CamDevo

I lived in Seattle for many years. One of the reasons I don’t live there anymore is because of the darkness. Literal darkness. In the winter months especially it was rare to see the sun, which rose late, set early, and mostly hid behind the thick clouds the rest of the time.

One of the things I hated about that was driving. I found it really hard to drive there on days like that, especially if it were also raining. The sky was gray, the pavement was the same gray, and when it was raining, the air was also gray. On the highway, the rain water came down from the sky and came up from the road as the vehicle tires sprayed it up into a thick misty mess. It was impossible to even see where the road was at times.

I recall one road journey in particular. I was driving home from my aunt and uncle’s house. It was about a 2-hour drive, mostly freeway, and it was one of those gray-out days. It was impossible to see anything. It was a leap of faith to pull onto the highway. (You may wonder why I didn’t pull over to wait for the rain to pass. If I had, I may have had to wait for months. It rained pretty steadily in Seattle.) So I plodded on, focusing desperately on the edge of the road where I could just make out the reflective shoulder line.

Then, to my relief, another vehicle appeared through the blank gray mist in front of me. I saw only two bright red tail lights, but that was all I needed. They were like beacons of hope. I matched the pace of those lights. When the lights brightened, I braked with them. When they sped up, so did I. When they curved as the highways turned, I followed. If that driver had taken an exit, I would have too. But as long as I could see those taillights, I knew I would be safely on the pavement with them.

Fortunately, that driver went all the way to Seattle, or I would have ended up at their house.

Life can be confusing like those rainy winter Seattle highways. Sometimes up seems down, and down seems up. The signs are hard to read, and guides like maps and GPS, YouTube and various influencers are no help at all. How am I to know what to do?

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’” (John‬ ‭8‬:‭12,‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

The answer is Jesus. He is like my bright red taillights in a sea of gray confusion. He is always good, holy, true, and full of love. I shouldn’t get sidetracked by false guides or shadowy signs that wink at me from the periphery. I can’t just rely on my own instincts to sense where the road is. Only God’s word will keep me safely on the pavement. When I get overwhelmed by the gray, I just need to return my focus to his bright light. It’s simple, easy to see, and it doesn’t waver.

Where will I end up if I follow Jesus all my life? It might not be where I expected all the time, but it will be exactly the right place. And it will be such a beautiful relief when I arrive.

Dear God, thank you so much for providing the constant bright light of Jesus to follow in this dark and confusing world. Teach me to ignore anything that tries to veer me away from your steady light. I know if I study your word and do what it says, I will always stay on the one true path that leads to life in your loving arms.

Years ago my aunt and uncle owned a u-pick blueberry farm. I lived nearby, and during harvest season, I would drive over and pick as many berries as I could. The farm provided a bucket with a string to loop around your neck, leaving your hands free for picking. You paid by weight in the end, and I would go home with enormous flats of fresh blueberries.

Fortunately, I love blueberries. Even so, I always ended up with more than I could ever eat, and I can eat a lot. I learned to make jam because I had to figure out something to do with all those berries. I gave away homemade blueberry jam at Christmas.

On good years, when I timed it just right, the berries on the bushes were fat and juicy. They all seemed to be ripe at once and clung to the branches in thick, heavy clusters. Picking them was so easy. All I had to do was hold the branch over my bucket and sort of sweep the berries in. It was as if they were ready, just waiting for someone to release them from the stem.

There were row after row of plants. It never seemed crowded in the field when I got picking, even when the parking lot seemed full. I could always find bushes that were heavy with ripe berries waiting to be picked.

Jesus said this is as true of His harvest field as it was of my aunt and uncle’s blueberry farm.

“[Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’” (Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭37‬-‭38,‬ ‭NLT)‬‬

I’m not a missionary although I have gone on a few “mission” trips. I don’t walk around my neighborhood talking about Jesus. And I don’t look around at people in the grocery store, the library, the sidewalk, or the tennis court thinking, “here are some people ready and eager to hear the good news about Jesus.”

But maybe I should.

Jesus said the harvest is plentiful. With berries, it’s easy to see when they are ripe. With people, how do I know?

I guess I just have to trust Jesus and bring my bucket up to the branch and give it a shake.

With both berries and with people, a lot of work has been done to get them to the point of readiness. Ready for harvest. Someone planted the seeds and nurtured the plants as they grew. They weeded and pruned and fertilized. God provided rain and sun and bees to pollinate. He taught the bushes how to grow and blossom and fruit. Until finally, I show up, and with one sweep of the hand, I get the credit for the harvest.

I can’t tell by looking at someone whether their heart is ready to hear about God’s love for them. But I don’t need to know. God just says to trust Him that many are here, all around me, hungry to hear. All I have to do is that one final step of harvest. Open my mouth and tell them. Reach out with my hand and love them.

Dear God, you know who around me is ready to hear about you. Show me who is ready for me to tell them about your love, and for me to show them your love in practical ways. Give me the right words at the right time, and teach me to trust you with all the rest. Fill me with wisdom, strength, and courage for the harvest at hand.

When I was a kid, I ran around barefoot on our gravel driveway all summer. I built up some thick calluses. These days I don’t go barefoot, but I play a lot of tennis which also results in thick calluses on my feet. I don’t really pay attention to them, but I know they are there, protecting me.

Several years ago, I was part of a wedding party. A few days before the wedding the bridesmaids and I accompanied the bride to a pedicure. I had never had one before so didn’t know exactly what to expect. To my dismay, the pedicurist scraped off all my hard-won calluses. My feet emerged from the event pink and tender.

My feet looked good in the wedding shoes. But they were also sore. Just from walking around. And worse, the next time I played tennis, I got painful blisters. I spent weeks managing my feet with bandages and ointments until my calluses eventually grew back. Through rough treatment and painful friction, my tenderness was replaced by toughness.

My feet aren’t the only thing that has grown protective calluses over the years. My heart has also been hurt and scarred, broken and roughly treated. It’s unavoidable in this fallen world. Pain is a fact of living. We naturally grow protective layers of skepticism, mistrust, cynicism, and suspicion. We close and lock doors. We hide behind thick walls of contrived congeniality, and content ourselves with superficial relationships.

Like the calluses on my feet, my heart calluses protect me. I don’t trust anyone, so they can’t get close enough to hurt me. I appreciate these barriers. I even rely on them, thinking they keep me safe.

But this is not what God wants for me.

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬, ‭NLT‬‬)

God wants His children to have tender hearts. Hearts that are open to all types of people. Hearts that are ready to listen and be vulnerable. Hearts that can be broken.

This is so scary to me. It requires me to trust God for my protection instead of my calluses. He knows I will be hurt. Jesus modeled this for me. But He also promised to be with me at all times for comfort, healing, wisdom, and protection. I don’t need to be afraid. I just need to obey, and step out into the world with a heart that is pink and tender.

Dear God, this is a hard teaching. I don’t want to pray for a tender heart. And yet, I can’t live the life you want for me with my hard, callused heart. Forgive me for trying to protect myself instead of trusting you. Please replace my stony heart with one that is tender and ready to respond to your guidance and love.

How do you learn to be a good neighbor? What is the easiest way to understand what it means to be a good friend? Do you know what it takes to be a good mentor?

I think one of the quickest ways to learn these things is by example — by having a good neighbor, friend, or teacher.

I lived in an apartment building for many years. It was cheaply built so I wasn’t protected well from the sounds of my neighbors. And I lived in the middle of the building. I had neighbors above me, below me, to the right, and to the left.

I learned very quickly what made a neighbor “good” and what made a neighbor “bad” in those close quarters. My good neighbors were considerate. They kept the volume of their music or TV low, knowing how noise carried in the building. My good neighbors above me took off hard shoes when they got home and rarely ran or jumped around. Good neighbors even sometimes shoveled the snow from in front of my door when they shoveled theirs. They introduced themselves when I moved in and made an effort to get to know me a little as time went by.

The bad neighbors were just as easy to learn from. The bad neighbors turned the volume up high and ignored reasonable requests. They parked poorly making it difficult to navigate the small parking lot. They never said hello or acknowledged the existence of their neighbors. They slammed doors, littered in the common areas, and inexplicably chose the middle of the night to rearrange their furniture or do a jumping-jack workout.

Knowing these things about my neighbors and how they improved or spoiled my apartment experience, I had a choice to make. Did I want to live like the good neighbors or the bad ones? Whose example would I live by?

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭25,‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

This world is like one big apartment building. We all have to live here together. And I can decide to be a good neighbor or a bad one. Every interaction I have is an opportunity to choose.

There are plenty of examples of bad neighbors to be had. So many! Worse yet, sometimes these bad neighbors pretend they are good neighbors. They claim what they are doing is right and good, when it’s really only right and good for themselves. They lie and put on a show of neighborliness while stealing your mail or your wifi or the packages delivered to your door.

Fortunately, Jesus came to earth to show us what a good neighbor is like. He modeled it for us. He was the perfect neighbor. More than a neighbor, He showed us what a loving friend does. This is exactly why He came. He gave us the example to live by and then said, “Go and do likewise.”

Dear God, thank you so much for sending Jesus to be the model of a good neighbor and friend that I am to emulate. Thank you also for sending your Spirit to live in me to help me live like Jesus. Open my heart to hear the Spirit’s corrections, admonitions, and loving encouragements. I want to be a very good neighbor to everyone you send into my life. Give me the strength and wisdom I need today.

I’m trying to come up with an analogy for the way Jesus makes us right with God. I thought of mud. Sin is mud. I am covered in it just by living here in this muddy world. I can try to avoid it, but I step in it constantly, especially when I’m not paying attention, because it’s everywhere. Sometimes I just sit in it, and other times I even decide to roll around in it. I can’t clean myself off because of my muddy hands. I can pretend I’m not muddy by putting on clean clothes, but the mud is still there. There is no place I can go that isn’t muddy, and no one on earth that is clean.

God, on the other hand, is not muddy. He is pure — gloriously so. His kingdom glows and sparkles in its beautiful pristineness. Mud is simply not allowed. Mud is banished from His presence. And therefore, so am I.

But this breaks God’s heart because He loves me. He longs to be near me, even though I have chosen to wallow in the mud.

This is where Jesus comes in. God sent a powerful shower to earth. When I come to Jesus, the mud is washed away with His warm, soapy forgiveness. But I have to choose to approach Him. I have to be willing to step into the spray and release all that mud down the drain.

Once I’ve gone through the cleansing shower of Jesus, I can step into God’s kingdom, sparkling clean, into God’s open, welcoming arms.

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24,‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Of course, I live in the mud world so I get filthy again. I try really hard to minimize my mess, but I fail, again and again. Thank God, Jesus is always available to give me a fresh start when I step through His shower.

Dear God, thank you so much for providing a way to purge all this mud from my life by sending Jesus. I can’t believe you want to be with me that badly, but the Bible tells me so! I believe it, and I am thrilled to be able to come in to your perfect presence of light and love simply by accepting Jesus.

I grew up in a rural area where our nearest neighbors were half a mile away, through the woods, down a hill, and across the road. The next nearest neighbors were on the other side of a vast corn field. As a child I’d happily wander out into the forest to climb trees or watch birds or explore or daydream. I never worried about stranger danger as there simply weren’t any.

But as happens with all innocents in this world, life experiences have a way of wiping away that blissful naïveté. I was a quick study and gained a watchful wariness early on.

By the time I moved to a big city for college, I considered myself fairly capable of staying safe in a crowded, unpredictable urban setting. I was aware that there were mean people, selfish people, distracted people, and even predators lurking in unexpected places.

Later, when I moved to an even larger city, I developed an even deeper level of streets smarts.” I didn’t trust anyone. I kept to myself. I limited my interactions so severely that I became lonely. I may have overcorrected.

As I have grown, learned and adapted, I have come to realize that similar threats exist for me in the spiritual world.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8,‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

It is crucial for me to pay attention to this realm of danger even more so than the tangible threats I work hard to avoid.

If I go about my day without taking the time to analyze what I am reading, listening to, or watching, and how those things influence what I think and feel, it is worse than blindly walking into traffic. If I don’t choose carefully who I take advice from, I might as well hang out in a dark alley waving a fist full of cash around. If I don’t spend time reading God’s word and reminding myself who He is, I would be like someone ignoring the warning signs around a toxic waste dump and waltzing right in.

Life in this broken world, both physical and spiritual, is rife with danger, pitfalls, traps, and predators. But even so, there is no need to be afraid. God promises to be with me. He is stronger than any threat I could encounter.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭8a,‬ ‭NIV)‬‬

All I have to do is resist. Such a little word. I don’t have to take up karate or prepare for a protracted battle or isolate myself or cower in a corner. Simply resist. The devil will move on to easier prey.

Dear God, thank you for the reminder to always be alert in my spiritual life. Show me what I have allowed in that is hindering my faith instead of helping me grow. Teach me how to resist. I know I am weak but you are strong. I can resist. You will do the rest.

Most likely, you’ve heard the story of the boy who cried wolf. It is Aesop’s fable about the dangers of manipulation and deception. In the story, a bored shepherd boy amuses himself by calling for help from villagers against a non-existent wolf. In the end, a real wolf does attack, but the villagers ignore the boy’s earnest cries assuming he is lying again.

Unfortunately, many don’t heed Aesop’s warning. It can be tempting to claim disaster and hardship where there is none to gain attention, compassion, and even a financial windfall. For example, some high-profile GoFundMe cases have included fabricated sob stories of needy individuals. (Although GoFundMe works very hard to weed out such scams.) In other cases, fraudsters create fake websites for real charities to divert donations, or simply invent charities altogether to solicit funds from caring and generous people.

While disaster fraud is common, there is another kind of fraud that’s even more common today. This is the widespread phenomenon of a curated online presence. In many recent polls, a vast majority of people using social media admitted to filtering and fabricating their content to showcase a polished, envy-inducing reality. They stage photos, filter selfies, steal images from others, or simply make up stories about their beautiful, adventurous lives.

It certainly looks good on the outside, but this kind of bifurcated and dissonant existence leads to low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and exhaustion. It puts an enormous strain on relationships as dishonesty prevents intimacy.

This is not what God wants for you.

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” (Psalms‬ ‭145‬:‭18,‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

God wants your truth. He doesn’t want formality. He doesn’t want the pretty lies. He knows your flaws and your struggles already. There is no need to hide or put on a brave face. You don’t need to dress up or stand, sit, or kneel in any particular way.

The Creator of the universe also created you. For Him to show up, all He requires from you is to be real. He wants a real relationship with you. So, open your heart to this loving Being and talk the way you talk. Show him your mess. Ask for His help. Show Him what you are excited about, thankful for, worried about, or afraid of. Just be the real you that He loves so much.

Dear God, thank you for your beautiful presence and love. I am so relieved that I can just come to you the way I am and be who I am. I am so grateful for your forgiveness, patience, and compassion. Teach me how to be authentic in all my relationships and love others the way you love me.

What is the best news you’ve ever heard? Maybe the birth of your healthy child. Or the recovery of a gravely ill loved one. ‬‬Maybe some success in your job, passing a test, getting a promotion, receiving a certification. When these things happen to us, we rush to share this good news with people who know us. Even some who don’t.

When I had an office job, I always loved hearing the news that there were donuts in the break room. This isn’t anyone’s best news ever, but on a dreary Monday filled with meetings, I loved this little ray of sunshine. Especially because I have a big sweet tooth.

I would hurry over in case there was a limited supply. Until I sussed out the situation, I wouldn’t share the news with anyone. If there were plenty, I’d share the news of the donuts with everyone I encountered, eager to be the bearer of good news.

There were plenty of times I missed out because no one had shared the good news with me until it was too late.

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭17,‬ ‭NIV)

The real best news ever is that God loves me. He loves you, He loves me, He loves all my coworkers, He loves the guy who stocks the vending machines. He loves. And He loves big. His love is never in short supply. There is plenty for everyone.

So there is no reason to hoard the news. No reason to keep it to myself. I can be the bearer of the best news ever if I tell the people I encounter how much God loves them.

In fact, that’s exactly what God asks me to do in response to His love for me. I can get my delicious donut, or two or three, and then run out to tell everyone else about the mountain of infinite donuts available for free in the break room.

Dear God, thank you so much for the people who told me about your beautiful, abundant, and free love for me. Teach me how to spread that Good News. It’s not just for me to accept and hold in my heart. You intend for me to share it. In this way it grows and grows and fills the world!

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m an introvert. Being around people wears me out. I enjoy it, but it is draining so I tend to avoid parties and gatherings of all sorts.

But I know being around people is healthy for me, mentally, emotionally, physically. So when I’m invited to a party I try not to say no immediately, which is my reflex.

Instead I go, chat with people, eat food, mingle… and leave as soon as it seems reasonable to do so. I find myself wanting to arrive late and leave early. Often, as soon as I arrive, I am planning my exit strategy.

So, I can be a disappointing guest. This is not a very good way to attend parties. I think people can sense that I am only half there when I have this attitude.

Recently however, I took it upon myself to organize a birthday party/lunch for a friend. She is usually the one to arrange such things, so I decided it was time for me to return the favor, as this is obviously something she values.

For two weeks as I made the arrangements I was kicking myself for agreeing to do this. It was hard work and stressful, managing the guest list, the venue, the food, etc. But the hardest part was knowing that, for this party, I would have to arrive early and leave late, the opposite of my norm. I wouldn’t be able to drop by, say hello, and sneak away. I’d be there from start to finish, making sure things went smoothly and that everyone had a good time.

This isn’t the first time I have hosted a party, but it was the first time I organized this kind of event. And I learned something. Because I went all-in for this gathering, I came out of it with a lot more. My friendships were deepened in a way I hadn’t experienced from a party before. I was able to show my friends, especially the birthday girl, how much they mean to me. I wasn’t thinking about when I could leave. Instead I was thinking about whether they were having a good time. I had a different expectation and a different experience because I had fully invested myself.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭13‬, ‭NIV)‬‬

I think my time with God can be a lot like this. When I enter a time of prayer or Bible study, I’m often distracted. I’m thinking about all the things I have to do next. Or I’m sleepy. Or I just feel like doing something else. In those times, God knows I’m not all-in. He can see I’m only half-there so He doesn’t need to show up.

But when I commit myself to Him, He promises to commit Himself to me. When I show up in a real way, the very real God shows up for me. Only when I focus on God and put all my distractions aside will I find what it means to have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. And it will be worth every second.

Dear God, here I am seeking you with my whole heart. Help me put aside all the distractions vying for my attention in this moment. (So many!) Show me how to worship you, praise you, and open my heart to you, fully vulnerable, fully ready. I trust you to come and reveal yourself to me when I do.

I often have trouble sleeping. I fall asleep quickly but wake up over and over during the night, each time struggling to return to sleep. In the past, the thoughts that would keep me up were about tasks I had yet to accomplish. I would lie awake with a lengthening to-do list swirling in my head.

One day I read that it can be helpful to leave a small notebook by the bed so when those to-dos come to mind, they can be noted and forgotten until morning. I tried that, and it actually worked. Once the fear of forgetting to do something evaporated, so did my sleeplessness.

But my brain soon found a new way to disrupt my sleep. Instead of dwelling on things I needed to do, I started just to think of stuff I could worry about, things I had little-to-no control over.

I would fret about things I had said and wished I hadn’t. Or things I wished I’d said instead. I worried about various outcomes of upcoming events. I’d make up the worst possible results and worry about that new future.

In the dark watches of the night, I am very adept at discovering new ways to worry.

But a good friend reminded me to reach out to God in those times. God tells His people, many, many times, to lay our burdens at His feet and trust Him (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 68:19, Matthew 6:34, Proverbs 3:5, and more).

So I started using God the way I used my little bedside notebook. When worries plague my sleep, I practice turning to God in prayer. I tell Him what I am worried about. I thank Him for His promise to care for me and be with me no matter what. And I tell Him I trust Him enough to go back to sleep now. And I quite often do.

God wants His children to have peace, joy, and a refreshing night’s sleep. He created sleep and intended His people to rest from all their labor regularly.

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” (Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭9,‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

When I trust God, His love, and His perfect plan, I can rest. I can do all He gives me to do and not worry about anything while I’m resting. Many things are beyond my control, but nothing is beyond God’s power. I don’t know what the future will hold, but I know my loving God will be there just as He is today. So I can rest now, and look forward to a more perfect rest to come.

Dear God, thank you so much for modeling rest for us in the creation story. You showed us, and you tell us over and over how important rest is. You even put rest in the first of your commands to us. Please forgive my busy, worrying mind. Teach me to trust you at all times. Show me how to accomplish the important things you plan for me today and to leave the rest in your loving and capable hands.