The Third Way

Lord, what do we do when we want two things that are—or seem—mutually exclusive?

A Third Way.

Lord, there is a third way?

There is always a third way. That is one message of My Resurrection: on the third day, a third way. Neither the life I had before, nor death as finality, but resurrection, a third thing, a third way. Neither a caterpillar nor a chrysalis but a butterfly—a third way, a third thing.

So, Lord, when I get trapped in either/or thinking, I should look for a third way?

 The third way is not rational. It is not a logical conclusion. Nor is it a synthesis of what has gone before. The third way is new in every sense of that word. The third way can seem miraculous even, because it is so fresh, so unexpected. It is nothing you can dream up on your own. The third way is a Divine surprise, a solution so far beyond the obstacle or problem or challenge as to render it insignificant.

The third way is the doctor coming into the room, puzzled, and saying, I don’t understand these test result but the cancer cells are gone. Healing is a third way solution. So is miraculous provision, like the coin in the fish’s mouth, like the net bursting with a catch, like the loaves and fishes multiplied. Seek the third way, even in business. No, especially in business. I promise you, there is a third way, and it doesn’t involved you weighed down, drowning in debt, but walking on the water of provision.

 

Notes of Hope in times of turmoil

Lord, where are You when natural disasters happen?

The same place I Am when personal disasters happen, like the death of someone you love. I am right there in the midst.

Lord, but I feel like Martha and Mary: “If You had only been here, this would not have happened.” I can’t reconcile You saying You are present with the destruction a storm like Harvey brings, with the widespread damage. If You don’t cause it, can’t You intervene to prevent it, or to minimize the damage?

What happened in the Martha and Mary story?

Lazarus died. They thought You abandoned them. You did, actually—I mean, the story says You deliberately waited. You didn’t go.

And then what happened?

Well, then You came, and they were so upset, all that grief.

And then?

Well, then, the Miracle. You raised Lazarus. You had them roll away the stone and You called him back to life.

I could have healed Lazarus, as I had healed so many others, but that would have limited Me in their eyes. Instead, I showed Myself as Lord of Life, Lord over Death, so they would never have to fear death again, not for Lazarus, not for themselves. I gave them greater joy and greater freedom.

Yes, okay, but how does this relate to, say, this hurricane? Or to people who do die?

I AM the Lord of Life. I can—I do—bring Life out of Death. After a devastating loss, the Resurrection that has to happen is in you. In the one who remains behind.

I Am still Lord over Texas. I am working miracles you will never hear of, greater miracles even than preventing landfall.  I am reuniting families and communities. I did not cause this destruction but I am willing to use it, to turn it to bring about good, much good that would otherwise never have been. I make all things New. Learn the Butterfly lesson. Renewal—freshness—newness, that is Who I Am, that is what I do. Let Me do this in you as well—body and spirit and mind.