Reconciliation, better than Raid?

When I'm faced with spiders, I get a little freaked out by the creepy crawlers. Suddenly, I'm like a ninja, trying to find a way to destroy those arachnids before they destroy me, with moves I didn't even know I had in me. Of course, with that sudden surge of killer instinct, comes a great fear that they will, in fact, get me first. This is why I take time every week to clean out the cobwebs in my house. If there isn't a cobweb, there isn't a spider. Problem solved, right? Wrong!

God and I had a little bit of a cobwebbed conversation last week. I was lying in bed and saw a spider crawling on the ceiling. I couldn't sleep and my mind started to analyze the situation. Hadn't I just cleaned all of those cobwebs out of my house days ago? Where did this little guy come from? Then it hit me. Cleaning the cobwebs doesn't get rid of the spider it just makes it look like he no longer lives there.

Who knew that such strong conviction came in a such a small package with eight tiny little legs?

I had just spent time in prayer that day feeling that God was calling me to Reconciliation. I hadn't been in almost a month. As I stared at that little spider I realized that my sin was just like it and the cobwebs were just the visual evidence that it existed. Sometimes, we feel like if the mess the sin left is a little cleaned up on the outside, no one will every know, but the source still roams around, making new webs. Our sin stays in us, no matter how clean we look on the outside. God was calling me to kill the source of the cobweb: my sin. The only way I could do that was to meet him eyelash to eyelash, in the great Sacrament of Reconciliation and be filled with his grace.

Working in ministry is hard as it is, and cobwebs come in many shapes and forms from the various spiders we face. We get tangled up in those webs and it prevents us from doing God's work. He calls us not just to clean up the cobwebs, but to get rid of the source. In the world of sin, raid won't do...it's all about Reconciliation. He's waiting for you...

I am...

   

And then he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to Him in reply, "You are the     Messiah." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. Mark 8:29-30 (NAB)

These words sit heavy on my heart today as I think about who I am. Jesus meant something so much greater than just " Hey, when you look at me, what do you think about me?" When He begs the question, "Who do you say that I am?" He is digging much deeper. In essence, He is getting to the heart of who we are.

How many times do we skip over books of the Bible, like Numbers, or Leviticus, or even the first chapter of the Gospels before we even get to the birth of Jesus, simply because we can't pronounce all of those names listed in the genealogies? I am guilty as the next person. Sometimes, as we go from who begot who, to who begets who, I suddenly feel like I am reading a Dr. Seuss book, how about you? There is something so great about those genealogies that I think we're missing, not just in the way that we see Jesus, but in the way that we see ourselves.

When meeting someone for the first time and introducing ourselves, we usually go straight into what we do. It's just part of our culture that we give the laundry list of items that makes us who we are. We say things like,
I am __________ (fill in the blank with your job title). I am _______(fill in the blank with your status: married, single, divorced, widowed, etc.). I am _________ (fill in the blank with some new project you're working on or whatever else you do as a hobby or sport). The list could go on for the ways that we describe who we  are. We describe who we are by the things that we do. But, what I gather from this question of Jesus is not who does Peter say He is based solely on what He does. But, who He is in relationship to others. Yes, he is the Messiah, but he warns Peter, after this response not to tell anyone about him. Now, I am no biblical scholar, but what I think is happening here is that Jesus wants to be known for who He is, not just what he does. I mean, think about it. If we don't believe in who He is, then what He did do doesn't even matter. We have to first believe that he is the Son of God, and the Son of Man--fully divine and fully human to get why it's important that he died for us. And, the only way to believe these things is to know who He was. And, so the genealogies are important. They show us who Jesus is in relationship to others, and folks, that really does matter.

It leads me to ask, who are you? I submit we are so much greater than the things we do. Before we are anything, we are simply people in relationships.

I am Eileen. First and foremost, a child of God. I am the daughter of Amy and Johnny. Step daughter to Jay and Karen. Sister to Paula, Nathaniel, Lauren, Autumn, Hope, Janssen, Kara, Marcellis, and Harrison. Aunt to over a dozen nephews and nieces. Grandaughter to Dalton and Ruth, Roy and June. Close companion to Emily and Richard, Mike and Mary as well as others. Friend to many. Mentor to many teens. I am who I am in relation to others. Relationships are what we live for..not what we do.

I invite you today, to think not about what you do to describe who you are. But, think about who you are in relation to others. Once you have done that, I guarantee that you will feel more inclined to make time for that phone call to a parent, sibling, or friend that you have been putting off because you are too busy "doing" things instead of "being" in relationship.

Let's pray:

Father, we thank you that we are all in relationship with one another. We thank you for the reminder that we are never alone, because we didn't get here alone. Above all things, we thank you for loving us just because of who we are, not for what we have done, or will become.  May we live this day, and each day forward,"being" in relationships and less "doing" things that distract us from those relationships. Amen.

Turn! Turn! Turn!

 
To everything there is a season and time to every purpose under Heaven. Sometimes, it's easy to forget this. When we find ourselves at a "turn" in our life we can become disheveled, anxious, and overwhelmed by uncertainty. But, God reminds us, through His incredible word, brought to song by The Byrds, there is a season for all things. God knows what has been, what is, and what will be, and thus we must TRUST in His Almighty plan for us. Easier said than done!

I grew up with a plan for my life. I had it all figured out...from where I would go to college, when I would get married, where I would settle down, how many kids I would have, right down to the clothes I would wear as a grown up. Thank God for all those "turns" that redirected those plans! I look back now, realizing where I am today, and know that God surely had a reason for those things that disrupted my plans, and so beautifully revealed his to me. God is good about turning us around when we are off course and he did that with me many times this short life. Those turns are the very things that have allowed me to find my calling in life: youth ministry. And, ten or more years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about what I am doing today. But, that is the funny thing about God's plan. It is always so much grander than anything we could ever dream up. 

So, here I am...ready for another TURN--

Where do you feel God is turning you around in your life? How have your plans been keeping you from all that he has designed you for? Are you so focused on what you want to be, that you are failing to see what could be with God involved? Today, let Him turn you around and direct your footsteps. He has AMAZING plans for you! Go ahead: Turn! Turn! Turn!

A NEW year, calls for lots of NEW things, and as we all know, means coming up with NEW resolutions. One of my resolutions this year was to be a brighter light in this world. The above song reminds me that I CANNOT do this without first turning to the true light...CHRIST! It is true that He shines down on everyone, we but only have to turn our face to Him so that we might better reflect His incredible light!


I pray that this year is filled with the light of the "Son" that shines down on us and that we reflect that light into the lives of others. Let this year be all that it can be by letting go, letting God, and sharing His love and light with all those you encounter!