I Don’t Prefer – March 2020

I haven’t found an easy way to gently lead into today’s discussion - so I’m going to jump straight in…

Recently I have found myself in a particular environment that I don’t prefer. While it’s familiar, safe, and even predictable… it’s not what I’d prefer on a weekly basis. And yet, because it’s where I’m currently planted - I’ve decided to do my best to learn here. It’s not everyday we are vividly handed opportunities to grow in places that are smooth, safe, and on the “straight and narrow.” But that’s the climate of my current growing soil and I’m determined to give it my best to learn and grow.  

This past week, I was eager for the lesson to begin.The lights were dimmed down low, the music was ever so quiet... no movement, no talking, and certainly no hustling or bustling about. It was still. Quiet. It was silent. It is not what I prefer.

I stood amongst others of like-minded faith and read the words strong and true.There was no fanfare. No external stimulation to melt my heart. It was still. Quiet. It is not what I prefer.

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than the watchmen wait for the morning…

Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love
And with Him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.”

And when God’s word pierces our hearts and we are eager for Him to prune and mold - change happens. Even in the places we don’t prefer...

Would Joseph preferred to have not been sold by his traitorous brothers to a band of traveling gypsies? Preferred to have escaped the years he spent in prison interpreting the dreams of his fellow cellmates? Preferred to have kept his favored position with Potipher - instead of being falsely accused by that man’s lustful wife?

Would Naomi preferred to have stayed in her land… alongside her people who shared her faith? Comfortably nestled inside her familiar culture? Yet famine and poverty swept through the land and she and Elimelek (her husband) chose to forge their way into the land of Moab… a land far from the beliefs of her own. And in that land, she lost her husband and sons. A land she didn’t prefer.

And we remember Job, who suffered extreme loss of all that was most precious and dear. And Moses who petitioned the Pharoah to free God’s people from slavery… only to discover those people complained to the point of asking to return to that wicked land and go back into captivity. And Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego kidnapped and brought to positions of power while faith continued to burn deep within their souls. These men and women could not prefer most of the circumstances in which they found themselves.  

Yet, it was in this particular soil, change began. Each of these men and women personally carried a seed of faith, believing that despite all preferences - God could work. They bowed low and God continued to mold and shape. In prison, poverty, loneliness, death.  Rejection, disappointment, heartache, and loss.  In lack, in plenty, in power, incarcerated.

Faith.

They pushed the seeds of faith down low… tended and watered, nurtured and believed.  Hoped and prayed, wept and faltered. But the law of nature says that what we sow, we reap. And when faith is planted deep down low, one day it blooms. One day it has a moment of glory.  

And Joseph was able to forgive and bless, provide and feed not only for his traitorous brothers but for the very land he once did not prefer but came to love and hold dear. And Naomi came back to rest amongst her people and by her side, she walked with a daughter, a sister, a friend… Job was restored after all had been taken. And Daniel and his friends became great leaders. Not because they themselves were so capable but because of their God.

And so in the hush of last week’s morning, I quietly sang Psalm 130, “I will wait for you, my whole being waits for you…” And change began anew. The seeds of faith were planted and what we sow, we will reap.

I wonder today what circumstances you might find yourself in that you really don’t prefer. I wonder if they look like poorly wrapped Christmas presents holding little to no appeal. Is it a job, an assignment, a role, or your home? Is it a relationship, a responsibility, a relocation, a loss? Is it a desire for something good, something different, something exciting, something great?

May I encourage you today to possibly peek inside that poorly wrapped present and just entertain the idea that inside that circumstance you currently don’t prefer - you might just find the very path - the very roadmap to the greatest metamorphosis you could ever imagine.

And so today, may I hand you a small fistful of seeds? Seeds of faith… seeds harvested from my own faith journey. A journey of pain, suffering, joy and peace. Would you take these seeds and figuratively plant faith today? Plant, even where you really don’t prefer…

And watch and wait - for with Him is full redemption!