Shea Writes...: February 2017

Hey friends!

I'm just going to be honest and say that in just a few ways, my 2017 started today. Maybe it’s the same for you. It’s not typical that I rush to define my new year in a word or verse until one settles in my heart - so this one came about two weeks ago in the thick of all that is life right now.

Life in the USA – that is.

January could've been a full year in and of itself. The swift changes, sharp repercussions, tensions, sadness, the flaring passions, and frustrations – like the vision of a kaleidoscope and the twist of its dial by hand, it seems that complexities have either multiplied, or re-presented themselves. And the view isn’t exactly beautiful or awe-inspiring – but it does call for a real response – an honest, practical, reasonable, what do we do now - JESUS kind of response.

I have carried a few burdens in my heart. I have watched. I have prayed. I’ve gotten angry, and I’ve calmed down. I’m concerned for the vulnerable. I am intrigued and eager to converse with those who stand on a certain few convictions – I am worried about the ones who want to shut their ears and pretend none of this is happening – but, most of all, I am concerned for the body of Christ –

Which Jesus are we giving the world right now?

Is it the One in the bible?

What are we saying?

What are we not saying?

New President. Same God. Bigger Problems… What to do?

These are real questions that need real answers.

As political and moral reasoning become more polarized, we are forced to ask what this year will mean for us. And future events don’t have to define us any more than we can predict what is to come, but will we stick our heads in the sand and play dumb? Or is there a story to be written about the part we played when times got tougher?

And not just for ourselves – for everyone.

Are we praying? What are we doing?

And what is true on the inside?

Where are our convictions coming from? And what are we going to do with them?

What is informing our hearts?

Being unclear and undecided has long gone out of style. And staying in the gray isn’t enough. Where are our markers?

Eventually, we’ll have to know what we believe and why we believe it. And whether the kings of the earth will dictate what we think – or our King in Heaven. This is about the moment we’re asked to pick a side & take a stand - and knowing right now, in advance, what we’d stand for. Of all the sub-goals I have for this year, it's bigger than what's personal -- 2017 screams “Come Up Higher.”

Will my fears inform me or His Word? Will I take on the responsibility of an aggressive prayer life - the kind that moves mountains, the kind that God initiates - the kind that God sustains? Am I going to obey when it's time to get to work? Am I a responsible carrier of the light & hope of Christ?

Self reflection time -

Are we sleepwalking, or are we wide awake?

I think of the disciples who fell asleep while on post when Jesus went away to pray and I find that the last thing I’d want to be is caught sleeping on the job by my Savior.

We can’t afford to do that now.

As long as we are here, the world should see and hear and feel Jesus. He’s trusting us with Himself. Will we walk worthy of the call?

To defend the voiceless – provide for the least of these – love the outcast – and spread truth and love… We know who our Father is, but do we know what He wants?? Are we truly about the Father’s business? Are we jointly fit together? Is the Body of Christ, united and alert or divided and distracted? Are we too bent up on who’s Democrat and who’s a Republican?

God is much bigger than politics.

It’s time we function from what we agree on & not what we don’t.

Bottom line: JESUS

What really matters? Whatever matters to Him..

Where do we take Him? To this world.