by Donya Dunlap | Apr 4, 2014 | The Spiritual Life
My friend Nathan has a completely magical way with children. (Literally…he uses magic in his presentations. He is a missionary to Brazil, by the way, and you should connect with him here and watch a video about his ministry here. If you’re lucky, he might make you a balloon animal.)
When Nathan begins to talk to a group of little ones, he tells them that they are going to play a game during his talk. Nathan knows that a child’s eyes and ears are connected. If they are not looking at him, they are not hearing what he is saying. He tells them that every time he says the word “eyeballs” they are to connect their eyes to his and say “CLICK!” Let’s practice, okay?
Eyeballs!
Nathan’s attention grabbing game is similar to what God does with us. God knows that grown-ups are basically kids at heart. Sometimes we get distracted and we lose our focus. We need to reconnect with Him to be engaged with His Spirit and to hear Him when He speaks to us. That is why you will read frequently in Scripture God telling people to lift up their eyes. God is also referred to as the lifter of our heads. When we get worn down, tired, and distracted, our eyes follow our thoughts. We start looking at our circumstances and our to-do lists instead of focusing our eyes on the One who is our help.
Earlier today I felt God saying to me, “Donya…eyeballs!” I woke tired and the cloudy day had me looking inward and toward the end of the day instead of the present. When God nudged my heart, I literally looked up from what I was doing and refocused my eyes. Do you know what I saw?
Cherry blossoms blowing in the wind. Hints of blue sky. A beautiful spring day.
What a difference from the gray morning I had been trudging through!
God desires to be in constant communication with us. He encourages us to pray without ceasing and to take our troubles to Him. He wants us to look up from our daily tasks and admire His creation. God knows that a deep breath of spring air and a face held up to sunshine can re-calibrate a soul. These are gifts He gives to us every day, but how many times do we notice them?
As we head into the weekend, I encourage you to take time to “click” with God. Take a walk. Open the windows and turn up the music. Sing in the shower. Make a special recipe. With each breath, thank God for His gifts of sight, taste, touch, and beauty. Connect with your Creator and tune in to what He may be trying to say to you.
Eyeballs…click!
Photo credit: Lotus Carroll / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
by Donya Dunlap | Apr 1, 2014 | The Spiritual Life
“You can’t see me!”
Lately I have found myself playing peek-a-boo with life. My schedule gets a little too hectic or work requires a little too much brain-power and I find myself wanting to escape for a while. I figuratively put my hands over my eyes, or more likely, pull the covers over my head, and pretend no one can see me.
We all have moments that we would like to make reality disappear, don’t we? Some turn to various substances to take their mind off their pressures. Me? I turn to stories. A good book. A captivating television program.
While I believe everyone needs to unplug and relax at times, these escapes can become unhealthy idols in our lives. I was reminded of this last night during the Infusion Bible study digging into the life of Gideon. Despite his fears and reluctance, Gideon drags himself out of hiding to confront the Midianites. This is no small accomplishment. Gideon was able to defeat the enemy that had been plaguing his country for decades through the power and leadership abilities that God had given him. Yet somewhere along the line, Gideon started to believe his own press and he got distracted. Instead of clinging closely to God, he disconnected from Him. He started hiding from Him. He began to operate on auto-pilot.
The result?
Well, for a time Israel was granted the reprieve they were looking for. They had forty years of peace under Gideon’s leadership. But Judges 8:33 tells us that just as soon as Gideon died, Israel returned to following Baal. The terminology is such that it makes me think they went straight from the funeral to the closets where their idols had been in storage. They never personalized their relationship with God. They were outwardly successful in riding the spiritual coattails of their leader for a time, but as soon as that link was broken, Israel went to what they knew. They escaped to their idols.
Israel’s go-to escape in trying times was Baal, the god of the sun that promised to provide for their needs. I wonder what your escape idol is? Ice cream? TV? Shopping? What do you turn to when you should be turning to Jesus? You go through the motions of church and even Bible reading, but in truth you are relying more on your escape time than your quiet time to get through the day. If this is you, you may need to revisit your grove and tear down the high places that have crept back into your heart.
I challenge you to consider how you have been spending your down time this past month. Do you see a pattern of simple rest, or have you developed a reliance on something other than the Lord? Set aside time today to commit this new month with fresh eyes focused on the Savior.
Photo credit: Blue Skyz Media / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND
by Donya Dunlap | Feb 3, 2014 | The Spiritual Life
He was a good man. A godly man. He raised his children well. He ran his home and business well. And in a moment, it was all gone.
The Bible records this story for us in the book of Job. Job was a man that God was proud to call His own. God praised Job as one that was blameless, upright, and avoided evil. But Satan wasn’t convinced. To prove that Job’s heart was truly in unity with His own, God allowed Satan to take away from Job everything that he held dear, with the exception of his wife and his life. Job lost his vast wealth, his ten children, and his health. His response?
Worship.
This wasn’t Sunday-morning-in-church worship, or even breathtaking-beauty-at-the-beach worship. This was gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, head-spinning, I-can’t-catch-my-breath worship.
The Bible doesn’t share with us every detail of this moment. It only shares with us that Job tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on the ground and worshipped. But picture with me a man who is reeling and in shock, trembling as his blade passes over his skin, his robe in tatters around his waist, staggering out of his tent only to fall to his knees utterly spent of strength, his chest heaving with sobs. That man—that man that is trying to come to grips with the ten graves he must soon place his children in—that man, at his most desperate moment, speaks with quivering whisper:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
A lot of things come to mind when the word “worship” is spoken, but rarely is tear-stained desperation one of them. When we think of worship we think of hope, praise, gratitude and joy. Worship is all of those things, but it is so much more. It is also surrender, sacrifice, and humility. Worship is the continual embodiment of John 3:30. He must increase, but I must decrease.
When we don’t understand, when we can’t imagine why, when we can’t even breathe, we can worship. When we collapse in Jesus’ arms and cling to Him despite what He has allowed into our lives, we worship. When we cannot form the words, but acknowledge in our spirits that we are His, no matter what, we worship. When we extend our children’s lives with open hands, giving them to Him to take to the farthest corners of the world, or work in unsafe circumstances for the sake of the gospel, we worship.
Worship is an attitude of open hands that refuse to close around what we love. Worship is letting go of all that we are and all that we have in response to His supremacy over our lives.
Worship is both a response and a way of life. Without a constant surrender to God, we would be incapable of responding as Job did in humble praise. That response is not intuitive or reactionary. It is learned. It is practiced. It is reflective of an intimate attitude of trust in One that you know well enough to run to instead of away from when His actions make little sense.
We must develop this same condition in our hearts so that God can say of us that we are blameless, upright, holy, God-fearing, with hearts full of worship.
Photo credit: AmyZZZ1 / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
by Donya Dunlap | Nov 18, 2013 | The Spiritual Life
You don’t know me and I don’t know you. I think you told me your name, but I can’t remember. I can feel the touch of your hand on my arm, but I can’t see your face. It’s blurry from the tears I couldn’t keep inside for another minute. I didn’t even want to be in that room at that moment. I was trying to find the bathroom. But I was coming unglued. Quickly. I was turned around and the hallways weren’t going as they were supposed to and the prayer room was there with the soft lighting beckoning me to be at peace. The announcement went through my memory, prompting me to enter that safe place if I needed to…and I did…but I was afraid to admit that I did.
I walked in that room, past the people who where sharing and praying, and I found a chair and I cried. I cried tears that I had refused to acknowledge were in my heart. They had been pulling at me for weeks and I had been pushing them away. Ignoring them. I didn’t have time for them. But at that moment, they refused to stay hidden. You saw them and asked if I was okay. I wasn’t. I couldn’t even form the words to tell you why. I think I might have said something, but I doubt it was intelligible. You asked me my name. You asked if you could pray for me and I nodded my assent. I don’t know everything that you said. In fact, I only remember nine little words.
Jesus, please help Donya know that she is enough.
I remember those words because they were the exact opposite of what my heart cry to God was at that very moment.
I’m not enough. I’m not enough. I can’t do this. I don’t have what it takes. I’m not enough.
You had no idea. I couldn’t talk. But when you said that simple sentence I knew God had sent you to me. In that moment, your words gave me a gift that I have been holding on to ever since God prompted you to speak them. I needed to be reminded that by His grace I AM enough. Not because of me, but because of Him. Because He is in me.
I am broken. I am prone to self-doubt, self-condemnation, excessive self-examination. I am sinful. Prideful. Hurt. Afraid. I am all the things that He is not. These are all things He knows I am…and He loves me anyway. He wants to use me anyway. He has a plan for me anyway. I am all of those things and more…but I am also enough.
He has never once asked me to have my act all together. He knows that would be an impossible request. All He asks of me is to let Him love me and use me as He sees fit. I so easily forget that.
He has given me talents that are battered from the fall, and in His mercy and grace He has asked me to use them to the best of my ability through His power and for His glory. He delights in this. He delights in me. He is pleased when I offer my heart to Him, even when it’s broken. He knows that I would rather lock it up and protect it. He understands my fragility, and yet gently pries back my fingers so that He can mend the torn parts of my heart and start it beating again. He does this, not rejoicing in the pain that it causes to face my brokenness, but in love, knowing that I can only find healing if I give the wounds to Him.
I don’t know if you are a blonde or brunette, a ministry leader or a stay-at-home mom. But I do know that you are an angel. You were God’s messenger to me at a time when I desperately needed to hear from Him. You brought to me words that gave me the peace I was seeking when I couldn’t find a space to be alone. I’m so glad that you didn’t leave me with my tears when I thought that’s what I wanted. You were heaven sent.
Thank you.
Photo Credit: Kim DeLoach Photography
by Donya Dunlap | Sep 18, 2013 | The Spiritual Life
Sometimes we humans like to wrap ourselves in philosophies meant to protect us emotionally from life—like bubble wrap minus the super fun moment of childlike glee behind your closed office door. We say, “Sticks and stones…” and “It’s not personal…it’s business…” and expect the hurt to magically go away. But much to my personal chagrin, life isn’t “You’ve Got Mail” and we all don’t get to marry the adorable and witty Joe Fox at the end of a time of personal heartbreak.
So what do you do when bitter words come flying your direction? How do you respond when a friend rejects you over a misunderstanding? How do you move forward in ministry with one that has broken your heart, whether intentionally or unintentionally?
It’s not Bible, but I believe the first step in forgiveness is acknowledging that you are human and the situation that has transpired has caused you pain. In “You’ve Got Mail” Joe Fox is trying to mend fences with Cathleen Kelly after his company put hers out of business. He tries to explain himself by saying with a shrug, “It wasn’t personal. It was just business.” Her response is pure truth. “Well it was personal to me.” You are a human being dealing with other human beings. We all have fallen natures. We all sin. We all cause and feel pain. It doesn’t make you less of a Christian to admit that.
The second step is much harder. You have to choose forgiveness. Or in the words of a popular song, we have to “love ’em like Jesus.” The book of 1 John is very helpful in working through the process of love and forgiveness. In chapter 4 it says this:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:10-11
Love isn’t a feeling. Hurt is a feeling. Pain is a feeling. Love is an action. We choose to forgive others regardless of what they do to us because love is of God and He loved us despite what we did to Him, to the point of sacrificing His own Son. That is love. God is love. And as followers of God and His Son, Jesus, whose Spirit resides in us, we have to act as He acted. We have to choose to face pain and heartache for the benefit of others.
Does that mean that we have to continue to engage with abusive people? No. Does that mean you have to just “suck it up” and move on? (I know…cheesy metaphor overload. I apologize.) No, it doesn’t. That doesn’t work anyway. Lean into Jesus. Take your hurt feelings to Him. Ask Him to help you leave them there.
Understand that forgiveness might not be a one time action either. Going back to my first point, we are human and that means messy emotions. When those emotions spill back out, wrap up that mess and take it back to Jesus. Rinse and repeat as necessary until the hurt stops hurting and His love heals your heart. It’s not fair. It’s not easy. But it’s what Jesus did for all us and what He asks us to do for others.
So while it is very personal, remember that God is in the business of broken hearts. He understands them. He heals them. He died for them. He will help you do the same.
Photo credit: Daniel*1977 / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
by Donya Dunlap | Aug 22, 2013 | The Spiritual Life
I have often heard a frazzled woman say some variation of, “Can I please just get a little peace and quiet for a minute?” Peace and quiet. Both can be rare commodities, especially in today’s constant stream of media, social and otherwise. The Lord has been teaching me this week a few things about peace and quiet—most importantly that first you must be quiet to have peace.
My life has been altered in recent weeks so that I have found it difficult to get adequate amounts of quiet time. For an extremely introverted person such as myself, this is a very trying thing emotionally, physically, and I’ve connected now…even spiritually.
I had a meeting tonight in a shopping complex that had a lovely outdoor seating area. After we dismissed, I found a table away from everyone, and sat for a time simply enjoying the breeze and the quiet. As I was leaving, I noticed the bright and very lovely moon and was awed by its beauty. A few minutes later I found myself back home, sitting in my car, and thinking about that moon. Suddenly, this thought came to me:
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.
This, of course, caused me to begin a conversation with myself.
Hmm. Is that a song? No, that’s a scripture. I need to look that up.
Thanks to modern technology I found myself reading Isaiah 30 on my phone just a few taps later. The passage is one that I’ve read before, but it struck me in a fresh way tonight.
The chapter begins with the Lord lamenting over the stubbornness of the Isrealites. They had come up with a plan, but didn’t seek God about it. They decided to look to Egypt for protection instead of the Lord. He had sent prophets to warn them, but they refused to listen and turn away from their plans. As a result, He warns them that they will be destroyed, comparing them to a piece of pottery that is shattered so that there isn’t even a fragment large enough to use for a sip of water. And then comes the verse that the Lord brought to my mind tonight:
For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
It seems so bold to read on paper. “…and ye would not.” An absolute refusal to turn to God. But I realized that when I busy myself to the point of having no space or time to rest, be quiet and place my confidence in the Lord to handle all of the things on my to-do list, I’m acting in the very same way as the “stubborn” and “rebellious” people of Israel. This is a frightening thought, but thankfully, the chapter doesn’t end there! Three verses down it says:
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
The Lord waits for us.
In our crazy, busy lives, we get distracted and pulled in a thousand directions—and the Lord waits for us. We try everything we can think of to relax, organize for maximum efficiency, and plan for every possibility—and the Lord waits for us. He waits for us to settle, to slow down, to be quiet long enough that he can be gracious and merciful to us. He wants to give us the peace that we long for, but He needs for us to quit spinning our wheels first.
So I encourage you to do what I am now making time to do. Instead of continuing to make your own plans, filling your calendar to full and overflowing, and looking to health and wellness magazines for what to do about stress, why don’t you make an appointment for some quiet time with Jesus today? Let Him show you what His plan for you is instead of you trying to drag Him along on yours. I feel confident that in doing so, we will both find out that “blessed are all they that wait for him.”
Photo credit: paul+photos=moody / Foter / CC BY-NC
