Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Beth Moore's message in a teeny-tiney nutshell. Plus a few things you might not know

So I last reported (at 2 a.m. Friday morning) that I was going to a Beth Moore conference with two of my oldest and dearest friends. Sorry I’m a bit tardy in reporting, but I’ve been a tad under the weather since returning, and life threw a curve ball Monday. (Dern you, life! Dern you!)

Nevertheless – ahem – I present What I Learned At The Beth Moore Conference (followed by BM trivia). Yes. I said BM trivia.

I've had several people ask how the weekend was and what she said. Frankly, it's hard to distill several hours worth of anointed speaking into meaningful soundbites. But I'll try.

Beth's message began with the observation that we probably all have areas in our lives where we don't really trust God.

I trust him with my finances, my marriage, my children …. But I don't trust him with THIS THING.

Apparently, she's struggling with a This Thing, and, out of that, God led her to have each of us consider what our This Thing is.

“The place where you have a steadfast mind,” she said, “is where you trust God. Anyplace our minds are not steadfast, we can find the root of our distrust.”

She spent a good deal of time explaining how we can really know what our This Thing is. Some of us may know automatically. Others may not be so sure. She asked, for example, if we find ourselves with heavy hearts and we can't articulate why. Most of the time, she said, our hearts are heavy in the areas where we don't trust God with something. And the root of that something, that sadness is always found in a wound. (This is excluding obvious external causes for mourning, such as a tragedy or some kind of loss or bad news.)

Is it getting a little complicated? Well, she unpacked her message over two days. But I'll try a bit more.

If we don't trust God with something, it's probably because we were wounded somehow, by someone at some point in our lives -- and we haven’t handed that hurt over to God. Maybe we tried. Maybe we didn't. That wound may have scabbed over, but it didn't become a scar. It's still painful when hit. And wherever we're wounded, that is where we typically don't trust God.


Then there was this: “The very area you are most tempted not to trust God,” she said, “is the place God has most chosen to trust you.”

Do you understand that? His permissive will allowed you to endure some sort of suffering. What he wants you to do is rise up from whatever it is and use it to glorify him. He's trusting you to do that.

"I'll make Satan sorry he ever messed with me," she said. "It'll turn on him."

She gave us another guide for identifying This Thing that we don't trust God with. She called it The Spewing Head. Every time she used this term, which was often, she mimicked the sound of a gushing fire hydrant and motioned wildly, flinging both hands out from the side of her head toward the heavens: spewing thoughts. It was goofy and hilarious and made the point pretty well.

If there's an area in your life where you can't seem to control your thoughts -- you worry yourself to death about something, even if you know you shouldn't and it's pointless -- that’s where your distrust can be found.

Psalm 112:7 -- He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (I needed to hear that one.)

Life, she said, is more about purpose than pleasure. And I’m beginning to get that.

That's the best I can do with her message. Wish you all could have been there, and I mean it. There were somewhere between 14,000-15,000 women in the coliseum. It was amazing. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak: Go.

Now for a list of Interesting Things I Didn't Know About Beth Moore:

1. She's a fan of the (spray-on) Mystic Tan. ("People in my office say, 'Beth, you're so dark.' And I tell them, 'You too can be tan like me.' … "My brother always says, 'Tanned fat looks better than white fat.'")
2. She discovered the hard way, while with daughter, Melissa, that one should not get into a pool after having just been Mystic Tanned. The chlorine in the water is, after all, bleach. ("When I got out of the water, I was dark, dark, dark from the shoulders up. And from the shoulders down, I was white, white, white. Melissa said, 'Mom! You look like a Dairy Queen dipped cone.'"
3. She's been stalked twice, forcing her to hire a private investigator to handle the situation. So it's pretty amazing she opens herself up, still, to people the way she does.
4. From around December to March/April, she had some sort of physical ailment that made her drop weight rapidly (and she SURE doesn’t have any to lose, being roughly the size of my thigh). They thought it might be, among other things, cancer. It wasn't, though she didn't say what it was. It was bad enough, though, that she feels God allowed her to go through the ordeal so that she can use it when she ministers to people. (See the bit about God's permissive will above.)
5. She has a new (first) grandbaby, and she's so crazy about him, she'll answer to whatever word he says following Momma and Dadda. ("If he says Momma, Daddy then bow-wow, I'll be Bow-wow. 'Come here, precious. Come to Bow-bow.")
6. Her oldest brother is an orchestra conductor, and she's watched him at work so often that when she's alone, she likes to crank up the stereo, take a pencil and conduct the music with abandon. ("Have you tried it? You should try it.")
7. The hotel she was staying at (across the road from where a few thousand more of us were located) threw its breakers half-a-dozen times Saturday morning because of all the hairdryers being used at the same time. ("And I'm seeing some fabulous hairdos out there. Honey, I'm from Texas, and we UNDERSTAND big hair in Texas.")

Amen and amen.

Oh, and I also learned Janet (completely devoid of stage fright) can play a mean tamborine when it's thrust on her by a guitar-wielding restaurant troubadour lacking backup.

"Lake House" is a fun chick flick, but it should come equipped with a flowchart. Or a lobotomy. Thinking it through hurts.

And Joye can navigate us on foot perfectly through OKC, but she has no idea why they have buffaloes on every corner or how to pronounce the word frite.

-30-

16 comments:

Addie said...

I love Beth Moore! It's amazing the way that woman can use the english language and just shock you with an amazing point!

“The very area you are most tempted not to trust God,” she said, “is the place God has most chosen to trust you.”

Sounds like it was the perfect weekend with the girlfriends.

boomama said...

I can name my "This Thing" in approximately .15 seconds. Seriously. Sounds like you had a great, strong word - I would've loved to hear it. And I love the part that Addie quoted, but I won't quote it again.

By the way, we're in the throes of potty training at my house, so trust me when I tell you that I've got all the BM trivia I can stand right now. For real. :-)

But re: Beth's health stuff. If you look at her website, there's a link to a letter about the whole ordeal on the front page.

And don't you feel, after you've listened to her speak, that she is perhaps the most down-to-earth person on the planet? And one of the most gifted at the same time? Love her.

Glad you're home safe and sound. And sorry about that curve ball life threw at you.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Welcome back, Toni, and glad you had a good time at the conference. I wish Beth Moore would come to Memphis. That's about 75 miles from here, give or take, so it's within easy driving range and we wouldn't necessarily have to stay in a hotel, we could drive over again.

Hmmmm.....I think I know what my "This Thing" is, too. It's trusting Him to keep my 18 year-old daughter on the right path as she goes to college. Mercy, it scares me to death, honestly. Gee, thanks for being the messenger, convicting me about SOMETHING ELSE I need to be trusting God for instead of hoarding that worry to myself like I can do something about it. :-)

Pfingston said...

I sooo need to go to a Beth Moore thing. She has 'insight'

I just love it!

Anonymous said...

I totally conduct classical music with abandon. All the time. I did it the other day while my kids and their friends were all watching Fantasia 2000 and if my kids AND their friends weren't homeschooled I'd be worried that they'd all hate me now.

I love Beth Moore. Awesome that you got to see her in person.

Robin said...

I have seen Beth in person and seen her via video on her Bible studies. She always says that one thing that just gets me right to my core. I'm sure I have a lot of "This Thing"s. I know I'll be pondering on it all day.

Sarah said...

Toni, I am SO GLAD you started blogging! Thank you for this post; it's exactly what I needed to hear today. This part:
"Do you understand that? His permissive will allowed you to endure some sort of suffering. What he wants you to do is rise up from whatever it is and use it to glorify him. He's trusting you to do that." so applies to my life right now that I felt chills when I read it.

And thank you, also, for putting in BM trivia--or I would've broken down in tears. Instead, I laughed out loud. You are such a great blend of poignant and hilarious--one of my favorite reads!! :)

Sarah said...

Toni, I just read your comment. Thank you so much for such sweet things! And by the way, you have GOT to make it to the Dallas bloggers meeting (or whatever it's called) this fall--I am dying to meet you!!

Tricia said...

I just found your blog...I think through Boomama's. This post really helped me today! Thanks!

I also wanted to comment on your post, "The One". It brought tears to my eyes - that is a beautiful picture of how we can be like Jesus on this earth.

Dick said...

I came here from your comment on Diane's blog. I have looked over your front page & the June 19th post on "Things remembered" really hits home with me. I left a comment there, too. You are doing a good job here and keep it interesting.

Anonymous said...

re: buffalos -- www.spiritofthebuffalo.org

Anonymous said...

Hey Toni!

Can't wait for you to see Superman and to hear your thoughts!

Loved your comments on the Moore event. You're awesome.

Love you,
Stacy B

Kelli said...

I've read several blogs on this event and now I really must go .. if she ever comes this way or even close.

Thanks for sharing your perspectives!

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.:+Pearlofafrika+:. said...

Wow, I really want to thank you so much for this post. It has blessed me tremendously, you have no idea.