Meditation Moment- Set Aside Prayer

Within mutual aid societies there is a popular prayer called the “set aside” prayer. Start of your day with this:

“Dear God, please help me to set aside everything I think I know about my beliefs, God and myself, so I may have an open mind and a new experience. Please help me to see the truth about God’s power, my insanity and the promise for my restoration.”

Figuring Out How God Works

I was once in a car accident, hit by a young man who was driving on a suspended license for a plethora of citations as a result of his bad driving. What did he say as he exited his smashed vehicle? “Why does God keep doing this stuff to me?”

In contrast to George Costanza’s and this young man’s opinion of God, there are others who believe that God is only in the good things (as defined by us). Have you ever seen a player on the losing end of a Super Bowl matchup saying, “I just want to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for this loss?” No. Because big game winners profess belief that God is in our big wins. No mention of him in the losses - unless you are George Costanza. Or that kid who totaled my car.

What we are asked to “come to believe” in the second step of the Twelve Steps - and one reason I love them - is that God is powerful. We are not asked to figure out how God works in every situation. Our distortions about how we believe God uses his power may complicate our acceptance of his power.

Can we start there? God is powerful.

Finding God in the Good and Bad Things

The classic television series Seinfield has a character named George Costanza who has a few things to say about believing in God and telling ourselves the truth. (You can find this segment on youtube by going to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOCKuyFFWo4.)

Says George, “God would never let me be successful. He would kill me first. He will never let me be anything.”

Female listener incredulously responds, “I thought you didn’t believe in God!”

George, “I do for the bad things.” I think many of us DO believe in God only for the bad things. The second step invites us to reconsider our beliefs. Does a thorough study of the God of George’s understanding support his belief that God is only in the “bad things” (as defined by George)? Only George can say; but George owes it to himself to fact check himself.

What do you believe God for?

Meditation Moment- Ezekiel 11:19 NIV

I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 11:19 NIV

Take a few minutes and imagine that God is patiently waiting to remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. The flesh feels more - more joy, more pain. But it also fits perfectly and connects your body, mind and spirit.

Fighting Gravity

My granddaughter does not believe in gravity. She sits in her high chair, leans over and stares at the ground. She drops her pacifier over the edge of her chair. Her weary parents eventually tire of the game of retrieval. Sadly, neither one of them possess the labrador gene that carries with it a love for fetching. On the umpteenth toss her parental units allow the pacifier to succumb to gravity. She looks startled; she frowns; she wails. She stares at both the object of her affection and her parents as if they have betrayed her. Why won’t her pacifier return to her? She WANTS it! Shouldn’t that be enough?

No. Because despite her passionate desire to be able to both drop her pacifier and have it return to her on a whim, her desires violate the law of gravity. She is a baby and she is learning how the world works. Aren’t we all?

Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet. James 4:1-10 The Message

In what ways have you been fighting gravity?