Monthly Archives: April 2020

Until It’s The Next Thing, It’s This Thing

DSC_0606By Judy Villanueva

I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He turned to me and heard my cry for help.
He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.  (Psalm 40:1-3)

“Are we almost there?  How much longer?”  Car rides to vacation destinations are fun until they become torturously long!  The stretch of highway with nothing around for miles and miles can feel unbearable and seems to capture what it feels like to not know what’s ahead or when we will  reach our destination.  Prolonged periods of waiting can be excruciating.  Worry may hover as we wait for a trial to end, a new job to be offered or a damaged relationship to heal.  It might be a pause that shakes us to the core as we wait for test results or, the sacred limbo that we experience as we wait for a birth or a death.  It seems we’ve been created with a longing for peaceful pastures.  We stretch and strain to get through our lives to the next place of settled peace.   Life can feel “on hold” until the next thing emerges and how we need God’s help to find Him in what feels like “in-between” spaces.

Like the elder son in the story of the prodigal, I approach God with my pleas and grievances when I am feeling desperate and tired or, when life doesn’t seem fair.  He says to me what he said to the elder son, “My son (daughter), you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”  What?  It almost feels like He’s doesn’t understand until I realize with searing awareness that even after all these years as a child of God, I’m still seeking what the Father might do for me rather than the treasure He always IS to me? Ouch!  In the clarity of the moment I confess that I want the peaceful pasture more than the good Shepherd. Lord, have mercy…

Present trials tend to unravel our peace and pull our vision away from the gift that is always in front of us, God himself.  Sadly, I usually exhaust myself with worry over unsettled places and live waiting for resolution and the next thing to arrive.  I’m slowly  learning to submit to the reality that until it’s the next thing, it’s this thing and that’s ok

Because, until it’s the next thing God is with me and is WHO I need in all my places.  He is my before, after and in-between!

So, it turns out that it is exactly in the space of straining toward the next thing that the ONE thing, the TRUE thing, the ONLY thing — The  FATHER — waits to satisfy the deepest longing of my soul.

And, it is in the waiting and the welcome of present things that I consent to being shaped and helped to want the One who wants me.

God wants to be our green pastures, our place of settled peace, our present and most precious Father, Friend and Lord — all the time and forever.

“Lord, I am so aware of my strong inclination to squirm out of present pain and waiting.  I don’t want to “get through” life — I want to find and feel You with me in all of it.  Amen.”

What about you?

Are you in a time of waiting or  suffering?

Do you find yourself resisting “this present thing” and straining toward the “next thing”?

Do you need help, like me, to trust God with present things?

 

Jesus is here.  Peace.  God is with you.

 

Worship

 

 

 

 

Welcoming the King!

lake LouiseBy Judy Villanueva

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey…”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,  “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

This Palm Sunday was very different from all others in my life.  The sun rose with the reminder that a threat hangs over our world and the morning news repeated the alarm to wake up and be careful lest you, too, are touched by Covid-19.  In addition, my husband and I woke up stuck in a familiar misunderstanding.  You know the kind where you talk and talk and end up in the same tangled place.  We decided the best way through the intensity of the hour would be to move forward, move along,  just move!  So we did!  He packed us a picnic, I grabbed our jackets and off we drove to a nearby lake that always offers us its beauty and a place to remember that we are not alone or abandoned in our troubles but  HELD — always HELD

 by the God who made Heaven and earth — and bumble bees, full moons, and Springtime!

As we hiked, a beautiful frozen lake encircled by snow covered peaks came into view.  Exhale!  And, what’s this?  A broader perspective!  There, on the waters edge we sat in stunned silence as God ministered peace to us.  It felt like we’d been painted into the middle of His masterpiece and invited to celebrate His company.  And, that is when we heard the familiar echo of Palm Sunday!  The exuberant declaration that the King has come!  And, as we remembered we felt our hearts soften and enter the wonder and miracle of Palm Sunday — in the midst of a misunderstanding and in spite of a world pandemic, 

Jesus is King and His arrival into our days always makes a seismic difference! 

How would our thoughts be impacted if we lived inside of the reality that Jesus has come and is here now?  Are you expecting Him to arrive today and are you ready to welcome Him?  These are the questions that challenged my husband and I to wake up to  the presence of Christ in our very real lives– whether sitting in the middle of a masterpiece, weathering a storm or struggling toward love.  I want to welcome Jesus every day and I want His presence to initiate a seismic difference in my mind and heart.   I want to be part of the announcement that the King has come, and I want to celebrate all that He has done!  The love of Christ hung — and, hangs over our world to remind us that He has OVERCOME —  yesterday, today, and forever!  

HOSANNA !

“Thank you, Jesus, for being my King!  For entering my life and  clearing the way into your presence.  I welcome you!  Help me to watch for you today and notice all the ways you come to me.  Amen.”

What about you?

Are you watching for Jesus’ arrival today?

Are you ready to welcome Him?

How would seeing Jesus entering your day change the way you think and feel about your life today?

King Jesus is here!  Let’s celebrate!

Worship