Ch..Ch..Ch..Changes

I feel like a fair amount of change has happened in my life over the past two months. It’s been fun, and challenging, and Jesus has put his finger on a few things in my heart that I’d been avoiding.  In minor news, I went from owning a little brick of a flip phone and texting comfortably with T9 Word, to a smart phone… which I’ve been trying to play with and set up for an embarrassing amount of time this afternoon.
Change happens, and I use to hate it. I can’t say I’m a fan of it, but after you go through so much of it you get used it. You start to recognize that it’s a beautiful part of life – full of equal parts bitter and sweet most of the time. People, possessions, living arrangements, they all come and go and change… and for someone who comes to Jesus so often with tight, controlling fists, it’s difficult to let go – it’s also difficult to receive.

I’ve really seen this come into play with relationships. I want to hold on to the people that I care about so deeply – I want them to be safe, to be blessed, to be comfortable, to stick around. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but it can go wrong quickly. When my security or worth is wrapped up in relationships with my friends, family, coworkers, etc. then it’s dependent upon their approval and presence in my life. That’s incredibly unstable, and I come to Jesus with my fists tightly clinging to things I falsely mistake as being mine. I arrogantly assume that I know better than Him. When I recognize that everything and everyone in my life is “on loan” from Him, I’m much more apt to come to him with open hands – because I have no right to tell Him how to manage His things or His kids. It’s a position of dependence, of trust, and of recognizing that my worth comes from Him – independent upon who or what is in my life at the time.  It frees me up to learn from the folks who are in my life in the present tense – to glean all I can from them, and to pour it out again.

It’s tough, letting someone get close to you. The closer you let people in, the more you risk getting hurt or having to say goodbye down the road. It comes with the territory – but it is beautiful territory. The more open my hands are before the Lord, the more my security has to be found in Him.  Change becomes a little less scary when I accept that He is in control and that I am not…because He is good. He is so good… and He doesn’t change.

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Obstacles, Assets and Perspective

“He entered Jericho and was passing through.  And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.  Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.  When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.  When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”  Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” –Luke 19: 1-10 NASB

 I’ve heard this story more times than I could count. It’s a classic Sunday school story, and Zaccheus even has his own song.  However, this past week in bible study I saw some things I’d never seen before in this story:

1.       Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was – there’s nothing new in that. Jesus drew huge crowds and lots of curiosity, so it makes sense that people would want to try and see who this Jesus was.
2.       I love that Jesus said, “I must stay at your house.” As curious and persistent as Zaccheus was to see Jesus, Jesus sought him out personally and with divine intention. And Zaccheus “hurried and came down and received him gladly.”
3.       Zaccheus’ encounter with Jesus led to him receiving and repenting
4.       Often times what I see as obstacles or limitations in my life, the Lord has specifically and strategically placed them in my life as resources to see and meet Him.

 I’m short – so I get part of Zaccheus’ problem.  I hate concerts and football games and all things crowd related sometimes because I can never see the band or the players on the field…which is why I’m there in the first place. Zaccheus was aware of his limitations, and while most people could see a tree as an obstacle, he saw it as an asset. As I go throughout my day, I tend to see lots of obstacles – hurdles, inconveniences, things to move around or accommodate. Maybe I have a difficult patient that tests every compassionate bone in my body, or maybe plans just fall apart – regardless, I don’t typically see them as a means of seeing the Lord.  Zaccheus was so focused on seeing who Jesus was, that an obstacle like a tree became a resource in which to see the Lord. His perspective changed because he was focused on the end goal of seeing Christ.

I believe that God wastes nothing. That He knows my limitations and my circumstances, and that He’s present in my moment-to-moment life. There’s a constant invitation which He extends to me to meet with Him as I go throughout my day.  What I might see as an inconvenient hurdle, He might see as an opportunity for me to walk in dependence and intimacy with Him, an opportunity for redemption, healing, or sanctification, an opportunity to reveal His character.

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