Even with the hour of “saved” time, page 309 had an early start and I’m hoping it has an early finish as well.  The room I was staying in last night has a skylight and I opened it when I went to be so I could go to sleep to the sound of the owls calling to each other.  That was much more peaceful than the sounds of the thunderstorm which woke me up several hours later. 🙂  After cranking down the skylight, it seemed the remainder of the night was rather restless.  We had decided to head out early so we could make it back to South Bend in time for the church service, so I eventually gave up on the tossing and turning and started packing things up.  There was a light drizzle and fog present as we left, but one of the deer braved the elements and was standing alongside the road as we left the cabin area.  I stopped the truck, rolled down my window, and told it goodbye before leaving the park property to begin the 2 1/2+ hour drive. 

The roads were nearly empty as we drove home so we made it in plenty of time to be ready for the morning church gathering.  In preparing for a series on stewardship, David shared a message from Psalm 46 about Growing Faith.  At the heart of seeing ourselves as stewards, and living with the understanding that God owns everything, is a foundation of faith.  Without that foundation, using resources that we think are ours in order to benefit the kingdom of God just isn’t going to happen as it should.  While faith is something that “comes from hearing, hearing the Word of God”, it is also something that we need to cultivate so it grows in our life.  This morning David shared the heart behind three words that can help our faith grow

• Retreat.  For many of us, retreat is a difficult thing to even consider.  We choose to live life full speed ahead with no looking back.  Yet for our faith to grow, we must retreat from a lifestyle and attitude of pride.  Faith requires that we trust in God to be our strength even when, and especially when, we think our strength is enough.  When we surrender our own agenda and plans in order to trust fully in God, we retreat into a faith that sees the work of God accomplished in ways beyond what we can think or imagine.
• Remember.  A growing faith is fueled when we remember the work God has already done in our life.  Forgetting is easy.  We do it all the time, even with things that we know are important and shouldn’t be forgotten.  God’s Word is filled with examples that should serve as reminders of what God can and has done.  But it goes beyond what is recorded in scripture, our faith grows when we remember the work God has done in and through us.  One of the advantages of using some form of journaling in your prayer time, is that it can serve as a reminder of things we say we’ll never forget but often do.
• Relax.  Since faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”, when it comes to having a growing faith we must relax as we trust that what God has said has been done.  It is so easy to read God’s promises in His Word and then act like it is up to us to keep them.  Yes, there is work God has called us to do in response to His promises, but the work of keeping those promises is all His.  As we live with a growing faith, we can relax knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

After church, it was time for lunch with my family and then an afternoon spent going through the photos I had taken over the past few days.  It was a fun journey as they served as an illustration of the morning’s sermon.  While not turning out as I had planned, the photos were taken during a time of retreat.  The plan was to put together and lead a time of retreat for others to participate in, but I found myself needing to retreat from my plans and trust that God’s plans were better.  The photos themselves served as the reminder portion of a growing faith to show me a glimpse of what God did over the past few days.  As I remember God’s faithfulness, I can see how I was able to relax then and now as I trust Him to work for my good through all of this.

Today’s photo is one of those from the weekend as I took a sunset walk with God.  It is one of many that reminded me of a growing faith as God used this weekend retreat to help me relax in His presence.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Early Sunday mornings seem like a good time to drive if you want to avoid traffic.
• While the seed of faith are planted in our life through time we spend in God’s Word, there is still a need for us to be involved in allowing it to grow.
• Sometimes we need to retreat into God’s presence and acknowledge that we are not in charge.
• It is good to have various means to help us remember the times we have trusted Gd and He came through for us — as He always does.
• In the midst of the storms of life, a growing faith says, “Relax!”.
• It is fun when your life serves as an example of what you’ve just learned from God’s Word.
• If you’re feeling stressed, pull up a seat on God’s deck and relax.

Page 308 was an interesting day in so many ways.  I was awake shortly before sunrise so I got up and went for a walk to capture some of the morning beauty.  One benefit of my morning work routine including prayer and worship as I work, is that doing so becomes a lifestyle whether I’m needing to do the “morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep” routine or not.  Typically as I go about my morning tasks in an attitude of prayer, a worship song will fill my mind and stay with me throughout the day.  The songs always are an encouragement to me even though I rarely know why a particular song becomes the soundtrack for that day.  To this point they have never been prophetic, only encouragement.  I write that because today’s soundtrack was the song that says, “Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  We’re going to see the King!”  

This has been a tough weekend, and especially today as my social media “memories” feed reminded me of another event that began with such excitement and promise but eventually blew up in my face.  And yes, I can see how God used that and trained, strengthened, and equipped me through the process, but that still doesn’t mean that I fully know how to completely deal with all of it.  As I was out on a walk this afternoon, the verse from today’s soundtrack that says, “No more crying there, we are going to see the King.”, filled my mind.  I know this will likely sound strange to many people, but while I do have times that I am filled with great sorrow and grieve deeply on many occasions, I rarely cry.  It’s not that I’ve been taught that “big boys don’t cry”, I don’t think I have the ability.  I don’t know that I would have even recognized that as being possible if it weren’t for my daughter’s neurological issues that make crying something that she just doesn’t do.  She and I seem to share a common thread in that the emotional wiring in our brains is short-circuited somewhere.  She has times when I think she is sad and wants to be sad like everyone else, but it comes across very awkward — I get it.  Anyhow, that little side trip in my mind made me think how easy it is to be misunderstood and to misunderstand others.  It is still a continual growing and learning process, but I wish I would have had a greater understanding of Susan much earlier, and thus a greater understanding of myself.  

I had hoped to use my time away to get some writing done today, but when I pulled up my book files I discovered that I had not finished as much of the preliminary work as I had thought.  So, instead of writing I worked at refining the daily topics that will make up the book and then did the initial formatting of the book with the daily topics in place so it will be ready to start writing each day’s devotional thoughts.  After I had all of the initial setup done, I headed back out for another walk where I took today’s photo of these two beauties trying to figure out what I was doing in their territory.  The deer here are friendly and seem to appreciate my talking to them as much as the ones back home at work do.  When I came back from my afternoon walk, I laid down to rest for a while which ended up taking the rest of the afternoon.  When I got up, it was time to fix supper and then I sat down to write today’s page when we were finished eating.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• When you make a deliberate effort to incorporate prayer and worship into your routines of life, it isn’t long before they become a natural part of those life routines.
• Thinking, and singing, about seeing Jesus ought to be an encouragement to anyone who is in Christ.
• Sometimes things stack up in my mind and I don’t even realize how big the stack is until it begins to fall.
• I would say that my mind is not normal, but I’m not sure who defines what normal is.
• Susan helps me to understand myself, and understanding myself helps me to understand her better.
• Sometimes the preliminary setup work of a project takes longer than the rest of the project.  Often times it is what makes the project successful.
• As I continue a “being strong in the Lord” emphasis, today’s focus was on growing naturally — no shortcuts, we grow by a steady diet of God’s Word and prayer as well as regular exercise of our faith.
• I’ve gotten slack in my regular exercise of walking and need to be more diligent about returning to it.

Page 307 was a restful day, and perhaps that is what I have been in need of.  I fully intended to make significant writing progress, but never made it beyond reflecting on the topic list and spending time praying about whether there needs to be any changes made to it.  I actually slept in until almost 8 AM and realized that if I got up right away I could catch whatever sunrise that would be visible through the cloud cover.  I got dressed and after taking some photos of the deer that were surrounding the cabin, I made it through the woods and to the observation platform in time to see the sun break through the lower bank of clouds and light up the sky as if it was a delayed sunrise.  It was a good start to the day.

After I got back from my sunrise walk and photo-taking, Gene and I headed to the store to pick up a few things to supplement our meal supplies.  When we got back, I fixed lunch and then we both went out for a walk around the boardwalk trail in the park.  It was a good walk and I hope I didn’t wear him out too much.  Being mid-afternoon, we didn’t cross paths with much wildlife but the scenery was beautiful and it was a pleasant afternoon with cool temperatures but bright sunshine.  By the time we got back to the cabin, I worked a little bit on some of the photos I had taken and then decided I needed a nap.  🙂

The nap led into the evening “golden hour” — the prized lighting hour before sunset that most photographers long to shoot in.  So, I headed back out to see what I could capture leading up to some sunset photos.  The walk and photo-taking was relaxing and by the time I got back to the cabin area, the owls were calling from a distance and the deer had returned to stand guard through the night.  I eventually found two owls in a tree near the cabin and got some okay shots of them using the “dusk/dawn” setting on my camera.  If I has taken the time to get my tripod out of the truck, the photos may have turned out better, but given how dark it was outside I was pleased with what I got.  As I looked around, the full moon was beginning to make it’s way over the horizon and was shining through the tree line before it finally broke free into the clear night sky.  Today’s photo is actually a trio as I thought about praising God “from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets” . . . and beyond!

As I reflect on the day, the primary lessons of the day seemed to revolve around rest and enjoying the presence of God through His beautiful creation.

From the rising of the sun . . .

to the place where it sets . . .

and beyond.

Page 306 began with a pleasant surprise as it was much warmer outside than what I expected it to be when I left for work.  It was raining lightly, but it was not the cold rain that we’ve been having.  As I arrived at work, the background music in my mind for the morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep was already playing — “I need thee every hour.”  It was a good reminder to start the day, and throughout the day, that God is who I need no matter what.  It is so easy to go through life thinking we’re doing okay on our own, when really we’re not — the only resemblance our life will ever have to okay is when we realize our need for God that very moment.  Sometimes we like to “save” our need of God for the big or difficult moments, but God wants us to know and embrace our need of Him in all things.

Once the building was ready for the day and the trash taken out, I turned my attention to the details of the Growing Strong retreat.  My prayer focus today in regard to being strong in the Lord was wrapped around our need for a growing repentance.  It is pretty easy to find people who are sorry — mostly sorry about getting caught doing something they shouldn’t have done.  It is much more difficult to find people who desire to grow in the area of repentance where their godly sorrow leads to actual change to line up everything they say and do with what pleases God.  A good part of the morning was spent finishing up some outlines and packing the resources and material that I would take with me for the retreat.  In between all of that, I was in communication with individuals who were thinking strongly about attending the retreat, or were already planning on coming.  

With the unknown of who, and how many, would actually make it to the retreat, I decided to take my father-in-law with me so that I wouldn’t end up being alone in a cabin with only one female participant if that is all that showed up.  Shortly after noon I had finished up the work I needed to get done at the office and the building and headed home to pack and pick up Gene.  We had lunch with my family and then hit the road for a rainy afternoon drive.  By the time we got to the retreat cabin, I had messages waiting for me online that my “certain” participant was having second thoughts and that my “maybes” were no longer maybe.  I knew all along that was a possible outcome, so I brought with me the outline for what I think is my next book — another 31-day devotional with a working title of “Here Am I: Pursuing a Sacred Calling in the Midst of Everyday Life”.  The cabin we’re in has ended up being less roomy than I had pictured it based on the descriptions and I think it would have been difficult to do the retreat in the way I had planned.  Whether that is the reason, or this book needs worked on for some reason, or God has something entirely unknown to me that He wants to do with this weekend, He knew when I booked the cabin and planned the retreat that the participants would not materialize.  In the travel process, I had forgotten to take my afternoon meds and by evening my mind was buzzing and I was feeling very discouraged about the entire turn of events.  Once I realized what was going on and brought the brain wiring back into a more proper balance, I feel better and again have a confidence that God will use this weekend for His glory.

After I had unloaded the truck and followed up with the messages I had, I headed out into the evening dusk to take a walk.  The deer are plentiful in the park and often surround the cabins so I took a few photos of them while I was out.  It was difficult to get many good photos as I walked through the wooded trail with the setting sun hidden by clouds.  Today’s photo was taken at an overlook at the end of a trail spur that heads out to Lake Erie.  As I stood on the platform and looked out over the lake, the merging of the wetland browns with the grays and blues of the sky and lake was a beautiful sight that called for me to record it in a photograph.  Even in the dreariness of a damp, cloudy evening, there was plenty for me to see and notice God’s amazing handiwork.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Sometimes I find that God has begun to play the day’s soundtrack in my mind even before the day begins.
• It is never a bad time for a reminder that I need God.
• My morning is much more enjoyable, no matter what I need to do, when I start by discovering the soundtrack that God wants me to include in my worship and prayer.
• When it comes to repentance, God wants us to be changed, not just sorry.
• Most of the time I am doing well if I recognize just one of the lessons God is currently teaching me.  I know there are more, but I trust Him to reveal those when I’m ready.
• Sometimes living so there is not even the hint of wrongdoing takes extra effort, but it is an extra effort we must make.
• Submitting to God’s plans can be difficult, but not submitting to them can be catastrophic!
• When something in my head, or my life, is out of balance, it affects (negatively) the entire way I think.
• Where I’m at right now has not caught God by surprise.  He knew how this weekend would turn out and He knows what He intends to to in my life through it — I pray that I am paying attention.
• When things are out of balance physiologically, we tend to do something about it to restore a proper balance as much as possible — how about when things in our life are out of balance spiritually?
• God paints amazing sunsets with every color imaginable and He also creates an equal beauty just using a few different shades.

Page 305 began in the usual weekday way, with the early morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep routine.  While most of the songs in my mind that accompany my morning routine are hymns that have been around a while, today’s background track was “God of This City” — at least that’s the title I give it, I can never remember the actual titles.  Anyhow, as I thought about the conflict that exists between a God who owns everything and His enemy who is called the prince of this world, I prayed about the difference that would be made if the people of this city lived as if God was their God all the time.  But that made me question and pray about my living as if He’s my God all the time.  As I continue to pray about this weekend’s Growing Strong retreat, today’s focus was spent praying about how we grow strong in truth.  

Once the building was ready for the day, this morning’s maintenance tasks were centered around taking care of some lighting and associated electrical issues.  In many ways, the internet is my friend as it helps me to troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve many issues that I really don’t have the knowledge to do.  The key to being able to do many of these things though, is in being teachable and willing to learn.  So much of what I do in ministry and service to God is a lot like that also — I don’t really think I have that much expertise, but I am willing to listen, learn, and put into practice the things God teaches me.  I’ve heard it said, and believe, that God doesn’t look for ability nearly as much as He looks for availability.  God has the ability and power to equip us to do any work He calls us to.  In fact, it seems that His work often goes better when I admit I don’t know what I’m doing on my own and do things His way instead.

By early afternoon I dropped my truck off at the shop to get an oil change and headed out to the river with my camera while I waited.  With the cold weather we’ve been having, I was surprised at how many flower blossoms I still found to photograph.  Today’s photo is of one of those blossoms that I found blooming along the sidewalk during my walk.  While small in size, it stood out on this gray, gloomy day with a bright cheeriness that was difficult to miss.  It made me think of the old, fun song that said, “Brighten the corner where you are!”  We don’t have to be all that big to shine brightly in a world that is often dark and gloomy.  After my walk, I stopped at the shop to pick up my truck but it wasn’t finished yet.  In fact, they hadn’t even started it.  As I waited, one of the service techs came and apologized for the wait with the explanation that there had been an issue with another vehicle they were working on that had caused everything else to be delayed.  When my truck was finally finished and I was paying, they apologized again for the lengthy delay and seemed both surprised and grateful when I told them not to worry about it as I understand things happen at times that aren’t planned.  I’m not too sure that was a typical reaction they get when things don’t go as scheduled.

After paying my bill, I  headed home and spent some time relaxing and doing some follow-up correspondence related to this weekend’s retreat.  Our jeep has been giving my wife some problems lately as it doesn’t always want to start.  So, while I suspected the battery was going bad, it was back to the internet to see what I could learn.  All of the information I could find seemed to confirm my suspicion, so the next step was to find instructions on how to get to the battery and change it as it is under the passenger’s seat.  Some of what I found was from people who ended up taking the entire front passenger’s seat out of the vehicle in order to get to the battery.  I was hoping not to have to do that, so I kept searching until I found online instructions that made the project sound possible without removing the seat.  I followed the instructions and was able to both remove the battery and put a new one in its place.  With the new battery installed, the jeep started right up and I drove it around the long block just to make sure it had a full charge.  By the time I got that done, it was late so I sat down to type out today’s page.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Song lyrics have a way of residing in my mind so that they appear unannounced at times.
• For God to be the God of this city in a way that He is honored, He first has to be held in honor by the people of this city — myself included.
• God will be God whether we honor Him or not.  It just goes better for an individual, city, or nation if they choose to honor Him.
• I always want to do things right the first time — even more so when I’m working on electrical issues.
• Truth, God’s truth, is a necessary component to being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
• Maintenance isn’t always an exciting thing to do, but it sure beats the problems that come from not doing it.  This is true in both vehicle maintenance and the maintenance of our spiritual life.
• I always see more of what I hope to see when I’m actually looking for it.
• It doesn’t take as much to brighten our corner of the world as we might think it would.
• It doesn’t do anyone any good to mistreat someone for a problem they had no control over.
• Sometimes I think design engineers ought to be required to spend time doing maintenance and repairs on the things they design.
• There are often multiple ways of doing the same thing.  Finding the most productive way may make things easier, but it doesn’t mean the other ways are necessarily wrong if they end up accomplishing the same thing.

Page 304 continued the string of cold mornings as I started my truck and made my way to work.  There wasn’t any frost to scrape off the windshield, so that was a blessing.  I arrived at work early and started writing yesterday’s page before doing the morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep routine.  This morning’s song running through my mind as I worked was “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”  It is a beautiful hymn that could have been brought to mind for a lot of reasons.  I suppose the cold weather and the chance of snow flurries in the forecast lingered in my mind, but the primary image in my mind that brought the words of the hymn to my morning worship was how white the lighthouses looked last night with the waves washing over them.  Sometimes the washing we need is more vigorous than the one we desire, but we can be assured that the washing we receive from God is the one that cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Once the building was ready for the day, I finished writing yesterday’s page before turning my attention to some maintenance tasks in the building.  With the Growing Strong retreat coming up this weekend, I also spent time online answering questions and trying to convert some of the “interested” responses to “going” — although my primary tool in accomplishing that is praying that God would remove obstacles from the paths of those He is inclined to work in through this retreat.  I had a lunch meeting with a friend where we talked about the book of Romans and the beauty of God’s grace.  After lunch it was back to retreat work and conversations the rest of the afternoon before finally unwinding and relaxing for the evening.

With no new photos taken today, I’ve included one from last night that was part of the inspiration for my morning prayer song.  As the wind drives the waves over the end of the pier, the water begins to envelop the lighthouse and gives it a good washing.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Blessings abound if you look for them . . . actually, they abound even if you don’t look for them.
• Because prayer is communicating with the living God, worship ought to be a natural aspect of prayer.
• There is no clean like the clean that God can do.
• Providing information can help people make wise and informed decisions.
• Even with good information, the best decisions are made by seeking God’s direction and following it.
• God’s grace is an amazing gift.  
• Every gift can be used well, or not.  We ought to make every effort to use God’s grace well.
• When we allow God’s grace to wash over us and envelop us, we find that we can be cleansed whiter than snow.

Page 303 was a Monday and I finally started the day feeling better than I had in a long time.  A couple days of good rest and catching up on a messed up medication schedule seemed to go a long way in helping me feel more “normal” — whatever that is. 🙂  My morning prayer, cleaning, and building prep was done to the background music of “It is Well With My Soul” going on in my mind.  It has long been one of my favorite hymns, and I believe one of the most complete in addressing the peace that can be found in Jesus regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in.  

It was a good hymn to carry with me through the day as I had those times of great “peace like a river” attending my way.   But I also had times throughout the day when the “sorrow like sea billows” would roll into my mind and I would find that sorrow leaking from the corners of my eyes — which is an unusual reaction and emotion for me to experience in that way.  While the entire song is filled with great encouragement and comfort for me, my favorite part is in the last verse as I consider the Lord’s return knowing “even so, it is well with my soul.”  It is always a great reminder that even though my life isn’t perfect, often falls short, and could never earn favor with God; even so, through being cleansed by the blood of Jesus, it will be well with my soul when He returns.

Once the usual work of getting the building ready for the day was finished, I turned my attention to some minor plumbing issues to occupy part of my morning.  The other part of my morning was spent on some follow-up in regard to the Growing Strong retreat and putting together another introduction/invitation video for the retreat.  It is looking like this weekend’s retreat will be nothing like I expected it to be and I’m learning to be okay with that.  I’ve thought many times over the weekend about just cancelling this upcoming retreat, but every time that thought comes to mind I hear the scripture that “He who began a good work in you is faithful and will complete it.”  I did not enter into the idea of leading these Growing Strong retreats lightly and am convinced they are a work that God has begun in me, so I press on with the confidence that He will be faithful and complete this work — even if it looks very little like my initial mental picture.  God knows what He is doing and I rarely find out what that is if I don’t keep walking with Him in faith.

By mid-afternoon I was confronted with the fallacy of being able to skip a medication time at the first sign of feeling better.  My mind was starting to become foggy so I headed out for a late lunch, but ended up going home and warming up some leftover ribs because my mind couldn’t focus enough to decide where to eat.  My afternoon at home included some relaxing of the mind, but it also had a lot of continued preparation for the weekend.  In looking at area and regional weather forecasts, I noticed there were gale warning posted for Lake Michigan so by early evening we decided to drive up to St Joseph, Michigan to photograph the wind-whipped waves around the lighthouses of St Joe.  One of the self-made challenges is to try to capture a photo of a wave crashing over the end lighthouse while the lights are on in both of them.  Today’s photo is a combination of patience, timing, and luck — but the first step in being able to capture it was to put myself in proximity to where this was likely to happen.  There was no way I would shoot this photo from home!  Many times we want certain things out of our relationship with God, with others, even with our self; but we don’t do anything to put ourselves in position to experience what we want and then become discouraged that “such and such” didn’t happen.  God says that when we seek Him, we will find Him when we seek Him with a whole heart.  If I desire a more vibrant, “wave-pounding” experience with God, then I must step out of my place of comfort and seek Him with my entire being.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Following instructions can be difficult . . . especially when you think you no longer need them.
• When we ignore God’s instructions because we think we are beyond them, we find ourselves walking into troubled times.
• The seeds we plant in our mind in one season of life becomes the fruit we harvest at another season — plant good seeds.
• While peace is valuable in good times and in stormy times, the greatest peace comes when we can be at peace with God when Jesus returns.
• While we often engage in long-term planning, God typically leads us a step at a time.
• Even when our long-term plans are directed by God, the steps He leads us on during that journey will often be steps of faith rather than steps of comfort and our own knowledge.
• Sometimes roadblocks come in the spirit of Balaam’s donkey because God doesn’t want us to go in a certain direction, sometimes they come from the enemy because he doesn’t want us to go in a certain direction, and sometimes they come in the form of trials and testing with the purpose of increasing our faith.  Wisdom is seeking God for His perspective on the perceived roadblock.
• I love watching the wind-whipped waves on Lake Michigan and picturing in my mind Jesus on the Sea of Galilee saying, “Peace!  Be Still!”

Page 302 was a Sunday and it has been a day filled with God’s goodness and presence.  I began the day addressing some online questions about the Growing Strong retreats, and then headed to church for our Sunday School and worship gatherings.  Our Sunday School class is doing a study through 2 Timothy, but most of today was spent looking at scripture that provides background, context, and commentary on what Paul was writing to Timothy.  When Paul writes and tells Timothy to “be strong”, he is not suggesting that he sign up for a self-defense class, gym membership, or body-building club.  No, he is challenging Timothy to be strong in faith as he does the work God has called him to.  This kind of strength involves things like submission, surrender, and suffering for the cause of the gospel.  Part of the point of the background texts we read this morning was to make it clear that this type of instruction wasn’t just for Timothy — it is what is expected of every believer.

After Sunday School class, we joined the rest of the church family for a time of worship around God’s Word and His Table.  CJ brought a message from Acts 16 as he continued a series that will take us through the book of Acts.  In a message titled, “Rainy Road Trip”,  we were reminded that Jesus is the best umbrella to seek protection under when our “road trip” of life finds us in the midst of rains and storms.  Here are some of my takeaways from the message:

• God is bigger than conflict.  The context leading into Acts 16 is a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that ends with them parting ways.  Instead of the conflict destroying the work of Paul and Barnabas, in many ways it multiplied it.  While God is not the author of confusion or conflict, He is bigger than any of the confusion and conflict we find ourselves in the midst of whether from our own doing or from that of the enemy.  God continued to work in the lives of Paul and Barnabas both during and after the disagreement.  While there are strong hints in scripture that this conflict was resolved at a later time, in the short term picture God made the best of it by sending Barnabas and John Mark in one direction sharing the gospel while Paul and Silas headed in another — thus a God bigger than conflict took what looked like division and turned it into multiplication.
• People are what your mission is all about.  When Paul would enter a city, he would look for places where people would gather — often starting at places where he anticipated people were seeking to figure out how to know God.  He would often go into the local synagogues and share with the people about Jesus.  Other times he would local places of prayer where he could not only join with them, but teach them about the good news of Jesus.  But even though places were important, people were always more important.  It was a vision of a man calling for Paul to come to Macedonia that led Paul and Silas to Philippi where they not only found a place of prayer, but they spoke the good news of Jesus to those who had gathered and as a result baptized Lydia and her household. 
• Praise and worship overcomes annoyance and frustration.  As Paul and Silas went about Philippi, they encountered a demon-possessed slave woman who was making money for her owners by fortune telling.  To me it is interesting that this woman would follow Paul and Silas for days, shouting out that these men were servants of the most high God and they were giving instruction on how to be saved.  While it is usually nice to have a local endorsement that will vouch for the accuracy of your words, the nature and source of this endorsement eventually got under Paul’s skin and he commanded in the name of Jesus that the demon come out of the woman.  While the Bible says that Paul was annoyed with her when he did this, the real annoyance and frustration came from this woman’s owners who quickly realized their cash flow from fortune telling had dried up with the demon gone.  Their annoyance and frustration turned into a near riot as they had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown in prison.  It is in prison where we see the power praise and worship has over annoyance and frustration.  The Bible says that Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns while chained in prison and the other prisoners were listening to them.  As their praise and worship continued, God caused the doors of the prison to be opened and everyone’s chains to become loose.  When the jailer discovered this, he knew it could only mean one thing — everyone in the prison had escaped and he would be best served by taking his own life before the Roman authorities did.  As he was about to do that, Paul calls out to let him know that he and all of his fellow prisoners were still there.  Rather than giving in to annoyance and frustration, Paul and Silas’s praise and worship resulted in this jailer being baptized into Christ along with his whole household.

After the church gathering, I spent much of the afternoon relaxing and doing some work on the retreat preparations.  Eventually, we decided to head to Potato Creek to take some late afternoon photos as the sun was setting.  It was a beautiful evening along the lake and a fast paced walk along the trail helped keep us warm.  While I took a lot of photos of the beautiful fall foliage as the colors reflected off the calm areas of the lake, today’s photo is one I took of the moon just before we left the park.  I am still fascinated by the detail I can pick up with the camera I have.  I still marvel at the light that shines down from the moon even though it has no light of its own.  It make me think of the detail that God sees in me that no one else can see.  It reminds me of the light that God wants others to see in me even though I have no light of my own — He wants them  to see the light of Jesus. 

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• God’s Word is not only living and active, it has a cohesiveness that allows us to gain a greater understanding of God by seeing His consistency throughout scripture.
• God’s idea of wanting us to be strong is very different from the world’s typical idea of what strength is.
• God is not a God of conflict or confusion but He is bigger than any conflict or confusion we may create.
• Our failures do not limit God’s successes.
• When we allow God to work, He can take our actions that may look like division and turn them into multiplication.
• People may very well be scary, annoying, frustrating, difficult to understand, and a variety of other things that may make us want to avoid them; but in spite of all that, they are our mission.
• Even when people are friendly, pleasant, welcoming, satisfied, understanding, and a variety of other things that may make us think they don’t need anything, they are still our mission.
• When things are good from our perspective, we need to praise and worship God.
• When things are confusing from our perspective, we need to praise and worship God.
• When things are frustrating from our perspective, we need to praise and worship God.
• When we are awake and when we sleep, we need to praise and worship God.
• Praise and worship of God will overcome annoyance and frustration.
• God makes a dark rock to shine light upon the earth by reflecting the light of the sun.
• God wants to take this dark rock of a human and make it shine light into the lives of people by reflecting the light of His Son.