Colorado wildfire 2012 and the larger story

In the recent monthly letter from John Eldredge of Ransomed Heart, he discusses the Colorado wildfire and how he was reminded to trust the Larger Story:

As we evacuated our home, I could see flames and smoke engulfing the mountainside in my rearview mirror. I thought, It would be awful if our home burnt to the ground. Jesus, why is this happening? I felt him say, I will interpret this for you later. Let me pause here and say, in the midst of crisis, heartbreak or tragedy, you can seek God or you can seek understanding but you rarely get both. In time, usually after some time, God can help you sort things out. But not in the midst of the storm. In the maelstrom, seek God. Interpretation comes later. Trust the Larger Story.

Then Jesus said, if you really believed this is a world at war, what would your reaction be? Suddenly my outlook changed. I realized of course we could lose our home; that happens in war. What am I invested in, really? What am I living for? Happy little home?

Eldredge goes on to remind readers that by focusing on the Larger Story of advancing the Kingdom of God, no smaller crisis can take us out.

Wild at Heart Iowa

I have always wanted to attend one of John Eldredge's Wild at Heart Boot Camps. While I haven't made it to one in Colorado yet, I am going to one closer to home: Wild at Heart Iowa. It's Sept. 20 to 23 -- check out this video for more information!

What does God think of you?

On pp. 134-135 of "Wild at Heart," John Eldredge encourages readers to ask God what He thinks of them. . .and to stay until an answer comes. Eldredge recalls when he had a conversation with God after a trip to England in which Eldredge did four conferences:

It was a brutal trip and I was under a great deal of spiritual attack. What a relief it was to slump into my seat and catch my plane home. Tired to the bone, spent and beat up, I needed to hear words from my Father. So I began to pour my heart out to him in my journal.

What of me, dear Lord? Are you pleased? What did you see? I am sorry that I have to ask, wishing I knew without asking. Fear, I suppose, makes me doubt. Still, I yearn to hear from you -- a word, or image, a name or even just a glance from you.

This is what I heard:

You are Henry V after Agincourt. . .the man in the arena, whose face is covered with blood and sweat and dust, who strove valiantly. . .a great warrior. . .yes, even Maximus.

And then

You are my friend.

God loves you. When He sees you, He sees the one that He created in love.

God of strength

As Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength." On page 130 of "Boyhood and Beyond," author Bob Schultz reflects on God's strength:

God has done many things to show His strength to me. One stands out above them all: Throughout my life, God has shown His strength to me by faithfully drawing me out of bed each morning that He might enjoy a relationship with me.

Some people see early rising as a difficult discipline reserved for the hardy, self-controlled person. For me, it isn't a discipline; it is a gift from a living God to a weak man.

I was taught that a Christian young man was supposed to get up early in the morning and have devotions. It was my duty. It may have been my duty, but it was also my struggle. One morning, when I was about eighteen years old, I had a particularly difficult fight and was losing. I tried and tried to get up, but I couldn't do it.

Then I heard God's voice in my heart saying, 'Quit trying -- and get up.'

It startled me. Not that I would hear God's voice in my heart, but that the idea was so simple. I quit trying and got up!

Getting up to spend the morning with God is an excellent way to start the day.

Living water

Being from Minnesota, I understand the importance of having running water in the wintertime. In "Boyhood and Beyond," author Bob Schultz relates how living water is important in one's spiritual life:

At 2:30 one morning I awoke. The water had stopped! Without hesitation I jumped out of bed. Throwing on warm clothes, I went out into the night. First, I crawled under the trailer and squeezed all the hoses checking for a hard spot that would indicate a frozen blockage. The hoses seemed okay. Then I ran two hundred yards down the hill to the pump house looking for trouble there.

Unable to find any frozen pipes I ran back up to the trailer for a heater. . .down to the pump house to plug it in. . .up to the trailer for a lamp to put by the hoses. . .down to the pump to check for any progress.

I raced back and forth knowing that the longer it took to find the frozen block, the colder all the lines would become.

On one trip up the road I stopped my busyness and looked up into the sky. The stars were brilliant. The night was so cold and calm that I could hear my heart beat. In the stillness God spoke to my spirit:

'When your water lines begin to freeze, you jump out of bed immediately, even in the middle of the night. It is important for you to have drinking water. When the Living Water in your heart begins to freeze, are you that quick to get up and attend to the trouble?'

I had been busy lately. The cares of the world were gradually freezing the water of my heart. Slowly, one degree at a time, I was growing cold toward God and wasn't doing anything about it. I knew the water was slowing, but spiritually I continued to lie in bed. On that freezing night, halfway between the trailer and the pump house, His presence melted my heart, one degree at a time. He showed me again the purpose of life, reminded me of His love, and drew me to His warm side.

Let God in to your heart. Open yourself up to Him. Let down your walls.

Confess your mistakes

In "Boyhood and Beyond," author Bob Schultz recounts how a lesson that he learned as a teenager -- the easy way out of trouble is to confess your mistakes -- is still very relevant as an adult.

Twenty-five years later I stood in a huge bathtub gasping for breath. I couldn't believe what I had just done. I was framing on a new house and needed to install some blocking on the wall behind a four-foot-wide fiberglass tub. Stepping into it to reach the blocks, I accidentally dropped the air nailer I carried. It misfired and shot a three-and-a-half-inch nail through the bottom of the tub!

I felt sick. The same wrong thoughts that I faced years before came into my head.

'Don't tell anyone! Hide it. No one will know that you did it.' Does it surprise you that an older man would be tempted to hide his mistake? Men, at every age, want to hide their faults, but if we do hide them we are fools.

God's Spirit spoke loudly to my heart, 'You can't do that. You must tell the truth the first chance you get. The general contractor comes back in a couple of hours -- tell him.'

When the contractor did return, I pushed aside my strong desire to hide. Walking quickly to him, I told him my mistake. Now it was his turn to feel sick. He called the plumber, who called the manufacturer. Within minutes, the contractor came to me smiling. He announced, 'The tub company has a warranty policy on all of its tubs. Any construction damage they'll fix without charge.'

Schultz goes on to repeat that the easy way out of trouble is to confess your mistakes.

A moose on a wilderness adventure

Being in God's wild outdoors can create some interesting experiences. John Eldredge recounts one on pp. 25-26 of his book Beautiful Outlaw:

I'm remembering a story from last summer. My sons and I were on the first leg of a five-day backpacking trip into a wilderness area we'd never visited before. We'd been on the trail only forty-five minutes or so, but already I am bringing up the rear (I am the old goat now). I'm looking around, taking in the sights, when I notice moose sign on the trail -- droppings, tracks. Not fresh, but still, it didn't even cross my mind that we might be in moose country. I love moose. Seeing one is a celebration for me. With a hesitant hopefulness, I prayed, 'Wow, Jesus. . .it would be awesome if we could see a moose sometime during this trip!' I'm thinking several days from now, once we're into the back country, and maybe then only from a mile away. Jesus' immediate reply was deadpan: You will. Count one thousand one. . .one thousand two. . .one thousand bam. There in front of us, sixty yards away, is a moose grazing in the meadow.

God's timing could not have been more exquisite. Jesus' timing sure is perfect, isn't it? He wants good experiences for us.