I had a friend share about a recent experience she and her fiance had at a Japenese restaurant.  They were sitting at a group table and since they were by themselves, they struck up a conversation with another couple sitting there.  After introducing themselves and taking about the wedding, the other woman asked her if they had any children.  My friend said no, and then the other woman asked if they were living together.  No, again.  This woman then exclaimed to my friend, “you guys are so old-fashioned, aren’t you! My friend graciously agreed and steered the conversation elsewhere.  She shared later that she was proud…grateful, really…to be old-fashioned!

I am too.  But let me explain.  It’s amazing to me how words can be so overused that they become almost meaningless, and old-fashioned is one of them.  In today’s world, it is a very negative term that means (1) uneducated opinion,(2) belief in outdated ideas or (3) one hopelessly lost in time and not with the modern culture.  However….it is a VERY positive word in the spiritual world, specifically in Christianity.  I am proud to say that I am so old-fashioned that I was, in the words of Scripture, formed many years ago:”You formed my inward parts, You covered me in my mother’s womb, I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”  (Psalm 139:13).  If you look up the word “fashioned” in the dictionary, one of the definitions uses the word “formed”.  So in other words, I was literally and physically fashioned 55 years ago.

AND YET!  Jeremiah 1:5 makes me even more OLD-fashioned!  “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…..”  Wow.  The world just THINKS they know what this word means!  What a blessing it is to know that God thought about me before I was formed, and then He fashioned me Himself into exactly the person He wanted me to be.   But it gets even better!  The very same God who created us has existed since before time began..and will continue to exist throughout all eternity.  He was NOT formed or fashioned by anyone, and without His creative power neither the Earth or anything in it or around it would be here.  So how does that tie in to our overused word?

Like this:  Because He has always existed, He is the supreme Authority for our world and our lives.  Period.  His laws and His plans for how we live and the harmony that brings to our lives as we are obedient to HIM is the only true way to live.  Which makes a true follower of God today a laughable, helpless, backwoods person, who is stuck in ancient times and culture, and who needs to be conformed to modern rules and thinking.  In other words, it makes us “old-fashioned”.  And dumb.  And useless for the future of newer, better, higher thinking and doing.  And SO out of harmony with the “movers and shakers” of today, that we will never be able to prosper.

You know what?  I am not worried about any of that.  Like my friend at the restaurant, I am content to live by the guidelines that a timeless God has set up for me, rather than try to adapt to every new thought that comes along.  I feel no pressure to watch every new whim of culture take effect, and rush out to join it.  There is deep peace and freedom in knowing that I live for the One that brought everything into being, and that HIS ways are the best.  May HE receive all the glory as all of His followers continue to do the same along with me!

I was struggling in one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.  I was snorkeling in the water of Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, and I could not seem to get the hang of it.  There was my major claustrophobia, and the uneasy feeling of having all kinds of fish (although gorgeous ones!) bumping into my legs.  And the object of my struggle at that moment was a medium sized coral reef that I couldn’t seem to maneuver around.  I saw Robert not too far from me with my stepson, and I called over to him to swim over and help me.  He told me “you can do it, you’re ok” and then I panicked again and called him again!  He then stopped what he was doing, and said, “Beth!  Stand up!!  You don’t have to swim around it, you can just WALK around it…you’re only in 3 feet of water!”  And you know what?  He was right!  Once I understood that I wasn’t stranded, I stood up, and realized I had WAY overestimated how deep the water was!  My view underneath the water, with my snorkeling gear on and looking around, was that I was in big trouble.  But guess what?  Once I stood up, and looked from the top down, it was a piece of cake!

I was thinking about this story the other morning, and I found myself laughing again, but also immediately reassured.  Sometimes living in a world where it really does seem that everything is wrong…murder, divorce, adultery, hate, break-ins and stealing, can skew the perspective of even the most positive of us.  It’s just not hard at times to think how awful it is, and to be scared of even more to come.  And while that’s true, that we are going downhill as a society, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, that’s the view from UNDERNEATH, not from the top.  Especially during this election season, it seems many people are proclaiming doom and gloom if Trump wins, and/or doom and gloom if Clinton wins, and some are even too discouraged to even consider voting.

AND YET!  God doesn’t want us to only look at our problems from OUR perspective!  When we are “underneath” or even “beside” a problem (like the water and the coral reef) we do not see an accurate picture.  My idea of getting away from the reef and to safety involved swimming, which was totally ridiculous since I could just stand up and walk there!  I was about to really embarrass myself by swimming and gasping and being afraid when I didn’t have to.  And the big bad reef was not nearly as intimidating when I found out it was only about 4 feet long and maybe a foot high.  Robert, however, who can never be compared with God, still had the “over” perspective..that the water was fine, the troubles easy to conquer, and the knowledge that I was going to be fine.

But I am not alone in this!  And neither are you.  The disciples even actually had Jesus ON THE BOAT with them, and still panicked at the storm that came up and the waves that appeared to be about to take them down.  They knew the Creator, and they knew His power, but they still were shaken with fear. In Matthew 8:25, they even called out to Him (much like I called out to Robert) “Lord, save us!  We are perishing!”  I can relate to that so well.  And just as Robert was saying, “just STAND up!”  Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you fearful, oh ye of little faith?”  Because Jesus had the ultimate perspective..that all was really not lost…and He had the solution….”Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm”.

So, as we go through the rest of this election season, and times of uncertainty and unrest in our world, let’s make sure which picture we are seeing…ours, or God’s….and then act accordingly.  After all, sometimes you just have to STAND UP, and WALK, not panic!

One of the newest songs on Christian radio right now is by Mercy Me, entitled “Dear Younger Me”.  And while I applaud a couple of the themes in it, it is not one of my personal favorites.  And that’s because I have always had an issue with a certain statement:  “I would definitely go back and redo some/all of my life, IF I could take back the knowledge with me that I have now”.  I have never understood or agreed with that statement, because it seems to imply that out there, somewhere, somehow there is a perfect life, or at least a better one.  As in, having the knowledge I have now would lead to what…better relationships?  Better career choice?  Not drinking away college years?  Being smarter or more spiritual earlier on?

I have always believed that going back, even with what I know today, would result in one thing…..a possibly richer, smarter, and better looking me, making DIFFERENT MISTAKES!  Possibly “better” mistakes, with fewer consequences, but maybe WORSE.  With far worse results.  Because in this life, perfection is not attainable.  We will always sin, always make mistakes, always fall short of dreams and aspirations.  Why?  Because we are human, and not God.  Nothing that we “took back” with us would keep us from failing at something again.  After all, the only way we learn “things to take back” is because of the very mistakes we made. So what would that accomplish?  Not much..cringe worthy moments would still happen.

Paul was VERY clear about this in Scripture:  “….but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Philippians 3:13.  I really think most days that this Scripture was put in the Bible just for me…because I many times have struggled with what I could have/should have done, and when thinking about my past, I don’t always view it in a positive light and remember my accomplishments, just my failures.  However, if anyone had a past he might like to change, it would be Paul.  And yet, he never voiced the opinion that he wished he could go back again and do ANYTHING over.  We don’t see him wanting to void his past of his unsaved life, and his persecution of Christians, because those are the very things that led him to Jesus.  And although he did put many Christians to death because of their faith, just thing how many other people have been brought into the Kingdom because of his writing of the amazing grace that he found!

So what’s the point?  It’s this, to both myself and any of you:  trusting God means believing, with our whole hearts, that every single moment, action, and thought have been used by God.  He hasn’t taken just the “good” moments and events and used them…He has used every failure, flaw, mistake, and sin to mold us into the people that we are today…and HIS work is always PERFECT.  Not us,  not our lives, but His ability to create, remake, and redeem anything and everything for His glory!  So the next time you find yourself thinking….”I would go back TODAY if I could only….” STOP.  As it also says in Scripture, “Casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself again the knowledge of God“…that would be ourselves arguing that some of our past is shameful and unusable….”and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”…which means we obediently accept that the past is what it is, and we don’t need to wonder what would happen!  May we continue to live our lives IN the present, excited about the future, and praying that God will receive the glory!

I was leaving a grocery store the other day, and observed a very sad thing.  There was a couple, in their late 50’s or early 60’s, and they were leaving the store.  She walked with a very pronounced limp…the kind that makes a person look almost like a penguin.  This made her very slow..and I mean very.  Her husband, however, looked to be pretty much in good health, and he pushed the buggy out the door at a normal pace, leaving her inside alone for a good minute and a half.  Thinking that he was going to pull the car up, I wasn’t overly concerned until I got outside behind her and realized that he was already at the car, putting the groceries in the trunk, and she was still a good 15 feet away.  By the time I got to my car and put my small load in the trunk, sat down, and cranked my car, she had finally reached their car and gotten in.

Now, there was no overt hostility between them, and they have probably lived with her walking that slow that they are used to it.  She might not even want him to walk with her.  But to an outsider, it looked sad.  Until the next day, when I went back to the eye doctor for a follow-up appointment from my most recent cataract surgery.  As I was escorted to this exam room, then another, then back to the waiting room, all I could see of the person escorting me was their back, approximately 3 feet in front of me!  And I as observed them with other patients, the routine was the same.  Always way ahead of the patient, walking rapidly, leaving no time for personal interaction.  Just go, go, go, and move ahead with the next task.  Now I have always followed nurses, etc in doctor’s offices, because they know where they are going and I don’t.  But never at this pace, and never with them so far ahead.  And believe me, the wait for the doctor was not a bit shorter because of all that speed!!  I realized that this had happened on all my previous visits as well.

So what’s the point?  It’s this..in both cases, I saw and/or felt the frustration of someone being left behind by someone who obviously had more important things to do.  And God spoke to me and told me that’s exactly what so many of us are doing today in the spiritual world.  As born again, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christians, we are charged with and hopefully committed to bringing others to Jesus, so that they can meet Him and have their lives changed by His power too.  And that’s really not hard to do, we’re just way behind in the priority we place on it.  What IS hard to do, however, is to be committed to the discipleship process with new believers.  VERY hard.  Winning people to the Lord takes effort, but many times we just plant seeds, water seeds, or sometimes even have the privilege of harvesting “plants”.   But discipling?  Totally different story!

I believe that God was showing me, TWICE, how it feels like in today’s church to be a new follower of Jesus, or somewhat new, or maybe a struggling follower.  Too many times it is an experience of loneliness, frustration, or failure.  Unfortunately, many of us (me included) are guilty of “tossing about” Scriptures or solutions to problems or crises that others are facing, without taking the time to really get to know what’s going on, and what help they need.  In other words, we are walking AHEAD of them…sometimes WAY ahead of them….and throwing good words back to them, or directing them a mile a minute…when what they REALLY need is for someone to slow down…way down…and actually walk BESIDE them.  You know, at their pace, asking questions, sharing feelings, reading the Word of God with them, praying with them.  Not rushing, or acting as if there are way too many other things in need of our attention.

I believe it is time for us to slow down, and remember that we are a family.  Not a perfect family, but still, a family.  And that family takes time.  Unity and perseverance in the fight against the enemy doesn’t happen overnight.  New followers need to be equipped, struggling ones need encouragement, and those who aren’t NEED to USE their spiritual gifts to minister!! So, next time you see someone rushing ahead of another person, or you feel you are being rushed yourself, let God speak to you, and remind you of your duty to simply SLOW DOWN.  He can work through us a lot better that way!