remember

He is doing the work, and you (probably) didn't miss the memo

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Just breathe that in for a second: The God of peace. He is sanctifying us completely, keeping us blameless. He has called us, and He is faithful, and He is doing the work in us. In, and out. Okay.

So let’s talk about this, because it seems like we need to hear it a little deeper in these days that are even wilder than before.

We took Communion last week and as the pastor recited, “This is my body, remember Me,” the Lord impressed upon me that I’m not just remembering Him, but I am remembering that He is in me. That He is doing the work in me. That my progress and success are His work in me, not my work in myself.

And that is really good news, because these days it’s easy to feel like there’s no right answer to what we should be doing – or maybe, it’s more like there are a brazillion things we should be doing, but no way we could actually do more than a few of those things, so it feels like our efforts are a drop in the bucket. We know we are on the edge of huge changes, both in our small, personal worlds and also worldwide.

Frodo began to feel restless, and the old paths seemed too well-trodden. He looked at maps, and wondered what lay beyond their edges….There were rumors of strange things happening in the world outside.

– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

We hear about global events and we don’t know what to believe. We’re not sure how to respond. We’re not positive about the best way to leverage our resources as we respond and prepare. And those are just the dilemmas of normal people, so if you are an overthinker (raises hand, waves wildly, then looks around and cringes) just multiply the strategizing by a hundred and pass the muscle relaxer.

Gas went up seventy cents a gallon in two days, and the station closest to our house was fifty cents cheaper than the one in town. So on our way home we looked at our half-full tank and debated the great question: To fill, or not to fill? Should we do it now before it goes up higher, or should we wait just in case it goes back down?

That’s just a little choice in the grand scheme of things, but it represents so many bigger choices we are facing every day that are overwhelming us. (For the record, we went for it, and the Stagecoach’s tank is now full – although we may start taking long walks to the post office.)

But it’s His body and blood in us, helping us decide things. Helping us know and do things. Helping us remember things. And yes, also, helping us forget the things we need to let go of so we can move forward.

“But in the meantime what course am I to take?”

“Towards danger, but not too rashly, nor too straight,” answered the wizard.

– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

What can we do in these days? We can remember that He is doing the work. We’re not off the hook in partnering with Him, but if we start to fret and strive, we will impede that work like an anxious kid, underfoot and in His way.

Remembering helps us to be still so we can make strategic decisions. It brings us to Him, and gives our thoughts time to dig into the situations around us that we should be interceding for. Without it, we neglect the needs around and in us and we pray surface, immediate prayers – which are good in their own way, but if they’re all we have, we miss the deep underground answers that are revealed when we have the peace and calm to find them. Identifying those answers and praying accordingly directs God’s power to heal the root damage instead of addressing some of the millions of symptoms above ground.

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out.

– Proverbs 25:2

That stillness in His presence makes fertile soil, the good soil, to push ourselves deeper and wider than we might have gone in the noise of our routine activity…and these are days when He is pushing us deep and wide like never before.

This is what keeps us in the eye of the storm. So we ask, Lord, help us to see more. Expand the eye in the storm so our peace and calm will be greater.

Our battle is to abide in peace, our pastor said at the prayer meeting last week, and then he read this verse:

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,

and his children will have a refuge.

– Proverbs 14:26

I’m preaching all this to myself here because ever since I was a kid I have often felt behind, different, like I somehow missed the memo everyone else got. I don’t know if this goes back to some traumatic childhood memory of being humiliated in class because I missed the instructions while everyone else stared and laughed (sigh, that happened several times) but many of us struggle with this sense of striving, of needing to catch up, of wondering what everyone else is aware of that we are oblivious to.

So, knowing that we need to abide in peace is one thing, but actually doing it is another.

Even as an adult I am still not always sure I got the memo: Just yesterday in church when I thought our pastor called up the prayer team, I was the only one who went up. So I tried to play it cool, and slooooowly walked to the edge of the front row, waiting while he prayed. (I can make hugs and small talk awkward, too, so this is par for the course.)

It used to really bother me. But since talking to the Lord about remembering His work in me, He has revealed that it’s not usually a defect to be embarrassed by; it’s often a gift of His work in us to attend to the things that others don’t see.

He reminded me that prophets and intercessors often hear differently than others. Look around, and you know this is true: You have noticed things that many people around you have been blind to. You saw through agendas that others fell for. You resisted when others gave in. You prepared while others partied. You interceded while others slept.

So if you also have felt behind, singled out, radically different from those around you, I think the Lord is saying, Hey Love, you haven’t been daydreaming, and you didn’t miss the memo. You have been paying attention to a more important voice.

You have been hearing both music and warnings that others were deaf to.

He has been doing the work in you, drawing your eyes and industry to things that others have missed.

His body and blood are doing the work of healing and restoring, helping us understand situations and respond correctly. It’s Him in us doing the work in ministry, wholeness, parenting, business, homeschooling. He will conquer the land in us, and sometimes it’s little by little, lest the beasts grow too numerous and overwhelm us.

He is going before and behind us, inviting us to abide with Him in the middle of work He is already doing.

Just because we are on a different timeline, it doesn’t mean we’re five minutes late to the party.

Just because we hear and do things differently doesn’t mean we missed the instructions.

If we are abiding, it means we are attuned to the God of peace. And He is sanctifying us completely, keeping us blameless. He has called us, and He is faithful, and He is doing the work in us.

Bless you, friends,

Shannon