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Call me old-fashioned, but I love listening to the radio when I’m in the car. I know most people these days just connect their smartphone and press play, but there’s just something about the suspense of not knowing what song is coming next and totally jamming out (and totally embarrassing my family) when it just happens to be my favorite song.

One of the downsides to this form of media is that sometimes you have to wait a whole three or even four minutes to find out the details on a particular song – what it’s called and who sings it. And sometimes the station already gave that information at the beginning of the song and then you’re completely out of luck!

Being the information junkie that I am, this leaves me in quite a pickle. I love listening to the radio, but I also must know right now who sings that song. I might never do anything with that information, but I need to know. Now.

So, lucky for me, there’s an app for that!

“Shazam” is one of my favorite apps. If you aren’t familiar with it, you simply open the app, push a button, and it “listens” to the song that is playing in the background. Then, within a few seconds – Shazam! – it recognizes the song and returns the details you’re looking for straight to your phone’s screen. Genius!

Now, if only there was an app like that for listening to God.

As followers of Jesus, we absolutely want to hear what God has to say – about our lives, about His plans for us, about anything and everything! But since most of us will never audibly hear His voice, that means we have to learn to listen for it in other ways. Sometimes He speaks to us through His Word. Sometimes it’s through another person. Sometimes it’s through a set of circumstances. And sometimes He just speaks through our thoughts.

If you’re like me, this often leaves you in a pickle. How do I know if what I think I’m hearing is really from God? What if it’s just me? What if it’s just someone else’s ideas getting in my head? What if I’m just over-analyzing my circumstances? Wouldn’t it be so cool to just be able to open an app, press a button, and within seconds know the author of those thoughts? That would be genius.

The truth is that although it may seem easy, the Shazam app is actually doing some pretty intense and complicated work in those few seconds.

First of all, on a server somewhere is a database of billions of songs the creators of the app have compiled. Then, when you hit the button, the app records a sample of the song and compares it with that massive database to find a match. It’s not a foolproof system (it doesn’t seem to recognize the “Mommy, she’s looking at me!” or “Hey! She’s wearing my shirt!” that often gets added to the song from the backseat of my car), but it works most of the time.

Learning to listen to the voice of God also takes some effort on our part.

In John 10, Jesus compares His followers to sheep and Himself to their shepherd. He says, “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:4-5)

In order to know and recognize God’s voice and distinguish it from all the other voices we hear on a daily basis, we need to do a few things:

First, we need to compile our database. God will never say anything to us that doesn’t line up with His words found in the Bible. So, depending on the version you read, that’s approximately 750,000 words to add to your knowledge base! Yeah, that’s a lot to know, but the more you read, study, memorize and meditate on any of those words – the greater your chances of making a match are!

Second, we may need to minimize the background noise. Although I can easily “SHHHHH!” the voices in my car, shushing the voices of the world around me isn’t so easy. It takes discipline. For me, it means saying “No” to the distractions of my phone and other technology. It means putting it down during those times of the day when I’m most tempted to pick it up. I’m not a fan of silence, but the quieter I am, the louder and clearer I’ll hear God’s voice.

One of the biggest reasons most people I know choose smartphone music over the radio is the lack of new material and repetition of the same old songs, especially on Christian music stations. Seriously, there are days when I am in my car three times and hear the same song all three times!

We all want to hear from God, but chances are, we actually are hearing from Him more than we realize. The problem is that He’s saying the same stuff He’s been saying to us for many weeks, months, or years – we just don’t want to hear it.

We want to hear something profound and inspirational – and He’s like, “Love your neighbor.” We want to know what His plans are for our future – and He’s like, “Forgive that person who hurt you.” We want to know how we’re doing or what we could be doing better – and He’s like, “I love you.”

It’s not rocket – or smartphone application development – science, but listening to God does take some effort on our part. And the more we pay attention to those things we know for sure He is saying, the more likely we’ll be to recognize and distinguish the others.

There are several artists I never need to “Shazam” (even if they come out with a new song), because I just know their voices so well after all these years. And I hope that eventually my need for a God’s-Voice-Recognition app will fade as well. It may take some effort, and I’m sure it’s not entirely foolproof, but God is speaking and I want to listen.

We have some rules in our family. They’re not unreasonable (we hope) and they’ve formed over the years as we’ve gotten to know the different personalities of our kids.

One of these rules is: “In our family we use words and ask questions.” This is our (oh-so positive and culturally correct) parental attempt to replace “NO hitting! NO kicking! NO biting! NO whining! NO demanding things! NO telling others what to do! NO storming off in anger!” It’s important to us that our girls learn that conversation is always the best choice.

One day last winter we were frequenting one of our usual haunts – the Burger King playground. Our girls love this playground (it is, believe it or not, way better than Chick-Fil-A) and they were so excited to climb, slide, and Ninja-Warrior their way around it.

But as we entered the play area that day, tragedy struck.

Like our family, indoor playgrounds also have rules – one of them being that you must wear socks while playing. This is a reasonable rule – not only does it prevent the spread of germs, but it also prevents kids (like mine) from climbing up the slides and becoming speed bumps for the kids coming down.

The tragedy was that our 6-year-old, Amelia, had somehow made it out of the house (in the middle of the winter) with no socks. As the other two ran off to play, I watched my poor little girl melt into a pile of tears.

But – as her mom, I knew something she didn’t know. This was one of those times where it really paid to be the child of two very disorganized parents. Because the chances of there being two loose socks somewhere in the mess of our minivan were hovering somewhere around 100%.

“Hey Meels – you see that guy sitting next to you? He loves you a whole lot and he will pretty much do anything he can to help you whenever you need it. And it just so happens that there are some socks out in the van that he could go get for you if you ask him.”

I’m not sure if it was the overwhelming emotion of the moment or that inherited family stubbornness (“Why are they making me ask this pointless question?”) rearing its ugly head, but she WOULD.NOT.ASK. We encouraged. We hugged. We wiped tears. We waited patiently. We prompted her with examples of what she could say. Still, she refused.

It wasn’t that we needed the information. We already knew the desire of her heart. It wasn’t that our offer of help was contingent on her phrasing the question in a certain way. It didn’t matter how she said it. We simply wanted her to acknowledge her need and then place that need in the capable and willing hands of her Daddy.

Finally, about five minutes before we had to leave, she gave in (insert giant parental “Phew!” here). Through the tears, she managed to utter some form of “Daddy, can you please help me?” So we ran out, got the socks for her, and even stayed an extra few minutes so she could have some more play time.

When it comes to prayer, most of us want to play by the “rules”. We want to say the right things and there’s always at least a little bit of fear that we’ll say the wrong things and “mess it up”. Plus, since God already knows what we need and we’re not going to change His mind, what’s the point anyway? Most of the time we’d rather wallow in our mess than just ask God for what we need.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)

It’s clear from these words that in God’s family, He has a similar rule to ours – and it’s not unreasonable! He wants us to ask Him for what we need. Even if He already knows what we’re going to ask for. Even if He knows what we actually need better than we do. Even if we aren’t sure we’re asking for the right things or saying it the right way. He just wants us to ask!

I’m the queen of praying with disclaimers. I overthink everything and before I even make my request, I’m already thinking of what I think God’s response will be. I just want Him to know that I really want to want His will more than anything. That I understand that I don’t always know what’s best and that He does – I want Him to know that I get it! And I really don’t want Him to think that I’m selfish.

But what if I just asked the question anyway? What’s the worst that could happen? He could say “No” because it’s not what’s best for me or for His glory. And then I would have been wrong, because I obviously didn’t know what was best.

But wait – since when does the kid have to know what’s best for them? We certainly don’t expect our kids to read our minds and only ask for the things that they think we think are best for them! We just want them to ask – to express their heart’s desire (even if it’s selfish) and place it in our hands.

What’s the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is what happens when we don’t ask. When we stop asking because we don’t see the point. When we don’t think we should ask because we assume we can read the mind of the God of the Universe. The worst that could happen is that we end the conversation because we don’t think it’s needed. And then, instead of learning to trust Him, we end up in a place where we question His character.

You’ll never believe this, but a couple weeks later we walked in to that same Burger King playground – joking on the way there about the events of our last visit – only to find that Amelia had, yet again, forgotten to wear socks. But this time, instead of tears, we had a quick “pout” which turned to a big smile as she looked at her Daddy and said, “Can you go see if there are any socks on the van for me?” (Insert parent victory cheer!) She remembered! And she didn’t even hesitate to ask.

So before you move on to whatever is next for you today, take a moment. Acknowledge your heart’s desire and place it in the hands of your very capable and very willing and very loving Father. Just ask! Whatever it is, you can trust Him with it!

It’s a scary time of year for parents. Not because of the spooky costumes or creepy decorations, but because we voluntarily dress up our children and walk them around the neighborhood collecting buckets full of sugary treats, knowing full well what this will lead to over the next few days and weeks:

“Can I have a piece of my candy now?”
10 minutes later
“Can I have another piece of my candy now?”
“Please?”
“Does ‘one piece’ mean only one big piece or can it be three small pieces?”
“That’s not fair! She got to have more than me!”
“Can I have a piece of my candy now?”

Although as parents it may be tempting to just get it over with and let them have it all in one sitting (or just eat it ourselves), the magnificent sugar-high and subsequent (but no less magnificent) sugar-crash of a candy overdose just isn’t worth it! We know that the best solution is to ration it – a few pieces a day not only extends the holiday fun, but also teaches our children a valuable lesson.

I’ve struggled with irrational fears for most of my life. Maybe it started with my cousin telling me there were snakes at the bottom of my bed or maybe it was when I started sneaking into the back of the living room at night when my parents were watching “Unsolved Mysteries”. Regardless, my overactive imagination tends to get the best of me.

The day I found out I was pregnant with our first child was a high beyond all highs. I was finally going to be a mom! But nothing could have prepared me for the crash that was soon to follow.

As an information junkie, I wanted to know everything there was to know about pregnancy and babies. I joined online pregnancy groups and read every article I could find. And my excitement about being a new mom quickly turned into a barrage of horrifying “What if?” scenarios. I couldn’t wait until Ada was born so I could stop worrying.

Ha ha ha.

By the time our second daughter was born, fear had not only overtaken my parenting, but the rest of my life as well. I was in constant “control-mode,” believing that if I even let go for a second, something bad would surely happen to my babies, my husband, or myself.

Looking back now, I realize that my irrational fears were the result of an unwillingness to ration my thoughts. Whenever my mind drifted to one of those “What if?” possibilities, I allowed it to stay there as I tried to come up with ways to prevent it. And then, to make matters worse, I unequally portioned even more of my thoughts in that direction by going to the internet for more information.

Although I still struggle with this on occasion (I may or may not have checked the bottom of my bed last night), I have made the choice to more effectively ration my thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I’m not sure my “What if’s” will ever completely go away, but instead of giving in and stuffing my face with them, I can choose some much healthier options. The more I spend my thoughts on my God and everything that He is (He is noble, He is right, He is pure, He is lovely, He is admirable, He is excellent, He is praiseworthy!), the less I will be feeding my fears.

This doesn’t happen naturally. Philippians 4:9 goes on to say, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Just like rationing our kids’ candy may take some effort (or some earplugs – see quotes above and repeat at least ten times a day), “rational” thinking must be “put into practice”. When I expose my mind to God’s word in the morning, it helps me think about Him more throughout the day. When I listen to Christian music, I get lyrics of trust and hope and faith stuck in my head (even if the song annoys me). When I talk regularly with my wiser, more ‘experienced’ sisters in Christ, they speak truth into my life that I might not see on my own.

“And the God of peace will be with you.” God promises to be with His children always – His presence is not contingent on us putting these things into practice. But I’ve found that my experience of the peace that comes with His presence may very well be affected by it. Rationing more and more of my thoughts toward Him sure does minimize the tantrums, freak-outs and crashes I would otherwise experience!

The thought of leaving my world and my children for five days and heading to a foreign country stirred up a whole lot of emotion in this Mama.  There was so much to do to get ready for the trip (not including the mountain of laundry and a majorly backed up to-do list) and, after already being away for multiple weekends this fall, I questioned why I even said “Yes” to this in the first place.  On top of it all, our normal separation anxiety issues, school struggles, and behavior ‘challenges’ seemed to be at an all-time high.  As our departure day approached, so did an emotional breakdown.

One aspect of trip preparation I was too overwhelmed to even touch was language learning. This was going to be a short trip, mostly consisting of meetings where a translator would be present to help us communicate. I was sure I could learn the few basic phrases I needed once we got there.

The two major languages spoken in Haiti are Haitian Creole and French. Since Haitian Creole is derived primarily from French, I wondered if any of my three years of that in high school would come back. Unlikely, I thought, since that was 20 (yikes!) years ago.

My first 24-hours in Haiti left me feeling very overwhelmed in terms of the language. So many signs and so much conversation happening all around me that I didn’t understand. Even with our amazing translators helping us out, I still felt lost.

So when we walked into the church in Cherette and I saw this verse (in French) painted on the wall, I immediately just asked someone what it meant.

Our NIV translates it like this:
 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

I looked at it again and the light bulbs started to come on.

Oh – fatigues! That looks like our word “fatigued” which means tired or weary.

Oh – moi! That means “me”.

And a moi – that would be “to me”.

And venez. I remember that – it means “come”.

Yep, and vous – that’s a plural “you”.

Qui means “who”.

Oh, and I bet donnerai is like our word “donate”, which is like “give”.

It turns out I could have translated it myself – all I had to do was break it down. Break it down into pieces and filter it through what I already knew.

We all face situations that overwhelm us. Sometimes they build over a long period of time. Others seem to appear out of nowhere. Regardless, we often lump them together as one big mess of stuff that we don’t want to (or don’t think we can) deal with.

But I’ve found that the solution to the breakdown can be found in the break down. All I need to do is take the overwhelming situation and break it into smaller pieces, figuring out exactly what it is that I’m worried, scared, frustrated, or upset about. And then I just need to filter each of those things through the lens of what I already know about God and how He has worked in my life.

“But my to do list is SO long!”
Translation: God has proven that His hand is in all the details. How many times have I not gotten to something – and then it turns out that I didn’t need to do it in the first place or that waiting on it actually turned out better?

“And my laundry pile is huge!”
Translation: God has called me to be a balanced mom, not a “Supermom”. There are times when what He is calling me to do (whether it’s spending daily time in His Word or traveling to Haiti) needs to take priority. And when I say “Yes” to Him, I feel like He then works ‘fishes and loaves’ with the rest of my time.

“Can I really leave my kids right now?”
Translation: My Heavenly Father is an infinitely greater parent to my children than I will ever be and my illusions of control are exactly that. And who knows? Maybe the time away from me will actually help them.

By the end of our few days in Haiti, my confidence had grown, and instead of feeling overwhelmed, I found myself (very) roughly translating any words I could figure out from signs, posters, menus – you name it! (Madame Marquis would be so proud!)

Maybe you’re facing an overwhelming situation today – or maybe one is just around the corner. An emotional breakdown may seem imminent, but in Christ you can face whatever it is with confidence – if you’ll just take a few moments to break it down.

When I took my driver’s test in 1994, I received two point deductions. The first was for stopping at a yellow light (go figure!) and the second was for leaving too much space between my car and the car in front of me at a traffic light. Yes, believe it or not, too much room can actually be a problem.

Last week I had the amazing privilege of traveling to Haiti with Tim and another couple from our church. From the moment of our first boarding call at JFK, it became clear that this trip was going to be quite a challenge for this introverted highly-sensitive-person. In other words, my personal space bubble was about to get popped.

As we left the Port-au-Prince airport parking lot, drove through the city, and visited several places throughout the southern part of the country, I learned something from the Haitian people that I won’t soon forget: You have more room than you think.

When we got into our rental car, it was parked in a spot that seemed mathematically impossible to exit. If it was up to us, we would have sat around and waited until some other cars moved. But our friend Almando, who was driving, knew better – he knew we had plenty of space (and he used every centimeter of it) to maneuver the vehicle out of the spot. We couldn’t believe it!

After leaving the airport, we spent an expected couple of hours in Port-au-Prince traffic. At first I was kind of freaking out – the absence of lane lines, traffic lights and stop signs was making me feel a little uneasy! There were cars, vans, buses, trucks – and pedestrians everywhere and I was sure we were going to see accidents all around us.

But we didn’t. Because drivers in Haiti know: You have more room than you think. Being in traffic like this on a regular basis has caused them to come to a greater spatial understanding. They know exactly how much space their vehicle takes up and exactly how much space they will need in order to merge or pass. They know that there is room – even if it doesn’t look like it.

A couple days later, we had the opportunity to attend a church service in Cherette, a smaller village about 100 miles from Port-au-Prince. Before the service started, Tim, who had been there before, told me that this fairly small church sanctuary would soon be filled with about 300 people!

And he was right – those benches filled right up and even though it was crowded and hot, we worshiped God together. We were greeted over and over again and welcomed with so much love as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Although as guests we were given chairs to sit in that day, I couldn’t help but notice the benefit of the benches – because in the space where three people might sit in chairs, six or even seven might fit on a bench. Therefore, there’s always room for more.

So maybe that closeness, maybe what seems like a lack of personal space, is actually more “roomy” than we think. Maybe our “chairs” and “lanes” and all of the “space” we seem to have here is doing us a disservice – maybe it’s actually causing the room for others in our hearts to shrink. Maybe too much room can be a problem.

I’m a big fan of my bubble. I like to stay in there and do my own thing and live my own life and only let in the people that I want to let in. But as I know Jesus more and more, I see that He was constantly making room for others – especially the others that no one else wanted to let in. He poured out His love and mercy on them so that they would know that there was space for them in His kingdom.

I’ve got plenty of room. It may not look like it at first glance, but the truth is that I have more room than I think. And even though the closeness of that “bench” style life could get awkward and uncomfortable, if it means I’ll have the opportunity to slide over and show someone that there’s room for them in God’s family, I’ll take that over the chairs any day!

I’m not gifted at gifting.  The birthday parties my girls get invited to always sneak up on me and we end up rushing around at the last minute to find an “affordable but unique” present to bring.

I’m especially not gifted at gift wrapping.  I can’t ever get seem to get it right and, because we’re always in a rush, my motivation to improve in this area is low – especially since I can always let people assume that I let the kid wrap the gift, right?

Last Sunday my oldest daughter, Ada, decided to take the job of wrapping that day’s last-minute purchase in preparation for the party that afternoon.  After gathering her supplies, Ada got to work, and within a few minutes, the inevitable happened and the tears ensued.  The paper had ripped, the folds weren’t perfect, and one whole side was all bunched up.

Having lots of experience in this exact situation, I told Ada not to worry!  There was an easy solution: ribbon.  Lots of ribbon.  Ribbon is a great way to cover up all those imperfections and distract any gift-viewers from even noticing them.

I quickly tied a ribbon around the package and walked away to continue in whatever else I was doing, leaving Ada to make the finishing touches.

A few minutes later, I looked over and saw this:

My creative little engineer of a child had used her gift of creative engineering to add her own “personal touch” to this gift.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that all believers in Christ have been “gifted” simply because we have God’s Spirit dwelling within us. He makes His presence in our lives known by giving us certain abilities and strengths. But these gifts were never meant to be kept to ourselves, they were given to us “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7).

If you’re like me, you’ve used to the “I’m just not good at that kind of thing” excuse to avoid and procrastinate giving your time and energy to serving in the church. Because when we go to the “birthday parties,” everyone else’s “gifts” seem to be so “perfectly packaged”. And we’re afraid that if we even try, we’ll just turn it into a botched up mess and be left scrambling for some “ribbon” to try and cover it up.

But the truth is that we were not created to be Pinterest-perfect servants. We’ve all been given gifts, but they come in very human packages – complete with quirks and flaws and personality. My gifts – and yours – are a work in progress, and there’s no need to try to cover them up with ribbon or avoid using them altogether!

I love how Paul says in verse 27: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” He doesn’t say “Your gifts make up the body of Christ” – he says you are the body of Christ! You – with your gifts and with all your quirks and flaws and personality – are an extremely important part of “the common good”.

Your personal touch – no matter how imperfectly packaged it may seem – is exactly what God intended and is exactly what is needed.

When Ada added her origami creations to her friend’s gift, she gave more than just a personal touch, she gave a piece of herself! And every time you use your gifts, you become a gift to your church and to the body of Christ as a whole.

You probably won’t find me signing up for a gift-wrapping ministry anytime soon, but I do have a lot to offer, just by being me – rips, crinkles, bunches and all.

Time is all relative to me.  Seriously, showing up late is my norm and the approximately seven times I have been early for something (in my entire life) only resulted in a “What am I supposed to do now?” feeling of panic.

The truth is that I actually hate being late! My problem, though, stems from a classic case of underestimation.  I constantly fail to accurately predict how much time it will take to get myself (and three kids) ready and headed out the door. 

One day a couple years ago, I agreed at the last minute to meet another mom at a local park for a walk.  When I told her I would meet her there in a “few minutes,” the fact that I still had to walk a mile home from where I was, pack up the stroller, the baby, and everything else I needed for the outing, and then drive the 10 minutes there was obviously not calculating.

By the time I got home, I was in panic mode, running around like crazy trying to get everything ready. I didn’t even have this mom’s phone number to tell her I would be late! I buckled Anna into her carseat, grabbed the diaper bag and some snacks, folded up the stroller, jammed it into the back of the van, slammed the door, got in and started driving.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

Yep, that was my van letting me know that my door-slamming attempt was a failure. I should really pull over and try again.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

But I was so late. And taking the time to stop and repeat the jam and slam process would only make me more late.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

But could I really handle the incessant dinging the whole way there?

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

But I was SO late!

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

So I did it.

I hit the “lock all doors” button, hoping that would be good enough, and drove.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

All the way there.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

With each Ding my stress level grew.

And grew. And grew. And grew. And grew. And grew.

“God, You’re obviously trying to teach me something, but what in the world is it? Because this is really annoying.”

I expected the answer to be something like, “You really need to do a better job thinking ahead!” or “Why are you freaking out instead of trusting Me?” (or “Just pull over and fix it!”)

But He said this instead:

“I’m with you. And I’m not just with you, I’m with you NOW. And I’m not just with you NOW, I’m with you NOW and NOW and NOW and NOW and NOW.

…And NOW and NOW and NOW and NOW and NOW and NOW.”

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said, “I will be with you always.” And when He said always, He meant exactly that – always!

As believers, we never, for a single moment, experience life alone. There isn’t a circumstance or situation we find ourselves in where He’s not presently present. He doesn’t miss a thing because time isn’t relative to Him – He’s ordained our moments, so every single one of those moments is important to Him. We never have to worry that He won’t show up, because He’s never late. His presence is a promise and even in my worst seconds, I can be helped, just by being aware that He’s there.

With three young children, the Ding Ding Ding of slightly open doors rings in my ears more often than I would like. And so many times it feels like it’s happening at the exact wrong time!

But, actually, maybe it’s the exact right time.

Sometimes I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. Maybe it’s because, as the stereotypical ‘oldest child in the family,’ I was born feeling overly responsible. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom who, like all moms, just wants to do what’s best for my kids. Maybe it’s because I’m a youth leader and want SO badly to see this next generation thrive. Or maybe it’s because I spend too much time reading my news app.

This weekend I had the great privilege of being part of a middle school retreat at an outdoor adventure center in Maryland. During the day on Saturday, students had the chance to participate in one of three options: the high ropes course, the giant swing, or the zip line.

At one point, when I was standing near the end of the ropes course, my friend Ashley, who was assisting students as they came through, was bouncing on the ‘bridge’ part of the course and leaning off the side of it. The students nervously waiting in line for their turn looked shocked and as Ashley walked back to ‘safety’, one of them said, “I can’t believe you did that! Weren’t you scared?”

“No way!” Ashley replied. “I’m not going to fall – this equipment is rated for over 5,000 lbs!”

If you’ve ever seen a high ropes course or similar adventure activity setup, you can understand the anxiety of the students as they waited. This course was high up in the trees and the only solid places to stand on were small platforms attached to trees at the junction of each wire tightrope. Yikes! However, as Ashley pointed out, they could absolutely trust that they were going to be completely safe and, in fact, experience a thrill like nothing they’d ever felt before!

Here’s why:

1) A very trustworthy source – a trained and experienced adventure center employee – had assured them that this was safe.

2) As they stood waiting, they watched, with their own eyes, several other students safely complete the course.

3) Their harnesses, lanyards, and carabiners would keep them securely attached to the wires of this very securely constructed course. And as long as they kept one of their two carabiners attached at all times, it was impossible for them to fall.

The funny thing is that even after knowing, seeing and hearing all of that, when their turn came, they still moved very cautiously through the course, gripping the wires – or whatever else they could grab – as tightly as their hands would allow them.

They may have known that the equipment was trustworthy, they may have even believed that the equipment was trustworthy, they may have even told others that the equipment was trustworthy, but when it came down to it, unless they were willing to let go, step off and put their entire body weight in the care of that equipment, they didn’t truly trust it.

Trust, at its core, is simply a transfer of weight. When we receive Christ into our lives, we are transferring the weight of the spiritual consequences of our sin over to Him – trusting that His death and resurrection will be what holds us securely at peace with God for eternity. Then, once we have Him in our lives, we have the opportunity every moment to continue to transfer the weight of the burdens of this life onto His shoulders – because He can totally handle it.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Taking on a ‘yoke’ doesn’t sound like rest, but He wasn’t saying this to add more burden to our lives. He was saying, “Put your own yoke down – stop trying to do this on your own! Attach yourself to Me – I’ll carry the weight!”

When Ashley told those students that the ropes course equipment could hold 5,000 lbs, she wasn’t kidding. The required “Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS)” for the equipment we were using is exactly that – 5,000 lbs. That’s more than 50 times their bodyweight! And the truth is that most equipment, when tested, doubles or even triples the required MBS.

When Jesus said His burden was light, He wasn’t kidding. Being God Himself in human flesh, He knew exactly how much weight God was capable of carrying. And He knew that even the combined burdens of every human being at every point in all of history would look to God like we look at a tiny feather. His power – and His ability to love and care for us as His people – is double, triple… infinitely greater than we can imagine!

Every day, in every situation, I have the choice to trust. I know from a very trusted source, the Bible, that God is trustworthy. I have seen others trust Him and come out safely on the other side. But when it comes down to it, I have a tendency to say that I’m trusting, to believe that I’m trusting, and even to tell others that I’m trusting – when the reality is that my hands are still tightly gripped on whatever I can find to make myself feel safe and secure. And until I transfer the weight, I’m just out here dragging my own yoke around, thinking I’m some sort of hero for being so ‘strong’.

The crazy thing is, when I do let go – when I step off that ledge and very intentionally shift the weight of the world, the weight of my world, into His care – it may be scary at first, but I always I experience a thrill unlike any other.

It’s great to be three-years-old. The world around you is huge and there are new things to learn every day! Your developing brain is taking in large amounts of information at a rapid rate and you can’t wait to be “big” and know it all.

It’s also hard to be three. Because sometimes all that information can be a little overwhelming and hard to sort through. And sometimes you make mistakes that cause your parents to laugh out loud.

For example, the other day, Anna found this “sprinkler” in the playroom:

One day she asked me if she could have a “granddaughter” for a snack:

There was that time someone gave her some “Starbucks” for a special treat:

Miss “Carrot” is one of her favorite babysitters (Her real name is Kira):

And this, of course, is a “Bless you”:

I’m not a child development expert, but I’m guessing it goes something like this:

Anna sees an object she has previously seen and heard the name of. Her brain attempts to retrieve the object’s name, but she can’t quite remember it. She does, however, recall something about the word – maybe the sound of the first letter or a syllable – so she takes, from the pool of her known vocabulary, a name that sounds similar and uses that instead.

The result is incredibly large amounts of cuteness. Because she’s three. And the range of her vocabulary is understandably limited. If her mom, or even her 9-year-old sister had this problem, though, the word “cute” would not apply!

When we first receive Christ into our lives and begin growing in our relationship with Him, it’s understandable that we might make similar mistakes. That when we think about who God is or what He is like, we would only be able to retrieve ideas from our limited pool of human experience. We take what we have known and seen to be true in this world and, many times, mistakenly assume He must work the same way. There just isn’t much else to choose from!

But as we grow in our faith and are exposed to more and more of the truth about Him, our vocabulary expands and now His Word should become the pool from which we retrieve our thoughts about Him.

I’m amazed at how often, over twenty years into this, I still limit my understanding of the ways of God to the way I see things work here.

How often I think that because I name a circumstance “impossible”, He must have to work around it Himself.

How often I think that because I see a situation as a “disaster”, He didn’t see it coming either.

How often I think that because I label a person as “difficult”, He must struggle to love them as well.

How often I think that because I call a decision “foolish”, He’s worried about the outcome, too.

The problem is that I’m retrieving those “names” from the wrong place. I’m assuming my worldly experiences apply to a God who is not of this world!

But if I’m filling my mind on a regular basis with His words from the Bible, the Holy Spirit can help me retrieve those words instead.

I remember that He names the impossible an opportunity to show His glory (John 9:3). That He sees the disaster as an opening for Him to pour out His mercy (Luke 8:47-48). That He labels the difficult as living examples of the power of His grace (Luke 19:9). That He calls the foolish a way of surprising us with His ultimate wisdom (John 13:5).

Like my three-year-old Anna, I want to know it all – I want to grow up in my understanding of who God is and how He works! But that’s not going to happen if all I ever have to pull from is my limited human vocabulary of experiences. I need His words of truth to be so familiar that they become the ones my mind retrieves, without hesitation, every time.

Our students never believe it when we tell them that I was the worship leader on our first SERVE mission trip in 2002. I may have only known three chords and we may have sung the same three songs over and over that week, but I did at one time have some guitar skills.

If you don’t know much about this instrument, its musical tones are produced by plucking or strumming strings that stretch from the guitar’s “body” to its “head”. The pitch of these tones varies depending on placement of the guitarist’s fingers on the “neck”.

Along the neck of a guitar, you’ll notice these things called “frets”. Frets are metal wires placed at regular intervals which enhance the tone as the string is pressed down against them. As the finger moves from fret to fret, the length of the string shortens, causing the pitch to get increasingly higher.

My worship-leading days may be far behind me, but “fretting” is something I am still all too familiar with.

It starts with a low, vibrating tone of disturbance. Something in my world isn’t right. Something is threatening my comfortable happiness.

When I have lost (or at least fear that I will lose) my comfortable happiness, I fret. I apply the pressure, increase the tension, and shorten my string.

I start seeing the possible negative outcomes of this situation. I don’t want any of those things to happen, so I move up another fret into “control-mode”. Because something must be done so that I can have my comfortable happiness back, please.

Then, when my selected “control-mode” solution does not produce the desired outcome, I fret yet again. Apply the pressure. Increase the pitch. And I shorten my string into the “blame game”. “Well if so-and-so hadn’t…” or “If this thing had never…”

Before I know it, I’ve moved right down the neck, fret by fret, into a full-fledged, high-pitched whine. Things aren’t going my way, I want my comfortable happiness back, and I’m going to make sure everyone in my world knows about it.

I’m not sure if stringed instruments were popular in Jesus’ time, but I do know that “fretting” was something He was completely unfamiliar with. As I study His life, I am increasingly amazed at His calm, seemingly unbothered nature in spite of the disturbance all around Him.

He knew that after seeing His miracles, people would begin chasing after Him for all the wrong reasons. He continued doing them. He knew that His teaching would be criticized, misunderstood, and twisted to be used against Him. He taught anyway. He knew that He would be harshly judged for His acts of mercy toward “sinners”. He carried on in love.

Even with His greatest suffering looming just around the corner, Jesus never allowed the pressure to shorten His string. He didn’t fret into “control-mode” or the “blame game”. His tone remained consistent and therefore His whine was non-existent.

So what was His secret? What was it that allowed Him to remain fret-free?

John 13:3 tells us. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.”

The answer is that Jesus did life with an entirely different instrument. Unlike us, the root of His motivation and the foundation of His every action and reaction was NOT comfortable happiness in this life. Instead, it was glorifying God. He knew that the ease and good feelings of this earthly life held nothing in comparison to the glory of the Father, so He based everything on that.

And therefore, when the tension increased, rather than fretting into that high-pitched whine, He absorbed the vibration of disturbance and allowed it to turn into beautiful music instead. He allowed the pressure to reveal to the world around Him a deep trust in and deep relationship with His Father.

Because of Jesus, that instrument of trust and relationship with God is available to us, too. And I don’t know about you, but I’m so ready to trade up!