Clay in the Hands

Have you spent much time thinking about what God wants from you? The foundation of faith is found in the fact that God knows you and loves you. You were created for a relationship with Him. If you have ever contemplated the meaning of life, that’s it. The meaning and purpose of your life is to have a relationship with the creator. Now you know – – you are welcome!

It really is that simple. But we don’t stop with just knowing God – we should grow in that understanding and how it impacts who we become and how we live each day. God created you on purpose, for a purpose.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8-10, that it is by grace we are made right with God – not by any thing we do to earn His love. But then he goes on to explain that we were created by Jesus as His masterpiece to “do good works.” As Dallas Willard said, “Grace is not opposed to effort but it is opposed to earning.”

So where do we start in trying to live this out? Paul, again in Ephesians, gives us guidance. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

We are to follow Jesus’ example and walk in the way of love. Specifically, we are to walk in the Way of Jesus – the way of love, the way of truth and the way of life. We do this by following Him – imitating Him.

Ephesians 4:32 is the verse just before this instruction and it says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Perhaps we start there.

May we be found faithful in walking our daily lives in the Way of love being imitators of Jesus.

Several years ago, an acronym became popular – FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. With the rise of social media, it has become easy to fall into the trap of seeing the lives of others lived out in front of our eyes through their posts of all the amazing things that make up their existence. The problem is, these images are snapshots in time and not the reality of their lives. But we see these images and think, “My life is not like that,” or “I want a life like that.” We fall into the hole of thinking we are missing out.

So we strive to do more, to see more, to taste more, to experience more. The irony of chasing this false reality is that by doing more we rush past what is really important and truly real. God created each of us for the best life we could ever imagine. The life God created us to live can only be found in slowing down and focusing less on the world around us and more on knowing Him. His reminder is just as important today as the day this verse was written: Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10) The literal translation of “Be still” is “Relax and let go.”

If you don’t want to miss out, then slow down, relax, let go and get to know God.

I don’t want to miss out on a minute of what God has for me.

How about you?

It is hard to believe that I have been on this Camino de Santiago Primitivo journey for 10 days. If I stay on track, I will have 3 more days of walking to get to Santiago de Compostela. As I said early on, it will take months to process all that has been experienced along the way.

But each morning, I begin the day’s journey in prayer, asking Jesus to speak to me. I felt drawn to this walk to experience a renewed closeness to Him and for clarity of His calling moving forward in ministry.

Many of you know me and know that I can have great expectations – something like signs from heaven and handwriting on the wall kind of expectations.

But as I was praying for Jesus to speak to me this morning, I felt Him answer, “You are my child – I love you. Rest in that and let that be enough for now.”

At first, I struggled. Is that it? Seems pretty basic. But as I have wrestled with my thoughts today, I have been reminded that so often, I am about “doing.”

“God, tell me what you want me to do,” is a common cry of mine. But Jesus reminded me that He cares more about who I am than what I do – we are, after all, human beings not human doings.

So for today, that has been enough.

I wonder about you? Is that enough? No matter what you are going through or facing right now, all that really matters is that you are His child and that you know you are loved by the God of the universe.

¡Buen Camino!

Trying to keep up with posting daily has proven to be a challenge. The days have been long and by the time I get to my albergue, shower, do laundry and then try to find something to eat, there is not a lot of mental capacity to offer much here.

I am sitting in an albergue in Lugo at the end of day 9. I am now within 100 kilometers of Santiago de Compostela.

So much has been stirring in me over the last couple of days. I have had some really interesting conversations with several people – many involving faith. It has been interesting when I sit down at a table with a couple of people I have seen but not talked to and the first thing they ask is, “you’re a pastor, right?” I guess the word has gotten out.

One of the amazing people I have met and had great conversations with is Katy. She has walked different Camino routes in the past, as well as 12 marathons around the world last year! I met her on day 4 and our paths have continued to cross over the last week. Today, she made a shorter walk and so yesterday was “good-bye,” as she will enter Santiago a day or two after me now.

But in our first conversation, we shared why we are doing the Camino. She has experienced significant loss over the past few years and just needed space to grieve and heal.

The reason I mention Katy is that she did something for me that brought tears to my eyes – and still does, days later as I write this.

In our first conversation, I asked her about the shell on her backpack. I knew about the shell as a symbol of the Camino and had planned to buy one as soon as I could, once arriving in Spain. But I still have not seen a place to buy them.

Casey explained that they are available in different places, but mainly in Santiago de Compostela at the Cathedral at the end of the walk. Then she went on to explain that hers was a gift and that very often, the pilgrim receives a shell as a gift from a fellow pilgrim who has made the pilgrimage before.

I decided that evening I would buy several when I get to Santiago – one for myself and others to give to people as encouragement to make a walk at some point in their lives.

The next day, was a hard day. I flopped down in front of a chapel in the middle of the day to eat a snack and rest. Katy was there but was getting ready to leave and head on. As she bent over her backpack, before putting it on, I assumed she was adjusting it.

But the next thing I knew, she was handing me her shell! I stood up to give her a hug and began to tear up. She said, “I should have given this to you last night. This is a gift.”

And what a gift! Part of the Camino is helping out other people along the Way. Often that comes as advice and help that from those further down the Way.

Katy has walked the Way several times and this was her way of encouraging me and pulling me along. What a beautiful, cherished gesture – one I will never forget.

This is an illustration of our walk in the Way with Jesus. As you have heard me say, time and time again, the Way is how people described following Jesus in the beginning. Jesus is The Way. So as a follower in the Way, who do you need to encourage today?

Each of us are on this journey to become more like Jesus but each of us are at different stages. We all need help and encouragement from those farther down the path. But we also must turn and offer help and encouragement to those not quite as far along as we are.

Who will you help along the Way today?

The journey continues as day 7 comes to an end. The last two days have taken their toll on me and thus, no post yesterday. Between fatigue and pain, the walks are long – but so rewarding.

The rhythm has set in and it is somewhat comforting – sleep, get up, walk, eat if you can find anything, arrive at the next destination, shower, eat if you can find anything, visit with other pilgrims, rest, go to bed – repeat.

Over the past few days, I have been overwhelmed with the significance of the history of the Camino de Santiago Primitivo and of this country. Being from America, we look at the last 250 years as history – and it is in our own way. But daily, I am walking by little chapels that have been standing since the 11th and 12th centuries.

The thought I am left with is that in the sense of generations of faithful people, I am very small.

Our church will celebrate 150 years of being a church in Corpus Christi in just a couple of years. While that is significant, I was blessed to be in a church last night for a Peregrino (pilgrim) concert. The church has been standing since the 1300’s and is still used every day.

I often have a habit of forgetting that God has been at work in our world for thousands of years – and He will continue to work in our world until Jesus returns – how ever long that will be.

My being here in His service, is just a vapor – a blip on the radar. While God values and loves each and every soul on earth, my significance is very small within eternity.

This is a sobering and humbling thought. All the things that I get so worked up about will amount to very little when it’s all said and done.

Again, each and every person that has lived, is living and will ever live on this earth is loved and valued by God. But sometimes it helps to be reminded that maybe, just maybe, not one person is really “all that.” Apart from our connection to Jesus, we can do nothing.

Thanks be to God that He knows us and loves us anyway, and that He sees fit to give us life and life to the full.

¡Buen Camino!