When the Nightmares Come

Lately Lauren’s been waking up in the morning and telling me about her dreams of being chased by dinosaurs. Now this may or may not be a result of mommy accidently letting her watch parts of Night at the Museum. But we’re not here to point fingers.

Last night however, she woke at 3:00 AM crying because she was dreaming of a snake biting her foot. This is probably due to the fact that we spent the previous day with her favorite four boys. Yes, THESE boys. She adores them. She wants to live there and be the 5th boy, with pigtails. She loves their sense of adventure and …shall we say… muddiness. We always bring an extra pair of clothes to their house because there is much black dirt to be rolled in and shoved under her nails. (For the record, I LOVE it there too...Denise and I always drink lots of coffee and never run out of things to talk about!)

This particular day, a snake had been spotted. It was not captured, but as he slithered into the bushes, the 2nd born son screamed “snake!” and all the other boys came running with a soiled little Asian girl following quickly-though cautiously behind them. It reminded me of someone at war screaming “Incoming!” They searched and searched but the slimy serpent evaded their snare.

So 3:00 AM she is crying and wants to come into my bed because she is afraid of the snake. I decided instead to crawl into her bed and offer Daddy a few more hours rest without the boney feet of a six year old dancing on his spine.

As I turned toward her she nuzzled into me and tightly wrapped her tiny arms around me. She peacefully drifted off to sleep as I held her close and caressed her hair. Every drop of maternal instinct in me was loving this moment. To see how my presence and touch caused her anxious heart to settle and rest. I couldn’t hold her close enough, I wanted to stop time and relish every warm breath against me. There’s no place like a Momma’s arms when the nightmares come.

This made me think about how God comforts us.

Life can be a nightmare.

But He is there for us. As we allow ourselves to melt into His loving arms, He holds us.

Isaiah 40:11
He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart. NLT

Put on a worship song. Maybe this or this or this.
Close your eyes and let His love envelop you.
Breathe Him in.

It will cause your anxious heart to settle and rest too.

There’s no place like the Father’s arms when the nightmares come.

He's Our Comfort in the Storm

(I had a girls weekend with Mom and visited her church this week and saw several people baptized. It was the most precious thing! These people were so broken and you could see the effects of a hard life on many of them-but also a HOPE for a future that would be different. The joy in their faces after coming out of the water was the most beautiful thing. They were not taking this lightly, they were giving all they had to God.
Oh Lord please remind us of that joy we felt at the cleansing and renewing of baptism!)



Here is what I have on my heart this morning, for so many people I care about that are hurting:

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” NIV

Make no mistake about it, you will have trouble. If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are in the middle of a storm right now. God’s word tells us that we will have trials and then tells us to rejoice in them.

Rom 5:2-5
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
NIV

I used to believe that God never wanted us to walk through anything hard and that if we did He would ‘rescue’ us if we prayed, rebuked, and confessed the Word enough. However, the truth is that He allows some storms and trials to develop perseverance, character and hope in us. Think about the three Hebrew children, I am sure they would rather have avoided the fiery furnace altogether, but if they had, they never would have walked together with the Son of God. And they came out…I love this…not even smelling like smoke!

What about Daniel? I am sure he was shaking in his boots just a little as he was thrown into a den filled with hungry lions! That is not my idea of a walk in the park-what happened to leading me to green pastures beside cool waters? After all, Daniel was doing the right thing! He did not deserve punishment like this. However, Daniel ends up making friends with the lions and hanging out with angels. God did not forget about him, God was right there with him protecting him the whole time.

Are you seeing a pattern here? God never leaves us.

When we feel pain, we assume that God must not be with us, because surely it would not hurt if He were here. We forget that He told us, “In this world you will have tribulation.”

Webster’s dictionary defines tribulation as: distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution. Tribulation is painful! So the promise that He is with us, is life changing!

We need to know that He is walking through every trial with us, and that His Word is more trusted than the words of our closest friends or enemies! He loves us infinitely more than we can imagine!

Who likes CHANGE??

Yesterday my husband preached his last message as Senior Pastor of the church we planted over 6 years ago. It was bittersweet. On one hand, I see the Lord leading us out but on the other hand, it’s much like a child that I raised and now I have to walk away from. It is a lesson in trust for all of us.

It is also a lesson on CHANGE.
We don’t tend to like change too much, especially when it messes with some of the foundations that we build our lives on.

Sure- I love to change my furniture around and the décor of my house or even my hairstyle. Those are fun changes! But, start messing with my comfort zone and we have a problem!

Change shakes us up, and many times a “shaking” is just what we need. Here’s some of the things that “shaking” does for us:

1. Shaking can bring us down to our foundation.

After a strong earthquake, we always see pictures of the survivors walking around the ruins of buildings that once were tall and glorious, only to become piles of rubble sitting on the bottom floor.

When our lives are shaken up by change, it brings us right down to our foundation. To the things we have built our lives on. Sometimes it’s a person or people, sometimes it’s a job or position but ultimately God wants it to be Him.

Sometimes a shaking is to wake us up to the fact that we’ve been building on a foundation other than Him and His Word.

Matt 7:24-27

24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
NIV

Why did one house fall?
Was one of them not built as well as the other? It doesn’t say that.
Was one storm greater than the other? It doesn’t say that either.
One house built on solid rock and one built on sand.

We tend to look at our “storms” as the problem, but God sees the foundation as the problem.
God’s right!



2. Shaking can mix things up and ultimately unify.

When I make a cake I put all the ingredients in a bowl and I mix it up. Why? Because on their own the ingredients don’t taste very good, but if I put them together and bake them- yum!
Same goes for us!

Sometimes God shakes things up to bring unity!
The outcome of that is much more delicious than the way we taste individually – all doing our own thing!

Rom 15:5-6
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NIV



3. It can expose parts of us that we were not aware of before because they remained hidden or dormant.

Have you ever seen a family digging through the wreckage after a storm? They come across things that they probably would see everyday, but now consider them priceless treasure because they have survived the storm!

God may want to expose something in you. Maybe it’s a treasure, or maybe it’s a weakness.

1 Cor 4:5
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
NIV

If He brings it to light during a “shaking” then we need to deal with it. Maybe it’s unforgiveness or rage or a selfish ambition. Don’t beat yourself up when these things come out- He’s exposed them for a reason. So that you can bring it to the cross and lay them down!



4. Causes you to grab on to something for stability.

What/who do you run to when you experience a shaking? We all have something or someone that we cling to when times get tough. Spouses, family or friends, that’s good.
But what’s even better is that we FIRST go to God. He wants to be our source of security and trust.
People will let you down, their human, they can’t help it. But God will never leave you or forsake you.

We all need a little flesh and blood to hold, but we can’t let others become our security. God needs to be the one who we grab on to when change comes our way.

Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs. NIV

Heb 4:14 That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. NLT


Lord, help us to cling to You as we face change, because God You never change!