Alan Fadling's Blog, page 43

Streams in the Wasteland

Many years ago, as Alan and I (Gem) were praying together, I imagined a cracked desert floor spreading out in all directions. Someone poured a glass of water onto the parched ground. Once the water hit the dry terrain, it disappeared…it completely soaked into the dryness.

 

Not sure why I was seeing this image, I asked Alan if any scripture passages had been especially meaningful to him recently. He shared that he had been spending time in Isaiah 43 that week and how it had really struck him. He read the chapter out loud. Here is a portion:

 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:18-21)

 

When Alan got to the part about the streams in the wasteland, I started laughing out loud. The freedom I felt from hearing these words was wonderful. God is the one who provides the way for us. This scripture along with the dry desert image met up and caused an eruption of joy within me.

 

To me, the image of the glass of water being poured onto the hard ground represented my own feeble efforts. In this parched and weary culture in which we live, my efforts seem to be no more than eight ounces of water poured onto Death Valley.

 

It is the Lord himself who brings the streams in the wasteland. Can you picture that desert? Can you feel that dryness? Most of us have at least one area in our lives that feels like a wasteland.

 

Now picture this: Out on the horizon of the desert you see water rushing toward you so swiftly that it is breaking up the ground and creating a river. God blasts through the middle of the parched land with a stream of cool, refreshing water that brings life right up to your toes. How does that feel?

 

Sometimes we find ourselves in a wilderness season that seems never-ending. Sometimes “a dry and weary land where there is no water” lasts longer than we want (see Psalm 63:1).

 

But…Jesus is still our living water. We can hope in him. We can bring our thirst to him. We can bring our desert to him. Jesus experienced the wilderness, and we can be with him there.

 

So, go ahead and hold on to that vision of streams in the wasteland. God gives grace to his people, his chosen ones, so that we may proclaim his praise.

 

Reflection 

How are you experiencing dryness these days? Is there one area of your life that feels like parched ground with no water in sight?
What would the experience of “streams in the wasteland” look like for you right now?
Ask Jesus to meet you in the desert. Experience his presence with you.

 

 

Photo by Chelsea Bock on Unsplash

ICDT #20: The Humble Way of Transformation

 

In episode #2 of this podcast I introduced the posture of transformation: open, aware and willing. (Or OAW for short). Today I’d like to look at the humble way of transformation. And it’s three words you hear me say at the end of every episode: small, simple and gracious.

When it comes to change, herculean moves rarely keep us on the path. Sure, we may have some audacious goals. I know I do. But how do you reach a goal? You take one step at a time. 

Especially if you are working on your inner growth process. Changing old patterns is a long and, at times, arduous road. That’s why we go slow and we keep it small, simple and gracious.

UL Podcast 207: Practicing Silence in a Noisy World

 

Today on the Unhurried Living Podcast, we’re talking about the spiritual practice of silence. We’ve heard lots of authors and spiritual writers talk about how important the practice of silence is, but a whole lot of us struggle to figure out exactly how that might work in our actual lives.

We feel too busy. Or we feel there’s too much to do to spend any significant time alone and quiet.

But the practice of silence is a place where we learn how to listen well, how to be more present to God, to others and to our own actual thoughts and intentions. It’s a place where we let the swirl of thoughts and feelings that fill us to gradually settle until we can be just a little more receptive, attentive and responsive to God.

The Goodness of the Good News

The word gospel means “good news.” There is no better life than the one we discover as we follow the counsel and the way of Jesus. He understands the goodness of the world God has made and how to live well in it in a way that is unparalleled. As his followers, we seek to help people understand that Jesus knows what he’s talking about when he says that his way is a way of life—a satisfying and beautiful life. It is a way of great joy, deep peace, expansive love, and substantial goodness. It is not arbitrary or thin religion.

 

What’s the best way for us to help people feel the goodness of that news? Too often, the gospel has been communicated in a way that feels oppressive or life-denying rather than freeing and life-giving. We don’t need to “should” or “ought” people into welcoming the gospel’s good news. We are inviting people to a Person and a people, not a Judge and a jury.

 

In addition to helping others hear the goodness of the good news, which is only deeply possible by the working of God’s Spirit, we can also help them sense the emptiness of self-centered choices and ways that disregard God. 

 

We live in a world that defines the good life in ways that aren’t always good. Too many people believe that freely doing whatever they feel like in the moment leads to the good life. Someone who is an alcoholic may believe that what they really want is another drink, when it is more likely that they long for joy or peace or comfort or freedom. They will not find these in a bottle. Those of us who are not trapped in such an ever-diminishing, destructive cycle can easily see the truth. But what unhealthy cycles of thinking are we ourselves trapped in? What beliefs about the good life have we embraced without questioning and failed to see the emptiness of?

 

Left to myself, do I really know what I truly, deeply desire? Can I distinguish between the mist of momentary feelings and the rootedness of deep and holy desires? On my own, I often do not discern the difference.

 

One of the great tools we have in communicating the goodness of the gospel is its growing goodness displayed in our own lives. Do our levels of joy, peace, energy, and care recommend to others the goodness of the good news? If we tell others, “Follow me because I’m following Jesus,” would they feel invited or resistant? Do we have credibility when we tell them about the bad news of making decisions and following directions that are empty of God? Are our own lives becoming good news—more full of grace, peace, and gentleness? Is the reality of God with us and God in us deepening and broadening?

 

For Reflection:

In what way has the message of Jesus felt like good news to you?
Are there ways you’ve heard the gospel communicated that didn’t feel good?

 

Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash

ICDT#19: Five Ways to Engage in the New Year

 

Today I’m offering five simple dynamics to engage as we move into 2022. And, I know, I’ve used a corny rhyming pattern for them, but I couldn’t help myself. I’m hoping this helps you retain what I’m sharing.

 

It’s time to…

Feel
Get real
Kneel
Heal
Make a deal

I told you it was a corny rhyme. But there is nothing corny about taking care of yourself, body, mind and soul. 

Listen in on today’s I Can Do That Podcast as I unpack each of these dynamics.

 

Podcast 206: Aging Faithfully (Alice Fryling)

 

Today's Unhurried Living episode is on a theme that a lot of us work pretty hard to avoid: aging. We’d much rather talk about how to stay young than address the realities of growing older. I celebrated my sixtieth birthday this year. It was the first decade birthday that has had a lingering impact on me. Thirty, forty and fifty came and went for me, but sixty has been a year of reflection and many questions. 

 

So today I'm chatting with Alice Fryling, spiritual director and author, on her latest book, "Aging Faithfully". I hope you find it as insightful, encouraging and hopeful as I did, no matter what decade of life you are currently in.

Can You Wait 15 Seconds?

Many years ago, I (Gem) overheard a very interesting conversation while returning a DVD at Blockbuster. (Remember when we still had to rent movies from a store?) Behind the front desk, two clerks were complaining about the store’s computer system. Evidently, each time they used the computer they had to wait for some promotional pictures to load before they could access the customer’s information.

 

One of the young guys said, “Yeah, it takes like 15 seconds to get to the screen you want. It sucks.” I chuckled to myself. The clerk said that sentence in earnest. Fifteen seconds was an imposition. And I get it—there’s nothing worse than that little spinning emblem in the center of your screen.

 

Sometime after that, Alan and I were at IKEA. The clerk was helping us order some items on their computer. As she began the process, she apologized for how long it was taking the screen to load. Can you guess how long it actually took to load? About 15 seconds. Okay, maybe 20. But do you see how we have been trained by technology? When we’ve come to expect something in two or three seconds, 15 to 20 seconds seems like an eternity.

 

These are two prime examples of our culture’s obsession with hurry and speed. Granted, they are from quite a few years back, but today the problem only seems to be getting worse. With our computers, phones, and tablets we expect things to happen lightning fast. I still sometimes find myself impatiently saying things like, “What is taking this page so long to load?” and “Can’t this file download any faster?”

 

What kind of life is it if I can’t wait 15 seconds for something to happen? I fight this inner hurry almost every day, and I don’t enjoy how it feels. I also don’t really think of myself as having a Type A personality, and yet I struggle with needing to move forward to that next thing as if something were pushing me from behind while urging, “Get a move on!”

 

It’s one thing to have such expectations with technology, but we cannot expect things to happen instantly in our souls. It takes a great deal of effort to prevent our culture and the information age from setting the pace for how we live and work.

 

We talk often here about the pace of grace. We move at the pace of grace and change at the pace of transformation. What exactly is that pace? Well, that depends. How long does it take for an oak tree to grow? The time it takes to grow a squash in your garden is barely a blip compared to the decades a giant sequoia needs to mature.

 

In Alan’s book An Unhurried Life, the last chapter is titled “An Eternal Life.” There Alan writes, “If we have eternal life in Christ, then we have unlimited time…. I’m talking about the ‘eternal life’ perspective that exposes the lie that ‘I just don’t have time for this, that or the other.’”

 

How many times do we say no to good things because of this mistaken belief that we don’t have time? Every time I say the words “I don’t have time,” I am strengthening the hold that hurry has on me.

 

The reality is that all of us on this planet have the same amount of time day by day, and for those of us who are in Christ, we have all of eternity. Put differently, in Christ, I have all the time I need for whatever God is giving me to do or inviting me to be. And that is an eternal-life, an unhurried-life, perspective.

 

What I really want is to enjoy every moment…to be truly present…to listen well…to be content…to not feel stressed inside. And I want to be a sequoia, not a squash. How about you?

 

Today, let this be your prayer:

 

“In Christ, I have all the time I need for whatever God is giving me to do or inviting me to be.”

 

This would be 15 seconds well spent.

 

Reflection 

How often do you find yourself revving inside for no particular reason?
What would it look like to rev down a bit to the pace of grace?
Do you believe the pace of grace is actually more productive than the pace of pushing? If so, what inner shifts might you make as you move through the rest of your day?

Serra Retreat Promo Video

Play the video below to have a peek at what you will experience as part of the the Unhurried Retreat at Serra Retreat Center. 

Is God Easy to Live With?

In his book The Root of the Righteous, A. W. Tozer writes, “God is easy to live with.” How does that phrase strike you? Does it sound true? Does it feel right to you?

 

I (Alan) realize that how I feel about that phrase may say more about my image of God than it says about who God really is. There is a young part of me that believes God is impossible to live with. I imagine him with high expectations and great impatience at my slow progress. But is God really like that? Consider the following lines from Psalm 111 from The Message:

 
He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.
His Hallelujah lasts forever! (vv. 9-10)

 

It’s the combination of “personal” and “holy” that tweaks something in me. Part of me expects an “or” there. Personal or holy. But God is both. He draws near to me in love and righteousness. He is perfect and he is near. That’s good news for me.

 

“Father, today my prayer is that you would open my eyes to both your holiness and your intimacy. You are near, even in my shortcomings and line crossings. You are so good in desiring my best and working to that end without wearying. I desire that your holiness would produce in me a holy fear that is the beginning of wisdom. If my heart and mind are driven this way and that by many other fears, I am not really walking the path of wisdom. Wisdom has single vision. Thank you for this generosity. Amen.”

 

Reflection 

How do you feel about drawing near to God these days? Do you feel like he’s easy to live with? Talk with God about the thoughts and feelings that arise for you.

 

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Thank You!!!