Hidden Heroes

     I have found myself weeping of late as the tragic story of Thomas Kinkade's last few years comes to light following his death last week on Good Friday. The stark contrast between his peaceful and idyllic scenes and his personal life causes me to feel an angst I am having a hard time putting words to. And a thousand questions arise. How could such a troubled soul produce such beauty? How is it that the beauty failed to find a home in his heart? Did his paintings reflect an unfulfilled longing in his heart? If so, how is it that he missed the glorious truth that life in Jesus, even in the midst of a broken world, can be more wonderful than the best of Thom's scenes?
     I doubt that Papa is going to answer most of those questions about this "fallen hero," though, so I choose to write instead about the unsung, hidden heroes among us who, by their quiet and mostly hidden lives urge us on in our own pursuit of God and His Kingdom.
     But first, a word about heroes. I am fairly sure that it's okay to admire and be encouraged by folks whose lives do in fact urge us on. That's what the writer of the book of Hebrews seems to be doing in the Hebrews 11 "Hall of Trusting Ones." But I am also fairly sure that what we admire and respect about folks is what's truly important. It seems to me that when someone's gift or ability shines brightly (no matter what the context) God's intention is for us to think of Him as the Giver and Creator and not look at the person with awe. This is not to diminish the fact that someone may have worked hard to develop a gift but rather to suggest that it's best for us to think mostly of God when we see a thing of beauty given through one of His creatures. That way we can admire the gift, thank God for the gift, but not be distracted by the sometimes broken container in which the gift was contained. Just a thought. But I think it's in line with what I read in Scripture. It seems to me that it's best to admire those whom God admires, and He admires and commends things like character, faithfulness, selfless courage, etc., things that can be found in anyone who knows Him well.
     So having said that, I find my mind running to some mostly hidden heroes of the faith. I think of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, a very obscure disciple who shows up very rarely in the Gospels or in church history, who himself did no great things but who did bring his brother to Jesus, and Simon Peter did great things! I think of Ananias, who courageously obeyed God's instruction to go to Saul of Tarsus to pray for him and also, no doubt, be the first to disciple the future great Apostle Paul. Ananias fades from the scene quickly, of course, never to be heard from again in Scripture, but who cannot admire his courage and obedience, and also wonder what he imparted to his famous new convert?
     And then I think of the thousands down through history who have exhibited courage and faith that stuns us even as it also challenges us. I think of Harriet Anne Jacobs, a woman who even as a slave held tightly to her honor and sought to live a life of integrity and grace (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself). I think of the many unknown single mothers, abandoned by less-than-honorable men, who choose to raise their children in the ways of God and lift them out of the cycle of violence and poverty that pervades our inner cities. I think of the many pastors of small churches in obscure places who don't pilfer the church funds or run off with the choir director, who never grow large churches but who faithfully serve the community in which God has placed them, struggling with a model of church that doesn't quite work but unable to see anything different. Yes, they are my heroes, too! I think of the many Tabithas (see Acts 9:36-41) who quietly serve others in humble but practical ways whose reward will indeed be great in Heaven but who may feel like they should do greater things than just serve. (I wonder if Tabitha's story is in the Bible mostly to encourage the many like her who "speak with their hands" more than their lips!).
     I could go on forever with this list, I think, but perhaps by now you are catching what I am really saying! It's this: that true influence and impact in God's Kingdom is rarely showy and attention-getting. And that opens the way for us normal folks to be encouraged by people just like us. I may have no great gifts to offer my King or the world, but I can be faithful! And it also helps us admire the Giver of the more visible gifts without becoming entangled in the marred condition of the some of the vessels through which the gift flows.
     I weep then, for the brokenness of Thomas Kinkade, and I am sorry for how the world is using his story to try to attack his faith. But I smile, too, because I know that God's Kingdom stands firm and is quietly lit up to a radiant brilliance by many hidden heroes who in their own way were/are also "painters of light."


Looking for treasure in hidden places.


Tom, one of Abba's little children

One Thing!

     One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

     “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

     When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor... Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:32)

     But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13b-14 HCSB)

     The phrase, "one thing," when used in reference to someone's life indicates that which is most important: the very core of a person's being, his/her central focus and reason to live. And the Bible is remarkably consistent in its description of what this one thing is: it is to live a life utterly given over to gazing upon God in His goodness. David said it most clearly in Psalm 27:4 (my life verse), but we also see the same theme in the other verses quoted above. Mary's "one thing" was sitting transfixed at the feet of Jesus looking and listening with single-minded focus. Jesus' description of the "one thing" to the wealthy young ruler was for the man to rid himself of anything that hindered his ability to spend his life focused on Jesus (you can only follow someone you keep your eye on!). And Paul's "one thing" is defined a few verses earlier in Philippians 3, where in verse 10 he describes his life focus: "I want to know Christ..." 

     The longer I live life with Jesus, the more convinced I am that life really can be this simple! If we can indeed make the primary focus of our life to "gaze upon the beauty of the LORD," getting to know Father more and more intimately, everything else falls into place. 

     Too simple you say? But have you tried it? Have you asked God to create such a hunger in you for Him that nothing else will satisfy? Have you asked Him to captivate you with His palpable Presence so that like Moses you cry out, "If Your Presence doesn't go with us, don't send us up from here"? (Exodus 33:15). Have you asked God to give you the kind of hunger for him that the sons of Korah (not David!) describe in Psalm 42: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."? 

     I could go on, but maybe you get my point. Most believers dismiss the simplicity of the "one thing" life because they have never experienced it, finding their lives distracted from the one thing by serving like Martha in Luke 10 or the pursuit of lesser things like the wealthy ruler. But I am not writing this to shame you or "convict" you. Rather I want to invite you to ask God to create such hunger in you for him that nothing else but a "God-transfixed, God-blinded, God-bathed life" will do!

     If you ask with a sincere heart, you will find Papa more than willing to begin a drawing of your heart to His, creating the same hunger in you that burned in David, Moses, Jesus, Paul and others. If you set your will to pursue this "one thing" life, trusting in His grace to create what is lacking in you (He is, after all, the Creator), you will be amazed at what happens--admittedly not over night (we want everything instantly!) but over a period of time that He knows is best.

     And when Papa does that, some amazing things will begin to happen in you. Faith will grow (Looking upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2). Shame and fear will diminish (Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.). Transformation of your life will take place because you will begin more and more to look like the One you gaze upon (We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18 HCSB). And much more.

     Those who read this blog know that I am not speaking here from theory. For almost 8 years now I have been on a "One Thing" journey, a journey that has had some very unexpected and painful turns in it as well as some seasons of great joy and overwhelming wonder. And I am more convinced than ever, through experience as well as Scripture, that "only one thing" is needed. And if you haven't found this to be true for you yet, Lord Jesus and I invite you to consider starting today. I cannot tell you how my heart longs for that for you, dear one, but God's heart to give it to every one of His children is infinitely greater.

     Gazing upon His beauty...

Tom, one of His God-blinded little boys

God Above Time

     "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you." (Isaiah 42:9 NIV)
     One of the most remarkable, yet unknowable, things about God is how He contains all of time within Himself. In some way that our human minds cannot begin to grasp, an eternal God stretches out infinitely before time began and infinitely beyond the end of time as we know it. How can that be? Before time began, God always was (is?) and after time ends, God always will be--He simply is (hence His name I AM).
     Because God contains time within Himself, it's really easy for Him to tell us anything He chooses about future events (He is, in a sense, already there in the future even as He is always in some sense always in the past). In fact, in more than one place in Isaiah God's ability to foretell the future is highlighted as one of the things that marks His "Godness."
      Is this kind of thinking giving you a headache or making you say, "So what?" I hope not because, if nothing else, such thoughts can bring to us a sense of worship and awe that takes us completely out of ourselves and bring us to a place of holy fear. In God's eternal nature and the omniscience that flows from that we can see, if only dimly, the infinite gulf between Creator and creature that He so willingly spanned to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus. And we are undone (I tremble as I write this!)
     But we also have some amazing reassurances contained in God's being above time. One of these relates to God's sovereignty. I have written earlier about how God's sovereignty works in a way that allows Him to work out everything according to His predetermined purpose yet do so without violating the free will of His creatures. Without His knowing all things, God couldn't do this, but because He does know all things, His promise to work everything out for the good of those who love Him brings us comfort even when evil seems to be winning the day. Because He knows the end from the beginning God is able to work "in the background" so that even the (infinitely-stupider-than-God) devil's worst works will be turned to good in the end. (And no, I don't understand how that will happen nor does any creature He has made!). As one who has stood in the wreckage of tragedy not only personally but with many others, I take great comfort in knowing that God is above time and therefore able to use time to fulfill His perfect and perfectly loving purposes.
     Another wonderful implication of God's containing time within Himself shows up when He takes us back to something in the past to encourage us in the present moment. I had one of those moments this morning. I was needing very specific encouragement about some very specific things in a very specific way. Papa's answer was to nudge me to go back exactly 11 months in my journal to read what I had written there. When I did that, I was blown away to see exactly the specific encouragement I was needing in exactly the specific form I needed it. I could write much more about this (there were many, many "God coincidences in this event), but suffice it to say that only a God who knows everything could have orchestrated this. And God has done this for me so many times that I could never count them up! I smile as I think of what He said to me when I asked Him how He does this so often for so many of us. I sensed His joyful laughter as He said, "It's easy when you know everything!" I smile even now as I think of that. What wonder and love is this, that an infinite God would bend His infiniteness to bless His very finite creatures!!?? Ah, Papa, we are undone by your kindness and by your impossible-to-grasp power and knowledge!
     God above time, we worship you even as we realize how remembering this about you enables you to reveal things to us whenever we need them to serve you and others! You can at any moment, as needed, drop into our listening spirits whatever we need to know that will best serve others! Keep me/us listening, then, God above time, that your Kingdom may come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Tom, one of Abba's listening children

A Trail of Altars

     Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh. (Genesis 12:7-8 HCSB)
     Many years ago, one of my professors remarked that you could tell where Abraham had been by the trail of altars he left behind. Abraham marked his journey through life, and especially all of his major "God-events," by building an altar (See Genesis 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9). A quick look at Genesis will also reveal that his son Isaac and grandson Jacob did the same. 
     I believe there is something good and healthy about building altars in our lives, spiritual altars that mark major God-events in our lives, altars that remind and encourage us when we revisit them. The New Testament's frequent admonition to give thanks is encouragement to look back at God's faithfulness, to build and maintain altars of remembrance and gratitude. And today, 8 days into a remarkable marriage to a remarkable woman, I want to show you some of the altars in my life in the hopes that you will be encouraged to look at your own.
     My altars mark points in my life when God's always-present hand was more visible to me than at other times. He is always working in our lives, of course, but there are times when He intersects our lives in ways that change the course of our lives forever. So take a peek with me at some of those moments where I have built an altar and be encouraged to look for your altars as well.
     I was too young to know that I was building an altar during my first God encounter, but I came to realize later that when I was about 2-3 years old, I had a hugely impacting God encounter that set the course of the rest of my life. It happened as Papa awakened a "God longing" in me as I listened to a song my grandmother had given me, "God's Little Candles," by Hank Snow. I can still remember my little heart beginning to long for God (and His angels) as I would listen to that song over and over again. It's truly amazing to me to think of this, my first altar, the altar I call the altar of First Longings. What wonder is this that God would begin to call me to Himself before I even knew who was calling!
     The next altar I mark today is the altar called the altar of Awakening, and it was "built" in my first semester at Johnson Bible College when I was born from above (born again) after hearing a professor (Dr. David Eubanks) teach on 1 John 5:13 and explain that we can know that we have eternal life. To this day I can take you to the spot I was standing when "my heart was strangely warmed" (to quote John Wesley) as I placed my trust in Jesus. (Yes, I "got saved" in Bible college while training to become a pastor!). 
     The third altar I remember today also happened during my Bible college days when Dr. David Eubanks (now president of the college) lovingly confronted me about the terrible way I was treating my wife. Dr. Eubanks was as gentle as could be, but he was also firm as could be in calling me to repentance. God's intervention through this gentle but fiercely courageous man literally saved my marriage, my future, my ministry, my life! Yes, I pause and weep with tears of gratitude as I build this altar, Repentance, with stones of thanksgiving and awe-filled worship.
     Another altar I mark today was built when I was 22 years old as God in His kindness filled me with His Spirit, my first overwhelming encounter with Him. This altar I will call the altar of Overwhelming. And it was His kindness that caused Him to hold off answering my prayer to be baptized in Holy Spirit until I fully surrendered my marriage to Him. Again, God's intervention (this time directly) was life-altering and future-shaping, not only because of the infusion of power that came into my life but also because of the deep repentance that He (again) brought into my life.
     I have many more altars, of course: the births of my two sons, their marriages, the births of grandchildren, so very many altars! But I close today with just a few more that I have given names to.
     There is the altar of Father's Embrace. When I was 33 years old, in the midst of what I thought was total failure as a pastor, God came near to me as I was rehearsing my failures to Him and simply said to me, "I will be a Father to you." And He persisted in saying this, even in the face of my protests about failing Him, until I grasped His "Fatherness" for the first time. (I had never been able to call God "Father" before that time because of "father wounds"). Again, I can take you to the very spot on the beach at Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island where I felt Father's embrace. There is an altar there...
     Another altar was built during this same season of failure (I had split the church twice in one year!). I call this altar, the altar of Faithful Wounds. Proverbs 27:6 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," (NKJV), and my friend Steve loved me enough to confront my pride in a way that changed the course of my life. My repentance in response to his words transformed the way I treated everyone, especially those closest to me, and set me on a course of wholeness that continues to unfold to this very day.
     But there are three more altars I will list today. I have written much about the face to face encounter I had with God on July 2, 2004. On that day God called me into realm of intimacy and supernatural empowerment that will continue to unfold all the days of my life. There are no words to describe how deeply changed I am because of this encounter, marked today as I look with wonder at the altar of Intimacy with Abba. 
     Another, more recent, altar is the altar of Joy and Pain. I have written long and often about the painful journey that my family embarked on during Jettie's illness and departure, so I won't elaborate on it at this point. But I want to honor Father God for His unmistakably felt presence, His unshakeable grip on me, His indescribable redemptiveness, His infinitely persistent pursuit of me and so much more during the journey. I am filled with awe and endless wonder as I gaze upon this altar, dear ones. In the midst of unexpected and un-endurable pain God arose in power and love, and I will never be the same because of His blinding Presence in my darkest night!
     Finally, there is my most recent altar, built with wonder as I reflect on the joy, the amazing future, the abundance that stretches out before Charlie and me and our family. The altar of Beauty from Ashes glistens with grace and pulsates with power. God has redeemed and transformed that which the adversary meant for harm (in all of our lives!), and the beauty that rises from the ashes testifies to His infinite wisdom and never-changing goodness. I am undone... and there's so much more I could write!
     So there you have a few of the altars along the trail of my life. I trust that you will realize that these altars are about Papa, not me. Every follower of Jesus can look back and see such altars. My prayer is that yours will glow a little brighter today in response to my own trail of altars. 

Tom, One of Abba's grateful childen

Gentle Father

     In just a few days, I will be marrying a most remarkable woman. I am a twice blessed man in the area of marriage! King Lemuel's mother said to him, "A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies" (Proverbs 31:10), but God, the ultimate Matchmaker, has found two such women to bring into my life! I am undone by His kindness, overwhelmed by His goodness.

     And I marvel at how much healing Papa has brought to me over the past many months so that I am able to love again, laugh again, trust again, live again! I am filled with joy, and I cannot thank God enough for bringing me to this season in my journey.

     What has stood out the most to me all along my journey with God, and especially over the past couple of years, has been God's gentleness as He shaped me even while healing me. I sometimes hear people describe God's words to them as sounding harsh, but I have never heard a harsh word from Papa--firm and direct, yes, but never harsh and never condemning. I invite you, then, to reconsider your hearing if our Gentle Father sounds otherwise to you.

     I was reminded of God's gentleness today as I went back one year in my journal at His nudging and found the following interchange between Father and me. I have edited the interchange only a little, but as I often do, I am giving you a transparent look into my Papa time in order to invite you into the place of intimacy with a Gentle Father who loves you more than you can imagine and who invites rather than coerces, woos rather than shames and commands only if love fails to bring a life-giving response from us. See what you hear Papa saying to you in the following interchange between God and me February 18, 2011. (The blue text is what I sensed Him saying to me). 

You have caused me to face my worst fear, then experience it, and then you come to me to restore. I have had to be humbled in order to be healed, yet this is your kindness, not cruelty. Help me to find your kindness more than ever, Abba. Ah, Papa, I still don’t get it, do I? I still don’t get your love for me…

“Little one, no, you don’t get it. Not like you will get it. Yes, you still seem to think that once you get a little bit okay, you should not be ‘needy,’ and so you run from my embrace like you always have. But I will change that, child. I will pursue you with my love, I will trash your faulty paradigms, I will destroy the enemy’s lies with the Breath of Truth. But I will do all of this with utmost gentleness and kindness. Child, I know you don’t need harshness! Do you know that? I know that you don’t need someone telling you to ‘Buck up!’ And so I will woo you with my tenderness, invite you with my affection. But you are still thinking that this cannot be, that it’s too good to be true, that it will make you selfish to live this way. I must change this, little one, and I will. I will allure you, chase you down, persist in my invitation, redirect your thoughts, until I have you at last! Yes, I will do all of this and much, much more. Believe it, child. I am good beyond your wildest dreams and I will reveal my goodness to you. Does that phrase sound familiar to you, child?

     “I love you, child, and I am NOT disappointed in you. Live in my love, little one. The road I have placed you on is THE WAY, and it will not slip away from you nor will I allow you to slip away from it. The purposes I have revealed for you stand firm, child. Yes, this is your destiny, and I have to keep making things deeper in you for that destiny to be fulfilled. So come close, child, and let my Spirit come upon you and my love embrace you. I will indeed show you my face."

=========================

     Yes, God is that gentle for those who respond to His gentleness! I know that some of what I and others like me write runs against the "religious grain" of a performance-based Christian religion, but I am more convinced than ever, having been through the fire and watching beauty rise from the ashes, that our best ideas of a Gentle Father, a Kind yet also Holy Father, fall infinitely short of how gentle and kind He really is. So I unashamedly invite you to enter into His kindness and experience His gentleness and watch what happens as His kindness leads to transformation beyond your wildest dreams!

Utterly undone by His gentle ways,

Tom, one Abba's very grateful children

Two Are Better Than One

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV)
"And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing." (Luke 9:1-2a ESV) 
"And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits." (Mark 6:7)
     God never intended "ministry," perhaps especially the ministry of announcing the Kingdom of God with its accompanying supernatural power, to be done alone. At least three reasons for this come readily to mind. The first and less obvious reason is that the message of the Kingdom of God is a message about "family" and loving, healthy relationships. A single individual, alone in proclaiming this message of family without any brothers and sisters with him/her to demonstrate it, is an giving an incomplete proclamation at best. In other words, the disciples who were sent out in pairs not only announced this new Kingdom and validated it through supernatural power, they also modeled it through their relationships with one another. It would, after all, be rather odd to have one person speak of "loving one another" if there was not "another" to love!
     I am quite convinced that this is one of the main reasons why Paul never traveled alone in his journeys. He knew that he was called to model the loving relationships of God's new family as well as to talk about it. The Apostle Peter, too, traveled and ministered with others (see, for example, Acts 10:23).
     A second reason that God intends ministry to take place through community rather than a lone individual is seen in the scripture from Ecclesiastes above: there is a strength and support in being connected with others. And in my opinion this is not just personal strength for the people in the relationship, but also an increased benefit  in terms of what God is able to bring to others through the partnership. In other words, as powerful as Paul's ministry was, it would have been less powerful if he had chosen to be alone rather than teamed up with Barnabas or Silas or Timothy and/or others. It may not be mere coincidence, then, that Paul's least fruitful time of ministry happened when he was alone in Athens--see Acts 17. There is a synergistic release of God's love and power that happens when His people choose to serve others as a team rather than alone. 
     The third reason that we should avoid the "one man (or woman) band" approach to ministry is perhaps the most obvious: there is too much danger for the raw power of the Kingdom of God to lead one astray when s/he is all alone. Jesus clearly taught that power alone is not a sign of God's approval or true fruitfulness but rather character is. It's character, not power, that most clearly demonstrates the Kingdom of God (see Jesus' rather scary words in Matthew 7:15-23). And character cannot be developed in a relational vacuum but obviously requires us to be in deep relationships with others. This does not mean, of course, that character alone is enough, but it's clearly the premier mark of authenticity.
     But if we are in healthy relationship with another as we experience God's power demonstrating His Kingdom's presence, we have a built in safeguard against pride and the "pedestal syndrome"  that people have when they see "success" and power in an individual. There's nothing like God flowing powerfully through your partner while you are in the background to help bring a healthy perspective to one's heart! There's also something good about having a partner remind you of whose power it is when things do happen through you!
     Western church history is littered with the wreckage of "great" evangelists and pastors who crashed and burned with painful consequences not only for themselves but for many others. But I am quite convinced that most of these crashes could have been prevented if those involved had gone out "two by two" as Jesus sent out the disciples. And it is my prayer that in these days of increasing supernatural power that God's people will return to ministering "two by two" so that the Kingdom will be modeled well, released in the power of a godly partnership through those who walk in humility with others.
    What do you think?


    Tom, one of Abba's many children 

Follow Faith, Not Fear

     I was on the road last week, watching Papa love on some folks that He and I both love, so I somehow didn't get around to writing anything for the five of you who read this :-)

    "Follow faith, not fear." These words, given to me long ago by a wise friend (Thanks, Steve!) while I was wrestling with a major decision, have stayed with me ever since. They came back to me today as I was once again made aware of how we humans tend to live so much of our lives from a place of fear. I have written about God's answers to fear more than once--if you want to check those entries out, just do a search of this blog on "afraid," and you will find lots of stuff. In a nutshell, God's answer to fear is "I AM with you," as you may know. Think about why this is so, and you will understand... 
     But today, I want to write just briefly about my friend's counsel: what it looks like and why it's been so formative in my life. 

     What Steve was saying to me in that critical decision time in my life was that I should choose the direction that caused encouragement and expectant faith to rise up in me, rather than making a decision based upon the various fears that were also a part of the decision. I took his counsel, taking time to walk in the desert where I grew up and systematically lay each option as I understood it before Papa to see what rose up in my heart (and also to see if I could sense what would motivate that particular choice if I made it). To my great delight, this worked really well. As I laid the various options before God, only one caused faith to well up in my heart (planting a church in Austin, TX). The other options either brought no response at all or were clearly a choice that I would be making because of fear. Interestingly enough, the choice that caused faith to rise up was also the riskiest choice and the one for which I had the fewest answers! But that one choice, made way back in 1995, has probably influenced my entire family's history as much as any one decision (including, but not limited to, my sons finding their spouses, my journey into intimacy with Papa and much more--amazing!).

     I trust you can see that I am not focusing on the particular "method" I used to make this or other decisions--it's the underlying truth about following faith, not fear, that Papa wants us to catch. I trust, too, that you who read my blog will remember my previous thoughts about faith not being something that you work up or talk yourself into but rather the growing trust that comes from living loved. But that having been said, I commend this truth to you: you will do well to make your life choices, all of them, from the place of peaceful trust rather than anxiety and fear.

     Over the years I have incorporated this "principle" into as many areas of my life as I can. I will be the first to admit, though, that I failed to do so at times during the painful journey (hence Papa's frequent words to me, "Don't be afraid."). But as a general rule, I have found it best never to make any decision, large or small, based on reacting to something I am afraid of. This doesn't mean that I am not afraid! Far from it! Rather it means that I am learning to collapse into Papa's embrace when I am afraid until His peace comes and I am able to think and choose with clarity based on my growing confidence in His goodness. 

     In all of this, of course, we are brought back to the "one thing" life of living in His love, getting to know Him better and better. And part of getting to know Him better, I am now learning, is to find Him in the middle of my fears, standing there waiting for me to turn my heart His way. And my friend Steve's little phrase, so powerfully compelling, has helped me immensely in this. More times than I can count, I have heard this phrase rise up in my heart so that I have been able to stop and ask myself, "What am I following right now?" And when the answer is fear, Papa has been kind enough to step in and lead me to a better place. Try it, I think you will like it! Follow faith, not fear!

Following Him who is never afraid...

Tom, one of His little children