Karin, Author at karin madden

October 15, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Just asking… (#15)

PROMISE #14 ~ BLESSINGS FOR BELIEVING THE UNSEEN

So, am I covered?

We all want to know this… in one way or another. In one place or another. In one situation or another.

Am I good to go? Do I need to do anything else? Have I fulfilled the requirements?

Am I allowed in?

This question pursued me when I was younger. No matter the situation, the school, the class, the party, the group, the occasion… I wanted to know.

Am I accepted?

So often we struggle with this acceptance issue. Sometimes we care, sometimes we do not, sometimes we wish we didn’t, sometimes we pretend we don’t.

Do I have what it takes to be here?

I took this thinking straight to Him at one point on this journey.

Do I belong with You? Have I made too many mistakes? Have I blown you off too many times? Have I doubted you too much? Disregarded Your instructions? Your advice? Even… doubted Your existence one too many times?

Have you ever thought, Mama…

What if He had never been?

What if He’s not really there?

My blue-eyed boy, the one just at the edge of the age of awareness we parents stiff-arm as long as we can. The age when they start to think, really think, for themselves. Delving into thoughts of truth, lie, reality, fantasy…

What if, Mom?

My heart smiles inside… knowing that He has gone steps in front of me… preparing me for the questions.

I’ve thought that, too, kiddo.

As a kid, I lay in bed at night, and wondered…

What if there is nothing else out there? What if we are it? The end?

What if He’s there, but I don’t ever get to see Him? Meet Him?

What if I never get to understand what all of this is about?

My sweetie grins. A relieved calm in his eyes.

I’m not that different after all.

It’s ok to ask.

I can ask… and still be accepted. By you, by them… by Him.

I don’t have all the answers. God gives me glimpses when I need them. When I need to gently prod the questioner along. Encourage the fight… the chase… the seeking… the truth.

He drips the wisdom to this soul… on an “as needed” basis… like an IV providing fluid to a weak, parched body. Strengthening this soul… and the next… one drip at a time. Knowing the overflow would only bloat to the point of shutdown. Just enough to absorb into the soul and settle. Sink in. Build.

Then, the question…

How do I get there?

With Him?

Will He take me?

Oh, this one I know. I know this one so well. I have wrestled with this and in the wrestling He claims victory. He opens my eyes and provides clarity, reassurance, promise.

It’s one thing.

Believe.

Believe it. Believe Him. Tell Him. He’s got it from there.

Accepted. Sealed. Redeemed. Done.

So, the questioner. The questioning. The questions… corner stones and bricks… building the foundation of this life with Him, for Him… growing the faith.

My eyes go to my young one…

The questioning is good… it is normal…

Just remember to go to Him for the answers.

Remember to listen after you ask.

He will answer.

Just listen.

PROMISE #15 ~ God promises blessings to those who believe the unseen.

John 20:27-29

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

October 14, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Sitting on the fence (#14)

PROMISE #14 ~ HE IS THE ROCK

Sitting on the fence.

It’s a great way to see one side… and the other. It’s a nice place to be. Safely undecided. Above the radar.

I can see the black pavement on one side. Smooth for the most part, a few potholes, a blur of masses mingling in and out of life’s messes.

Sitting on the fence. It’s pretty safe here. If I just hold still.

The other side of the fence…the green pasture. It beckons. But, what if the grass gnarls under the blistering sun? What if I go to the field and there is no one to greet me there? What if I jump from my fence into the dewy grass… only to find I am alone and the field does not hold all that it promises.

I glance back to the pavement. I know the pavement. It is not particularly fulfilling. It is not filled with immeasurable joy. It is a bit humdrum. Safe. Comfortable. But, there has to be more. Is it possible that the answer might lie on the other side?

I have spent much of my life on the fence. It has been said that no decision is a NO decision.

Is it perhaps time to say YES?

Yes to invisible promises… yes to gentle nudging… yes to a new place, a new direction, a new life.

What if I just say yes? What if I leap, no matter how my soul trembles? What if I jump from this safe fence that sits above indecision, clinging to fear of rejection, safe in the arms of obscurity? What if I just jump?

I glimpse at the outlined souls in the field… arm in arm. Strength in numbers. The ones who have boldly gone there, beyond the fence, beyond the doubt… no matter the cost. I recognize a few of the faces, some are not yet known to me… though they appear familiar ~ a family resemblance. The smiles I know… an enveloping warmth… they draw me in, beckoning me… encouraging me. This is what those in the field do… they do this for one another… they do this for ones lost on the pavement. They call… I see sisters (and I thank God for them ~ you know who you are…), brothers… waiting. Building the tribe… the family… strength in service to Him.

The truth is… the fence is temporary. Eventually it will rot away… fade into a distant memory. Passage of time will swallow the fence… and I will find myself here. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Missing the adventure… the journey.

The truth is… when the fence disappears, when there is no longer a divide… there will be only One place. One place of Life. The rest will all fade away…

The truth is… He has held true to every promise from the birth of promise itself. The field awaits. The ground is sure… The Rock is solid.

The fence is no place to stay.

Are you sitting on the fence?

What is keeping you there?

Will you take the leap of faith? Just say…

Yes

PROMISE #14 ~ God is the rock.

Psalm 62:1-3

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down – this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

October 13, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

From Hungry to Full (#13)

PROMISE #13 ~ HARDSHIP (but, trust in Him… and enter the Kingdom)

I read an article a few weeks ago.

It was about fasting. Now, I don’t know about you, but I had never even considered it. Yes, there are plenty… plenty of people who do this. Fasting is a way to draw closer to God, to seek His guidance, to come before Him in humility… taking the focus off of our daily events. I just thought this was something for monks… or Jesus.

Oh, to be like Him…

I have heard about fasting, I have a few friends who have done this… it just never occurred to me that I should give it a try.

And, then, God.

I don’t know where this sparked, well… let’s say, I don’t know why I responded to the nudge… but, I did.

One of the things about fasting is the need to keep it to yourself… between you and God. I feel compelled to share, not when or how I approached this challenge, but, rather the outcome… outcomes.

I have to say that in my walk, I have had several God moments that have left me speechless… kicking my God doubts straight to the curb. I have had the “Ah ha!” moments, the joyous moments of thanks, the moments of sheer frustration with my own inability to measure up (to my self-imposed I’ve-got-it-all-together-Christian-mama-wife standards). (Aside: I definitely do not have it all together, so these moments are rare). I have seen sorrow, breathed sorrow, tasted the saltiness of it from my cheeks.

What I am seeking… what I desperately want to meet first hand… is the intense knowledge that God is right here. The sense that my breath ricochets from His face before mine as I speak to Him. Bare soul.

and, then, the fast.

So, I was hungry. I was pretty grumpy. I looked at the clock and wondered when my time would be up. Then… I went to Him. When my thoughts went to my kids’ left overs… I went to Him. When I hesitated at the refrigerator door chocked full from a commissary run… I went to Him. You know what? He answered. No surprise. He answered clearly. No doubt. He was in my next breath.

It was one of the most intimate times I have spent with Him. My thoughts of lunch, of chocolate, of snacks… erased by His glorious presence…

filled with the sweet taste of grace

I looked at my clock… knowing that I had 2 hours left in my pact with Him. I was hungry. By no coincidence I glanced to the counter at a photo. A little boy in Africa… just months older than my baby… starving to death.

My prayers changed. From me to them. This day… a seeking of Him… and He showed me them. Again.

No coincidences. Just a little while later. Two letters arrived. The first letters from our sponsor children through Compassion. Again, them. Not me.

That we have a gracious God who answers our knocks and brings us in… that He acknowledges and blesses our efforts to find Him, to know Him, to be like Him.

It renders this soul… full

PROMISE #13 ~ God promises there will be hardships… but trust Him… and enter the Kingdom.

Acts 14:22-23

strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

October 12, 2012 by Karin 12 Comments

Race (for 5 minutes this Friday) (#12)

PROMISE #12 ~ THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Race.

My mind races with thoughts of time, and the thoughts of time wasted. Time well spent. Time unrecoverable.

I race to finish… every little thing I have started.

I hear a voice whisper… The only Voice.

Be still

I race to be still. The promptings overwhelm.

Be still in Him… race only to please Him… race only to love well… race only to serve… race only to become just like Him.

In the rest…

Be still

in the RACE…

R emember why you are here… and if you don’t know… ask Him

A nchor your race in His will… see the time slow to fit all of His plans

C all to those who are racing in circles… band together to focus on the center… Up.

E mbrace the journey, the race… finish it well.

PROMISE #12 ~ God promises the crown of righteousness.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

October 11, 2012 by Karin Leave a Comment

Knock knock… (#11)

PROMISE #11 ~ ASK, SEEK, KNOCK (receive, find, open)

It’s late.

My mind is racing.

The whirlwind of stories that surround me are exhilarating… enlightening… exhausting.

Ever wonder why God is surrounding you with miracles in motion?

Ever wonder if He even performs miracles anymore?

Ever wonder why you didn’t notice them before?

The more I seek God… the more I seek God.

Like water… in a parched throat on a sun-scorched desert… He gives life. He gives a renewal never thought possible. The kind of thing you only read about, hear about, doubt about.

It is as real as rain. But, more so.

The more I seek Him, the more He finds me… and shows me to myself… more graciously, shows me ~ Him.

This chasing of God… this hard pursuing of a promising God… this hanging on by the ragged tips of fingers by this flawed, messy seeker…

This quest to find Him… it shows me one thing.

He has always been here.

He has been waiting.

He is taking the pursuit and molding a new soul from this worn out child of His.

The display of His beauty, His love, His power is blinding… breathtaking.

The joy this heart can not contain. He is all over this.

The one thing I can say. Seek Him. He will show up.

It will blow you away.

PROMISE #11 ~ God will show up (ask, seek, knock).

Matthew 7:6-8

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Just asking… (#15)

Sitting on the fence (#14)

From Hungry to Full (#13)

Race (for 5 minutes this Friday) (#12)

Knock knock… (#11)

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