believers are like Ninjas

My brother in law brought me this Ninja thing a few months ago. Beth, you’ve got to try this, it’ll change your life, he said. And like everything new that enters my life, I put it in its proper place and eyed it suspiciously for many days. In fact, I used it for the first time just last week. 

And you guys. You have no idea.

Most mornings now find me scouring my cupboards and fridge for anything, a-ny-thing, that could provide nutritional value if  crammed inside the blender cup. It’s like a carnival of creative bliss. And when you’re finished you get to eat it. My heart’s pounding even as I’m writing this.

And since the Ninja has consumed more waking thoughts than I care to admit recently, it’s started to remind me of something else in my life. Don’t knock this analogy until you’ve read it, k?

Believers are actually like Ninjas because…

The visible product will not look like the ingredients inside.

I have yet to make a smoothie in my Ninja that does not look like poop or puke. Seriously. Once blended, my smoothies appear nasty, intimidating, and unlovely. This is sensational to me, because I know what went inside them. Fresh kale, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, blueberries, mango juice, a banana for cryin’ out loud. Vibrant ingredients. Healthy. Delicious…but the product leaves something to be desired aesthetically. If I didn’t know the contents, I would probably scream and hurl it out my kitchen window.

Believers are like that. (not the throwing out the window thing, k?) Each one has beautiful ingredients. A thrilling story of personal salvation unique to them. Accounts of God’s grace, mercy, goodness, provision, and sovereign care. And every believer’s personality has elements, or some likeness, of God’s personality. He made us like that. BUT often what we see on the outside is not so beautiful as those ingredients. We may see the glaring idiosyncracies. The worn look of a long spiritual battle. The result of a sleepless night or secret physical condition or ongoing trial.  Or (shocker) a believer that is drastically different than ourselves. All these and more can make for intimidating, overwhelming, or unlovely believers on face value.

So get close enough to discern the ingredients. Get skilled at asking questions that will draw out the beauty in each believer. Take time to discern the lovely inside them. It’s there. Because Christ is at work there and lives there.

If you take in the contents, you will be nourished.

So this smoothie-in-the-morning thing is new to me and my stomach. I’m not quite sure if I feel like the Hulk or like I’ve been punched by the Hulk after drinking one of them.  But it’s gotta be doing me good, because I’m happy, satisfied, and nourished every time I drink in those amazing flavors and nutrients.

Believers are like that. Just this week a friend from church reached out to me through social media, one of them through prayer meeting, one of them through a coffee house chat…and I could go on. I needed what they had to offer. It’s been a rough week, folks. And they lifted up my hands. They spoke of God’s grace. Of His sovereign loving kindness, of His guidance…and as I ‘took them in,’ I was nourished.

So take time to take in the believers God’s has placed in front of you. Get up close and look into their faces and listen to their words and learn from them. You will be nourished. It’s God’s plan.

A ninja ‘out of sight’ will be a ninja ‘out of mind.’

Sooo maybe one of the reasons I didn’t use my Ninja right away was that I put it up on a high shelf in my cupboard, and high is not exactly eye level for Beth. But I had no idea what I was missing!!!!!!!!!! *facepalm* (that’s me channeling my bro-in-law) I forgot about it because I wasn’t near it. It wasn’t in a place that I saw very often. It wasn’t visible.

Believers are like that. If I’m not around them, I miss their benefits. I miss the beauty and nourishment they contain. I lack. So get creative in keeping your fellow believers visible this year. Invite them into your home. Invite yourself to their home. Call, text, chat, and IM them throughout the week. Stalk their facebook pages and act on what you see. Hang at your favorite places with them. Don’t miss a service at your church: they’re going to be there. Church is like open season for ninjas.

And to quote my bro-in-law: You’ve got to try this. It’ll change your life.

Beth

this will be the year that...

That I figure out why I hiccup when I eat spicy things.

That my home becomes a clearer reflection of who I am and what I love.

This’ll be the year I look up and around more than I stare straight ahead.

This will be the year I listen long and first, and share my opinion short and last. When I will see the beautiful in others and let love blanket the ugly.  That I am slow to pin wrongdoing and quick to point out what is worthy of praise.

This will be the year people quit saying, “You’re so perfect…” Because this'll be the year I let them close enough to see that’s not true. Close enough to see my weakness and faults. Near enough to see the shimmer of grace at work in every crevice of my imperfect. This will be the year I will have the confidence to be real because I will be confident in God’s transforming work in me. The confidence of mercy.

This will be the year I let myself relax into the joy and security and pleasure of being God’s child.

This will be the year that people are more important to me than time, and effort, and an ordered life.

I will learn to sing better and stronger.

I will learn to speak kinder and softer.

I will make my bed every morning.

I will make others laugh.

I will learn to hug and be hugged without cringing.

I will learn to receive from others without doubting the motive.

This will be the year that I glory in the season of life God has me in without gloating about it to the hurt of others.

This will be the year I learn to date better. Or simply date. Or simply date without wanting to punch someone in the gut.

This will be the year I invite my neighbors to sip sweet tea on my front porch at dusk. Also, I will learn how to make sweet tea.

I will have a garden.

I will be physically fit.

I will fill my home with the sound of families whenever possible.

This will be the year the Word of God dwells more richly in me. That my thoughts are more dominated by what God thinks than what Beth or others think. That the meditations of my heart and the words in my mouth are more acceptable in God’s sight.

This will be the year Beth’s blog moves to a better site. (btw we are getting close, folks!) That I will not be afraid anymore to let God wing my words where He wills. That I will be bold and run the direction He is leading me for the sake of His glory. For the sake of His people. For the sake of those who are not yet His people. This will be a year of exploits.

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And all these things this year will be possible because greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. Because with God all things are in the realm of possibility. Because abiding in Him will always produce extravagant fruit. Because when I ask anything in His name, He will do it. Because He will not leave me-no, not for a moment- this year. Because in Him there is all sufficiency, in all things, to do every good work.

This year will be possible, because this will be the year I believe those promises and find them to be true and effectual.

A year full-brimmed with the sweet harvest of faith.

Beth