The Seed of Hope

When It Makes No Sense

Until a few years ago I was what many may have considered to be the consummate conservative. I was conservative in my political views, in our investments, and in the way I dressed. I was conservative in my ambitions and in setting my goals in life. I was conservative in making life-altering choices. Looking back on it now, I realize that I was even conservative in my faith in God.

I don’t know that I ever made a conscious decision to be a conservative. I just was. Perhaps, like so many of us, I was just a product of my environment. My parents were conservative in most every way, just as were my grandparents. I gravitated towards their way of thinking because it was what I had become accustomed to, and because it felt comfortable. Perhaps, more than anything else, I was conservative because it was safe, and playing it safe greatly reduced my potential for failure, or at least that’s the way that I saw it.

Being conservative meant that every decision that I made in life had to make sense! There had to be a logical reason for everything that I did, regardless of the size or importance of the decision to be made and how it would affect our lives.

If we bought a new car, it was because it made sense to do so (and of course, we made the sensible choice). The same could be said for building a new home, or making business decisions, or deciding where to invest our hard-earned dollars. Everything had to make sense. You get what I’m saying, don’t you? Saying that I played it “close-to-the-vest” was an understatement.

Until…

It was five years ago last month that God started working in my life, calling on me to make decisions that made no sense at all…

It made no sense in August of 2005 for me to convince my wife Jackie that we should just “abandon” a profitable hair salon that we’d owned for sixteen years to open a new salon, with a new name, a new phone number, and a new team, thirteen miles away. (It also made no sense that during its first year our new business, Salon M², would grow more quickly than we could ever have imagined, surpassing any and all success we’d had in our old salon.)

It made no sense that in August of 2006, at the not-so-tender age of fifty-three, I would make the outlandish decision to get a cross tattooed on my arm, and then later that night to brazenly declare myself to be “soldier of Christ.”

It made no sense that three months later I would make a commitment to change who I was, what I was, and what I did in life by giving control of my life to God.

It made no sense that in January of 2007, during a business presentation for Redken (a global hair care company), I would openly talk about God and all that He had done in my life.

It made no sense that God became the center of my universe, or that I was consumed with knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him.

It made no sense that a fifty-four year old man who had always run from the Bible would not only begin to read it, but would come to view it as being the living Word of the living God.

It made no sense that in October of 2008, The Seed of Hope would be launched with the intentions of taking the good news of God, and what He had done in my life around the world (I stopped counting when the number of countries topped thirty).

It made no sense that on March 9, 2009, I would walk into the Church of The Highlands, a Christian Non-Denominational church here in Birmingham, with Jackie, and never return to a church of which I had been a part of all my life.

It made no sense when, in August of 2009, I was Baptized again, not as a Catholic, or as a Baptist, or as a Methodist, but quite simply, as a Christian.

It made no sense that during that same month, Jackie and I would, after eight years as “empty-nesters”, open our home to a twenty-seven year old ministry student from North Carolina, and again this August to a young lady from Minnesota.

And finally, it made no sense for us to put a prayer room, The Seed of Hope room, in the middle of our hair salon a couple of months ago, but that’s exactly what we did.

None of the things that I just listed made sense to me at the time, and I’m fairly sure that they didn’t make sense to the people in my life, or to casual observers. But they made sense to God.

I always talk about God’s plans for us, and how His plans are much better than any we may devise for ourselves. My life is a classic example of this point. You see, for God to get me from Point A (where I was in 2005) to Point B (where I am today), I had to do all these things that, for the most part, defied logic, and well, made no sense.

I feel the need to mention something here…

I realize that for the past few weeks the posts have centered more on my struggles than on, let’s say, “lighter” subjects. Life has indeed been a challenge for Jackie and me the last couple of months, to be sure. But there’s one thing that I need to emphasize here…

I have never been happier, or more filled with God’s peace and love than I am today. What I’m trying to say here is that I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I had the opportunity. It’s that good. God is that good.

Perhaps…

God is calling you to do something that just doesn’t make sense at all. There may be no logic, or rhyme, or reason behind it, but you know that it’s there. And it won’t go away. Here’s the thing: if it has anything to do with Him, or His people, or His Kingdom, it doesn’t have to make sense to you. The important thing to remember is that it makes sense to Him, and that makes plenty of sense.

I want to leave you with a verse from Matthew 19. It’s short in length, but HUGE in what it implies. It’s not about whether we believe in God, but more about what we believe about God.

26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Even when it makes no sense.

See you next week.

Working for the Lord

Working for the Lord

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, as you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

Every once in a while I randomly open my Bible to see if there is a message that’s waiting just for me on that particular day. Quite obviously, this verse from Colossians is the nugget that I found today. Before I get into this, I want to share something that I’ve noticed about myself, and I’m wondering if it’s happened to you as well.

I can read a passage from Scripture today and interpret its meaning as best that I can. (I’ll confess that the meaning of some passages is easily discernable while I have to read others several times to gain some understanding.) I can go back to that same verse the next day, and see it from a totally different perspective, seemingly with a “new set of eyes.” It’s as if I’d never read it at all before! Does that ever happen to you?

That’s exactly what happened to me today!

But first…

I feel lead to tell you that the writings of Paul are among my favorite in the Bible. I don’t know if this is due to the fact that my dad’s name was Paul, or that my grandson’s middle name is Paul, or that as a child I was Baptized in and attended St. Paul’s Church and School here in Birmingham.

Actually, I guess that I connect with Paul largely because of the similarities in our lives. We both had life-altering experiences; Paul was thrown off of a horse, blinded by a white light, and heard the voice of God, whereas I was simply slapped on the head by the Holy Spirit! We both turned our lives over to God, and were filled with a passion to seek Him and to spread the good news of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with no regard as to what others thought of us. And lastly, we both chose the written word to share this news when our voices were silent.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…

Work

The first few times that I read the verse I associated it with work, as in a job. And I’ll be honest with you in saying that it never made sense to me. I worked to make money, which was used to pay bills, to keep a roof over my head, and of course, to eat! Work was something that I had to do, and I just couldn’t bring myself to approach it as if doing it for the Lord. Besides, I never was proud of what I did, so I figured that if I was gonna put my heart in it for Him, then He was gonna have to give me something that I enjoyed doing. By the time that I celebrated my fiftieth birthday I figured that any chance of a career change was out of the question. I had also resigned myself to the fact that I was never gonna do anything career-related that I’d be happy with and/or proud of.

God had other plans.

Only God could have made it possible for the changes that occurred in my life! (If you want to know all the details you can go to the top of the home page and check out the link that reads A Seed Was Planted.) And that’s exactly what He did…

He gave me a shot of courage, and then put us in a new place with the chance to make a fresh start. Then He put just the right people in front of me at just the right time, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s kinda funny the way that things unfolded. I had the same job, in the same industry, with many of the same people; yet everything was different. How so?

Well, I made a 100% commitment to change my perspective on everything that I did, not only in our business, but in every walk of my life. And I asked God to help me. Actually, I did more than that; I invited God to take control of my life.

Looking back on that day (and I do remember the precise moment), I realize now that the commitment that I made was, not to myself, but to Him. Of course I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time, but He did, and that’s all it took. It would prove to be not only a life-altering moment, but the life-altering moment.

Since then…

Wow, so much has changed since that moment in time…

Each day I try to give everything that’s in me to everything that I do in every walk of life; my marriage to Jackie, relationships, work, and church. I try to be the best person that I can be each day, not only for me, but for those around me. Many have defined The Seed of Hope and my role in our salon as being a ministry, and both get the best that I have to give.

I quite simply will not allow myself to give less than my very best in everything that I do. Why not?

It took me a long time to realize that you can never get more out of something than you put into it. If we only invest 50% of what’s in us, how can we honestly expect to receive 100% in return? This applies to everything that we do in life. Give a little, receive a little. Give a lot, receive a lot. It’s that simple.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…

So, how does God figure into my plans each day as it pertains to the quote from scripture?

Easy answer. You see, every morning I dedicate my entire day to Him.

Father, I dedicate this day, and all that I do in it, to You. Help me to be the very best that I can be in everything that I do. Give me what I need to walk in Your way. Allow me to be, not just a light that shines for You, but a beacon of light that all may see.

Look, I’m not telling you that you have to commit each day of your life to God. I am suggesting that you invite Him to be a part of everything that you do. If you’re willing to do this, you’ll find that you have an increased awareness of who you are and what you do. You’ll find that you have more accountability for your actions. You’ll find that your life will become richer, fuller, and will have more meaning than ever before. And best of all, you’ll find that your relationship with God will grow deeper and stronger that you can imagine.

If you’re only willing to give 50% of what you have and what you do to God, how can you ever receive 100% of what He has planned for you?

See you next week.

War and Peace

War and Peace

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:13-14

I’ll go ahead and tell you that this week’s post is in some ways a continuation of last week’s, Working Through an Issue.

I’ve been in the midst of a battle, a war, and it’s one that I’ve been in since we opened a prayer room, The Seed of Hope room, in our hair salon a few months ago. There has been nothing but confusion and chaos in the salon since that time. It has weighed on my mind so heavily this week that today’s post was gonna be an announcement that The Seed of Hope was finished for a while. I’m tired of writing about (and you’re probably tired of reading about) my trials and tribulations. Yet I press on, because I believe that for whatever reason, it’s what God has called me to do.

Blindsided

When my wife Jackie agreed with my proposal to add the prayer room, we knew that we’d be met with spiritual resistance. We figured that Satan wouldn’t be very happy about a prayer room being built in the middle of a business, and in an industry that most people consider to be, well, “not very high in moral standards.”

What we didn’t plan on was the amount of resistance that we’d face. Gossip. Lies. Deception. Theft. Unrest. It’s been non-stop; there’s been one thing after the other. So much so that during a recent twenty-one day period of corporate prayer at Church of The Highlands here in Birmingham, my petition to God for our business wasn’t for prosperity, but for His Peace.

My petitions…my pleas to Him for peace in our salon have been answered in part, but we still have a ways to go. I believe that there’s something that I have yet to learn, and the lesson isn’t about the actions of other people, but about my reaction to their actions. I also believe that the key to the peace that I so desperately want for our team is hidden away in that lesson.

The Battle

Curiously enough, the battle that I’ve been in these past few weeks has been, not against others, but against me. It has been an epic battle of Me vs. Me.

There’s the Christian in me, which tells me to forgive those who may have offended me. I look back on all the times that God has forgiven me for things that I’ve done that just weren’t right, and know that I must forgive others. I think about what Jesus endured so that we all may forgiven, and know that I must forgive others. I can’t recount the number of times that I’ve recited The Lord’s Prayer, the first prayer that I learned as a child and the one that is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. It reads And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. What I’m saying is that as a God-fearing, seeking-His-face, trying-to-walk-the-way-of-Jesus Christian, I know that I must find forgiveness in my heart for others.

Then there’s the “other” side of me, the one that’s just a man, and nothing more. I want to return hurt when I’ve been hurt, lash out in anger when I’m mad, and get even! And quite simply, I’m tired of the crap. I go out of my way not to offend anyone.

Why can’t I get the same in return?

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I didn’t know how to let you know that I was interrupting the flow of this post, which is exactly what I’m doing!

I just took a look at my last statement, Why can’t I get the same in return?

Sounds kind of self-centered, doesn’t it? As a matter of fact, I’m a bit ashamed that I actually wrote it. You see, I’d like to think that I’m an exemplary Christian, that I never do anything wrong, and that I never offend anyone. It’s always my intent to aim for perfection in thought, word, and deed each and every day.

Be that as it may, I’m sure that there are many days that I fall short of those intentions. I think that many of us have a tendency to think that there’s a “severity of the offense” exemption that applies to us in the way that we treat others. For example, that going back on our word isn’t as bad as lying, or that wishing ill upon a person isn’t as bad as hitting them, or that completely ignoring a down-and-out person is somehow more justifiable than offering them help.

Yeah, there are days when I fall short….

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Back to the original subject…

Okay, so here’s the deal: I’ve been in a war for several weeks, and my enemy has been me. And you know what?

Though there seems to be no end in sight, I’m gonna win this war.

You see, I’ve known for quite some time now that I can’t change people, and that I can neither control nor be responsible for what they think, say, or do. That’s a battle that knows no end.

I can however control the way that I react to the actions of other people, and I believe that the key to that control lies in keeping God in my heart at all times. That’s how I’m gonna win this war.

How can I sound so sure that I’m gonna win?

You see, I’ve already made a lot of progress. I’ve come to realize during these past few weeks of chaos that there has been something in me that has been absent in previous battles during my first fifty-six years; God’s Peace. That peace has allowed me to remain calm through the storm that’s been raging around me. I believe with all that’s in me that if I remain still, as we’re instructed to do in Exodus, that the Lord will not only fight for me, but fill me with His Peace.

I want to leave you with a verse from a song, I Will Rise, that’s written and performed by Chris Tomlin:

There’s a peace I’ve come to know, though my heart and flesh may fail; there’s an anchor for my soul; I can sing, It is well.

May God’s Peace be with you and in your heart.

See you next week.