3.13.26 – At Cause, Not Cause and Effect

I attended a functional NLP class with teacher/trainer Chuck Hendrix yesterday. Functional was the key! With every technique we learned, it moved my heart to examine itself deeper and deeper until the "dam" broke and the realities of life became "at cause." Huh? No, not cause and effect, but "at cause." With the review of this life-changing principle, I was able to recognize my responsibility in every situation in life, regardless of whether I liked the outcome or not. More on this tomorrow morning... mini cliffhanger :-)

Most of us are familiar with the statement that Yeshua said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). He was/is right. Solomon said that the one who gives is the one who will be filled (Prov. 11:25). He was/is right. The nation of Israel—genetically the seed of hospitable Abraham—above every nation in the world continuously supplies aid to those in need, regardless of their ethnicity, political affiliation, or allied status. What Israel as a nation models for the world, many individuals do on their own. These people have learned the importance of giving as they have received (2 Cor. 1:3–8), and out of their merit they impact the world one person at a time.

The Land of Israel, the Promised Land, has a small but famous river that fills two seas. The river is the Jordan River. The seas are the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Both are fed by the same river, but one produces life while the other is dead. Why? Because, as with this week's Torah portion, Pekudei (Ex. 38:21–40:38), which finishes out the book of Exodus, when you give obediently and selflessly as you have received (1 Chron. 29:14):

"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee."
(1 Chron. 29:14)

When we give what He has provided, it always produces life and blessing and the presence of God (Ex. 40:34–35):

"Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."
(Ex. 40:34–35)

You are familiar with some of the expressions that we hold near and dear to our hearts, such as "A quitter never wins and a winner never quits"—not true. Winners quit all the time, decisively and without regret! Or as I hear in retail stores, "The customer is always right." Or "There are no such things as stupid questions"—definitely not true. Even though we say and employ them, I think we know they are not true statements. Unfortunately, we all have a bias toward wishful, patterned thinking.

Have you ever asked yourself the question: "What would happen if I were able to step out of the trees of my life to see the forest, cut out the wasted energy, and then redirect that energy into other areas of profitability?" A wise man once told me not to invest in low-return ventures. I know we have always heard, "It is better to be safe than sorry," or "Good things come to those who wait," or "You can't have your cake and eat it too." But in life, those are not true all the time either. Heaven knows it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks! Woof, woof!

In life, we all have at least one problem. We all want deeply satisfying relationships—relationships that receive and give, relationships that provide us a sense of worth, a place of safety, someone who knows us for who we really are. That is the good part. The bad part is that in order to experience this, we need to be vulnerable (vulnerare—to wound and make vulnerable), and that is not always safe. We need to risk who we are in order to be understood for who we are. There is no deeply satisfying relationship with walls in the middle. So we have to take down the walls, drop those fig leaves—the very things that protected us from being rejected, being misunderstood, being unsafe. And like so many things in life, vulnerability contains its own risks.

We have to risk in order to be seen, and then potentially experience rejection for being seen. No wonder we have walls to numb our feelings of helplessness, failure, and shame! How do I get past these walls? How do I go against the normative current of our society? How do I live vibrantly like the Sea of Galilee rather than the Dead Sea? It begins when we take a page out of King David's psalms, where he recognized that only God was his Rock (Ps. 62:6):

"He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved."
(Ps. 62:6)

A cursory view of David's life shows us that he was filled with innocence while he served King Saul and deviated from that innocence later on in his life. Regardless of his shortcomings, he kept pressing into and recognizing that God was his only Rock—whether in mercy or in justice, Yahweh was his only Rock.

What does that mean with all our human relationships? Accept that they are all flawed? That they all produce wounds? That they are all potential sources of pain? Wounding seems to be an essential part of truly living. Even parents, as hard as they try to be loving, inflict emotional damage on their children. Perhaps unconsciously, they pass along those traumas they never settled in their own lives, as we have seen in previous studies. And it is getting worse.

The Industrial Age brought about dislocation within traditional relationships—family, clan, tribe, and village. Modern technology through the internet, social media, cell phones, etc., has magnified the need to be loved and has exacerbated the dislocation. Consequently, even children in homes that have two parents have lost their primary emotional attachment with the nurturing adults in their lives, profoundly affecting healthy development.

The war in Ukraine and Russia, the chaos in Venezuela, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the tensions between Iran and Israel have revealed a lot about our country, our leaders, and the "Dead Sea" mentality around the world, jeopardizing the lives of millions in order for a few individuals to float on the mineral-rich, buoyant, but dead waters of the Dead Sea. As I reflect on life locally and around the world, I am reminded how spiritual poverty has taken over the world. It is this reality that starts the addiction process of replacing what should come from within with that which comes from without. The less inner strength we have from The Rock, the greater our craving for power and pleasure. The less aware we are of Truth, the more desperate our search for certainty outside of ourselves.

We—speaking of me, myself, and I—need to ask, "Is God my only Rock?" Regardless of the circumstances, am I at cause? Am I building my house upon the Rock (Matt. 7:24)?

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock."
(Matt. 7:24)

By not quitting some things and investing in low-return agendas, "we" have paid a pretty high price. When will this "avalanche" stop? When we choose to quit and truly become the winners that God knows we are supposed to be! Living "at cause" and not responding, not living "at effect." More tomorrow :-)

Whether we recognize it or not, we all have one river source. The question we must ask ourselves is: "Which sea do I want to be?" And would you rather be "at cause" or "at effect"? In spite of the emotions of your current situation, God gives us the choice.

Happy Preparation Day!
Shalom,
Alan