Sunday, October 31, 2021

No DYI Necessary

 

We entered the shaded path under coverings of Jeffery Pines and Cedar trees. Our bodies and minds unfurling, leaving behind weeks of tension. The scent of pine and soil enriched from the life-giving decay of dying plants invited us to slow down and pay attention. We found no trail map at the trail head. No problem, we hiked this trail before. Our joy of being in the woods was enhanced by moments of complete silence and photo opportunities. At the back side of the park the trail was suddenly unfamiliar; it had been altered and we weren’t sure which way to go. Occasional signs with the trail name haphazardly pointed us forward. We stood in a parking lot looking up in the direction of one such sign.


By this time my back and hip were aching from the rugged tramping over roots and up and down on rocks; I was weary. Two ladies came over and we asked about the climb. “Yes,” they said. “That’s the right trail. It goes up 800 feet and there’s a beautiful view.” For one minute a wrestling match ensued between my FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and the limitations of the body. I know how long it takes to recover from pushing past my limits so we opted out of the beautiful view. I can’t say the other option was an easy one. We turned around and went back the way we came; our bodies had already measured the length of the trail; it gave us joy while siphoning our energy.


The turn around wasn’t so delightful. Another sign directed us back to the Nature Center. If we followed that sign we would end up back on the road leading to the parking lot. That seemed like a good idea but in truth it first lead us to the other side of the 800 foot ascent. We either had to climb over that peak or go back. We turned back. This year my lower back has required extra care. I confess towards the end, of a not so difficult hike, it took real effort for me but we made it.


I am reminded of a conversation I had recently with a close friend. We were sharing our hearts when the topic turned to one in which we both could relate: fixing ourselves. It is so much like starting on a trail without a map. Do you ever find yourself working hard to right something inside yourself or bullying yourself into letting go of the past that shaped you? There have been times, too many to count, when my need to calm down after someone rubbed up against an open wound in my spirit would send me on a search. Did I crawl up next to my Heavenly Father and pour my heart out to Him? No. I went scrambling around the house for a book that spoke into my hurt or lifted me for a moment. Nothing wrong with reading these types of books but I’ve left the most important One, the One who made me, out of my pain and longing.


When I see myself as a project to fix instead of God’s creation being transformed by His Spirit I have to ask some questions about my beliefs. Do I believe God’s Word and what is written in passages such as:


Romans 8:25-27

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do no know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself interceded for us with groans that words cannot express.”


2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”


Do I remember I can trust Him to work His Word into my soul while I go about ordinary tasks?


1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”


Do I accept the reality that He is making me new and I can do nothing without Him?


John 15:3-4

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can bear fruit unless you remain in me.”


I could go on. You see, we not only have a map (the Scriptures) for our lives but we also have the perfect Guide. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to rely on ourselves. He doesn’t leave us to our own devices. If He were to do so we would be like sheep cast down, turned over on our backs, unable to get to our feet. Our limbs would go numb. We would lay there and die without the Shepherd righting and stabilizing us until we could walk again. God created us to depend on Him.


This morning I read this post on Instagram. Oh how it speaks to me in moments when I am busy searching for a good fix instead of the One Who made and redeems me. “We don’t pray because we don’t think God can do anything more for us than what we can do for ourselves.” --Valerie Woerner on IG #wellwateredwomen


It is not above me to, on occasion, grab at things in hope of making me into a better person. I search for just the right book or podcast to soothe me whenever a deep ache has woken within but this is but a band-aid to put over a gaping hole. I can even read Scripture looking for a fix instead of for the One Who transforms me and makes me whole.


In the conversation with my friend I challenged her current intensity to find the next study, layering one on top of the other, believing she will eventually be fixed. I recognized what she was doing because I have done it myself and found it less than satisfactory. I know, and she knows, deep down that she isn’t her own transformer. Christ in her is the One transforming her and He has given her a new self.


2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

Reflection of God Study Bible (Zondervan Publishing House) footnote: new creation. Redemption is the restoration and fulfillment of God’s purposes in creation, and this takes place in Christ, through whom all things were made and in whom all things are restored or created anew.”


You and I are not projects. We are God’s creation made in His image. And for followers of Christ we are His children and He has given us new selves. His Spirit teaches us how to walk in this newness day by day. Jim and I never did find a detailed map for the hiking trail but we made it back to our car. I am certainly glad my husband was willing to turn back instead of continuing to try and figure it out.


Jacques Philippe writes in his book, Interior Freedom, “First of all, the most important thing in our lives is not so much what we can do as leaving room for what God can do. The great secret of all spiritual fruitfulness and growth is learning to let God act. . . . Yet one of the most essential conditions for God’s grace to act in our lives is saying yes to what we are and to the situations in which we find ourselves. That is because God is ‘realistic.’ His grace does not operate on our imaginings, ideals, or dreams. It works on reality, the specific, the concrete elements of our lives.”


Do you ever find yourself wandering around looking for answers to right yourself without first turning to God? Or is your first response to go to your Heavenly Father? Either way we can go to Him and confess when we have left Him out and invite Him to help us with our messy selves. He is not surprised or shocked by us; He made us human and He made us to need Him. That is a very good thing.

 

Jennifer Dukes Lee wrote these encouraging words in her book Growing Slow (p 152), “My best efforts don’t fix broken things. Only his brokenness does. My manipulation of circumstances won’t fix broken things. Only his brokenness will. My frustration can’t fix broken things. Only his brokenness can. Jesus won’t always take away the brokenness, but he will cover it with himself. He will cover it with his cross. Brokenness isn’t intended to break us. It’s intended to heal us by leading us back to the cross. Brokenness leads us back to our need for Christ, our need for rescuing, and his ridiculously wonderful and unfathomable decision to save us all.”