A Palette of Strength--The Artist at Work

Every artist needs a palette. It is the collection of vibrant colors that get translated into the artist's unique vision. They are but colors in and of themselves, but in the hand of the master artist, they become a voice, an expression designed to move the heart of another.

I am a palette for God. He wants to paint His unique vision for my life's work, both here and in eternity.

How vibrant are the colors available to Him?

My vibrancy is my strength. If I allow Him to develop the colors of my strength, there is no limit to the depth of their hue and brightness.

The painting He fashions from the palette of my strength is for His use to illumine, enrich, and love on the heart of another.

Oh, that He had free reign to build our palettes of strength for His artistry!

The earth would become an art gallery that no one would ever leave; the beauty radiating from each masterpiece would keep us suspended in love and  loveliness.

Maybe that's heaven.

Then it's true--our time here is our journey of preparation, becoming colors of strength, our palette ever richer for God's master design.

Yearn for strength. You are a masterpiece of God.

A Palette of Strength--Day 5

It is 4:30 am and I have been sitting virtually still for over an hour thinking that I have hurt someone's feelings.

Though I usually cherish these predawn hours with God, I am numb with worry. I can't wait for the sun to come up so I can find out how much damage I might have inadvertently caused.

Another failure. My life is laced with plenty. Big ones. Obvious ones. Mostly of my own doing.

Someone told me once with a sneer, "God can't use divorced people."

If I start swimming in this pool of mistakes and failure, I begin to drown. Every time.

God told Joshua in 1:1-9:

And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. Haven't I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't be discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.

If I hurt someone's feelings, then I didn't practice everything written in it. I somehow dropped the ball, even if I could explain my crazy, faulty reasoning that got me there.

If I work backwards from the end of this passage, I am to believe that God is with me every step of the way, and that I shouldn't be timid or discouraged as I backtrack to make it right with this person. I hope she will allow it.

Oh, for strength...oh, for courage.

A Palette of Strength--Day 4

Have you ever had this happen?

A prayer zips through your head--unbidden--and you pray it and forget about it. Then, sometime later, it happens and you remember, with complete awe, that your unsolicited prayer was answered.

My friend's husband is a severe diabetic and (now) former smoker. In early June some years ago, a prayer zipped through my mind:

Lord, please help Brian (not his real name) stop smoking in six weeks.

What? Right, like that's going to happen. That was my exact response to this prayer that came out of nowhere.

In late July, I found myself with Brian and my friend, encouraging them to bravely face a path that I felt would strengthen her health in a powerful way. I wasn't making much headway. I joked about that smoking prayer, even adding my response, when Brian said quietly:

I did stop smoking...two weeks ago.

His wife--my friend--was open-mouthed in astonishment. She had no idea. The math worked out to be six weeks exactly.

I could only conclude that the prayer sequence was to give me credibility in that moment that might encourage them to hear my words. More importantly for me, it gave me strength and courage to hear God's voice when He decides it is time to whisper a prayer or a dream or a path.

God says to Joshua in 1:1-9:

Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul.

We, too, have a directive from God:

Strength! Courage! You are going to lead yourself (and others) to the place I have planted in your dream, accomplishing that which is uniquely yours to accomplish. Give it everything you have, heart and soul.

Whether it's today's unbidden prayer or tomorrow's next step in the journey toward the dream you are gifted to accomplish, remember:

Strength! Courage! 

Give it all you've got.

A Palette of Strength--Day 3

God told Joshua to get going.

This life is about our journey of preparation. If we let God drive the change in us, He will have us ready when we reach eternity. Everything here is practice.

Maybe we can translate God's next words to Joshua into our own journey of preparation:

[Joshua] Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people.

Debi, cross this obstacle, you and those you lead (even if it's just yourself).

[Joshua] I'm giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on.

Debi, I'm giving you every square inch of the dream I've set in your heart.

[Joshua] It's all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. 

Debi, what I've given you to do is all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you.

[Joshua] In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you. I won't give up on you. I won't leave you.

Debi, just like I was with Moses, I'll be with you. I won't give up on you. I won't leave you.

Obstacle(s)? Yes, I see those.

The dream you've set in my heart? Yes, I know what that is.

No one can hold out against me? It doesn't always feel like that.

You'll never give up on me? How can that be?

Too often, my companion is doubt. Doubt is a choice, based on the recurring temptation to see God as less than He is.

Today I want to choose faith, to take today's steps forward, setting my foot on today's square inches of land that move me toward fulfilling that dream God has set in my heart. Then today's practice for eternity will be on the mark.

He says He won't give up on me. Oh, that He would help me not give up on myself.

A Palette of Strength--Day 2

I don't know how I missed it all these years.

We cannot love well from our weakest arenas.

Depression, disease, an inordinate amount of clutter, financial disarray, grudge-holding--just to name a few--are areas where we become weakened into a virtual paralysis. It is much harder to give and receive love when we are hostage in body, mind or circumstance.

A favorite story reminds me of God's command to Joshua early in yesterday's passage, Joshua 1:1-9:

Get going.

A mom steeped in depression would remain in bed and in pajamas as her school-age children went through their day. Imagine the heartbreak of her kids as they came home from school, hoping against hope their mom would be bright-eyed, dressed, and eager to see them.

Every day they were disappointed.

Finally the mom cried out to God in desperation, "Tell me what to do!"

Wash the dishes.

"What? Surely you have something more profound than that, God."

Wash the dishes.

She did. Somehow, amazingly, that led her to the next job and the next. Before she knew it, the house was picked up and she was dressed and eager to see her children as they bounded in from school. Imagine their delight.

God knows the exact avenue through which our seeming paralysis can be broken. He will give us a way, a job, a thought, a to-do that will move us to the next step.

God told Joshua to get going.

We, too, have a faith journey to make and a land to conquer. Consult Joshua's Mapmaker.

Let's get going.

A Palette of Strength--Day 1

I have spent the better part of two decades examining strength through the lens of God's Word.

Though love is the overarching theme of the Bible, the attribute that equips us to execute that love is strength.

God's command to love includes His love toward us, our love toward Him, and our love for ourselves and each other. If we tried to diagram this, arrows of love would be multi-directional.

The arrows can only reach their mark with applied strength.

Consider God's command to Joshua in chapter 1, verses 1-9:

After the death of Moses servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses' assistant:  "Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I'm giving to the People of Israel. I'm giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on--just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River--all the Hittite country--and then west to the Great Sea. It's all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you. I won't give up on you; I won't leave you. Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don't get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you're going. And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. Haven't I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't get discouraged. God,  your God, is with you every step you take."

This is our premise. We are going to break down this command to Joshua and apply it our lives.

We have at least ourselves to lead. Strength! Courage!

How do we make that happen?

Tomorrow: breaking our paralysis.

Our Whining Words Have Work To Do

We whine a lot.

We live in the land of milk and honey where the freedom to choose nearly everything rests in our hands, yet we complain...often.

Words, in God's economy, always have a destination. He explains in Isaiah 55:8-9:

"I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work." God's Decree. "For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is above the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don't go back until they've watered the earth, doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for the farmers and food for the hungry, so will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them."

I wonder what assignment I'm giving my whining words to complete.

Whining words:  Go and insult God and what He provides for me.

Whining words:  Stay right in front of me so I will forget to praise God for who He is.

Whining words:  Collect the dust of pity and make a victim cloud for me to carry. Then I'll speak out of my victim cloud and not hear God speaking out of His cloud of guidance for me.

God is right. I don't think the way He thinks. His words are far above mine, doing the work He has given them to do.

I'd like to trade in my whining words for more productive thinking. That might be a step in the right direction.