Locked and Loaded!

This morning I experienced one of the most difficult chores that I’ve had to do with the absence of my wife.  Today I had to… shave the back of my neck!  Okay, okay!  Laugh if you must… but have any of you guys ever tried to do that? 

Unlike my wife who was very coordinated, ambidextrous, and double jointed in her fingers… I have to contort myself into some very uncomfortable positions and use a big hand-held mirror to reflect the image of my neck from the bathroom mirror, in order to complete the job!  It was soooo much easier to have her sit me down, lather up my neck and shave away! 

I can still picture her holding on to the disposable razor in her right hand, while she dipped the lather laden blade under the running water and gently brushed downward with her forefinger, cleaning off the blade between the strokes on my neck.  She had a way of manipulating her little fingers that always caught my attention, whether it was shaving my neck, slicing vegetables or playing the piano.  Its funny the things you remember when someone special isn’t there anymore!

In my Christian growth over the years, I’ve learned to have an “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” attitude. (Philippians 4:13 EMTV)  It’s helped me to take on various chores… like shaving my neck and caring for my wife throughout the various stages of Alzheimer’s.  It was definitely a learning curve and while some around me fretted and worried over her needs, I simply jumped in with both feet knowing that, as I trusted Him, that God would help me all along the way… which He did!

Psalm 91:1 in The Passion Translation assures us that, “When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, (or in The SECRET PLACE) you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.” 

I like that particular translation for the truth it conveys about the strength and ability that we gain from God when we position ourselves in His Secret Place.  I’ve spoken in the last few blog posts of how The Secret Place is somewhere we can go in prayer to be alone with God.  But I have also come to understand in my own life, that it can be a State of Mind, an Attitude and/or a Way of Thinking, Talking and Acting in our daily lives.

The Apostle Paul said that it is a choice that we make.  The choice between allowing ourselves to be motivated by what we see and feel in the natural realm, or being motivated and led by the things of the Spirit… according to the promises in God’s Word for you and me.

Romans 8:5-6 declares, “Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities.  For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.” (TPT) 

Paul even went on to emphasize his point saying, “In fact, the mind-set focused on the flesh fights God’s plan and refuses to submit to his direction, because it cannot!” (Romans 8:7 TPT) 

And let me stop right here and say… BOY… was Paul ever right!  I had the surprise of my life in the midst of caring for my wife, whose health was rapidly declining right before my eyes… when I saw people close to us, falling apart as they chose to be motivated by what they saw happening… instead of putting their faith in what God’s Word said about the situation.

It still reminds me of the old westerns where you see the sign posted outside the saloon requesting everyone to check in their guns before entering.  I was aghast because it seemed like some folks (of whom I would have thought differently) checked in their faith before entering into Piper’s presence.

But I have since come to understand that developing the ATTITUDE for life, that comes from spending time alone in the Secret Place… takes a lot of practice… and even some trial and error!  And I think that this is where the differentiation between many people occurs.  Some of us know all about spending time with God in The Secret Place and even do a lot of it… but NEVER practice it… NEVER do it!

While others of us spend the time alone in The Secret Place (in prayer and in reading and studying God’s Word) and then go out and practice and/or take corresponding actions of faith that prove what we say we believe in.  James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem teaches us in James 2:18 that, “One person has faith, another has actions." My answer is, "Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions." (GNB)

It became painfully obvious to me throughout the eight years that I took care of Piper, that those who had taken what they had learned in The Secret Place, put it into their hearts and then took the appropriate corresponding actions, developed their faith and were (as per our western example) locked and loaded and came out to help us and encourage Piper and me… firing both barrels! 

While the others… well… they reminded me of the documentary on the Gunfight at the OK Corral that I watched last night, when the leader of the outlaw cowboys, Ike Clanton, actually ended up begging for leniency and then running the other way when the shooting began.  A LOT OF TOUGH TALK BUT NO ACTION!

So, what do you think?  Are you practicing what you hear and learn when you spend time alone with God in The Secret Place?   Is it a State of Mind, an Attitude and/or a Way of Thinking, Talking and Acting in your daily life”?

Is your faith locked and loaded and ready to fire when the situations in your life demand your immediate actions?

Hummmm… That’s a question that only YOU can answer!