Performance
Because we are such a large family, we decided two years ago that instead of buying expensive presents we would make handmade gifts for one another. It has been so much fun. One son arrived home two years ago, having procrastinated and had no gift. He grabbed his Pop's chain saw and headed to the woods and sawed up a large limb. Then he took a picture of himself and one of girlfriend. I am guessing he ran up to the drug store and had copies made and then he shellacked them to the pieces of wood and everyone received a pair of drink coasters!
This year I decided to make a gift I would give early. I contacted a neighbor whom I knew had a workshop and asked if he would instruct me in cutting out seven, twelve piece nativity scenes. He felt I was in WAY over my head, but I persevered, broke two of his blades (which I paid to replace), and was thrilled with the outcome.
Yesterday, I was sanding another wooden project. Sanding, like weeding, is a great activity which affords you the opportunity for contemplative thinking and being still before the Lord. I began to pray for the young high school quarterback I've told you about. His team will play in the South Carolina State Football Championships Saturday. Throughout the season it has been a blessing to pray for this young man. He already has a scholarship offer from LSU!
While praying, the Lord gave me the word performance. My mind was drawn away from football for a moment to this time of year. Whew. Christmas brings about a lot of performance (cooking, gift giving, decorating, parties, musicals, programs) and not enough being still with Jesus. God doesn't care about our performance he cares about the condition of our hearts. Check out Psalm 51:15-17 in the NIV and The Message.
Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
I thought back to this fabulous high school athlete. We put so much unneeded pressure on ourselves. God doesn't care how great a performance this young man puts on the field. He does care about his character and how he humbles himself and prays for the other players before the game though. God cares deeply about the condition of his heart!
Here is the same passage in The Message Translation.
May it bring you joy today and relieve you from any stress you are placing on yourself
to perform perfectly in some area of your life.
Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breath holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sales!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise.
Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.
