The Seed of Hope

The Joy of Jumping

The Joy of Jumping

This is the third and final installment of “That Holy Jumping-Off Place.” Promise!

Before I move to today’s subject, I want to take a moment to share a couple of thoughts with you…

·         I’ve been amazed at the response that I’ve gotten from you guys concerning the last two posts. I told you how much trouble I had with Satan and with life in trying to complete the first one. What I didn’t tell you was that I was so unhappy with it that I was going to issue an apology to you the very next day. A good friend chastised me, telling me that I should stop trying to judge the “quality” of my offerings each week. “What may not seem good enough to you may be exactly what someone needs to read that day. Don’t apologize for what God puts in your mind and on your heart, Sam.”

Well, as per her suggestion, I didn’t apologize (even though I wanted to!). Turns out that Sharon was right; many of you told me that “That Holy Jumping-Off Place” was your favorite of all. Go figure.

Which leads me right into my second thought…

·         I’m very flattered and humbled by many of your comments and e-mails, but again, it’s always about the message, and not the messenger. Look, every week I just open my mind and my heart to God, and ask Him for the words; He does the rest.

Now, let’s move on to the topic of the day, The Joy of Jumping.

For the past two weeks I’ve been telling you about the challenges of “making the jump”, as in completely putting your life in God’s hands. I’ll say it again: it won’t be easy! The mere notion of giving up control of your life, even to God, is a scary one. It doesn’t come easily; you will probably have to make that jump more than once.

And, it extends an invitation to Satan to try to wreak havoc in your life; he doesn’t like it at all when another recruit joins the ranks of Christ’s Army! Pastor Chris Hodges once told me, after I had confided that I’d had a particularly challenging day, that “You should be flattered when Satan comes after you. It means that you’re doing good things for God.”

Well, I’m gonna tell you; I love doing good things for God, but I’d just as soon not be flattered by Satan’s attacks one more day! It’s tough sometimes, but all things considered, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today I want to tell you a story about what can happen when you do make that jump.

This story began five weeks ago, in the month of January. It also happened to be right in the middle of Twenty-One Days of Prayer and Fasting, which was being held at Church of The Highlands here in Birmingham.

Our hair salon had experienced yet another year of growth in 2009, and we were looking towards 2010 with great anticipation…

Greg, one of our top stylists who had been with us for twenty years, had made the decision to open his own salon. He told us that he expected to be in his new location by the middle of January.

Two days before Greg’s last day with us, we were informed that another of our top stylists, who had been with us for eight years, needed to take a one-year leave of absence for personal reasons.

Two days after Greg’s last day, we learned that yet another member of our team was moving to Pittsburg with her husband. February 4^th was going to be her last day in the salon!

Yet another of our stylists, Carla, was taking maternity leave on January 23^rd, and still another, Erika, is scheduled to begin her maternity leave on March 6^th!

The net result of all of the above meant that we were permanently losing one fourth of our hair stylists, with almost another fourth being reduced to “part-time” due to pregnancy. This translated into roughly a 25% loss in salon revenue!

Oh, and did I mention that we had agreed in principle to add an additional four styling stations, including 600 square feet of leased space, just prior to learning of our “outbound migration” of stylists? I believe that conventional wisdom dictates expansion and growth when a business’ income is on the upswing. In the blink of an eye, our salon was losing a very healthy percentage of its monthly income.

Time to panic, right?

The “old Sam”, the one that didn’t know God, the one that had never “jumped”, would have been absolutely terrified. Loss of appetite, irritability, sleeplessness, skyrocketing blood pressure, and indigestion would have been his constant companions!

I have to interject something at this point…

For the last four years, and especially since I launched The Seed of Hope, my life has been really good. Oh, there have been a lot of challenges and rough spots, but God has blessed me so very, very much. So much so, that I feel that many of you may have wondered what I would do if God tested me. Would I be as “awesome”, and optimistic, and always wearing a smile?

That’s a good question. And I’ll let you in on a secret; it’s one that I’ve asked myself. What would I do…how would I react, if God threw me a curveball? Would my faith be as strong?

So…

For the past month, several people in our salon have questioned, “So, are you doing okay?” And my response has been “I’m awesome! Why?” Or, “Are you alright?” And again, I replied “I’m awesome! Why do you ask??” “Because you’re so calm, even with everything that’s going on in the salon. Are you really that calm, or are you just acting?”

Here’s the thing: I wasn’t acting! The calm was real. The smile was real. The awesome was real. I truly was at peace, even in the eye of the storm.

You see, I never took my eyes off of God. And I never forgot something that I tell you all the time: God is faithful. While He may not give us everything that we want, He will always provide us with what we need…

In the past three weeks we’ve made two additions to our styling team, and have hired a third stylist that will be joining us in a couple of weeks. All three have been in the salon industry for some time, which is a bonus. Better still is that each one of them will fit in nicely with our team.

The best part of all of this, that which means most to me, has nothing to do with money. You see, each of these women is a very strong Christian, and that isn’t by coincidence. I believe that God has set the table for success in our salon, and that He is sending talented individuals to us so that our remarkable story will continue to grow. He also knows that I will always give the credit to Him for that success; without Him, I am nothing.

The bottom line is that despite having lost the personnel that I mentioned, along with the income that they generated last year, our salon had a bigger month this February than last.

I believe with all that is in me is that God knew that when people were walking out the door…when our revenues were shrinking…when we had made a commitment to extend ourselves financially at questionably a terrible time to do so…

When all of this was going on, I never took my eyes off of him. I never doubted His plan for Jackie, myself, and our team. I never doubted Him. My faith never wavered.

God knew it. And God is faithful.

Make the jump. Give control of your life to Him. Life, as you know it, will never be the same.

After You've Jumped

After You’ve Jumped…

This week’s post is a follow-up to last week’s That Holy Jumping-Off Place. I couldn’t include everything that I wanted to tell you last week for two reasons. First of all, I could write an entire book on completely putting your life in God’s hands, and I couldn’t assume that you’d want to read a book on the subject; at least, not one written by yours truly! Secondly, and perhaps the main reason for “cutting it short”, was that I had a really hard time focusing on the task at hand.  As a matter of fact, the post came close to not happening at all! You see, it is my honest belief that last week I was under attack from Satan.

That’s what I want to talk about first, and I’m going to recall a thought that I offered to you two weeks ago in Did Jesus Know?

When life is dealing you fits is when Satan is working his hardest! When our attention is on our situation at work, or on our finances, or raising our children, or on a spat that we may have had with our spouse, Satan comes in to plant the seeds of doubt, anger, hatred, or any other negative and evil thoughts that are his trademarks!

I had some kind of stomach virus in the wee hours of Sunday morning before last Monday’s post. Having survived whatever it was, Jackie and I went to breakfast and then to church with some of our closest friends. After church, and still not feeling all that great, I returned home to work on The Seed of Hope. I had a small window of time in which to write, and I was hoping to complete the post before our family arrived for dinner that evening.

Didn’t happen…

I had been writing for about ten minutes, really getting into the flow of the post and liking where it was going; and the phone rang. After a short conversation with my mom, I went back to writing; and the phone rang. Jackie was visiting with her mom, and thought that she’d touch base with me. Back to writing, and you guessed it: the phone rang. That’s pretty much the way it went for the next hour or so. Start. Stop. Start. Stop. I don’t know if you’ve ever taken a crack at writing, but it’s hard for me to stay focused when there’s one interruption after the other; I was getting really frustrated.

To make matters even worse, I suddenly realized that my foot was killing me. I was having an acute attack of Gout! (Gout is a severe inflammation of a joint that comes with no advance warning. A lady once told me that her Gout attacks were more painful than giving birth to her son!) The Gout, quite obviously, only added to my level of frustration.

And just when I thought that nothing else could possibly happen to distract me even more, our son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren arrive for dinner an hour-and-a-half early for dinner! Our grandchildren were gonna spend the night with us, so I closed my laptop for the day. I would have plenty of time to finish the post early the next morning.

I went to bed later that night with a stomach still tender from the night before, a foot that was absolutely throbbing, and a little frustrated from the way the afternoon had played out. The only saving grace was the presence of my wife Jackie, and our two heart-stealing grandchildren, Stephen and Isabella. I prayed for the next day to be better.

Monday morning I rolled out of bed at five forty-five and hobbled into the kitchen to sit in my favorite chair, my “prayer chair”, to finish the post. Hopefully, I would have at least forty-five minutes of quiet time before our home came to life.

As always, I offered a prayer asking God to give me the words to reach you, then turned on my laptop, waiting for inspiration. And I waited. And waited. Nothing. Only leftover mental “junk” from the previous day. Before I knew it, thirty minutes had elapsed and the house was a buzzing with activity. I was frustrated. I felt helpless. And I was mad. I slammed my laptop shut, went on a rant, and…

Jackie was the recipient. “I’m not gonna write The Seed of Hope any more. It’s not fair for me to have to start and stop all the time. I don’t have a built in On-Off switch. It’s not like I’m writing jokes…I’m tryin’ to lead people to Jesus, or at least make them think about Him more often. I’m done. I can’t do this. If God wants me to write for Him, then He’s gotta give me the time to do it. The Seed of Hope is over!”

Jackie sat in silence as I finished my tirade. I was stunned by my outburst. I was mad, and hurting, and curiously enough, embarrassed by my remarks. I believe that Jackie sensed what I was feeling, and she suggested that I take my laptop and my Bible to the sitting room upstairs, away from everyone.

Which was exactly what I did. Several prayers and an hour later the post was finished. I wasn’t really happy with it, but I was both relieved and thankful that it was done. It was on the site a little after nine o’clock, which was much later than usual, but I figured that it was better later than not at all.

Why did I want to share this with you?

Look, less than a year ago I was standing at that “Holy Jumping-Off Place.” And I made a commitment to jump. Realizing that “my way” was getting me nowhere, and quite honestly hadn’t for fifty-six years, I just gave it all to God. He’s doing the driving; I’m doing the riding. And I tell you, I have never felt closer to God, or surrounded by His presence.

BUT, that doesn’t mean that my life is always easy, or that I don’t have to work on my faith daily, or that Satan has to leave me alone!

Quite the contrary, especially when it comes to Satan. He seems to come after even more, especially when I’m writin’ for Jesus, or when I’m not feeling well, or when I’m distracted. He is a powerful, deceptive, and worthy adversary indeed, and there’s nothing that he would like more than for me to stop writing. But guess what?

IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN! I’M STILL HERE, AND I’M STILL WRITING!

What I’m trying to tell you is this:

Don’t think that life becomes a cake-walk when you make that jump. I’m not trying to scare you, but things may actually get harder. You see, Satan doesn’t like losing, and as long as he thinks that he has a chance of “reclaiming” you, he will be relentless in his efforts to do exactly that!

At first, you may have to jump again, and again, and again. Believe me, it’s worth the effort.

In next week’s post, which will be the last installment of this “series” (I feel like I’m at Church of The Highlands), I’m gonna share a short story about what happens when you make that jump from “That Holy Jumping-Off Place” a permanent one.

That "Holy Jumping-Off Place"

Earlier this week I was having a conversation with a long-time friend about God, faith, and life, which, if you haven’t already figured out, are three of my favorite topics.

So this friend, (I’ll call her Lucy) called to ask me for some advice. She told me that she attends church every Sunday, asking God to help her in relationships, and for solutions in a few situations in her life…

“I’m in church every Sunday, and I pray to God for help all the time, but nothing is getting better. Sometimes it seems as if things are actually worse. Why isn’t He listening, Sam? Why isn’t He answering my prayers? Why can’t I be happy? Am I doing something wrong?”

Fear!

No, that wasn’t my answer to Lucy’s questions! Fear was what I was feeling as Lucy was asking me for some insight into her petitions, and into God.

You see, I’m always telling people to give all their problems to God…to turn to Him in times of trouble…to ask Him for help and then let Him work. Look to Him for compassion, strength, understanding, and wisdom; all those things, and more. Ask Him!

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

So I’m listening to Lucy pour her heart out to me, voice trembling as she fought back tears. And all the while, I’m praying, “God please give me the right words for her. Give me some insight, please. Holy Spirit, please give me counsel that I might help this friend who has turned to me for guidance. Show me what I am missing, that I might help her in some small way. Please.”

We continued talking, and for the next five or ten minutes I hit Lucy with a barrage of questions, trying to find some small clue as to why she continued to be so miserable with her life and with herself.

And then it hit me…

Lucy hadn’t come to that “Holy Jumping-off Place!”

What’s that? Never heard of it before? Wondering where it is? Before I answer your questions, let me share a couple of thoughts with you.

Have you attended a camp or seminar that included an exercise that would build your trust in other people? The exercise goes something like this:

You team up with one or two individuals. When it’s your turn, you stand with your arms folded across your chest. Next, you close your eyes, take a deep breath and, keeping your legs straight, lean backwards until you begin to fall. Eyes still closed, arms still crossed, you brace for the impact of your body slamming against the floor; but it never comes. The person standing behind you catches you before your fall comes to an abrupt halt.

I can easily recall the doubt and fear that swept through my mind the first time I tried this, even though I was with my best friend! And you know, looking back on that day I don’t think that it would have mattered who was standing behind me; it could have been my Momma or my Daddy, and I still wouldn’t have trusted either of them completely to catch me!  

I remember the first time that I walked up to the South rim of the Grand Canyon. I was fifty years old, and I had dreamed about the day since I was a child. As I stood at the edge, taking in the splendor and awesome beauty of God’s handiwork, I was overcome with emotion.

And I was overcome with absolute panic! I just knew that, despite having been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, that my weight was gonna cause the rock ledge that I was standing on to crash down to the canyon floor, hundreds of feet below me! Fighting back the urge to turn and run, I remained where I was; partially because I wanted to overcome my fears, and partially because I was scared stiff! I just couldn’t get my feet to cooperate with my brain! And I couldn’t imagine falling that far…

The Holy Jumping-Off Place is scarier than the edge of the Grand Canyon or a trust-building exercise could ever be. It’s more than the fear of falling, or a fear of heights, or a fear of trusting someone to catch you. It’s not found in a church, though I guess that it could be. It’s not found in a prayer or a petition for a relationship, or a job, or a material possession.

The holy jumping-off place is in our minds, and in our hearts.

It’s a place that we come to in our walk with Jesus. It’s a crossroad, an intersection, a “Y” in the road. It’s not only standing at the rim of that canyon, but allowing ourselves to fall, knowing that God is gonna catch us. It’s a point in our lives when we make the decision to completely put ourselves in God’s hands, not necessarily because we want to, but because we realize that we have to.

Here’s the thing: we’re always gonna make bad decisions, and make mistakes. We’re gonna have doubts. We’re gonna stumble and fall. We’re gonna have struggles. We’re gonna hit bumps in the road of life. We’re gonna have rough spots in relationships. We’re gonna be tempted by Satan. We’re gonna have health issues. And in the end, we’re gonna die.

Why?

Well, because we’re human. And because, contrary to what most of us would like to think, we are weak; even the strongest of us.

It’s when we accept our weaknesses, our flaws, our human frailties, and turn to God for all that we are, and all that we do, and all that we hope for, that we receive His strength!

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

When we stand at that holy jumping-off place, and jump into God’s waiting arms, we find…happiness, joy, love, strength, wisdom, and knowledge. And we find the one thing that I believe is the most elusive for all of us: peace of mind.

If you’ve “been there and done that”, you’ve already tasted the sweetness of the reward that comes from putting your life in His hands.

If you haven’t given your life to Him, I urge you to do so. Your life will change in ways that you cannot even imagine. Yeah, I know that the notion of giving control of your life to God can be a scary thought, but that is fear talking to you!

Starting today, starting right now, give control of your life to God. Yes, you can do it; it will only be as hard for you as you allow it to be. Need some courage? Ask the Holy Spirit for it. Don’t want to go it alone? Ask Jesus to hold your hand. Seek God’s face in prayer, admit your weakness to Him, and receive His strength.

You’re at that place right now. What are you waiting for?

JUMP!

He’ll be there to catch you.