Perseverance

It's easy to give up when we ask for things that don't seem to be coming through. To ask and ask, only to be ignored or put off can be downright depressing. Especially if the thing we're asking for seems simple and straightforward, something easily given by the person we ask.

That must have been the temptation of the Canaanite woman (read Matthew 15:20-28) - She asked and asked for Jesus to heal her daughter. First she was ignored, then Jesus essentially told her to go away. She could have quit asking. She could have let herself slide into depression with the thought "this isn't meant to be - I give up."

Instead she keeps asking, and Jesus finally helps her daughter. We need to take a page from her book the next time unanswered prayers are trying to weigh us down. The Lord expects us to persevere in prayer!

Jesus Mean and Wild

Do you ever feel that God is out to get you? That if God loved you (or your loved one, or the community, or the world!), then bad things wouldn't happen to you? It's a tempting notion to embrace, one that gives us an excuse to not do things we know God expects us to do or try to do.

"God obviously doesn't care much about me in light of (insert bad circumstance here). He's letting down his end of the bargain to love and care for me. Therefore, I don't feel the need to (take your pick: love my neighbor, give generously, pray, worship, etc.) in return."

That idea is just plain wrong, and we can look at how God the Father treated his own beloved son Jesus for proof. I just started reading a book called "Jesus Mean and Wild, The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God " by Mark Galli. It's general premise is challenging the common "Jesus meek and mild" image. And the very first chapter (all I've read so far) looks at how God treats Jesus.

Read Mark 1:9-13, which is the story of Jesus' baptism and subsequent temptation in the wilderness. No sooner does God acknowledge Jesus as his beloved son, in whom he is well pleased, than he is sent out into the wilderness. Jesus spent 40 days alone, physically hungry and thirsty, away from God, with Satan's temptations as his only company. And this is the treatment of God's beloved son!

Who are we to think that we should be treated differently? As Christians, we have the same relationship standing with God as Jesus has, and we can boldly claim the position of beloved children. And so we shouldn't be surprised when, like Jesus, we find ourselves in times of suffering and trial. That's when we grow. That's how we are prepared for ministry. That's one of the many ways God's incredible love for us is expressed.

What's the Buzz?

I started using Facebook last week. You know Facebook - the largest of many social networking sites you can use to keep up with your friends. I finally joined because I learned that one of my best friends was already there. So, I jumped on the bandwagon! I'm up to 15 firends now - more than I would have thought. It's pretty neat, and kinda fun.

But there's a hitch. Just like with email, there are many times that I go to check it out, and none of my friends has "done" anything. No status updates, no new pictures, no comments on the wall. And that's just dissappointing. But why? Because we are looking for relationship there, and relationship requires communication. You can post as much about yourself as you want, you can comment on your friends posts, but if no one responds, it means nothing. It's as if it never happened. And it's darn dissappointing.

That may be why so many people seem to be all about getting as many "friends" as possible. If you've got 300 Facebook friends, then surely when you look there to satisfy that (probably unrecognized) longing for relationship, at least one of them has said something to make you feel part of the group.

It feels like that with God sometimes, too. We take time to pray, read scripture, journal, and in essence, we're checking our God-mail, checking God's Facebook page, seeing if there has been any word, any response, any communication to let us know God's keeping up with us. Sometimes we do hear from God that way - sometimes in quite profound ways, sometimes quite frequently. But sometimes, it's the dissapponting feeling that nothing is new, no one has been on-line, we're alone on the web, God's not with us.

But that's never true. God is always with us. He always wants to be in relationship with us. He always wants to hear from us. But sometimes, I think he gets tired of the formal sort of relationship - the "I've got to stop what ever else I'm doing and sit in front of God" sort of relationship. He wants that, but He wants more, too.

He wants ALL of us. He wants us to turn our hearts to Him while we're cutting the grass or doing laundry or reading a novel or playing with the dog. He wants it all. And I think that sometimes, when we don't seem to be hearing from God through the formal channels, it's because He's showing Himself through the informal channels. We can't see Him because we're not looking and listening in the right place.

I sat in prayer with my Bible and journal, but I didn't hear from God there. Instead, I heard from him in the sweetness of a fresh juicy peach and an unexpected hug from my husband. How is God speaking to you today?

Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God

In Romans 8:35, 38-39, Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Boy, it's a good thing to know! Paul lists external things - angels and demons, heights and depths, nakedness, or famine. But just as surely, the things in our own hearts cannot separate us from the love of God.

There's nothing we can do or think that will drive him away or keep him from loving us. We may harden our hearts and turn our backs, but if we turn back to Him, we'll find that it was not God who left us, but we who left God. He is not the Prodigal God, we are the Prodigal Children.

And I take great comfort in that knowledge when my heart starts behaving badly. When I start casting blame instead of loving others. When I try to take the speck out of my brother's or sister's eye when there's still a log protruding from my own. When I let anger or distrust or frustration get the better of me.

Thank you, Lord, for continuing to love your headstrong and wayward children.

A Few Words of Introduction

Welcome to Just in Time Publishing! Why JITP? Well, that's the name my business will have if I ever get around to really HAVING a business. It seems that for my whole life, all of the writing assignments I've had to do have been completed on a "just-in-time" basis. Homework in grade school, reports in highschool, and papers, reports, and studying in college - all completed just in time! During the 13 years I spent as an envronmental geologist in the consulting industry, the same was true again - just in time proposal, projects, and letters.

Then I found God, and got active in ministry at my church. Guess what? More just in time writing projects! I even changes jobs - from senior geologist to church secretary (maybe I'll talk about that more another time). And still the bulletins and newsletters that I'm responsibile a rarely other than just-in-time documents. A couple of years ago, I started responding to a call from God to preach. I preach irregularly, and usually with weeks or months of lead time. And yet... Just-in-Time Publishing remains my style in spite of years of good intenntions to do otherwise.

So what you'll hear is me, probably at the last minute, publishing bits and pieces on things that catch my attention. I'm not sure whether I'll have any particular focus. We'll see where this goes together - and just in time...