Saturday, September 22, 2012

So, have you seen Sea Biscuit?

Dear Ones - I had the most wonderful week.  I have been unsettled the entire week.

There is such a mixed bag of emotions that accompanies being unsettled for me, especially when I have purposefully ask my Heavenly Daddy to unsettle me, shake me up, use His "spiritual sandpaper" (phrase I heard this week from a wonderful individual I met in a meeting) on me.

You might be thinking "how is that so wonderful?"  Well, it all depends on what your definition of wonderful is.

When things happen that only God can orchestrate, when He reveals sin to me, and because of His goodness I repent (Romans 2:4) - not His wrath, not fear of retribution, but because of His faithful loving kindness, I repent, that is "some kind of wonderful." (Did you just think of a secular song?  Me, too.)  

To each reader who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, dwell on that for a moment.  I mean, stop reading and close your eyes if you need to and remember a time when your Heavenly Daddy loved you back to His arms in repentance.  It will thrill your soul just as it did mine.  It also reminded me of how He wants me to love others.

Now, if that doesn't bless you, "your blesser is broke," (quote from my pastor when I was growing up).

Several years ago when the Passion of the Christ first came out, it took me awhile to decide if I really wanted to go see it. I had qualms about whether or not it was sacrilegious.

I did decide to go see the passion movie. I couldn't watch all of the time.  Often, I put my head down because I just couldn't watch what my mind and heart could not comprehend - seeing in living color what the Lord Jesus went through for me, while realizing that what was displayed on the screen couldn't possibly capture it all.

It revealed enough that it overwhelmed me with humility, grief, sense of loss and being found, love, joy, gratitude - talk about being unsettled.  I will never forget when the movie ended, people sat still in the theatre for what seemed like forever, but it was probably just a few minutes.  When we decided to move, there was no talking or laughing - just silence.

When we walked out to the lobby, people were laughing and talking, buying and eating popcorn and candy, drinking sodas, holding hands, correcting children, completely unaware of the solemnity of what had occurred on the screen in Showing #2, down the right hallway, first left.

The thought came to mind about how often I go through the busyness of life, completely forgetting the magnitude of what Jesus did for me.

I wondered how different my life would be if I walked so closely to His sweet side that I could feel the scar He carried on my behalf, (John 19:34, Rev. 1:7) and in that moment be silent, waiting for that still, small voice.

Selah

The movie, Sea Biscuit, came out about the same time.  It was a great movie, true story about the horse named Sea Biscuit that won the triple crown.

During the same time frame that these movies were released, I had been trying to interject conversation about the Lord here and there to the guy that did my hair.  During one particular appointment, I asked him if he had seen "The Passion of the Christ."  He indicated that he hadn't.

I proceeded to tell him about it.  I didn't go into the spiritual detail like I just did with you, but I did share what impact it had on me and how odd it seemed that the people in the lobby weren't more respectful.

He looked at me for a minute.  I thought maybe I had reached some place in his heart, until he said, "so, have you seen Sea Biscuit?"

"Now, that right 'thar' is funny, I don't care who you are."  Every time I tell that story, we all laugh.  It will always be funny, because it is real.

As always, the Lord used it to teach me a lesson.  When the Lord is trying to use His "spiritual sandpaper" on me, and I ignore His voice, His gentle attempt at persuasion - I am in reality saying, "So, Lord, have you seen Sea Biscuit?"

In other words, "I'm too busy right now to talk; or, let's change the subject because I surely don't want to talk about that right now or maybe -  ever."

The Lord tries to draw us close, to love on us, to whisper what is best; and like a toddler who doesn't want to be in his daddy's lap, we push away, whine, and literally say, 'no'."

Then, in loving kindness, He continues to draw us to himself until we are no longer even thinking about the sea biscuits of the world.

God forbid, that anyone would ignore, whine, push away so hard, so long, and so far that he or she no longer recognized His voice.

That would be a dangerous place to be with monsters of all kind waiting to destroy.  They would most likely be successful since we would have placed ourselves in danger without the resurrection power of the helmet, shield, sword, having our feet shod - the whole armor.

My goal each day is to stay close to the cross, to the One who suffered on it, lives to intercede for me -  and to take my eyes off of the "sea biscuits" of the world.  How about you?

Love to all.  I am determined to approach this and every day with joy.  Are you?  Mecca














No comments:

Post a Comment