Living Untethered: Relinquishing Control to God

Gideon was hiding from the marauding Midianites, threshing grain in the bottom of a wine press to hide the grain from them. “ The angel of the Lord appeared to him [Gideon] and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” ” ( Judges 6:12 , NLT) Hiding from the enemy doesn’t sound very mighty nor does it seem heroic. But reading through Chapter 6 & 7 one soon sees that Gideon grows into his name one obedient step at a time – one tentative frightened obedient step at a time. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Gideon sounds a little sarcastic in his response to the Angel. “ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” ”       ( Judges 6:13 , NLT) It did not seem as though the LORD was with the Israelites. Gideon had some s...

One night, in the middle of a deep sleep I was abruptly woken up with a word: “avarice”. I did not know what that word meant and had the thought that perhaps I should write it down. I was too tired, so I opted to go back to sleep. Awhile later…the same word shook me awake. It took 3 times of being awakened with the word avarice. When I heard it for the third time the Lord kindly spelled it out for me A-V-A-R-I-C-E. I knew I had better just get up and write it down. I would look it up in the morning and see what it meant; what the significance of that word was. Lord, why did you wake me up with that word? What is so important that you had to do it three times? Is it an exposition of my heart? A warning or conviction that I have already got there? Merriam-Webster defines avarice as: excessive or  insatiable  desire for wealth or gain  :  GREEDINESS ,  CUPIDITY Google dictionary: extreme greed for wealth or material gain. Cambridge dictionary: an...

How many of you have said, "I wish I could just go to sleep and when I wake up everything would be fine."? Several years ago, Tom and I were at Whiteswan Provincial Park with our daughter Bethany and our niece Shelby. It was the first time we had taken Shelby on a camping trip with us. Bethany’s sister had just got married and her brother moved out, so it was just the three of us. It’s not as much fun on vacation when you’re the only kid so we dragged Shelby along for Beth. Summer in the Kootenays is amazing. The sun almost always shines. In our favourite camping spot, the water is crystal clear and offers glorious refreshment during a hot day. Great for canoeing or lazily sunning on your favourite flotation device. The trees are massive, perfect for hanging our hammock and resting in their shade. Whiteswan is surrounded with snow-capped mountains and is one of the most serene places I know. No cell service. No Wi-Fi. No anything except peace and quiet and a few out...

The turning of the calendar seems a good time to take stock of life. As we enter a new decade many people are writing reviews of their past 10 years. Some people hope for better times ahead. Some people are celebrating glorious years they have enjoyed. For me, recounting God’s faithfulness is like accessing a bounteous bank account. That’s part of the reason I journal. I forget. When I review, I can easily see God’s fingerprints all over the place. I don’t wish to be stuck in the past, but I believe God loves it when we look back and give him thanks for the ways he has been there with us. Reflection is good for the soul. God often instructed the Israelites to erect monuments to remind them of His faithfulness to them. Dt 6:1-9 talks about writing the commands God gave his people on the doorposts of their homes, their foreheads and arms, as symbols so that they would remember to teach their children all God had commanded them. “ Samuel then took a large stone and placed it...