Sacred Mundane: The Blog

Revisiting this again this morning as fall comes upon us and school begins… 

~

The battle this morning was very real.

We were sick over the weekend, so we rested. We skipped runs. We slept in. We let the kids snuggled with us, we kept the phones turned off, nothing pressing urging us on.

We slipped into the quiet morning late, sipped coffee, savored the slow pace.

But now we’re home and as I ponder my upcoming projects it’s clear: This will take discipline.

Not just the book, the church-plant, the upcoming women’s retreats. The life. These kids and home and ministry and homeschooling and life, all of it, good and glorious, but all things worthwhile take work and will I work?

Is it worth it?

Yes, I decide it is. So I set the auto-program on the coffee pot. Set myself up for success. Punch in the numbers: 5:00. Sleep.

But when the beeping sounds my body screams. Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!

Within thirty minutes I’ve won the battle, but the body screams throughout the day. Eat! Eat!When I don’t need to eat. Quit! Quit! When I don’t need to quit. Escape! Escape! When I need to engage.

All the screams come from the same source: Self.

It is the same self that screams for attention, screams to get its way, screams when injured or offended, when slighted or overlooked. And Tozer would say that this same self — the one that screams — is what keeps us out, away from the presence of God.

It is, “the close-woven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged … it is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look into our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress” (Pursuit of God, 44).

Poked?

Now he pierces:

“The self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love, and a host of others like them … The grosser manifestations of these sins — egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion — are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders … Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice … To tell the truth, [self] seems to actually feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible conference than in a tavern. Our very state of longing after God may afford it an excellent condition under which to thrive and grow” (45-46).

Anyone still standing?

So what do we do?

“[The veil of Self] … can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. … It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. … Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil.  God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. … We must insist upon the work being done” (47).

Our part is to yield and trust. I wonder how often I tinker with my inner life, like an old man passing time in his garage, instead of submitting to the Hand of the master and letting Him tear, cut, sew, mend, heal. Perhaps externally it all looks the same.

But one method accomplishes something and one method does not.

I suppose I’d rather choose the path that brings me close to Him. And if my flesh living means my spirit dying I guess I’d rather let Him tear out that flesh. Like weeds. The truth is I’m not sure what that looks like today.

But it will help me get out of bed, of that I’m sure.

{Where is your self-flesh rearing its ugly head today? How can you yield and trust Christ today, letting Him tear as He pleases for our good? Thanks for reading.}

Because it’s worth watching again (and again and again). Enjoy. Happy Labor Day. Jesus gave His all because He wants the rose. He loves you so much; I pray you know that today. Bless you, and thanks for reading.

• Finishing.
• Resting.
• Recovery.
• Running again.
• How everything physical teaches us about the spiritual.
• Good friends.
• Laughter.
• Popcorn with butter.
• Blackberry picking every evening.
• Freezing peaches.
• A clean house.
• Driving away.
• Riversong.
  
• Camping in the backyard.
• The sound of the river.
• Blackberries.
• Kale chips.
• Dutch preferring his sister.
• Blowing kisses.
• Snuggles at naptime.
• Her clammy starfish hands holding my face.
• “I love you forever!”
• Coring apples outside in the sun while watching Dutch ride his scooter and listening to a Matt Chandler sermon. My perfect afternoon.
• A friend’s steadfast faith.
• Choosing love.
• That He searches us and knows us. 
• A quiet afternoon.
• Naps.
• My steady man.
• Hot tea.
• A weekend full of nothing but my Littles, my man, and my God. Thank you, Lord. 

My mind swam and the tears I held back stung my eyes. Why this struggle? Knowing the safest place to go, I crept to my dark room, and bowed low.

On our face is the only place from which we can never fall. And however you want to credit it, as clear as a voice one word filled the room.

“Lose.”

The tears fell now, now happy, now release. Of course. The ball inside instantly unwound. Now there was peace. The storm was stilled.One word from Him does just that.

Of course. The call to following Jesus can be summed up in just one word.

Lose.

The call to joy, the call to peace, the call to hope and everlasting life. Of course, hadn’t Christ already said it and continues to say it today?!

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt. 10:39)

Whoever loses his life, will find life. The way to be rich is to give. The way to glory is humility. The way to be exalted is to bend low. And we cannot trick God or short-cut His process. Pretending to lose our life won’t yield the rich results.

Only when we actually lose will we actually find.

The finding is only real if the losing is as well. 

How, then do we lose? In every situation Christ can translate that one word into the perfect application. He can show you exactly what it means to lose and find true life. Perhaps,

• Choose to lose the competition.
• Choose to lose money.
• Choose to lose comfort.
• Choose to lose control of others.
• Choose to lose entitlement.
• Choose to lose the argument.
• Choose to lose the American Dream.

It is real. The life we find when the loss is real. Yes, there are eternal rewards in heaven, but there are indescribable benefits right here too. Why?

Because losing is freeing.  

Because losing is finding.

~

Yes, we usually do a 52-bites on Friday but none of them stand out to me, so thought I’d share the lesson God’s been re-teaching me this week. Is this for you today? Once again, I believe, someone needs this word of hope today. If your heart is wound up inside and tossed in a storm. Perhaps this is the word you need to hear? I never thought I’d find such hope and joy from just one word, I pray the same for you today.  Today is Jeff’s last day of work and we leave tonight for a full weekend completely unplugged, at Riversong. I pray you will be blessed with God’s presence this weekend! Thanks so much for reading…