Author: Susan

Have you missed an opportunity?

Sure God calls us to do stuff. But if we miss the memo, don’t listen, or simply ignore Him, will we have missed our only opportunity?

God invites

In the Bible there’s a girl named Esther. She’s minding her own business when God invites her to do something dangerous and remarkable. Not dangerous for God, just risky for her. Esther initially hesitates, then does what God asks. This is the shortened version. You can read her full story in the Book of Esther in the Bible. Yup, that’s right. Her obedience led to a book deal.

God’s plan

A key phrase in the book of Esther is, “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)

This short phrase comes with a live or die motto, but in my mind it simultaneously shows God’s bigger plan and hints at a smaller one.

Life-changing moment

Esther’s whole life leads to this life-changing moment if she chooses to do what God asks of her.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 NIV

Overlooked

Most people focus on the last five words. I want to look at a different five that can get lost and overlooked in the middle.

The key phrase I’m looking at is “will arise from another place.”

If Esther doesn’t speak up, God will use someone else to carry out His plan. Esther will have missed her opportunity to serve God and her people in this way.

Miss your turn

But I don’t believe this is a one and done sort of thing. I don’t think God’s handing out assignments and if you miss your turn or your place in line you’ve lost out.

Ideas

Over the past few months (I can’t believe I’m saying months) I’ve had a few ideas on what to post on the blog. Ideas that were very time sensitive, kind of like buying a winter coat before November. Some ideas I ran with:

Offer grace and compassion to one another

Did anybody notice? Look forward in a new way

Others I didn’t.

God didn’t stop

Here’s what I want you to hear. God didn’t stop using me to share ideas. He just didn’t use me to share those ideas, the ones I didn’t write about. Probably gave that opportunity to someone else, but He didn’t write me off.

Accepted the assignment

Here’s the lesson I learned. The next time God put an idea into my head I accepted the assignment and wrote the blog post. And guess what? I heard back from people that it spoke to them. So God hadn’t given up on me and still had some tasks I could do to serve others.

Don’t give up

So if you feel like you’ve missed an opportunity, don’t give up.

Don’t give up on yourself.

Don’t give up on the idea that God can still use you to serve others in some way.

Don’t give up on God.

Because God hasn’t given up on you.

“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT

What’s behind the mask? Getting a closer look

Reflecting on the many different opinions on masks that I’ve observed over the past several weeks, I pondered what might be behind the mask.

To mask or not to mask?

I was in a meeting this week, well you know, with a computer interface looking at the faces of five friends. We were talking about in-person gatherings and mask wearing.

I started thinking about different ways people have been associated with masks. I’m just going to focus on three: wearing them, not wearing them, or making them.

Now if you ask people, some have pretty strong opinions about their position, others may just “go along to get along.”

What had my curiosity was why people had so many different opinions on the topic.

What’s behind the mask?

Some people wear them out of a sense of duty or responsibility. For others in an at-risk category, the mask may mean safety. For someone else it’s oppressive or restrictive in one way or another. And for another making masks is a way to make a difference.

While some people have stepped toward the mask, others have stepped away from it, but we’ve all been impacted and affected by it. I think this is by design.

A wise friend once told me that God allows issues to rise to the surface so that we can deal with them. This also means He can deal with them.

Masking my emotions

I don’t know about you, but when I’m stressed, I’m not good at masking my true emotions or feelings. Whatever effort I’ve taken prior to that point to gloss over, disguise, or cover up what’s bothering me, rises to the surface.

Often times I might try to stuff it down. But other times, when I take the time to address what’s behind the intensity of my feelings, especially when I invite Jesus along for the emotional roller coaster ride, I get closer to the real reason behind the mask.

I get closer to Jesus.

Not alone

And when I recognize that I am not alone in this way of thinking, this way of being in the world, I can offer grace to someone else and their stance, knowing that I don’t know what’s behind the mask for them.

Stress fractures

In our conversation on Friday, I mentioned what I’m calling, “stress fractures.”

These moments of stress start to fracture our façade, the mask we try to keep in place.

Weaken the wall

The beauty of these stress fractures is that they weaken the wall we place around our hearts and more of our true selves starts to seep out. And the more we allow our true selves to be exposed, the more we are exposed to the unconditional love of Jesus, who loves us in spite of our flaws and weaknesses.

He also loves those around us in spite of theirs.

Jesus loves

So as we go about our business with our masks firmly, or not so firmly, in place, may we remember that Jesus loves each one of us unconditionally.

Jesus loves me this I know or do I?

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me. Psalm 139:1 NIV

Finding peace and priority in the presence of Jesus

In a week filled with tasks and responsibilities, remembering where to look helped me find peace and priority in the midst of it all.

Cluttered mind

I had an overwhelming moment this week. So much to do and so many thoughts running through my head. All tasks that needed attending to, but at the moment they all cluttered my mind. And of course when the thoughts are running rampant they tend to be the negative ones. You know, the ones that say you’ll never be able to accomplish all this, you don’t have what it takes to get it done. The thoughts of defeat.

So not only did I have a ton of thoughts running through my head, but none of them were helpful. It’s not as if I had a voice of reason giving me pointers. No, it was the judgmental one speaking loud and clear.

Jesus waiting

Thankfully Jesus was waiting patiently on the sidelines for me to notice He was there too. Just remembering He was there made all the difference. Okay, this might sound silly, but it’s like when you open the fridge and find you do have that ingredient you need to make dinner. The realization that what you needed was already there, you just had to see it. That moment of relief.

Paused and remembered

So in that space when I paused for just a second and remembered that Jesus is with me, I felt less burdened. The sense of urgency dissipated just a bit, simmered down and my mind started to clear.

As I wrote down my list of all the tasks I needed to accomplish, I discovered deadlines weren’t as close as they had appeared. And homework seemed a bit more manageable, maybe because I now felt I had room in my head to process and figure it out. The projects I did need to focus on prominently stood out, ideas started to flow and inspiration came.

Gratitude

And then in a moment when I was away from my computer, a new thought formed. One of gratitude.

“Jesus, thank you for clearing my plate and cleansing my palate.”

I do like my food analogies, but this was a new one for me. I wrote it down, well, typed it out so I wouldn’t forget it, and then reflected on what I had heard.

My turn of events was evident in the gratitude.

Jesus, thank you

In that moment I recognized that Jesus was a part of the solution, that He was the solution. No surprise my journal page that morning had the Scripture, “I am the way the truth and the life.” John 14:6 NIV

By the way, did you notice how the verse applied itself in my life? I hadn’t memorized it. But I had internalized the idea enough for it to weave into the solution for my struggle. And focusing on this Scripture changed my posture from burdened to thankful.

Gratitude toward Jesus, the calming force in my life.

Clearing my plate

When I looked at my to-do list after first looking toward Jesus, I found a more manageable list. Deadlines were farther out than I had realized. I had more time than I originally thought when I glanced at the list from Jesus’ perspective. And He cleared away the stuff that didn’t matter – all the added stress and fret that had filled my timeline.

Cleansing my palate

This last piece was what brought the greatest peace. Cleansing my mind of all the unwanted, unnecessary clutter of judgement and negativity made way for clarity of what mattered. Jesus made a way through the stress, the clutter, the burdens, and the chaos.

Jesus, thank you for clearing my plate and cleansing my palate.

I found peace and priority in the presence of Jesus.

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV

More thoughts on this:

Doing something differently – where my focus is

The benefits of hearing different Bible translations

We tend to favor a particular Bible translation, the one that resonates with us. What happens when a group of people reads from different Bible translations together?

Hearing Scripture

I led a group of people through the Bible. We met once a week and read out loud from the Word (another term for what’s in the Bible). Hearing Scripture (the words in the Bible) read aloud allows you to take in and notice things that might be overlooked if just reading on your own. We each had a different Bible translation.

Here’s a little information on Bible translations:

What to look for when choosing a Bible

Now you might think this would be confusing, and it can be, if you’re following along in your Bible while listening to a different wording being spoken aloud. But we noticed something that really added to our time together.

Different versions

When we took turns reading, we would experience the Bible passage in different versions. Depending on who was reading we might hear the verses in the New King James Version (NKJV), New International Version (NIV), or the Message (MSG), just to name a few. Sometimes we would take the time to read the passage from all of the Bible translations represented. This gave us a fuller picture of what we were experiencing. Sometimes a phrase or a word in someone else’s Bible was the one that really spoke to us.

23rd Psalm

For instance, here’s the first line of the 23rd Psalm in the King James Version:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1 KJV

Most familiar

Something fun about this example is that the King James or New King James Version is probably the most familiar one because of how often it has been quoted or referenced. In fact, because of the cadence, this one can bring the most comfort to a person.

Receive the words

But if we look at the New Living Translation, we see the wording allows us to experience this passage in a different way. Maybe instead of a familiar feel, we now receive the words of this verse as a guiding reminder.

“The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.” Psalm 23:1 NLT

Connect with Jesus

See what I mean? Just by stopping to read this passage in a different version, we can rest in the truth of who Jesus is in our lives. And isn’t that one of the reasons we read the Bible, to connect with Jesus?

Sharing

Another benefit of this group study was that we each had a preferred translation, the one we favored and most understood. When we each read from the Bible we had brought with us, we were sharing what was important to us. We were sharing from the one that spoke to us. (Well except when someone forgot their Bible. Then they were trying to read the tiny print from the Bible in the church entryway, which introduced another perspective – just trying to figure out what it said).

Listen

But when we read from the one that mattered to us, we shared something of ourselves. And when we took the time to listen to someone else’s perspective, we learned something more about Jesus. Sometimes the fact that we weren’t as familiar with the translation being read meant leaning in a little closer to listen so that we might better understand.

Benefit

One of the people in our group loved the King James Version, the one with Thee and Thou throughout. He liked it because it reads like Shakespeare, which incidentally was the same reason another person didn’t like the KJV. They couldn’t understand it because it read like Shakespeare.

See the benefit of bringing different perspectives together?

Perspective

Experiencing the Bible in different translations was one of the gifts of this group. Reading on our own, we would have only been exposed to the version of the Bible we had chosen. Listening in the group gave us a perspective we would have otherwise missed.

Doing something differently – where my focus is

What am I doing differently these days? With thoughts running in my head throughout the day, adding one simple step helps me see where my focus is.

What’s on my mind

I’ve been journaling for a while now, about ten minutes in the morning. I write what’s on my mind, then invite Jesus to speak into it. I try to pause and listen for a response, thoughts which come to my heart that I can write down.

Intentionally focus

Because I also seem to have a running conversation in my head, I’ve started writing out reflections as well. I realized this was a way to intentionally focus on what already had my attention or was preoccupying my thoughts. I try to sit down and write about it so I can focus on the topic and write down what comes to mind.

Pause

You may or may not have moments during which you can pause. Often times, life doesn’t allow for the sit down intentional place of focus.

I have noticed, when I’m going about my day that I can pause in the middle of my thoughts and see if I’ve brought Jesus into the conversation.

Where my focus is

What’s that supposed to mean, you ask? Well, if I’m preoccupied with something, that’s where my focus is. If I take just a moment to ask a question like, “Jesus, what’s your perspective on this? What are your thoughts?” I’m now focused on Jesus and not just my thoughts. I’ve invited Him into the conversation. All that time He’s been waiting patiently for me to invite Him into this aspect of my life.

Invite Jesus

Give it a try sometime. If you have a bunch of thoughts running through your head, maybe something that’s weighing you down or is taking up more of your attention than you’d prefer, then invite Jesus into the conversation. No fancy words needed. You don’t even have to pray, though some might see this as a way to pray. What’s important is to invite Jesus into the space.

Invitation to speak

I have wise friends. You know, the ones who never say anything until you invite them to speak. Then they share the most amazing piece of insight you wish you’d heard long before you spent a bunch of time preoccupied by whatever was weighing you down. In this type of scenario, think of Jesus like that. He’s like that wise friend, patiently listening, thoughtfully reflecting, and waiting for the invitation to speak lovingly into your life.

Will you invite Him to speak?

“The one whom God has sent speaks God’s words. That’s because God gives the Holy Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has put everything into his hands.” John 3:34-35 NIRV

More thoughts on where to focus:

Where to focus in the midst of change

How to simply pray