Got caught in my underwear last week.
Not literally – you can exhale and imagine something less disturbing. But what I experienced was on a similar emotional and mental level.
It’s been a c-r-a-z-y season time-wise for me for about the last month. I generally stay pretty busy, but this was my version of silly season – the time demands were beyond ridiculous. And under that kind of stress, I tend focus on what I do well and throw everything else into automatic pilot.
Probably not a good plan. In fact, not much of a plan at all – I was pretty much in survival mode. And so, in the process of focusing on what absolutely had to be done and what I’m good at, I dropped my guard over my weaknesses. And boy did they show up in some embarrassing ways.
Weaknesses are like underwear. We all have them but most of us would prefer not to expose them to the world. And we spend quite a bit of energy or money covering them up. [click to continue…]
I want to let you in on a poorly-kept secret. I can’t dance.
There. Now somebody besides, well, everybody who knows me is aware.
It’s a disappointment to my ballroom-longing wife. It was a “you-can-get-over-it” point of conversation to my daughter when she planned her wedding reception. I knew I couldn’t, but tried. She insisted I would, and was grateful for the moment. My tuxedo pants nearly fell off, and given the way the dance was going, that would have been a relief.
That said, good dancers fascinate me. The skill. The agility. The confidence. The creativity. But dancing is one of those skills I have relegated to the pile items left off my blueprints.
There are others. [click to continue…]
Have you ever felt trapped beyond escape by someone or something completely beyond your control? Ever felt locked in by a disease or an addiction, the traffic or a relationship, a really stupid choice or a really stupid world? Instead of raging or retreating, try calling the Gate Crasher.
Here’s what the psalmist said about Him:
There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And broke their bands apart.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
For He has shattered gates of bronze
And cut bars of iron asunder.
(Psalm 107:10-17)
Today I celebrate my God, the Gate Crasher!
Iron Breaker!
Chain Buster!
He’s mighty to save the least of us who call on Him from the pits of our despair and bondage.
What iron, you ask?
What gates?
[click to continue…]
Got caught in my underwear last week.