Well, shoot.  The great thing about blogging my way through Seven is that it’s kept me motivated and accountable.  The bad thing is that I’ve been stuck – absolutely, unquestionably stuck – in two little chapters in Isaiah.  Which has been life-changing for me as a human, but as a writer,  has me circling the same ground every day which I fear might seem redundant.  And yet – this is the ground.  The Ground. This is the ground where ethereal principle messes with Bo’s to-do list.  For me, there is nothing worth more than these fourteen light bulb verses in Isaiah 58.  So, here’s today:

 

If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight…you’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. Isaiah 58

 

 

 

This passage makes me want to cry tears of happy gratitude because it’s chock-full of the thing I love most: answers.  When our lives feel faded and dim, these words tell us exactly how to flip the switch. Exactly. It’s not a bit fuzzy or deep. We don’t need a masters in Hebrew to get it. It’s brilliantly clear.

 

 

 

Feeling in the dark? On the sidelines? Out of touch with the purposes and heart of God? Here you go:

 

 

  • Treat people like people instead of like profit.
  • Stop pointing fingers at other people’s problems.
  • Be very generous with the hungry and hurting.
  • Care deeply about those who are discouraged.
  • Be available to your own family

 

 

Then, says Isaiah (translated masterfully by Eugene Peterson), the lights will turn on. Then you’ll start to see what you’ve never seen before and feel what you’ve never felt before – and these things will be good, like He is good.

 

 

I know, it seems a lot is missing from this list, doesn’t it? No tithing. No quiet time. No attendance charts. But I suspect when we start by doing the right things in the right way, the rest of the doing becomes clear as well. Because this list? Is discipleship. It describes a person who is growing the very heart of the very God inside his chest. It paints the picture of a person ignited by a supernatural spark for the purpose of warming a stone cold world.

 

 

I firmly believe that the more we begin to think and act and love like God the more we…think, love and act like God. Profound, no? The more we give, the more we discover we have to give. The more we love, the more we find worth loving. The more we do life His way, the more we understand His way.

 

 

 

Maybe it’s the hunger talking, but I’m feeling simple enough to believe in this list today. And the only problem I see with it – the only teeny, tiny problem – is that every single bullet point is easier to memorize than it is to, you know, do. I’d rather read the whole book of  James than do James 1:27. I’d rather plunk 10% in the offering plate than open up a room in my home to someone who has nowhere to go. I’d rather speak at conference than put my computer away at the dinner table. So, this is me on Day Seven of Seven saying: mercy, I have a long way to go! A long, long way.

 

 

But I’m so thankful for these days of going without, because they have helped me see the places in my soul that were already starving and I didn’t even know it. And I am determined to weave fasting into my life in a more systemic way. I hate it and I need it. Not for divine arm-twisting, but for personal soul-shifting.

 

 

 

And that, my friends, is a Seven wrap.

 

 

Comments are open – what have you learned, discovered, thought, hit, yelled at during Seven and what are you going to eat when this is all over?

 

 

Flipping on the lights,

 

 

Bo

 

 

 

 

 

6 Comments

  1. Hi Bo! I have been drawn to Isaiah 58 this week also! Thanks so much for putting into “real life” words, what I have been sensing the LORD saying to me through this tough week! It has been hard, and good, and drawing me closer to being willing to BE who He wants, rather than just “do the stuff”…Love you so! cindi

  2. I got myself kind of stuck in Psalm 86 and Isaiah 58, and I was completely happy to stay there. In the middle of praying for a lot of big things, I kept being reminded of all the ways God has provided for me, transformed me, disciplined me, showed me kindness–and that the things He asks me to do are relatively simple, in concept anyway, and that the doing of those things affects the big asks. For me, this has felt a whole lot like a fast of gratitude and remembrance than anything, and I trust that the outpouring comes, even if my small words stay stuck on the thank-Yous.

  3. jacquelyn Strayer

    EAT!!!!

  4. I have found that by going without, I actually have enough. And then He showed me I am enough.
    Enough; no more, no less. Wow!

    I have learned what it is like to live in the present moment.

    The 6th day seemed harder than the others. Not sure why,but what I know is that the enemy did everything he could to entice me to break the fast -“after all who is going to know?” I prayed James 4:7 and told myself, “I will know.”And now I approach the closure of seven.

    I give the Glory to our LORD. With Him, I am enough.

  5. I love this, Bo! Reminds me that when I lost 50# years ago (dieting, not fasting) I remember feeling, “There’s more room for God now!” But really I think it was that when I stopped stuffing myself with pleasurable food and drink any time I desired it, I could listen and hear His voice so clearly, changing me, remodeling my soul to reflect His glory. Thank you for helping me remember. Love v. 11 as well…one of my life verses!

  6. I am currently starting over again and rebuilding my life. I don’t know how to do it yet, I am scared to be honest with you and not having any friends still doesn’t make it any easier. (If you want to read about how it is going, I am writing a blog about it at http://rebuildingat30.blogspot.com )