God’s word still creates
I have been very busy the past couple weeks.
You know those seasons. When busy turns into crazy, and crazy turns into something else. Those seasons when restroom breaks and eating and sleep become hugely inconvenient.
I’ve been there.
But a couple days ago I sat down with the Lord ’cause it had just been too long. My head was still spinning and after a moment I got up to get a pen and a piece of scrap paper so that as the To Do’s came to mind I could write them down and let them go for the time.
I tried to take deep breaths. Tried to relax. Tried to focus my thoughts, and I don’t think I was quite there when I took a deep breath and exhaled “Holy Spirit” and He answered.
He answered with one word, straight to my spirit, and I think I was born again, again.
The word itself doesn’t matter, and – really – it would take explaining and I’d be embarrassed to tell you. It’s a good word, but that’s what makes it awkward. And anyway, the word doesn’t matter.
Anything He speaks is, and that’s the amazing thing.
He spoke one word – one. word. – into me, in the midst of my chaos, and everything else stopped. The world stopped and for all my To Do lists and vision and projects, I could have sat there with Him and thrown that one word back and forth forever. That one word was suddenly all I wanted to hear from Him, all I wanted to know, all I wanted to be or do, and every time it was repeated it was as though it grew within me.
Husband has been getting back into the sciences lately. Every time I pick him up from a job he’s been listening to debates or lectures (on his phone, while he’s soldering wires or whatever) about Dawkins or evolution or string theory, and he always has some fascinating new insight to share … but the beginning and the end of the truth is that God spoke.
And He still speaks. And His words still create.
But we’re too busy.
So this is your reminder, your alarm, your sign. Don’t be too busy today.
“But you have no idea how much …”
Maybe I don’t. But I know what He’s worth, and I know what you really need.
Put the kids down for a nap, tell your roommate you’re locking your door for half an hour, close the laptop, whatever. Sit and listen and wait and ask Him to speak to you. You don’t need a vision of the future, or a prophecy, or an overwhelming presence. Ask Him to simply speak whatever He knows you need, whatever He wants to give you – and then wait.
Water By Numbers
We’re at 10% of our goal! Which is 5% of a well for a community in central Africa.
So here’s a little something for you stats people. Some people prefer stories. Some people prefer stats. People in Africa prefer clean water, so here are some stats for the stats people, and then you can click here to increase the stats on Africans with clean water.
- 1 in 8 people worldwide don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.
- Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence … including war.
- 42,000 people die every week due to unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions.
- 90% of those deaths are children under five years old.
- The UN predicts that one-tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation.
(All from the Charity:Water website.)
AND, check this out. Little flow-chart love for you stat people.
Had enough? Clicky.
Redirect
I read a great blog post by Russell D. Moore that kind of launched from Glenn Beck and the rally he hosted Saturday in D.C. You can read it here.
I don’t want to talk about Russell Moore, ’cause I have no idea who he is. He appears to be evangelical and an author. That’s all I know.
Neither do I want to talk about Glenn Beck. I know he’s stirred up some emotion lately from both sides, but I don’t really know Glenn Beck either. And neither do you, really.
But Moore’s blog discusses a deeper concern that Beck is only the face of right now. And the concern, the article, is a good – or at the very least an interesting – one. An exerpt:
This is, of course, not new. Our Lord Jesus faced this test when Satan took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth, and their glory. Satan did not mind surrendering his authority to Jesus. He didn’t mind a universe without pornography or Islam or abortion or nuclear weaponry. Satan did not mind Judeo-Christian values. He wasn’t worried about “revival” or “getting back to God.” What he opposes was the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected for the sins of the world.
Go.
