Speaking of Life 2038 | Double Booked
Michelle Fleming

Have you ever made the same promise to two different people? In our fast-moving world we may easily do this unintentionally. Like promising to meet a friend for dinner only to remember you already told another friend you would help her with a project. Or maybe you promised to take your daughter to a movie the same night you scheduled to watch your son’s baseball game. It’s the classic mistake of double-booking. It may have been a simple mistake, but it introduces a complex problem. You will have to choose who to break your promise to.

Doing this can become tricky. You don’t want to appear to play favorites and you don’t want to create tension between your two friends or in your family. Hopefully they will understand. But there is the risk of hurt feelings, maybe even some jealousy not to mention damaged trust. However, you slice it, double-booking can be divisive in your relationships.

It may be awkward for us to double-book, but it can be very painful to be on the receiving end. Especially if you are the one who must endure the broken promise. Even when you know it was an honest scheduling mistake, it still hurts to know your friend or loved one passed the broken promise to you.

An experience like this may make us wonder if God ever “double-books.” The Bible is full of promises the Father makes to his children. Is it possible he has over promised? Will he need to take back his promise to you in order to keep it with someone else? The answer of course is ABSOLUTELY NOT! The promises of the Triune God of love are aimed to bring peace in all our relationships, not to divide them. Psalm 133 gathers up rich imagery from Israel’s history as a description of God’s promises kept.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3, NIV)

Our Father has no problem keeping his promises, even when he “double-books.” In fact, in Jesus we find that he goes far beyond just “double-booking.” He extends his promise of blessing to everyone in his Son Jesus Christ. You can rest assured that the Father’s promise to you will not be taken back by his promise to another. His glory is for all of our good.

I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2037 | Rembrandt’s Question
Greg Williams

The Bible shares a few stories of Jesus and water, which may seem even pedestrian to us. Those of us who grew up watching cruise ships and massive cargo ships on the ocean don’t know what it was like to have a storm come up when you are in a vessel smaller than a Volkswagen van!

More than once, we have stories of Jesus calming the storm, such as Matthew 14 in which, returning with Peter from walking on water, the text reads:

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-23 (NRSV)

In the ancient understanding, the sea represented chaos, death, and danger. Only God could control the sea.

When he was 29 years old, Rembrandt painted the famous Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee based on the similar episode in Mark. The original painting is large, four feet across by five feet high, using Rembrandt’s signature mastery of light and dark to make an emotional impact, every face on the boat bears its own expression and tells its own story, from those trying futilely to hold the boat together to those who are resigned to their fate.

Jesus wakes up from sleeping in the back of the boat and has a look of total peace and trust that God is in charge. Close at hand there is another figure, almost out of place and wearing clothes that seem out of the color scheme slightly. He stares straight at the viewer.

A close count will show, as you might guess, 12 disciples and one Lord, making for 13 figures in the painting. Look again and you will see 14. The figure in the foreground, staring compellingly at you as you gaze at the painting is none other than Rembrandt himself.

Scholars speculate Rembrandt may have been doing the lectio divina exercise of seeing himself within the story of Christ. He was so passionately invested in this story that he pictured himself within it. It poses the question:

Where are we on the boat? Where are we on the night that Jesus walked out to the disciples on the water or when a storm came out of nowhere and tossed the boat violently? It’s a question worth asking at any point in our lives, and in any of the stormy seas we may face. Are we turning outward to stare at the sea or turning back to the Lord himself?

The really good news is that no matter how violent the seas, nor how distressed you and I become, the Lord is with us. The calm, sure, saving Jesus is ever-present in this boat we call life. We actively participate by looking to him in calm and stormy seas.

I’m Greg Williams, speaking of life.

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Speaking of Life 2036 | Hand’s On Experience
Heber Ticas

I remember when I taught my daughter how to drive a car. You can imagine how nerve-racking that was. My daughter believed that since she was good at driving go-karts, learning to drive a vehicle would be simple. She even believed that having me teach her wasn’t necessary. Although she picked it up fairly quickly, there was no way she could have learned just with her go-kart experience. She needed to be hands-on with that regular car steering wheel. She needed to feel the road and feel the car hugging the curves.

The best way to learn is often hands-on, right? We learn best when we actively participate in the learning process.

Jesus knew this about his disciples. You may have heard the story about how a great crowd showed up, and Jesus had compassion on them and healed the sick. At dusk, his disciples thought they should send the people away to buy food, but Jesus had other ideas:

That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

“Bring them here,” he said. Matthew 14:15-18 (NLT)

You probably know the rest of the story. After having the crowd sit down, Jesus gave thanks, blessed, and broke the loaves and fish, and the disciples passed the food out to the 5,000 men, plus women, and children. Everyone ate and was full, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. They had a hands-on experience where they participated in blessing others, and as a result, they learned a lot about how God’s kingdom works.

Jesus could have just told them what he was going to do. He could have explained with words how his Father was going to take those five loaves and two fish and feed all those people. Instead, he had the disciples do it. They passed out the food to all those people, and they were the ones who picked up all the leftovers.

The disciples got to participate in feeding more than 5,000 people. They saw the faces of the men, women, and children, and they watched them enjoy the food. And as a result of their hands-on experience, the disciples were transformed by being a part of the process. Their own faith was strengthened, and they learned how God’s love looks and feels.

God still works that way with us today. He lets us participate in “hands-on” acts of blessing for others so that we are transformed as part of the process. We learn, like the disciples did, that we are part of God’s kingdom on earth when we engage in hands-on participation wherever we see God at work. When we do it, whatever that hands-on participation looks like, people’s lives are changed, and so are we.

May you know the transforming power of hands-on participation with God today.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2035 | Slow-Release Truth
Greg Williams

Tell all the truth but tell it slant.
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind.

This is Emily Dickinson’s poem 1263. She commends us to sometimes speak indirectly, especially when sharing the deeper truths. Rather than always speaking plainly, our minds seem to remember facts better and get more out of them when they are embedded in a story.

Think of this:

• If someone is sacrificially kind, you might call them a “Good ______.” (Samaritan)
• If someone’s child is wayward and rebellious, you might call them a “_____ son.” (Prodigal)
• Bonus challenge: A goal or purchase you gave a lot of time/energy/money to is the “______ of great price.” (Pearl)

Jesus knew our brains work this way. So much so that these mini-stories he shared have gone viral in our language and sometimes we don’t even remember where they came from. He set these stories down like slow-release truth that has been potent and healing through the centuries.

Sometimes realities are so transformative and powerful that they can’t be described directly. Think of the way a scientist looks at the sun or an eclipse, the light is so blinding that it has to be reflected and is only safely seen indirectly.

Think back to some of the most meaningful truths you’ve heard. Were they often lyrics to a song? Lines to a poem? Scenes from a favorite movie?

Like these mini-stories, Jesus told 46 parables in all, covering everything from forgiveness to his identity as the Son of God. Yet his greatest narrative was to enter our story. Instead of scrapping humanity and starting over, he entered our story and redeemed it. We are still learning what that means; I don’t believe we will ever understand the full extent in this life—slow-release truth.

God could have sent another flood, cleared the table of us or made us into choice-less robots. Instead he entered our story, made himself a character in this epic he is writing. You are part of the slow-release truth.

I’m Greg Williams speaking of life.

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Speaking of Life 2034 | When You Least Expect It
Heber Ticas

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Expect it when you least expect it.” People sometimes say this when they’re talking about romance or maybe some sort of financial blessing. It’s like they’re saying that when we stop looking for something or stop trying to control a particular outcome, the situation resolves itself. Maybe you’ve found this to be true in your own experience.

You might find it interesting that the Bible records experiences of people who found this to be true about God. In the Old Testament, we read the story of Jacob and his brother Esau. When Isaac, their father, was old and dying, he wanted to give his special blessing to his firstborn, Esau. But the younger son, Jacob, disguised himself as Esau and tricked their dying father into blessing him instead.

As you might imagine, this created a big conflict between Esau and Jacob. In fact, Esau said he was going to kill Jacob, so their mother Rebekah sent Jacob away to hide out at her brother’s house. On his way there, Jacob stopped for the night. He used a stone for a pillow, and that night, he had an incredible dream where God said he would bless him lavishly. Here’s what Jacob said after the dream:

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.
Genesis 28:16-18 (NLT)

Jacob wasn’t expecting to meet God in a dream, especially when he had lied and tricked his brother out of the traditional firstborn blessing. Yet God showed up when Jacob least expected it. Jacob’s response was fear, OK, he might have been feeling a little guilty about what he did, but he took that stone and created a memorial pillar. He poured oil on it as an offering because he wanted to remember that God showed up when he least expected it, and according to some, when he least deserved it.

If we think about it, we can probably come up with a few times when God showed up for us. It may have been a much-needed or wanted blessing, or it may have been simply a special sense of God’s presence. If we follow Jacob’s example, we can memorialize these times in our minds to help us remember how God showed up when we least expected it. These memories can encourage us and others when we encounter difficulties again.

How has God shown up for you when you least expected it?

May you consider those memories today and share them with friends who could use some encouragement.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2033 | Come Drink
Greg Williams

On a hot day after a rigorous workout nothing satisfies more than a cold glass of water. I remember as a teenager working in the apple orchard with my grandfather, Pa Glenn, when he would ask me to bring him the water jug so he could have a long drink of “Adam’s ale.” That was his colorful expression for water. Just as water refreshes physically, when we are in a spiritual workout, nothing satisfies more than God’s word.

Notice the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:10-11, 13 (ESV)

Much of the terrain in the area of Israel, where these words were written thousands of years ago, is arid to say the least. Precipitation meant the difference between not just a bad and good harvest, but sometimes between life and death.

In these words from Isaiah, God talks about his Word, his creative presence engaging with the world. The metaphor he uses, over and over, is water, rain and snow. Refreshing and giving life are signs of God’s presence.

Look at verse 13 again:

 “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle”

Does that sound familiar? Think of the curse when Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden: that thorns and thistles would come up from the earth. Here we see the reverse of that—the promise of blessing and abundance instead of more desert, instead of more loss.

We live in a time now, where in much of the world we don’t have to worry about whether the rain will fall to survive. Especially in the west, our needs are more than met. Yet we still deal with the aridity and the thorns and thistles within our hearts. We find ourselves in a soul desert.

We need, desperately, for the sweet rain and renewal of God to fall on us. Fellowship, worship and serving the broken are the nourishing, replenishing places where we need to meet with God.

Are you thirsty today? Are you tired of the thorns that grow from jealousy, the thistles that sprout from rage, the dry deadness of lust?

Come drink. Nourish yourself on the water that’s always flowing. It’s what sustains the world.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2032 | Believer’s Paresthesia
Michelle Fleming

Can you relate to this unpleasant experience? You have had your leg bent in an awkward position for too long and your foot goes numb. You know your foot is still there. You can see it. You may even try to wiggle your toes. But it will not respond. In fact, if you try to walk you are liable to fall. Sound familiar? When this happens, we usually say our foot has “fallen asleep.”

But it’s far more complex than that. What has actually happened is a nerve has been compressed or pinched. This prevents proper communication between the nerve and the brain. Signals are unable to travel properly from the nerves, through the spine, to the brain, and back down. As a result, there is a disconnect between what our brain is thinking and what our body is doing…or not doing.

But having our foot fall asleep is not the unpleasant part. In fact, we don’t even know it has fallen asleep at first. But when we are made aware of it then things become…well, unnerving.

You know what I’m talking about! That tingling, stinging, ‘pins and needles’ feeling that accompanies our foot “waking up.” In medical terms, this sensation is known as paresthesia. We may not like it, but it does let us know one thing. Our nerves are reconnecting and regaining proper functioning. Soon, our foot will be fully awake.

I can’t help but think how similar this is to the experience of our Christian walk of faith. As believers, we know we have been freed from sin and we no longer want to walk in it. But then we have a disconnect from what we know and what we do. We seem to suffer from some form of believer’s paresthesia. We may not like admitting it, but our walk of faith seems to hobble along on feet still trying to wake up.

It may help to know that even the Apostle Paul struggled with believer’s paresthesia. He recorded his experience in the Book of Romans:

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Romans 7:15 (NRSV)

Can you relate? We may be tempted in this experience to become discouraged. Maybe even to doubt that we are saved. Or maybe we tell ourselves to “try harder” or “get with the program” and we try to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.” But this is not where Paul would direct our attention. He would have us turn our gaze from ourselves and onto the Lord.

The fact that we are uncomfortable with sin in our lives is not a sign that we are still dead in our sins. It tells us we are waking up. Like the unpleasant experience of paresthesia, we are being reconnected and made whole.

May this be a reminder to all of us that the Lord is “waking us up” and the Spirit is reconnecting us more fully to respond to the Father. And in his loving presence, soon we will be made fully awake.

I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2031 | I’m Ready, My Lord
Greg Williams

“Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the help that never came
You want it darker, we kill the flame.

Hineni, hineni
I’m ready, my Lord”

With characteristic enigmatic intensity, Jewish singer Leonard Cohen penned these lyrics to his classic “You Want it Darker.” Just like the lyrics, the music is creeping, murky, and beautiful in its own dark way.

The repeated refrain “hineni, hineni” is an extremely powerful Hebrew word. It means “here I am.” One of the most famous places it appears is right before the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac in Genesis 22:

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Genesis 22:1 (ESV)

Hineni means: “I’m fully here. At your disposal. I’m ready, my Lord.” It’s the same phrase that Moses says to the burning bush, and that Isaiah screams into the strange vision he has of God’s presence: “Here am I, send me!”

Hineni Hineni –– I’m ready, my Lord.

When he was asked about this in an interview, Cohen called the lyric, “That declaration of readiness, no matter what the outcome, that’s a part of everyone’s soul.” It’s the impulse in us that says we are ready, and available, for whatever God would require of us.

Is this our answer to when God calls us out of ourselves and into change, into his transforming story? Or are we in the habit of just showing up? Do we just drop our leftovers in the offering plate and mutter a few words of worship, just “pay and pray”?

Or are we fully there? Are we fully present when God asks us to go to the next adventure with him? Abraham was called to father nations at the mature age of 100; Moses was called out of his comfortable life as a shepherd; Isaiah was called to speak a prophetic word to unhearing people; and Mary the young teenage girl was called to bring the Messiah into the world. 

These heroes of the faith, after a few decades of trial and error, were finally ready (hineni) and they walked with a trust that God would provide and take care of them, knowing they didn’t have to trust in themselves anymore.

May we all be ready to say, with all of ourselves, hineni, hineni. I’m ready, my Lord.

I’m Greg Williams, reminding you to be fully ready when the Lord calls.

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Speaking of Life 2030 | God with Us in Suffering
Heber Ticas

I recently visited the dentist due to a toothache. It turns out he had to extract one of my wisdom teeth. Man, I hate the dentist! Not the person, but I hate the experience–the scraping, the drilling sounds, the water being sucked out of, or sprayed into my mouth, the residual pain. Even having to hold my mouth wide open for half an hour gives me a jaw ache.

I know I’ll be OK when it’s over and my mouth heals, but man, during the time when I’m in that chair, leaning back and looking at a bright light, I’m suffering. I’m praying, “God, please help me get through this.” It might seem silly, but I think you know what I’m talking about. Maybe you’ve felt like this in other situations, and maybe you prayed like I did.

It’s natural for us to pray when we’re in trouble. You’ve probably heard the saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Suffering turns our hearts toward God. We can read a number of examples in the Bible, but David seems to write the best about how it feels to suffer. Check out these verses David wrote in Psalm 86: 6-7:

“Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord, hear my urgent cry. I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me.” Psalm 86: 6-7 (NLT)

We can see that David believes God hears us when we pray, especially when we’re suffering or in trouble. David promises to call out to God in prayer, and then he confidently says that God will answer him. We can do the same. But does this mean that our suffering will be removed? That some miracle will happen?

Though that’s what we would like, we realize that prayer is not a dollar bill inserted into a vending machine called God. It’s possible that our suffering will go away, but the answer God often provides is an inner knowing or assurance that we are not alone in our suffering.

God’s presence strengthens us and gives us courage and hope in the midst of difficulties. Sometimes other people come alongside us in our suffering and help us, and God ministers to us through their words and their actions.

Suffering is a part of being human. Even Jesus suffered. His example of patient endurance when mistreated, wrongly accused, beaten, and nailed to a cross can help us put our suffering in perspective. God never left Jesus while he suffered, and God will never leave us.

If you are suffering today, even if it’s just a visit to the dentist, know that you do not suffer alone. God hears your prayers, your requests for comfort, and he always answers with his presence.

May you feel God’s comforting assurance in your suffering today.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2029 | The Roots of Promise
Greg Williams

Genesis 18:1 records a famous exchange between Abraham and God. And it gives us a pretty clear setting:  

“And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.” Genesis 18:1 (ESV)

This is the famous site where Abraham had his bizarre meeting with the three strangers, and when God promised him a child. Today there is a site near there with an ancient tree that some believe to be the tree itself that Abraham leaned up against as the three strangers appeared.

The tree is estimated to be about 5,000 years old and has been a location for religious pilgrims for both Christians and Jews for centuries. Like many pilgrimage sites, it has also been a flash point in politics and geography, and disputed by historians as to its authenticity. It has also been exploited for gain by the surrounding merchants and villages.

So, is it the tree where Abraham and Sarah languished, waiting for God’s promise? Maybe, maybe not. One thing we can learn from this event is that our faith is rooted in history. Biblical history is not an abstract group of timeless ideas, but a story carved out in a very human world. A world that eventually Jesus came to—to live in a working-class family on the not-so-great side of town.

As the old, gnarled roots of this tree reach into the ground, so the roots of our faith reach into flesh-and-blood history. God himself entered our history with all its political rivalries and squabbles and exploitation and selfishness. As the tree has weathered thousands of storms and seasons, so has the church, which is God’s foot on the ground in the earth. The church has weathered pressure from without and within and somehow managed to continue to stand-by God’s sheer grace.

God in Christ entered our ridiculous world and risked misunderstanding, misrepresentation, misuse, and finally risked death itself. He knew our response to him would be woefully imperfect, and yet he still came. He still walked into the story, maybe even walked right under the branches of that tree.

Jesus Christ broke history. He broke the endless cycle of offense and revenge, the dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest and instead brought us forgiveness, grace, and love. Even though he knew what lay ahead, he walked in because he loves to love.

Do we live like that today? Do we live as children of the God who broke into the world in real time and said I will redeem all of this? His word is truth. Like this old tree, older than any of us. God’s love for you is tough, strong, real and—despite everything—still standing. That is his promise.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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