That Reach and Speech

Today after church I picked up some Chinese food from Panda Express for lunch and, along with it, the standard fortune cookie came.  My fortune today:  “Now is the time to set your sights high and ‘Go for it!’”   I had to laugh a bit in light of the sermon we listened to this week.  I couldn’t help but hear God’s voice slightly alter this good fortune and say, “Now is the time to set your sights high and….FOLLOW ME!!”   Daryl spoke these words, “It is in the following that we experience the blessing, not in the staying.”  That one went straight between my eyes!  As I have been slowly pondering a career switch, I find myself just doing that…pondering – no action.  More and more, I have been feeling the rumblings, convictions, and whispers from God to start going forward.  It is time to start following God, and exploring what He could have for me on this road of change.  It is time to stop staying, and put one foot in front of the other.   “I am in the way you are going.”

 At the beginning of his sermon, Daryl refers to God’s call to Abraham and Sarah by saying: “That reach and speech set in motion a journey that has life-transforming implications not only for that man and woman and that family, but for the whole world.”  The words “reach and speech” sent my head spinning in fifty different directions.  One word that came to mind was “potential.”  Oh, what potential we all have to hear and respond to God’s callings in our lives.  If only I would listen, or risk in my life enough to unleash what He has for me and for how He wants to use me.”  Are there life-transforming things that God wants to do in my life that I have ignored or been too scared to step out and do?  Have I ignored His reach and speech?  Answer:  Yes. A second thought that came to mind was the eucharist - the time we enter into holy communion with God with the broken bread and poured out wine.  That is His “good caress” – His reach and speech to us.   Thank you, Lord for being in our midst through action and word.  The Kingdom of God is here!!

 “I can make your name great.  I can make it work…..I can make this work!”  I couldn’t help but picture Christ hanging on the cross and Him thinking, ‘Can’t you see?  I can make this work!  I AM making this work!”  I AM saving all of humanity right before your eyes!’  The image of broken bread and poured out wine once again meets us face-to-face.

 One final thought about this week’s sermon was particularly thought-provoking and spoke right into a fear that often crosses my mind living in L.A.  Daryl quotes J.B. Phillips saying, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mold, but let God remold you from within.”  I feel this “drag” of the prevailing culture often and find myself praying, “Lord, please keep me from the glitter!!”  There is so much to get caught-up in here in L.A and, at face value, can be quite attractive.  But God’s screaming whisper tells me, “Leave it!”  Help me to leave it, Lord.  Remold me from within.

 End note:  Daryl mentions Henrietta Mears in his sermon as a woman who led, trusted, and obeyed God’s call upon her life.  My dad got to work with Henrietta Mears while he was in the Young Adults group at Hollywood Pres.  Through her, God influenced the lives of many, including my dad’s.  J