Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #3, Part Two

Ask for Help, Ask Questions, and Pray
In this past week, I am certainly much more aware of the questions that I have had to ask and the help that I have needed and requested.  As I prepare to move out of state next, after living in Cincinnati for 41 years, I am realizing just how much I have had to apply CHG # 3, when it comes to asking questions and asking for help.
 
One example of this has been with my email address.  Until the end of last week, it never occurred to me that my email address would have to change since it goes through a local server.   Consequently, all kinds of questions began to run through my head.  How do I get a new address?  How do I get the address book transferred?  How do I get all the information downloaded to my Blackberry? Talk about the questions themselves that can cause you to feel overwhelmed because they build up or pile up.  But as those questions were bombarding me, I had to constantly “fight” them off by telling my self to slow down so that I could address each question one at a time.  To do this it meant that I had to ask the bigger question of who could help me and guide me through each question that I had.  Some of the questions were answered by the help of my local phone company, while others were through friends and family.  The bottom line became this, no matter what starts to build up or pile up in my life, I am always being called to slow down so that I can break down the pile up into the smaller steps.  That slowing down is critical to not getting overwhelmed and out of balance, and the only way I could slow myself down enough was to be in constant prayer with God.   I was constantly asking Him, “How do I address this question?  Who do I need for You to put on my heart so I can ask them for help?   Ultimately it is God Who guides me and directs me in knowing what I need to ask and who I need to call.

There have been many phone calls to make in the midst of all the packing - technical support, utilities, insurance, postal service, finances, calendar scheduling, the list goes on. But here is the one thing that I have consistently heard from the people I have spoken to, “You are covered.” Or, “I think I found a simple solution for you!”  This entire move has been an example of God’s grace, light, and safety in my life.

Growing up, I always admired this picture shown above that hung on the dining room wall of my Grandparent’s home.  It adorned our family gatherings.  My Mother inherited it and eventually she passed it on to me.  I have carefully wrapped it up so that it attends me in my move.  The picture is titled, Christ at Heart’s Door, and the artist is Warner Sallman. It is such a beautiful depiction of how God tells us in Luke 11:9 (the Scripture that backs up CHG # 3) to keep on knocking and the door will be opened.  That is exactly what Jesus does with each one of us.  He keeps on knocking, and knocking, and knocking, hoping that we will answer His call and open the door to let Him into our hearts and into our lives.

People said to me this morning, “I can not believe that you are doing the blog since your move is happening in just days!”  Here is why I am doing it.  In my quiet time, I asked the Lord if I was to do it.  In my spirit I heard, “Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.”  This is from what is called The Lord’s Prayer or The Our Father.  It is the prayer that Jesus prayed when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray.  Since CHG # 3 is about prayer, I knew I was being lead to do the blog today.  Here is the other affirmation that I just received as I am writing this post to you.  I was on the phone with my daughter, and I was in shock at what I read in front of me.  I Googled the title of the artwork mentioned above, and one of the "random" sites that I was brought to had an image of the painting and then below it was the editor’s note. It said that the picture was in a “1994 exhibition catalogued by Dr. David Morgan, Department of Art, Valparaiso University.”  I am moving to Valparaiso, and until my daughter moved there, I had never even heard of this town! This made it even more clear to me that the Lord’s will was on my move to Valparaiso and that I was also to be indeed writing for the blog this morning, all because I first asked the Lord in prayer what He wanted. It brought me to tears.

Reading this editor’s note, took me back to another story to share with you about my new home town of Valparaiso.  During my home inspection, the oven was making a very loud noise when it was turned on.  We discovered that the fan needed to be replaced.  When my daughter looked for the model number on the old fan, in tiny, barely readable letters, it said “made in Valparaiso, IN!”  I have lived in this home for 16 years never knowing that God’s  handprint was on my oven fan to tell me that someday I would move to Valparaiso.  That someday has arrived. I have learned that sometimes God is silent and sometimes He makes a lot of noise. And when asking Him first about what we should be doing with our lives; where does He want us to be living, what jobs does He want us to be employed in, etc., He answers, and sometimes in what we would call unusual or funny ways, even by using an oven fan!

This week, see how the Holy Spirit speaks to you through your SW.  What does He want to tell you about His Son, Jesus, who is knocking at your door?   If you examine the picture, you will note that there is no door knob on the outside of the door.  It is only on the inside, the inside of you.  It is up to you to decide if you will let Jesus in.  He will not force Himself upon you.  It is your choice.  This week, I ask you to reflect on The Lord’s Prayer and consider what it means to think of God as your Father.  He is the God of simplicity and order and there is a pattern to everything He touches and weaves.