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The other day I was flipping through the channels on T.V., and I came across an old favorite show of mine, “Full House.” I used to love this show. As in, I couldn’t miss an episode. I’m sure you all have had “that show” that you couldn’t miss. Well, it seems that a common theme in each “Full House” episode is that one of the girls gets into trouble, storms off, and then (cue the music) there is a dramatic resolve in the end and you are left feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. But wait a minute. How did those girls get away with rudely storming off and running away in each episode?

I remember trying that once (okay maybe twice) when I was a little girl. I felt disgruntled at something my parents had said to me and I ran off dramatically, just like I saw in that show. And let me tell you, the feeling at the end was not warm and fuzzy. My parents knew better than to let me get away with that. But if Michelle Tanner could get away with it every time, why couldn’t I?

I think we have a natural instinct to flee the scene when we feel troubled, upset, sad, or angry. Especially with God it seems. We believe that we can actually go somewhere where God is not present. As if we can hide from Him, and Him not notice. At our very core, we believe that we have nothing to offer, and that we are not worthy of God’s love, or anyone else’s love for that matter and so we take our exit.

But my friends, God does in fact run with us. He hides with us. He cries, screams, laughs, and stomps with us. We are so dear to him, that even when we don’t feel any pain, He feels for us. And He is our logic too. Our God is so many things, we will never understand them all this side of heaven. But He surely desires to “run away” with us and He will bring about an ending that we could have never expected.

I lead a Bible study every Tuesday with a small group of wonderful ladies. We go through life together and have read some great books, gone through Scriptures together, and in general just walk through this thing called life. Weather it is up or down, we try to encourage each other to stay in the Word, and seek God’s perspective.

Right now we have the pleasure of going through the book called “So Long Insecurity: You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us” by Beth Moore. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it. One thing that I was reminded of today as I was going through the first few chapters is how our God is described as our “rock” for a reason.

As a female, well as a human really, I tend to be pretty up and down. On a scale of zero to feeler, I’m way past feeler! Just ask those who are closest to me. It’s just in my blood perhaps. 🙂 But it isn’t always easy being a feeler. This sometimes lends me to see life through unsteady lenses. Whatever I wake up feeling that morning can very easily send me throughout the course of my day feeling that exact thing in every arena of my life.

But what I’m learning is that God is so incredibly steady. He is not swayed or taken by surprise by His emotions, nor does He go up and down like us. He is an anchor to our souls. So on the days, weeks, or months, when I don’t feel near to Him, or feel a certain emotion, He is still there. Ever present. Never changing. Anchored to my soul and heart. No matter what my flesh is screaming at me to feel. My perspective comes from my Rock. That is security that I long for.

It had been a long hot July day for me as the air conditioning in our office was not working. Typically the grocery store was a place where I rushed through the straight aisles like a rat searching for its cheese reward at the end of a maze. But this day was different. The coolness and mellow lighting was soothing to me as I leaned on my cart, hoping it would support my tired self.

I turned into another aisle when I saw him. I didn’t know his name but I had seen him in the local grocery store before. He was a young man who looked about 30 and had mental and physical disabilities. He seemed to always be with the same caretaker, trudging along behind her. But as I said, “today was a different kind of day.” As I came closer to where he stood he lifted both arms straight up in the air and looked me right in the eyes and shouted, ”HE IS RISEN!” Although I didn’t raise my arms and shout, my knee jerk response was the very answer that we give in our church on Easter morning, “He is risen indeed!” His smile back at me was remarkable. His caretaker was disturbed and seemed not to know who to silence, him or me! However, she landed upon him and told him to be quiet and leave people alone. Posturing back to his usual trudge, he put his head down as he continued to walk along.

I kept trudging too. It had happened so quickly. I was asking myself, “Did that REALLY just happen?” Then I was ashamed that I had not affirmed his joyful and impulsive act of faith. So I quickly went back to the aisle where they walked and came close with my cart. I looked at him and said, “What is your name?” He told me. I called him by name and said, “Jesus IS risen and you gave me a good day when you said it right here in the store. Thank you.” He beamed at me. His caretaker politely nodded and said, “We are trying to teach him not to have outbursts.”

My point? This man was free. He may not have been free in his body , but he was free in his soul and his spirit. I believe that the Spirit of freedom can often recognize it in another. Some are more open and perceptive than others. I’m sure I did not appear very free as I tiredly pushed my grocery cart. However, I am free. Even when I don’t feel it. So are you.

Now I am not suggesting we all go out and raise our hands and shout in public places. Then we would be accused of having an “outburst” and of course we don’t want that. We are too civilized for that. But even in the middle of July, we can celebrate the Easter source of our freedom. It is the RISEN Christ.

Like my perception of the grocery store, some of our days are perceived as an endless maze of details and decisions and hot and tired trudging along. This earthly life can be a rat race and of course, we are the rats. But thank God for those free people who startle us as we trudge in the numbing quest for our personal cheese! They spontaneously raise their perspective arms and shout, “HE IS RISEN.” We can choose to join them with the glad agreement that freedom gives, or we can inwardly scold them for having an “outburst” that is inappropriate. We can keep trudging or thank them. We can let them be separate from us or we can choose to join them.

Are you free? You can be. Despite circumstances or relationships you can be free. Why? Because true freedom takes a second glance past the disabilities of life and of others and even of ourselves and shouts, “HE IS RISEN!” Yes, He is risen indeed.

In my home I have a real treasure. I have an old 12 foot long pew that I was able to acquire from my church when they switched from “pew” seating to chairs in our sanctuary. According to the church history, my pew is about 98 years old. It is beautiful to me. Distressed in all the right places it represents so many people of different ages who have leaned on its arm rests. The seat is worn on the edge where the crooks of hundreds of knees have pressed over the years. The back is scratched and pocked where both the joyful and the weary have leaned their backs.

The pew in my home takes me back to the days of my childhood and how our church practiced prayer. On Sunday mornings when the pastor would say the prayer for the morning service, the congregation would do something most of us do not even see in America today. They kneeled to pray.

An audible memory is first heard in my mind as I think back. I hear the squeak of those old pews as people of all ages and sizes knelt, leaning elbows on their own pew seat. Next the visual memory comes. I recall looking up and down the row across from me and where I knelt. I looked at all the people. There was Mrs. Parker, my elderly babysitter. She had a mole on her chin. But she would hold her white handkerchief in one hand and use it to wipe the tears that often streamed down her face. Her lips moved as she spoke to the Heavenly Father she loved so much. There were children with eyes open (like mine) who placed our hands over our mouths and giggled at each other. Then of course our mothers or grandmothers would tell us to close our eyes. There were men and women who shifted when the prayer grew long. Then there was the pastor on the platform who prayed with such loudness and ferver. Sometimes when I craned my neck to see I could see him spit a little over the pulpit because of his enthusiasm! After each prayer he would say, “And all the people said…” And the entire congregation, young and old would say a loud, “AMEN” as we rose from our kneelings. The youngest of us were faster and we sprang up. But now when I remember as a middle aged adult, I am realizing why old Mrs. Parker needed the help of someone next to her, taking her elbow gently and helping her into her seat.

These are beautiful memories for me. Even as a child I sensed that the Lord was there. It is a rare thing to see a whole congregation kneeling in a church anymore. It is a sight I believe no one should miss. Sometimes, when I am really troubled or especially full of praise I find myself slipping out of my recliner and kneeling down to speak to my Heavenly Father. There is something about it that both humbles and causes me to feel closer to the Lord.

I will close by telling you a secret. Recently I was in great turmoil about a situation. I went to the “pew” in our home and I knelt down. It squeaked….and when I was finished I wished there had been someone there to help me up!! Yet it was a sweet sweet time with the Lord.
Perhaps you don’t have an actual “pew” in your home to sit or kneel down upon. But sometime when it strikes you, kneel down as you pray. Bow down to the Lord. It may seem a bit strange at first, but try it more than once. It just might become your preferred position as you speak to the Lord.

Not very long ago, my Grandma and I were chatting about spring and how excited we were for it to come! She asked me if I was going to plant a garden this summer to grow fresh vegetables, and both mine and my husbands response was “no”, because of all the animals we have around our area that like to steal the produce.

A good friend of ours was sitting close by and said that one of her neighbors had a garden, but that they had to eventually put up a 12 foot fence around it to keep all of the wildlife out. But you know what? Eventually, a rabbit ended up digging its way underneath of the fenced in garden and had itself a little feast!

Isn’t that so much like us humans? We build fences around things that are valuable to us, and we think we are so clever and sneaky. But just as soon as we know it, our Lord shows us that He has dug right through our “trap,” and that in the end we weren’t in control to begin with! Oh that we would just learn to not build a fence in the first place, and that we would give our Lord more room than to have to dig a hole at the bottom.