The Path of Integrity

Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,

but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out”

The other day my father was going to paint the floors in his business, and because I use the place for some personal vehicle maintenance after hours, I thought it would be a cool thing to stop by and help out. “Need help?”…Sure! My son Matthew works there, so he was asked to help. My son and father spent the day before sanding all the floors, so they were ready for paint. I looked over the paint supplies he had and there was only one roller with a pole handle. My son grabbed that and starts out in the back. Looks like I get the brush. I said, “Hold up; we have to cut some things in before you go at it and roller us right into a corner.” So I crawled back into this place that only construction guys have seen; it’s under a stairway back a long shelved out hallway in a storeroom. This spot is where boxes of antifreeze are stored. I don’t even think my father has been in that place. Spider webs, dust on the walls, painting slop everywhere, but the floor was clean as it could be. So in the visible parts I did some great cut in lines where they needed to be and when I got to the part that no one sees, I paused. There are going to be boxes and supplies in front of all the attempted artwork I was about to do. I was lying on my side and not so comfortable. I could have been sloppy just like the old paint that’s there and ‘get’er done’... or… <big pause> “Lord, beside doing a perfect job with this, what would you do?”  The next thing I thought of was “Walk in Integrity”. It was that little whisper. Do just as good a job back here as out there where everyone sees. With that thought I started to cut-in the edges like they should be.

I could have done anything that day, but the thing I remember most was not that I was even there, but that “I walked in the path of integrity” when the temptation to do otherwise was there. Another building block in the foundation of my life. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of the Matthew 7:24-27 verses that discuss what happens when a man builds his house on the rock verses building his house on the sand. Notice the similarity with Proverbs 10:9? Rock vs sand, security vs exposure, stability vs destruction. And in a neat implication, it’s a building process.

Is our journey through this life providing building blocks for eternity’s sake? Will whatever we are doing stand the storms of life? Are we building on the Rock?

Back to the painting story…then my son goes back in that hole and paints the floor. What he didn’t see was a “who cares sloppy mess”.  He saw “a walk in integrity “ ( I didn’t see that coming at all ).

Thank you Lord for planting those verses in my heart and giving me direction.

—Brian Rainey

Lindsay, Wait on Me

I’m going to give you a glimpse into what is happening in the very moments that I am writing this blog. It is 12:56 pm on Monday afternoon. I am sitting at my kitchen table on my laptop, staring at a blank page and feeling nervous that I don’t have a clear sense of what God wants me to write in this blog post. I’m also aware of competing responsibilities for today, that my children will arrive home at 3:30, that we have gymnastics practice, homework, and dinner… Sometimes I sit down with a very clear sense of where God is leading, and other times, well, it’s like today.

Let me give you a little background to this picture. Over the past week, knowing that I have a blog due this Tuesday, I’ve been seeking God in prayer, worshipping, listening intently as to what He would have me write about. There have been a few thoughts that have been in my mind, areas that God has been impressing on my heart that are clearly significant and meaningful, and things that He would want me to press into and to encourage others in…but as intensely significant as the messages seem, I also feel like He is saying, “Lindsay, wait on Me”.

I’m sure there are many reasons God asks me to wait, but I have noticed that sometimes I hear this from God when I have an incomplete understanding of what He is saying to me. One reason that I may have an incomplete idea of what He is saying to me is because I am often in the thick of my sanctification process on those specific issues, and He knows that my words would be insufficient if not outright harmful to the body of Christ if I did not wait until His timing matched His message.

I will readily admit that there would be some sense of finality that would feel relieving for me to simply write on one of those topics and hope for the best. Kind of like the equivalent of a buzzer beater shot at a basketball game, “Here goes nothing… I guess if God wants it to work out, it’ll work out.” Please hear me - I do believe that God can redeem everything and anything to bring about His kingdom purposes, but I also believe that there is spiritual wisdom and a deeper intimacy with God conveyed by not just asking the question “God, is this the right message?” but also asking “God, is this the right timing?”   

I’m learning to love when I hear God tell me to “wait”. Trust me, it’s not always a default reaction to that command, but it often develops into a precious reminder of God’s love for His people and God’s protection over His flock. It also creates a sense of expectancy within myself related to God’s promise to never forsake me as He helps me to work out my salvation with fear and trembling.

I am very aware that the same message given to the same person, at different points in their life, can create VERY different outcomes. I see this all the time in the counseling room. You see, God’s not just sanctifying and refining you in this process, He is also working in the heart of the hearer, preparing them to be able to receive His message. I’m reminded of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. It isn’t the focal point of the parable, but if the sower was sowing seed that was not yet ready or prepared to be sown, it would have never created a crop; it would be incomplete, not useful, because it has not had time to be properly prepared. The seed is still the same, it’s the timing of the process that is off. Likewise, God is at work, according to His will, creating fertile soil so that His message can take root and His name can be glorified above all else.

It’s 2:23 now. God has soothed all worry and thoughts about competing responsibilities and timelines, and given me rest from the familiar question of “what do I write, God?” from this past week. As I re-read and prayed over these words before sending them off, I am struck by God’s faithfulness and His love in the lesson of waiting by not answering my prayers in the way I had hoped at the outset of this blog, and I pray that you are equally as blessed by His faithfulness.

 —Lindsay Thompson

The Real Writer

I love stories. I always have.

My dad used to snuggle up on one of our squeaky beds and read his three offspring to sleep almost every night. It was my favorite part of the day. Closing my eyes, I would dream of shipwrecks and silver skates and sad little girls in freezing attic rooms and noble knights and talking rabbits and rafts on a river. Ah, the classics. How they fueled my already wired imagination. How blessed I was for that early introduction to the world of literature.

So I decided I wanted to become a writer too—for as far back as I can remember.

My first book was “published” in third grade. Although it never was a New York Times best seller, I couldn’t have been more excited nor my parents more proud. My mom surprised me; she’d taken my carefully handwritten pages and primitive illustrations, wrapped them in a heavy duty binder, and lovingly stitched them together on her sewing machine. The title? The Turkey Who Wanted to be Different. Pretty sure you won’t find it on Amazon.

But you could say I have been writing stories ever since. I have notebooks (napkins, receipts, bulletins, and other scraps of paper) full of stories and even more pages full of outlines and chicken scratch for others. I have huge art cases full of poster board sized illustrations. So many ideas I will never get them all out there.

I love to watch stories on TV or in the movies too. I listen to books on CD every time we take a road trip. And I fall asleep each night with a book sprawled across my pillow.

I like to think we are all innately and purposely designed by our Creator to love stories—especially since He has placed us in a story. Besides that, stories are an understandable language in a confusing world around us. Stories speak not only to our minds and emotions but to our very spirits. In stories we find ourselves identifying with situations we have never been in or dreaming that elusive and impossible dream we had long ago abandoned. Stories connect us to life and teach us its lessons. It’s mind boggling to realize that each of us has a unique story that can influence and inspire. 

Do you think about your story? Do you think yours can influence and inspire?

I wonder about my story a lot. More of it unfolds all the time. I look back fondly on its beginning pages. And because I am a child of the King by grace through faith in Jesus who paid my sin debt, I am certain of a very happy ending to my story in His eternal kingdom with Him. Incredible! Sometimes I just want to skip to the end.

But here I am in the middle of my saga where I muddle along in the here and now chapters. I wish, at times, that some of them could be rewritten. Plot twists, faulty subplots, flawed characters, boring settings, failures, poor choices, missed opportunities, unhealthy conflict, and useless dialogue—will this clueless protagonist ever get it right?

Sadly, looking back, the pages of my life that shame me most are the pages I’ve tried to write all on my own. Me, the aspiring, would-be author. Impatient for an outcome, fearful of others, craving ease and pleasure, self-protecting and prideful, longing for love and acceptance, I haughtily grabbed the pen from the Author of my story and sought to compose a best-seller without Him. How foolish! Rereading those chapters in my mind, I am certain there will be no critical acclaim or a movie deal coming my way. I discover I am not such a good writer after all. My own storyline would inspire or influence no one at all.

How about you? Are there some chapters of your life you wish had never been written? Have you, too, wrested the pen from the Author and tried to go it on your own, thinking you imagined a better narrative for you? Are you stuck even now in the pain and consequences of your own story writing? Are you trying to find your own happy ending and your own heroes? Do you really believe you can outwit the villain of every story ever written? Do you honestly want to ignore the Divine Rescuer? Oh, how much time, energy, and attention we waste going our own way.

Thankfully, there is a wise and good Author of our stories. And He is kindly forgiving. With relief, we can   relinquish the blank pages of our lives over to Him—and stop typing. Because He is great, good, gracious and glorious, we can trust Him to pen His plans and purposes for us and design our unique stories. He has been doing so all along, even when we stubbornly thought we were taking care of it by ourselves. Even when the story we’re in is hard and we have no idea what’s in the next chapter. Even when the characters of our story are abusive and evil. Even when the setting of our story is in the shadowed valley. With skillful hand, He can even take our messy and wasted pages, our confusing and painful pages, and weave them all into a story that recounts His merciful and unfailing rescue and love—for His acclaim. He is the ultimate Hero, the true Savior of the world. Our stories influence and inspire our audience because of who He is and what He has done for us and in us.

For our little stories are all part of the Father’s greater story of redemption through Jesus. This grand story is the story of the Bible and it’s about a people made in the image of their Creator. It’s the story of those runaways who rejected the love of their Maker. It’s the story of a Rescuer who made a way to bring them back and restore them to their Father. It’s the story of love and loss, sin and redemption, brokenness and healing. (Christina Fox)

Our stories are to tell His story.

Which begs the question, what is YOUR story saying? Is your Author clearly seen? Is He celebrated and admired? Is He trusted? Or is it all about you? Is mine all about me?

Are you telling it? How the world needs to hear about our loving Rescuer and Restorer, King Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. They need to hear our stories. That will happen when we simply tell what Jesus has done for us.  And isn’t that something to shout about? To write about?  It will be an inspiring Best Seller, one penned not by a flawed and frail human author like me, but by the very Savior of the World.

I love that Big Daddy Weave gets it. Read his lyrics.

 My Story

If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn't mine

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story
You would hear victory over the enemy
And if I told you my story
You would hear freedom that was won for me
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in

Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him.

Okay. Let’s tell—and write—our stories about Him.

—Eileen Hill

    

Another Reason to Trust Him

For the most part I think we would agree that the reason we come to trust someone is because we have experienced that someone in a way that assures us that we can trust them with something of ourselves. But is knowing someone the only basis to trust?

As I took some time yesterday morning to pray and reflect on what I could share with a group of students at a chapel this week, God led me to Psalm 139. And as I was reading this chapter, it was pretty obvious that God wanted to speak to me first. I could not help but fix my attention on verse 16:

“Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.”

The more I thought about these statements, the more I felt like the author of this chapter when he said, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” (verse 17). 

What I understood is that before my life began taking any form or shape in my mother’s womb, God had a vision of me in mind. His vision reached into the future and with that vision in mind He began to work from nothing what would become one day my being. He gave form to a physical body with unique traits, and a personality was designed with that future in mind. No detail necessary to fulfill that vision was left out. Furthermore, the days themselves and their amount were set on the record before any of them would even come to pass. 

So, how about trusting someone on the basis that they know everything about our future? Why would I not trust that someone if after all they know e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g about my future. Not only that, but if that someone knows how my life fits into that future.

This is very sobering truth, and yet it is the very same truth I have struggled with most of my life. I can’t agree more with the author of this chapter that two essential responses on our part—toward someone who knows the future—are: search me and lead me. Search me, not because He does not know everything about me already, but search me so I can know myself as He knows me. And lead me, because my tendency is to choose my own version of life, but He can lead me in “life everlasting” (verses 23-24). 

Consider this God, Creator, your Designer, who knows your future, as the one you can trust!

—Diego Cuartas