I wonder if you've been thinking about the Edge.
What would the Edge be for you? What has it been for you in the past?
Some of us can only imagine what the Edge would be - we've never even gotten close to it. Others can vividly remember when the Edge was were we lived and moved and had our being. Still others read those words and think, "Remember the Edge? Imagine it? The Edge is where I'm at right now… it's all I see… and my knees are getting weak!"
How would you handle life on the Edge? Life on that raw, scary, sometimes painful, growing Edge?
Living on the Edge strips all the pretense away from us. We can't live there - in any healthy way - and keep up false fronts for long. Not those false fronts that tell us and others we are better or more "with it" or more "in touch with God" than we really are. And - paradoxically - not those false fronts that say we are less than we really are… less gifted, less loved by God, less worthy of God's grace. (In case you've forgotten, no one is worthy of God's grace… that's what makes it grace!) In Romans 12:3-6 Paul says:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among younot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… (ESV)
A good reminder for all of us to set those false fronts aside even when we're not at the Edge. But, perhaps, especially when we are.
The Edge has a way of striping away the protective clutter we get so adept in immersing ourselves under. It makes us take a realistic and critical look at our resources… and our lack of resources. The Edge makes us look critically at our priorities… and our lack of clarity in them. That's why the Edge can be so scary. It's also why the Edge can be transforming.
For us… for our families… for our neighbors, friends, church and countless people we may never know.
When we find ourselves at the Edge and begin to get the sense that it's not simply a quick pause on our journey to where we planned to go and in how we planned to get there but that we are about to take up residence there well, it moves us to do something we may not have done before.
The Edge will move us to pray. I don't mean those simplistic, cutesy prayers of childhood. (I've always thought the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer was a bit creepy to teach to kids… "and if I should die before I wake…" Pleasant dreams, Kiddo!) I don't mean the stained glass encrusted, "holy" prayers that many of us remember the elders, deacons, and pastors of our childhood praying in words we hardly understood. I mean prayers that are raw. Prayers that come out of the depths of our souls. Prayers that are raw, scary, sometimes painful in themselves. Prayers that are shouted, demanded, whispered, whimpered… that sometimes come through clenched teeth, balled-up fists, and broken hearts. In other words, prayers that are real.
Living on the Edge calls for - alright, forces - a response from us. It always has. There are countless examples history of people - individuals, families, communities, nations - who have found themselves at the Edge. Some have responded in healthy, faithful, and redemptive ways. Others, not so much. Those healthy responses may not always be the ones you first think of, either.
In upcoming posts, we will explore and experience the stories of a number of people from the Bible - both Old and New Testaments - who found themselves at the Edge. What can we learn from their prayers from the Edge? How can their examples - good or bad - guide us as we live our lives today?
One thing that each of the stories we'll look at tell us is that prayers from the Edge are not just words spoken. They are active. They take effort. They require us to be involved with God and involved in this life on that Edge. It's not enough to simply say the words - there are times when words can just be more self-protective clutter that keeps us from living. However, the effort, the action that real Prayers from the Edge lead us to may not be what we expect.
What would you pray at the Edge? What have you prayed there? How did those prayers move you?
What would the Edge be for you? What has it been for you in the past?
Some of us can only imagine what the Edge would be - we've never even gotten close to it. Others can vividly remember when the Edge was were we lived and moved and had our being. Still others read those words and think, "Remember the Edge? Imagine it? The Edge is where I'm at right now… it's all I see… and my knees are getting weak!"
How would you handle life on the Edge? Life on that raw, scary, sometimes painful, growing Edge?
Living on the Edge strips all the pretense away from us. We can't live there - in any healthy way - and keep up false fronts for long. Not those false fronts that tell us and others we are better or more "with it" or more "in touch with God" than we really are. And - paradoxically - not those false fronts that say we are less than we really are… less gifted, less loved by God, less worthy of God's grace. (In case you've forgotten, no one is worthy of God's grace… that's what makes it grace!) In Romans 12:3-6 Paul says:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among younot to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… (ESV)
A good reminder for all of us to set those false fronts aside even when we're not at the Edge. But, perhaps, especially when we are.
The Edge has a way of striping away the protective clutter we get so adept in immersing ourselves under. It makes us take a realistic and critical look at our resources… and our lack of resources. The Edge makes us look critically at our priorities… and our lack of clarity in them. That's why the Edge can be so scary. It's also why the Edge can be transforming.
For us… for our families… for our neighbors, friends, church and countless people we may never know.
When we find ourselves at the Edge and begin to get the sense that it's not simply a quick pause on our journey to where we planned to go and in how we planned to get there but that we are about to take up residence there well, it moves us to do something we may not have done before.
The Edge will move us to pray. I don't mean those simplistic, cutesy prayers of childhood. (I've always thought the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer was a bit creepy to teach to kids… "and if I should die before I wake…" Pleasant dreams, Kiddo!) I don't mean the stained glass encrusted, "holy" prayers that many of us remember the elders, deacons, and pastors of our childhood praying in words we hardly understood. I mean prayers that are raw. Prayers that come out of the depths of our souls. Prayers that are raw, scary, sometimes painful in themselves. Prayers that are shouted, demanded, whispered, whimpered… that sometimes come through clenched teeth, balled-up fists, and broken hearts. In other words, prayers that are real.
Living on the Edge calls for - alright, forces - a response from us. It always has. There are countless examples history of people - individuals, families, communities, nations - who have found themselves at the Edge. Some have responded in healthy, faithful, and redemptive ways. Others, not so much. Those healthy responses may not always be the ones you first think of, either.
In upcoming posts, we will explore and experience the stories of a number of people from the Bible - both Old and New Testaments - who found themselves at the Edge. What can we learn from their prayers from the Edge? How can their examples - good or bad - guide us as we live our lives today?
One thing that each of the stories we'll look at tell us is that prayers from the Edge are not just words spoken. They are active. They take effort. They require us to be involved with God and involved in this life on that Edge. It's not enough to simply say the words - there are times when words can just be more self-protective clutter that keeps us from living. However, the effort, the action that real Prayers from the Edge lead us to may not be what we expect.
What would you pray at the Edge? What have you prayed there? How did those prayers move you?
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