Category Archives: Submitting to God

Me, Myself, and I

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The Christian life is all about being other-oriented. Jesus put it this way: we’re to love others as much as we love ourselves.

That’s a tough one, simply because we come into the world all set to put ourselves first. If we aren’t sure of that, all we have to do is look at young children. Their behavior shouts, “Me first!”

Take two-year-old Emerald, for example.

EmeraldOnce in a while she’ll crawl up on my couch just to gaze at herself in the mirror behind it, the only mirror she can reach. She’ll talk to her reflection, make faces, tip her head back and forth, and jump up and down, all while intently watching her mirror image. And she smiles long smiles at herself as if to say, “You, Emerald, are my very favorite!”

This natural egocentricity is something we try hard to diminish in our children as we raise them. As soon as they can understand, we insist they say please and thank you, even when they aren’t feeling it, just to force them to focus on someone else. As we continue to train them, resistance to “me last” is common.

Truth be told, though, all of us have one foot in that camp. To put others ahead of ourselves we have to make a conscious decision, since even in adulthood it doesn’t come naturally.

Jesus was a faithful example of putting the needs of others ahead of his own. Following him through the Gospels, we see he was often hungry, tired, burned out from ministry, and stretched thin by nonstop commitments. He was so busy doing for others that he rarely did anything for himself.

Yet he never lost sight of his overarching purpose: to bring salvation to people like us. Without him and his willingness to put us ahead of himself, we would have been left to save ourselves, a setup for disaster. We could talk to our mirrors around the clock and never come up with a way to cleanse ourselves from sin.

If Jesus had refused to put others ahead of himself, we would be in a fix for which there was no repair. Instead he set self-interest aside and focused on us, enduring the cross.

Morning mirrorAs I look into a mirror at the beginning of each day, maybe I should talk to my reflection and say, “Subdue your me-first attitude today, just like Jesus did for you. And then do something for someone else as a thank you gift to him.”

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

High Above

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Flying home toward Chicago is always a special treat, especially if the plane is routed over Lake Michigan on its way to O’Hare Airport. Night time is especially dramatic with the city looking like an endless sea of twinkling lights.

SkyscrapersLoop skyscrapers resemble Lego buildings, except that their silhouettes are all wonderfully familiar. Banking over them in an airplane is better entertainment than flying around Disneyland’s Matterhorn.

Being so far above all the action on the street gives the sensation of being removed from regular life, even though everyone on the plane is still part of it. I often think about God’s perspective from his heavenly throne room, and the Bible tells us exactly what that is. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool’.”

He also says, “God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! All the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.”

In these word pictures God is trying to teach us that he is larger than life, and we are minuscule by comparison. But it’s not necessarily physical size he’s referring to. Instead he’s describing his superiority, power, and sovereignty.

Flying over Chicago, I marveled that I could see the entire city all at one time, but God can see all the cities, villages, and rural areas at once. Not only that, he can observe each person, each face, while I can’t even see one through my plane window. He knows each name and is able to see what each is doing. That even includes those hidden from view in the subway or in the deep sub-basements of Chicago’s skyscrapers.

Chicago

But there’s more. Scripture says God can also look inside each person from his high throne room, right into their minds. He can see their thoughts. This sounds intimidating until we learn of his intentions:

“No one can measure the depths of [the Lord’s] understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless… Don’t be afraid, for [he is] with you. Don’t be discouraged, for [he is] your God… [He is] the Lord, your Redeemer.”

Though God is far above us, he wants to be intimately near to us, close enough to “hold us up with his righteous right hand.” He wants to “…feed his flock like a shepherd.” He wants to “…carry the lambs in his arms.”  And those are just a few of the wonderful reasons why he’s watching us so carefully.

The LoopHe is very great, and I am exceedingly small. But because of his loving care, that’s just fine by me.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Scriptures from: Isaiah 40, 41, 66 and Luke 5

When We’re Ready

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Every young child loves to “help” his or her mommy. That may be because God placed a drive within them to mimic, or simply because what adults do seems fascinating from the outside looking in. (Think blue Windex spray bottles, shiny sharp knives, and the buttons on the wash machine.)

“Me do it!” or “By my own self!” are often early sentences, and children think of themselves as every adult’s equal.

Spray bottleThe other day, two-year-old Emerald borrowed the spray water bottle from her bathtub toys and went-to-town washing windows. The only trouble was that the window she chose was Birgitta’s flat screen TV, which now is no more.

Adults know the truth about being given responsibility before capability. So they try to walk that fine line between letting children assist and giving them free rein. Take vacuuming, for example.

Isaac assistingMy grandson Isaac, 13 months, loves the family vacuum. With 4 youngsters ages 6 and under in the house, this attractive tool makes an appearance daily, and Isaac longs to be in charge of it.

Of particular interest is the warm vent-air that blows out the side, and Linnea patiently lets him “help” as she makes her way around a room. But turning it over to him would be ridiculous. The tidying-up would remain undone, and dust and crumbs wouldn’t be the only things going inside the vacuum.

We can draw a spiritual parallel when it comes to our relationship with God. Often we think we’re capable of spiritual accomplishments he hasn’t yet trained us to do. Just as children watch their mommy and figure they can do what she does, we look at others doing “great things for the Lord” and wish we could do the same.

It’s honorable to want to accomplish for God. We love him dearly, and in trying to please him, can set our sights on tasks beyond our readiness. Along with that, we can be off in categorizing certain jobs as loftier than others.

His list of what’s important and what isn’t probably doesn’t match ours, and a job we consider to be low-level might be his highest calling for our here-and-now. For example, there’s not a much lowlier task than changing poopy diapers, but doing it faithfully is to participate in the high calling of motherhood.

Isaac moving in to take chargeAnd so, we should patiently pursue whatever God places in front of us with the tools he’s trained us to use. And if we get ahead of him, we can think of little Isaac’s relationship with the vacuum and know that the better plan is to wait till God says we’re ready.

“Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of…” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Last year on St. Patrick’s Day I underwent the Whipple surgery to remove a tumor from my pancreas. I never thought I’d see another St. Patrick’s Day, but here we are, thanking the Lord for this gift.
  2. As our entire family (25 of us) vacation together in Florida, please pray that my bad sinus infection will soon clear so I can participate without passing it along to anyone else. Thanks!