not the same as mine – we each are unique in our ability to err and not follow God’s will for our lives. But, I suggest that, ultimately, for each of us, it comes down to pride. Are we going to submit ourselves totally to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? In all things? At all times?

The goal of the Christian life is that we live so that we are transformed into the image of our Savior, Jesus Christ. While that is the goal, Jesus knows we are human and that we cannot live a life without boo‐boos.

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young provides thoughtful daily devotions that are written as if Jesus is talking to us directly. For the devotion for May 9, she refers to Romans 8:28 and Micah 7:7 and then says:

Because you are human, you will continue to make mistakes. Thinking that you should live an error‐free life is symptomatic of pride. Your failures can be a source of blessing, humbling you and giving you empathy for other people in their weaknesses. Best of all, failure highlights your dependence on Me. I am able to bring beauty out of the morass of your mistakes. Trust Me and watch to see what I will do. [Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, Enjoying Peace in His Presence, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004.]

Yep, it all comes back to pride. I want to do it my way – or I don’t want to do what He commands – or I think I can accomplish it in my own strength – or … well it comes back to the focus on I/ Me/ My rather than Him.

All we see are the minute details of our own lives. We don’t see the effect our actions have on others. We don’t know how our words affect others for good, or bad, and we cannot anticipate what the future will be for anyone. We see our mistakes and lost opportunities, and sometimes we see good things that happened along the way. It is as if we are seeing the fabric of our lives on the backside of the fabric, the side where the knots are. (The picture below is of one of the quilts on display at the DAR Museum in Washington D.C.; it is a floral applique quilt that was created in 1840-41.)

Floral Applique Quilt [circa 1840-41] on display at DAR museum in Washington, D.C.

God, however, sees the front of the fabric and sees the pattern that He has created for each of us. Read Psalm 139, especially verse 16, where the Psalmist is describing God’s intimate knowledge of him and saying:

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Our days were written in God’s book even before we were born. Clearly, our lives are the design that He created for us, and He will develop our lives according to His plan, including our boo-boos. In fact, sometimes what we may consider a boo-boo is transformed by God into the door to greater blessing than we could ever have imagined!

Praise the Lord that He is able to take my boo‐boos and use them for my learning, growth and ministry to others. He promises to take both our good and bad choices and use them as part of the fabric of our life in Him. (Picture below was taken at the Homestead Museum of the spinning wheel and quilt reflecting life on the Homestead in Cumberland County, Tennessee.)

Quilt and spinning wheel on display at Homestead Museum, Crossville, Tennessee.

Praise the Lord! The sinless One cares for me and He helps me overcome and heal from the boo‐boos of my life. There might be a scar or two, but that’s alright. Jesus has scars too, and His were from the nails that were meant for me!

Praise the Lord for His unfathomable love and grace.

Father, thank you for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sin. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your obedience to the Father’s will and for your atoning sacrifice for me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for quickening my heart and for your presence with me to guide and direct as I live for my Lord. Forgive the boo-boos that I have created and grant mercy as I continue to live my life so that I may bring glory to my God and my Savior