Fill in the blank.

I feel like I should start this off with some apology.
But then I remember that I did that like a month ago.

And two apologies on one blog in one month’s time is…embarrassing.

That being said, it’s the same song, same dance, same suitcases to unpack.

Yeah, yeah, I was gone again.

: )

 Ha.

Now, however, I am home again. Never for as long as I wish I was going to be home, but home nonetheless.

Sometimes I think God and I are into a certain pattern; it all is starting to look the same, he just changes the Where, When, and What of the scenario.
Much like a fill in the blank.
Same story, different details.

This occurred to me over the last couple of weeks as I have been doing some wedding planning (not for me---goodness no). And even though I know it seems stressful to whoever is getting married and they may feel frazzled or like they are forgetting something, when you have done it as many times as I have (like 70 times), it really is not much more complicated than a fill-in-the-blank worksheet.

Same songs, same dances, same type of suitcases to pack.

Life follows patterns, have you noticed that? And specifically, MY life follows patterns. Or really, it’s just one pattern: be at home, God says “Go,” I go, I come home. And we start all over again.

And I love patterns usually; I love routines, I love rituals; in my life they create a space where I don’t have to think about anything (because I have done this routine before and can do it in my sleep) and can therefore, undistractedly, focus on the Lord. In my life they create an environment for me to hear from God. They give me a reprieve from the madness.

 

But this routine, the coming and the going, not only does it not give me a reprieve from the madness, I usually think it IS madness.

God will put situations in my path and, if he were here, I am sure I would stare at him with a very confused look on my face and say, “Seriously?”

Because he is serious I have come to find out.

When God wants something done, he will do it. And a lot of the times he accomplishes his will and his promises to provide, etc., through his people.

Which is how it’s like a fill-in-the-blank.

God has his will, he has his story, and to work it through he puts people in places and situations and times and experiences so that they can be “at the right place, at the right time.” He fills in the blanks of the Who, What, Where, When, but He is always the “How.” If ever we ask, “How did all of that happen? I mean, I know I was there, at that time, in that place, but how did it all happen?” The answer will always be, “God did it. That’s how.” Because he works everything for good, for his glory.

Now that’s an amen.

It makes me think of that passage in Esther where her uncle Mordecai has come to her and asked that she, on behalf of the soon-to-be-annihilated-Jews, go before the King and ask for his pardon to her people.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Do you see that? Relief and Deliverance for the nation of Israel, that was the story, that was God’s will. But the “Who?” was an empty fill-in-the-blank. Mordecai, no doubt under guidance of the Holy Spirit, had gone and spoken these words to Esther. I believe that God wanted Esther to do it. He, through Mordecai, asked her first. He wanted her name in the blank.

But she could have said no.
Relief and deliverance was going to come, but if she had said “No” –if she had not been willing to submit to God’s will-- it wouldn’t have come through her. God would have used someone else.
And she would have perished.

So how does this apply to us?

Simply put, God wants your name in some fill-in-the-blanks.
There are times and places that God has put you in “for such a time as this,” to say “Yes” when he asks you to do something.
Have you ever thought that YOU might be the channel that God uses in the life of someone else to fulfill his promise to THEM of “I will never leave you or forsake you; I am the Lord who provides for you”?
YOU might be the answer to their prayer; YOU might be the “How” of GOD fulfilling his promises to them.

Whoa.

That’s a big task, Wolfies.

It feels like a huge responsibility. And I can think about this and feel all kinds of guilty; guilty for going to God, “Seriously? We’re going to do this routine again? I thought I just did it like three weeks ago…”
And yes, I need an attitude adjustment sometimes and I need to be willing to let go of some routines to embrace another, but I also think I need to be honest with God.  I need to admit this weakness to him, this doubt; I need to empty myself of any strength I think I am doing these things in.

Why?

So that when God comes through (and he will!), I will have no choice but to say, “He did it. He was the “how” I didn’t think was possible. It was his power, not mine, for I didn’t have anything to give.”

Take comfort, kids. You can say you don’t have the strength. That’s fine, “For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong to the people whose hearts are given completely towards Him.” (II Chronicles 16:9)