"WOW...FIGURED IT OUT!"

Don't you hate it when you are sitting there, minding your own business, and God comes along and shakes up your world? Says something outrageous like... "leave your country, your people and your parents' household and go to a land I will show you."

I think about Gary Coleman from the TV show "Different Strokes" with his hands on his hips saying, "What you talkin' about Willis?" I want to say, "What you talkin' about God?"

God meets us right where we are and pulls our shirt-sleeve to say, "Let's Go!"

The tugging, in and of itself, is not painful. THE OBSTACLE THAT CAUSES OUR PAIN IS RESISTING GOD'S CALL. We fail to answer so God has to get louder.

We have many fine reasons for our resistance:

1) God can't mean me. God knows I could never do it.

2) Maybe it is not God telling me to take the risk. Its seems a little crazy to listen to this faint inner voice and turn my life upside down.

3) My life was okay until God started bugging me.

To one degree or another, all of these reasons are valid.

1) You can't do it, whatever seemingly insurmountable task that you are resisting, but God can do it through you.

2) Maybe, it is NOT God talking to you, however, consider that Abram, probably, felt a little nutsy being told that he would be made a great nation when his wife, Sarai, was barren.

Moses, most likely, felt a bit crazy when a bush talked to him about freeing his people from captivity.

Mary might have thought she had a bad camel's milk latte when she heard the angel tell her that she, a virgin, would carry the Child of God.

What if they had dismissed God's call or not recognized God's voice? Where would we be?

Do you think that you are somehow less important to God's plan of salvation for the world than they are/were? We all have a part to play and if you to one person are an Abram, a Moses or a Mary(no pun intended) it matters to God.

3) Maybe your life has been okay without listening to God but did it ever occur to you that God wants you to wake up each morning and say, " My life is spectacular...I have a unique purpose...Praise God!"

It is a challenge to leave our comfort zones and try new things, meet new people, and be used, by God, in new ways.

God promised Abram, the man with the barren wife, that a great nation would be made of him. To be barren, in the ancient world, was to be without hope. Yet, God promised Abram a future. We are not called to do anything alone, but rather, within the context of a supportive community.

Sometimes following God can feel lonely, but only, if we look around us we find others on the path.

I had the opportunity to walk the Labyrinth, which is a kind of meditation tool, a path that helps you explore the place, in the right side of your brain, beyond language where you and God connect.

It struck me that even though people walked ahead of me or behind me, they, too, walked the same path as I did. We all made it to the center, just as we are all on a path to God. In the center, we are individuals, and yet, we are a community of seekers, together on a common journey.

The promises of God to Abram pose some interesting questions for us to ponder and pray about:

1) What are the barren areas in the landscape of our spiritual lives, the places of diminished hope that need God's touch?

2) Do we isolate ourselves, physically, emotionally or spiritually, from others?

3) Do we believe that Christ calls us to be a nation, not a political entity, but a unified community of interdependent beings?

4) Do we believe that if enough people listen to the still small voice of God, and find the courage through grace to follow God's voice that the world could be a beautiful place without violence, hunger, poverty and discord?

God promised to make Abram's name great. His name is changed to Abraham. Name changes, in our world, signify a shift in how we perceive ourselves.

I once knew a woman who was born, "Linda Marie Stanley" but she changed her name to "Fearn Neon Ruis." She chose her new name based on the names of months on a lunar calendar.

I used to tease her and tell her that I changed my name to "Kenmore Rinse Cycle"...I got it from a washer.

If you are of the opinion that names mean nothing...ask my Jr. High classmate, "Hugh Bean." A witty child, who shall remain nameless, started calling the poor kid "Hugh ‘Man' Bean."

Name changes, in the Bible, often signify a change in one's relationship to God. Abram's name is made great and he will be a blessing. ABRAM IS A CHANNEL FOR THE BLESSING, NOT ONLY THE RECIPIENT OF THE BLESSING.

Do you, like me, ever become so focused on receiving a blessing that you fail to be a blessing? The process of being open to God is what makes us able to see the blessings in our lives.

"BLESSING," IN THIS INSTANCE, IS TRANSLATED FROM A HEBREW WORD "BEREKAH" WHICH MEANS, "THE SURE KNOWLEDGE THAT GOD IS BOTH THE GIVER AND THE GIFT."

We can live our lives as a sign of God's love and provision for us. We decide on a daily basis what kind of energy that we put out into the world, negative or positive. Said another way, you determine whether you are a blessing or curse to those you meet.

Will you be bearers of Christ's light to those who live in darkness or will you save your shine for situations that meet your specifications?

God tells Abram something very important about the power of human attitude and behavior when God says, "I will bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. All the people of the earth will be blessed through you."

We are responsible for conveying peace, hope and joy in a world filled with enmity, despair and sadness. Can you imagine God saying to you, "All the people of the earth will be blessed through you?"

It is truly amazing to think about the kind of power God gave Abram and, ultimately, God gave us. We have the power to bless each other. We bless one another by recognizing the divine spark of Christ in each other. We bless one another by acknowledging the divine presence within each other.

In Thailand people greet one another by saying, "Namaste" which means, "the divine in me salutes the divine in you."

How would our world be a different place if every time we saw another human being we said that to each other? We bless each other by our very presence. When we are really present to another we become a tangible sign of God's presence with them.

Who are the people in your life who show you God is with you? Do they know that they are blessings to you? When we have contact with God on a daily basis we begin to see how God expresses God's self in our unique individual lives.

God, alone, can enable us to become blessings to those around us. We each get to dance with the Maker to our very own song. People search their whole lives for a sense of identity and belonging. They look for meaning in relationships, in jobs, in the race for the best toys. The truest self is revealed to us within our own hearts when we take the time to commune with God. Our hearts are, often, the last place we look for identity and belonging.

I am so richly blessed in my ministry here. Whenever we close a LIFEline group we stand in a circle and I say each person's name and remind folks that they are beloved children of God, made in God's image and likeness, and to never to let anyone tell them anything different. It is one of the most meaningful times to me.

I pray daily that God will let that those sentiments will be my legacy to MCCGSL because I believe it with every fiber of my being.

God's promise to Abraham is God's promise to us.

May you be a blessing to someone today! May your life be rich in love and in purpose! May the voice of God call your name and give you the courage to answer! Amen!

Wow...Figured it out! Sue

Amen and God Bless.

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