Here am I... Send Me.

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

Then said I, Here am I; send me."

- Isaiah 6:8

I've been reading Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest," this week.

I am in love with his tenor and tone.  The cadence to which he writes and how he describes a life worth living in Christ is refreshing.  

While it's no substitute for God's word, Chambers does have a gentle way of challenging me in scripture, in how I live my life as a follower of Jesus.  There was one day this week I felt compelled to share with you, something I noticed in what Chambers wrote and what I see happening here at Real Life Ministries.

In the brief devotional on January 14, Chambers started with the above passage out of Isaiah and went on to write this:

"God did not address the call to Isaiah; Isaiah overheard God saying, "Who will go for us?"  The call of God is not for the special few, it is for everyone.  Whether or not I hear God's call depends upon the state of my ears; and what I hear depends upon my disposition."

I think we have something special here in North Idaho.  There's a movement in the air here, a general disposition to listen to God and serve, and a sense of honor to be considered in God's mighty plan to make a difference in His kingdom.  

There are hundreds of small groups that meet in homes all over our area.  Homes filled with people like you and me, simply trying to put food on the table, honor our marriages and raise children to love and obey God.  

What I see every week is the outpouring of people, of real folks who dare to believe that the world can really be won for Jesus.  

And they're doing it.

Entire communities rally to shovel snow, deliver meals, raise money for adoptions, care for the sick and hold a hand in grief.  I watch people empower children to be ministers and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus.  The stories overwhelm me.  Folks who wrestle with God, extend grace, repent of wrong, walk in mercy and expect miracles.  

It's a powerful experience, how in the simplest acts of love for one another we see God move.  

Chambers closes his thoughts for January 14 with this:

"When our Lord called His disciples there was no irresistible compulsion from outside.  The quiet passionate insistence of His "Follow Me" was spoken to men with every power wide awake.  If we let the Spirit of God bring us face-to-face with God, we too shall hear something akin to what Isaiah heard, the still small voice of God; and in perfect freedom will say, "Here am I; send me."

I pray that our call to follow Jesus never grows still and the church never ceases to amaze me.  That we continue to believe Jesus is at work.  I pray we love each other well and fight for relationship, because the love of Jesus is within us and we are a light to be seen and a force to be reckoned with.

It's an honor to bring glory to God in this place, in this church.  Serving with "doers of the word," to be a people who go to lengths the world would never understand to feed, clothe, care, and love on individuals listening for God's sweet call, asking, "whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  

Dedicated followers are all around, people who call back to God and trust He will work ...and they whisper, "here am I....send me."

Life Happens Here...

I'm stretching my blogging legs this morning.  I'm pretty sure it won't be a marathon today, more of a little blog jog around the block, but you never know what can happen once I get going.  

My reflections are simple today.  Last night was our first home group following Christmas/New Year break.  

While we haven't met formerly for "home group" we've definitely been in contact over the past few weeks.  God's timing knows no bounds, or breaks sometimes, He gives us rest when it's needed, but life doesn't always play out the way I think it should.

During our "break" one of our home group members lost his dad.   And as God gives and takes, we also welcomed the birth of a baby girl into group, and one of the children decided to be baptized.

I bring this all forward because as much as I want life to be predictable and manageable, convenient and comfortable...in reality it isn't.

As we endured life together as a group, planning funerals, delivering meals, sharing tears, rejoicing in triumphs, and celebrating life I've found joy in the chaos of the last few weeks. 

Today as I reflect and write I'm humbled by the ability of these amazing people to share their lives with us willingly.  I'm honored to love and be loved, to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

Last night when we gathered together, with giggling children and piles of snow boots and one happy 11 week old puppy... we laughed.  

We gathered only for the sake of getting together and discussing the next curriculum.  But, we told stories of pulling each other out of snowy ditches, and the crazy extremes we've gone to help meet one another in the middle of a need or a crisis.  There was a lot of statements that began with, "do you remember that one time...?" and the laughter followed.

At the end of our evening of gathering as a family, kids filed into the kitchen, to pet the puppy and be first in line for homemade brownies.  Watching all of it, a line of scripture from the book of James kept filtering through my mind, like the ticker flashing though scores on ESPN, it read: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like."

For me, being a "doer" of the word means growth and maturity in loving God and loving others.  

God is doing His part pruning and trimming me.  But my growth is measured by my fruit.  If fruit is measured by the love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness and self control of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside me... I can't be challenged to grow without any of these people.  

Without people in my life enduring difficult, beautiful and merciful circumstances, there is no place for fruit to bloom.  

I have found real relationships are formed among the fruit of the spirit.  How blessed we are, how blessed I am, to live life with these people.  

We come heartbroken and grieving, real and raw, joyous and motivated, desiring prayer and connection; our lives are messy and complicated, but considering the alternative, a life without these people would feel unfulfilled.   

If I'm to be a "doer" of the word, my life includes people.  I'm grateful for each and every one of them...and I am honored by my Heavenly Father, who shares relationships so generously and allows life to happen here.