Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

Working Restfully

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We were created to work out of a place of rest, Sally writes in a beautiful blog post.
Indeed!
These are increasingly red lights for me: Being over-tired, being stressed, over-working, being anxious, obsessing.
Because you see, his yoke is easy, and his burden light.
 
When I am doing too much, am rushing ahead of him, am doing what I am not called to do, or doing more than I am called to do today, I am—no wonder!!—tired.
I love the image of two oxen in tandem, walking together, the experienced ox setting the pace for the younger one, while the yoke they bear makes the shifting of enormous loads relatively easy.
And that is how I want to go through my day, and sometimes do—with frequent rest breaks, prayer breaks, to make sure I am still plodding beside my lovely ox friend, going where he intends me to go—and at the pace he intends.
And here is an excerpt from Sally’s beautiful blog:
I was struck again that humanity was created to work from a place of rest; God rested and took in the wonder of his creation, and he invites us to rest with him. To enjoy being in his company, to revel in our createdness, to be before we ever start to do! I believe that we need to recapture the art of being, not simply the art of relaxing, because quite often relaxing is a form of doing….
We need to be in God’s presence, to be rekindled by the breath that gives us life,to breathe his air, to receive renewal for our souls and minds, spirits and bodies. To remember that we were not created to do anything alone, but rather to be in communion with the one who lovingly fashioned us in his image from the dust and called us his own.
In “Life After God” Douglas Coupland writes,
“Now here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God- that I am sick and I can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me to give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.”
I need God, I need God because I can’t do life alone, and when I try I soon run out of steam and find myself incapable of life. We weren’t made to do things for God, God does not want us to do things for him, we were made to live out a life with God, “to live and move and have our being in God.” (Acts 17:28).
As one who was always striving to do more, and to be more, this was and continues to be a deep revelation and challenge to me, and I pray that it will continue to be so. When I am “in” Christ, with God I am freed from the need to perform, I don’t have to do anything for:
“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3)
So here I am, sick and unable to be a disciple without him, and that is OK, because that is how it should be             

An Indian Summer and personal catch-up

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An older picture of our house on an Indian summer day. Except we now have a 30 sq. m conservatory in front of the white wall.

 

It’s a gorgeous Indian Summer in Oxford at the moment. I said to Roy, “The weather is so beautiful. I want to go on holiday.”

Roy, who most certainly did not want to go on holiday, said, “Well, go on holiday right here. I am taking a holiday day. I am cleaning out the garage. Join me.”
And so, ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to join him in an Indian Summer holiday. Not in cleaning out the garage, though. (Whoever decided gender roles has generally allocated barbecues, mowing the lawn, and cleaning out sheds and garages as male jobs, and far be it from me to mess with gender roles in this case).
I am going to have an Indian summer holiday at home for a few days–rest, pray, garden, declutter, exercise, and then return to writing fresh and unjaded!! Getting together with friends tonight, Friday and on Saturday, at their homes, which is great, company without cleaning.
Incidentally, holidays at home usually do not work for me–I get magnetically attracted to my laptop and books. But I am going to take 3 hours a day at least off the grid and books to exercise, garden, and do some home-loving.
We have two sets of guests coming over next week–and suddenly I looked at my home and garden critically and dispassionately. Yeah, some work could be done to restore some beauty!
* * *
You know, I always assumed that an Indian summer meant a summer like those in India. Yeah, me and Columbus–quite unimaginative!!
However, I listened to Daniel Boorstin’s brilliant history of America on tape a couple of decades ago. In The Americans: The Colonial Experience he tells us the etymology of the phrase. The brilliant summer like weather in the middle of autumn tempted the early settlers out of their walled encampments to enjoy the surprise gift of sunshine.
And behold, Indian raiding parties came thundering down, on the unwitting settlers soaking in the last bit of sunshine. The summer of the Indians. Indian summer!

God is the most winsome of all beings and His service one of unspeakable pleasure–A.W. Tozer

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Satan’s first attack on the human race was his sly effort to destroy Eve’s confidence in the kindness of God. Unfortunately for her and for us, he succeeded too well. From that day, men have had a false conception of God, and it is exactly this that has cut from under them the ground of righteousness and driven them to reckless and destructive living…

…The God of the Pharisee was not a God easy to live with, so his religion became grim and hard and loveless…

…The truth is that God is the most winsome of all beings and His service one of unspeakable pleasure…

…How good it would be if we could learn that God is easy to live with. He remembers our frame and knows that we are dust. He may sometimes chasten us, it is true, but even this He does with a smile, the proud tender smile of a Father who is bursting with pleasure over an imperfect but promising son who is coming every day to look more and more like the One whose child he is…

from the The Best of Tozer, Baker 1978 edition, pp. 120-122

Certainly not all of the mystery of the Godhead can be known by man–but just as certainly, all that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ! When the Apostle Paul said with yearning, “That I may know Him,” he was not speaking of intellectual knowledge. Paul was speaking of the reality of an experience of knowing God personally and consciously, spirit touching spirit and heart touching heart. We know that people spend a lot of time talking about a deeper Christian life–but few seem to want to know and love God for Himself. The precious fact is that God is the deeper life! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life. And as I plunge on into the knowledge of the triune God, my heart moves on into the blessedness of His fellowship. This means that there is less of me and more of God–thus my spiritual life deepens and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will.

–A.W. Tozer


Thank you to Paul at Thinking out Loud for these lovely excerpts from Tozer’s work.

Busyness is not just FROM the Devil, it IS the Devil (Carl Gustav Jung)

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An interesting idea to explore. I came across that statement about 25 years ago in Richard Foster’s classic, “Celebration of Discipline.” As someone who always has lots of books and movies she wants to read and see, places she wants to travel to, people she wants to hang out with, and things she wants to write, I have often been over-busy. Remembering that quote helps me to prune to increase fruitfulness.

Now, for the first time in our married life (22 years!), we are not over-busy. How wonderful that is, to allow the soul to breathe, to catch up with little domestic things we have long intended to do.
Busyness is indeed one of the great enemies of the spiritual life–like ambition, materialism, pride, oh, all those deadly seven…

And how does one become less busy. In the Biblical phrase, “Enquire of the Lord” before you commit to doing things, choose a book to read, choose a project to commit to, write a blog post.

And this will take a lifetime’s practice!!

A Guest Post from Dick Woodward: Soar on Wings like Eagles

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And here is the last in my two week series of guest posts. Thank you very much everyone who has graciously written one for me.

The experience of looking at the same verse through the eyes and experience of guest posters from five continents has been an interesting and enlightening one. I hope to repeat it the next time I come across a Scriptural concept I do not understand, such as “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth”–which stumped me.
However, God willing, I shall return to regular programming and write my own blog posts from tomorrow–before I entirely forget how to write.
I hope you enjoyed the series of guest posts as much as I did. I would be grateful for any feedback. Leave it anonymously if you prefer.
And thank you again to the brilliant, wonderful guest posters!

“Dick Woodward can’t move anything below his neck. But that hasn’t prevented him from training and mentoring pastors around the world.”

Dick Woodward founded and pastored both the Virginia Beach Community Chapel and the Williamsburg Community Chapel, where he remains as pastor emeritus. His Mini Bible College, available in print, audio and electronically, has been translated into more than 26 strategic languages and is disseminated by ICM around the world to nurture believers. The Mini Bible College is a survey and topical study of the Bible that teaches practical and devotional applications of every book of the Bible to our lives.


Read previous posts about Dick Woodward at “How to Change the World from Your Bed.” or here.


Dick Woodward’s blog is 4 Spiritual Secrets. Visit ICM at http://www.icm.org/


I am honoured to run this guest post by Dick Woodward!

For those who are interested, Dick Woodward has given me permission to publish his extended reflection on this verse here . So make yourself a good cup of tea, and snuggle up with it!! Here is a brief reflection.



“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles…” (Isaiah 40:31)

The Golden Eagle in the Mediterranean likes to build its nest at least ten thousand feet above sea leve, preferably in a Crag near the top of a cliff. From that elevation the eagle can see a storm approaching while the storm is still far off. With great patience the eagle waits until the winds of that storm reach a very high velocity and engulf the eagle and its nest. The eagle then leaps fifteen feet from its nest directly into the adverse wind of that storm. This adverse wind gives the eagle the lift and aerodynamics it needs to soar over that storm.

When the prophet Isaiah exhorts the people of God to mount up with wings as eagles do,he is referring to this storm strategy of the eagle. When a storm comes into our life, our reflex response should not always be to ask God to deliver us from the storm. We should consider applying this exhortation of Isaiah. We can wait on the Lord until He shows us it is the right time. Then we can leap into the adverse winds of that storm and find in them the spiritual aerodynamics to soar over that storm.

When the Church was born at Pentecost the great miracle happened after the apostles had waited on the Lord for forty days. The apostles found miraculous spiritual aerodynamics by moving out against severe persecution, obeying the Great Commission,and making disciples for Jesus Christ.

When God permits or directs a storm into your life and mine, are we willing to wait on the Lord until He gives us the power to soar over that storm?

Those who Wait on the Lord will Renew their Strength: A Guest Post by Rhoda of Living to Please God

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This week’s theme is a verse from Isaiah

Those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40 :31).

Have you experienced this? Has this been true in your experience? Tell me your story. Email me at [email protected] or contact me through the comments.


Today’s guest post is from Rhoda, the wife of an American missionary and pastor, and a homeschooling mother of three little ones. She is English and they live and minister in Wales in the UK. Her blog is Living to Please God .
Rhoda suggests you check out Compassion

My Journey out of Continual Tiredness


I went to a retreat last year, knowing that my struggle above all else, was tiredness… continual tiredness from caring for three small children. Then I saw this verse come up on the screen overhead and it suddenly hit me.

‘Those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.’ Isaiah 40:31

It is a promise from God – ‘those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength’. He will renew our strength IF we wait on Him. I KNEW these verses, but I hadn’t applied them to my situation… and when I did, it was life-changing.

Promises from God never fail because He is eternally faithful. I realise that some people have physical illnesses which go hand in hand with tiredness, and that’s not what I think this is talking about, or that we will never be tired again. But I believe God was telling me I don’t need to live like this!

So if waiting on God would renew my strength, then I had to find out how!

I have come to the conclusion that at least two practical things are needed in waiting on God:

1. Time spent with Him in prayer and reading His word

2. Taking time to find out what He wants us to do concerning our decisions, schedule and commitments.
Spending Time with God

Ever since we had our first newborn baby, I had decreased my time that I spent with God, and it was a bit haphazard. I would try to do it in the morning, but often fail because of being too tired to get up early. Then later on in the day, I didn’t have a set time for it, so it was squished in somewhere and not as good.

After the retreat I came to the conclusion that this verse meant I needed to spend more time with God if I am tired, not less! So I increased my devotional time and made a special slot for it in the afternoons when the children were up in their rooms. That way if I didn’t manage to get up early, I would have a scheduled time in the afternoon to doit.

The change has been amazing! It took a few months before the tiredness started easing, but it did, and I know it is due to this change more than anything else.

Finding God’s Will

I also prayed and thought hard to try and figure out what God wanted me to do with my time and before committing to anything. This has meant that I have sacrificed doing some things I would have liked to have done, but in the end I would rather be in God’s will.

There are a tonne of good things we can do, but they may not be the best things, and we can stretch ourselves so thin that we’re not doing our most important jobs well.

I love that now when people ask me how I am, I don’t have to say either “I’m tired”; or “I’m fine” but not really mean it! I am able to enjoy my children, and be more joyful and hopefully more fruitful.

Maybe if you are struggling with tiredness you could figure out how to spend more time with God every day, and pray to make sure that you are doing the things that He wants you to be doing?

Have you ever found that spending time with God has helped give you more strength during busy seasons? I would love to hear about it if you want to share in the comments.

A Guest Post by Jan Sassenberg: The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

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I love this post in which my friend, Jan Sassenberg grapples with the statement that the meek shall inherit the earth.

Jan and Karoline Sassenberg, who were born in Germany, have been serving for the last three years with WORD MADE FLESH in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Find out more at www.wordmadeflesh.org or email thesassenbergsATyahoo.co.uk.

Jan and Karoline Sassenberg


Blessed are the Meek and the Great Commission

As a teenager, I was scared of the Beatitudes. Brought up in a conservative Free Evangelical Church, it didn’t make sense to me that Christ’s longest and best recorded sermon opened with words about the poor, the meek and the persecuted. Why not have the most important come first? Why not start with: “Surrender to me, Jesus, and you shall be saved!” Was Jesus perhaps more political than my pastors and teachers wanted me to believe? Too scared of becoming “a liberal” and of watering down the gospel I did not dare following this uncomfortable train of thought.


By now, 20 years later, without abandoning my love and complete trust in God’s precious word, I am not scared of liberals anymore. I sometimes rather enjoy looking at our faith from their fresh perspective.

Now, I can see the Beatitudes inspiring South American church leaders to instigate peaceful revolutions against dictators and drug cartels. I am humbled when seeing how liberation theology has given a voice to the voiceless and oppressed.

Now, I live in Sierra Leone, West Africa, as member of Word Made Flesh, a community that is dedicated to serving Jesus among the poorest of the poor of this world. We are reaching out into the slums and favelas of the booming mega cities in the majority world, or as I prefer to call it, the oppressed world. We want to be Jesus’ hands and feet, touching the untouchables, protecting the orphan children, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, comforting the broken, sheltering the homeless.

Nevertheless, I still find myself puzzled over Jesus’ radical claim. What is it that Christ praises about the attitude of meekness? How can he promise the meek to inherit the earth? Does this reflect reality in a world ruled by social injustice, cruelty, and the survival of the most brutal?


Matthew’s third Beatitude is particularly uncomfortable as it is the only one with the promise of a reward in this world rather than in heaven. All other Beatitudes could be interpreted as finding their fulfillment solely in the after-world: being comforted, hunger being stilled, shown mercy, seeing God, being called sons of God and receiving the kingdom of heaven.

With the blessing of the meek, however, you need to bend the text far to say that “inheriting the earth” simply means inheriting the Christian’s promised land, our eternal home in heaven. I want to believe that this blessing as much as all of them have direct relevance to our identity in Christ now, on this side of the curtain. We know that the promised kingdom of Christ has already started to appear. We believe that we are not just having to wait it out until we reach the other side.

The word “meek” implies peacefulness although it does not only mean the act of peacemaking. The peacemakers receive their own promise later. With the word “meek” Jesus uses the same expression as in His self proclamation: “Come to me, all you who are weary for I am meek and humble in heart.” (Mat. 11:32) The NIV translates “… for I am gentle…”. Jesus is calling to himself the weary and a few verses later Jesus refers to himself as the one who does not quench the smoldering wick.


In Jesus’ own ministry, meekness and humilty are inseparably linked to ministering to the weak and broken. Jesus himself demonstrates his mild and humble approach when he kindly rebukes Martha’s busy bitterness towards her sister Mary. His loving gentleness is woven into his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. But despite the softness of his gloves, Jesus is never a conflict-avoiding harmony seeker. He corrects in love.

So how will such a meek disciple inherit the earth? As with all Beatitudes, Jesus does not come up with new ideas but refers here to the Old Testament. Psalm 37:11 says: “The Meek will inherit the land.” From the patriarchs to Jesus’ day, the Israelites had been anticipating the fulfillment of this promise. Becoming again a sovereign independent nation was the ultimate Jewish dream.


But now that Jesus, who said he did not come to abandon the law but to fulfill it, announces his own mission, he goes way beyond that. He promises the whole earth but he does not refer to political power. Jesus speaks here of the new worldwide “Kingdom of God“. We see this wider perspective throughout all his teaching. Asked about taxes Jesus says, “Give to Caesar, what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God.” He refuses to be made king. And nearly all his parables are starting with the phrase: “The kingdom of God is like…” (a mustard seed etc…) All Jesus cares about is to birth this kingdom. Jesus promises “the earth” because it is His declared intention to expand his father’s Kingdom to the very last corner of this planet.

So, how does meekness empower us to reach this world for Christ? Is global mission a question of converting souls, large stadium crusades, and efficient strategies?


Are we in our churches more interested in the message than the recipient? How often do we in our churches and missions run our programmes by means of superior knowledge, skills, finances and powers? And how much do we really achieve with that? Jesus invites us back to caring for the one in front of us. Investing our time, resources and compassion in the “hopeless cases”.

In our community in Freetown, Sierra Leone, we find ourselves often overwhelmed by the vastness of the suffering around us. Children beaten mercilessly and dying needlessly, young women forced into prostitution, hopeless unemployed men turning to crimes and drugs. But in all this we find that God can use us best, when we turn away from programmes and let God use us in our weaknesses and limitations. Where He brings us low we are ready to truly meet our friends in the slum of Kroo Bay at their level. And when we gently touch wounds we see God touch and heal and restore.