Undulation

By Tawna Wilkinson

The other day, while reading a chapter of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, I came across a term called: the “Law of Undulation.”

The context was that human beings have an undulating relationship with everything and everyone, including their relationship with God. And by not realizing this “law,” when we are in a “trough,” as Lewis expresses it, it can lead a person into depression, or complacency.

I was intrigued, because I was in the middle of a “trough,” and had been there for a discouraging month. So, wanting to be clearer regarding undulation’s meaning, I looked it up.

• Undulate: “To move in waves or with a smooth wavelike motion. To increase and decrease in volume or pitch.” (New American Heritage Dictionary)

After that, I was reminded of a phrase from the Message translation the Lord used to encourage me during another “trough” a few years back:

• “Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” (Matthew 11:29)

A stirring appreciation enveloped me as I received a new understanding that life truly is a series of undulating experiences; wavelike motions moving me back and forth, and up and down relationally, for the purpose of teaching me the unforced rhythms of His grace.

Then, I flashed on the first week of creation. How God demonstrated the “Law of Undulation” quite nicely. Those first seven days were nothing but sweet wavelike motions emanating from Him while He spoke night and day, earth and sky, evening and morning. He established the law of ebb and flow. And He created me in His image.

What’s more, when sin did enter the picture, He didn’t change His mind. Ecclesiastics 3:1-8 makes this clear:

• “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…."

And when Jesus arrived on the scene, He continued modeling the same unforced rhythms smack dab in the middle of the brokenness, assuring me I can do the same.

Yes, sin did mess with conditions, as well as my perception of this “Law of Undulation.” However, my being aware that this was God’s design, it is His way of being, and it still is His will that I reflect the same, will better equip me to move more freely while learning the unforced rhythms of grace. And it will help me guard against being lead into the smothering heavy of depression, or complacency during my “trough” times.

Beautiful!

Jesus Sighed

By Tawna Wilkinson

                                                                                                 

                                                                         JESUS SIGHED

 “And He took him aside from the multitude, put His finger in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” (Mark 7:33, 34 NKJV)

Prior to this verse, Jesus had gone to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Having arrived there, He goes into a private home wanting “no one to know.” But, it says, “He could not be hidden.” For a Gentile woman, having a demon-possessed daughter, found out where He was and persistently begged Him to heal her; cutting short His privacy. (Mark 7:24, 25 NKJV)

Now He’s traveled back through the region of Decapolis, where previously His fame exploded where in the midst of seeking solitude and rest, the multitude pursued Him and He wound up spending the entire day healing and feeding 5000 plus people.

Now, while looking for space again, He has yet another multitude hot on His heels begging for healing. He heals. But in the midst of it, when they bring a deaf/mute to Him, He curiously “took him aside.”

Why? 

According to Matthew’s account this wasn’t the only person with a similar issue. What was different? Why the unusual treatment?

And why does Mark’s record add that after Jesus spits and puts His fingers in the man’s ears, He looks up to heaven, and sighs?

The word sigh in this passage means: to make, or be in straits; to murmur; to pray inaudibly, with the connotation of grieving or groaning. It’s the same word used when it speaks of the Spirit’s groanings in Romans 8:26:

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Here’s what I think.

Jesus is tapped.

He’s dog-tired and doesn’t know how to pray for this one, even though He’s been healing many to this point. Once again, rest and the need for quiet have eluded Him.

He’s had to deal with power going out of Him during ministry; and He’s weak and speechless. And in that place, Jesus looked up to heaven, and breathed a groaning prayer: He sighed, and the man was healed.

What an encouragement!

Although I haven’t been in the place of administering healing to thousands, I have given of myself, been past tired, and in need of solitude, just to have it interrupted, time and again.

And my Jesus, being 100% human when He walked this earth doing all He did, says to me in this passage, “I completely understand weakness and the need for solitude. Keep following Me. And when you are worn out, and have no words, look to heaven, breathe a sigh, and watch what I will do.” 

Start-Up Repair

 By Nancy Turley 

It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed,
Because His [tender] compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.
                                                                                                              Lamentations 3:23

Our dogs jumped up on our bed, acting as our usual alarm clock to wake us.  It took me a moment to compute what day it was…a working day or a weekend.  I relished the time on weekends, not so much to sleep in but to have more time in my “reading room” to read in the morning, pray, and do some writing.  That morning I wanted to get busy on my laptop to write some ideas down before I forgot them.  I pressed the power button and could hear the power noise on my laptop gearing up. Then, in just a few seconds...BLIP!  The power light flashed off and the monitor went dark as if a fuse had blown.

I groaned as thoughts flashed back to the last time this happened when I had to take it into the computer shop to get it fixed. It took four days before I could pick it up.  I use my laptop almost every day, so I was frustrated and disappointed that it had once again lost power.  I wondered if I had not charged the laptop last time before I set it to hibernate and it had run out of juice.

I retrieved the electric cord from my laptop bag, plugged it into laptop and the power outlet and again pressed the power button. I tried a new approach this time and held it down until past the time the laptop started booting up. The monitor screen came on with the message alerting me that there had been an interruption in my last session and then a screen came up titled “Start-Up Repair.”

I sighed in relief but wondered if this repair would really work as I had no idea what caused it to blip out in the first place. The battery said it was still at 43%, so it was not what I had originally thought. I followed the Window application questions.  It felt like it was an analogy to hard booting my own morning. And the thought did not escape me that this was what we need at times for other situations in our own lives.

The question first from my laptop was: 

“Do you want to restore your computer using Start-up Repair to an earlier time when the computer worked correctly?”

I’m thinking, “Well, duh. Of course I want it to work correctly. Would someone actually say NO to that?”

Then further informative words came forth from my anthropomorphic laptop: “The repair will not change personal data, but it might remove some programs that were recently installed."

I’m pondering again: “Hmmm…I don’t think I have purposefully loaded a new program on here, so where did that come from?”

”You cannot undo this restoration,” says my laptop.

My unverbalized retort to my Dr. Spock-like laptop was, “Okay.  If my goal is to get you working again and it won’t change my personal data previously stored on my laptop, this is good. And yet, if it were me, not the laptop, I may want you to change some past personal data as well as correct that malware I installed.”

I went ahead and pressed the button to proceed with this repair. My laptop’s reply: “Your computer might restart several times during this process and might take several minutes.”

In the end, instead of several minutes, it took thirty, but my laptop did restart and it only took one time.  It rebooted fine and was back to normal. Still, the analogy was blatant enough not to ignore possible implications. I still don’t know what caused it to blip out in the first place.  But I remembered that my first thought went to a bad case scenario. “I’m going to have to take my laptop away to get this fixed and it’s going to take four days.”

Then my thoughts moved to, “Hmm. Well, I just met a man who goes to my church who could fix it and probably quicker than the other guys. This may not be so bad and it would give me an opportunity to get to know him and his wife better.” I breathed up a quick prayer and let go of my negative energy about it.

Then it went to, “Let’s try one more thing before I give up.  Let’s plug it into the power with the electric cord and see if it might connect better that way.”

Once again, my short-lived real-life situation of my laptop start-up repair felt like it revealed several analogous lessons:

1)      The story we tell ourselves instead of getting the facts may skew the outcome.

2)      Reframing the circumstances and import of the “event” may yet bring hope and lead to resolution.

3)      Plugging into power (from God or empowerment from friends) can affect a repair or solution that will work. (Note to self:  it may take longer than originally thought, but it will work.)

4)     God still keeps the essence of who we are (He doesn't want to change that) but does wasn't to repair the thoughts and our character that cause us to "blip out!"

5)     The restoring salvation God gives is for keeps…it can’t be undone.

6)     And yet, if we need start-up repair again for whatever reason, He’ll take us back to the point it occurred and restore us anew then too. His mercies and compassion happen every day.