High Places

Chico’s up high.  Sitting high on the wall.  But how did he get up there being so small?  Did he jump, did he climb, did he suddenly grow?  Does he have superpowers?  Could he have his own show?  Can he fly, can he run, does he swing from the trees?  No, most of his time is spent on hands and knees.

He’s small.  

But he has someone to lift him up.  Me.

I sat him on the wall to take some pictures.  He couldn’t get there on his own.  But he got there anyway.  In the end whether he get’s there after many of his own failed attempts or by accepting help right away he ends up in the same place.

Like Chico there are many places we just can’t reach on our own.  We can struggle and try all we want, but we just won’t make it until we ask the Lord to lift us up, to take us to the place He has prepared for us.  It’s when we come to accept that He is the one who makes us able that we can reach the heights.  

So let’s let Him take us, do with us what He wants, and we’ll find ourselves in places we never could have arrived on our own.

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.  He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.  He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Psalm 18:32-34

Scripture Sunday

Little Legs

We took a walk around the block today while my mother in-law made dinner.  About half way around Chico stopped and sat down.  

 

He was exhausted.  His tiny legs just couldn’t keep up with our big ones, and his few months of experience walking just doesn’t compare to the years his brothers and I have been walking.  So I stopped, turned around, scooped him up in my arms, and carried him the rest of the way.  

There’s no doubt that Chico would have been in danger if I had left him there alone.  If he’d been alone he may not have gotten up.  And if he did he might have headed for the street.  Even if he had stayed on the sidewalk at 1 year old the chances he would make it back to his Abuelita’s house would have been slim.

My question is why when we see a brother or sister in Christ sit down or fall is our reaction so different than my reaction with Chico?  

We criticize.  We gossip.  We comment on how it makes the rest of us Christians look.  We speculate about the undisclosed details.  We discuss how not to fall in the same way.

But could it be that the Lord has called us to stop, turn around, scoop them up and start to carry them?

if one falls down, the other helps, But if there's no one to help, tough!

Ecclesiastes 4:10

No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don't stay down long; Soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

Proverbs 24:16

Could it be that God-loyal people don’t stay down long because they’ve understood the truth of Ecclesiastes?  Not because of their personal strength, but because they had people around them who in obedience to the Holy Spirit helped them up?

Caught

My father in-law has a lasso.  And he knows how to use it!  When the family gets together one of his grandchildren’s favorite games is to run around him and be lassoed.  It’s a game filled to the brim with laughter, smiles, and lots of “na na na na boo boo you can’t catch me’s.”  But here’s the clincher although they yell out “you can’t catch me,” they really do want to be caught.

Why?  Because they know who is catching them.  Their Abuelito.  He’s not going to hurt them.  He’s not catching them to punish them.  He catches them, hugs them, and releases them to continue the game.

We can at times feel “caught” by God.  When the consequences of our own sin, failure, or bad judgement appear in our lives.  But when we’re caught by God, it’s like my children being caught by their Abuelito.  

We’re not caught by His wrath, we’re caught by His grace.  Just like when Peter was “caught” in his lack of faith.  The hand that Jesus reached out was one of rescue, forgiveness, and love.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Matthew 14:31

Scripture Sunday