Misplaced Modifiers

Do you know what a misplaced modifier is? Being a Journalism major and all, you’d think that I would, but it’s never been the easiest concept for me. In the simplest terms, a misplaced modifier is a phrase that is not located properly in relation to the words it modifies. Here’s an example:

The young girl was walking the dog in a short skirt.

Now we all know that most likely the girl was in the short skirt, not the dog. (Unless the girl was Paris Hilton, then they might both have been in a short skirt.) But, you get the idea. The sentence doesn’t convey what it is intended to convey. When the modifier is modifying the wrong thing, the sentence becomes humorous, doesn’t make sense, or at the very least, causes some sort of confusion.

This concept can be applied to so many areas of life. If I misplace my keys – if they aren’t where they are supposed to be – this creates confusion for me when I am trying to get out the door for work. I’m sure me running around the house looking in the same places over and over would become humorous to anyone watching. If I find that I have misplaced my trust in someone, suddenly a situation can become confusing, hurtful and just not make sense. This list could go on and on.

During a Bible study recently I was re-confronted with the concept of misplaced modification in relation to my hope and what confusion that can bring into my life. Misplaced hope is obvious when it’s placed in a person who will always fail us or in a government as our only source of protection or in the law to justify us. That sort of thing I can usually see. But what I am talking about is a little more understated. For example:

Is my hope of security in the job that God has chosen to use to provide for me, or in His promise to meet all my needs out of His glorious riches?
(Philippians 4:19)

Is my hope of acceptance in the wonderful friends and family that God has surrounded me with, or is it in His promise to never leave me or forsake me?
(Hebrews 13:5)

Is my hope of approval in the affirmations that God allows to come my way, or in the fact that He approved me even before I was born?
(Jeremiah 1:5)

Is my hope of having meaning in this life in what I do and the difference I make in someone’s life, or is it in His promise of a plan for my life – good things, a hope and a future?
(Jeremiah 29:11)

It’s a subtle slip from seeking the Giver to seeking the gift. And when my hope becomes misplaced, I begin to doubt God’s goodness and faithfulness to me. If I lose my job, I begin to doubt God’s provision – but that hasn’t changed, only the source of His provision has. My hope has to be in the Source. And when it is not, it sure is a lot easier to believe the lies that Satan whispers...and it's a lot harder to choose joy.

So, going one step further, I guess the question I need to answer is this: What is my hope modifying? Is it modifying the provision or the provider? The answer to this question affects more than just me. For God's glory to be known, my hope must always modify Him and not what He has provided. Because He will always provide...He will always come through. And when others see the provider outlast the provision, He will be glorified.

Overcoming Jealousy: Step One ;)

So, I admit it. I get jealous sometimes. We all do. But for those of us who like to please others or struggle with basing our worth on what others think of us, the weight of jealousy seems to crash in a lot more often than we would like to admit. I am thankful that God has shown me what reacting to my jealous tendencies can do. It has taken some pretty ugly interactions (both internally and externally) for me to see the importance of keeping those reactions in check, and, quite honestly, I don’t always succeed in that attempt. Not even close.

I have worked as a counselor for a young women’s leadership organization for 16 years. I have trained up many a counselor through that program. There is nothing greater than seeing something special in a teen-age girl and having the opportunity to help to foster that gift. I love seeking out opportunities to lift those girls up and to put myself on the line out of my belief in them – even when they fall short. My prayer is that I would always desire that my “students” (so to speak) move beyond their “teacher.” That I would want for them to outgrow my instruction and surpass me in whatever area I have been able to help them grow. And while my actions are usually aligned with that goal, there are times when my heart is not. Times when I am jealous if my “prodigy” is chosen over me to participate in a project. Or when her opinion appears to be valued more than mine. It’s a tug of war between my pride in their success and the twinge of envy that comes from feeling like they are taking my place.

My cousin Leigh “blogged” it so well when she said:
“I have been the one with a jealous eye and any praise towards [the other] person doesn't just seem like praise - it sounds like a personal rejection…what it comes down to is believing a lie. A whisper in your ear that they don't need you anymore, that one has come along better and that you services are no longer needed.”

In church, my pastor has been talking about the love of the Father. On Sunday he said something that sort of lodged itself in my head. He explained that based on Roman law, after a child was adopted into a family, the adopted child has the same status as the birth son. He also pointed out that it is on these Roman laws of adoption that all scriptures referencing our adoption into the family of God are based. With this explanation, the pastor began to elaborate on the many benefits of being adopted as God’s child…one of them being that we now have the same status as our adopted brother, (that would be Jesus)...meaning that God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.

Maybe that’s a simple truth that I missed along the way but that word picture somehow speaks more to me than any Christian catch-phrase I’ve heard in my years of immersion in the Christian culture. More than “God can’t love me more and can’t love me less” or “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” Even though those are accurate statements, the truth is this: we are loved the same as with the person whose sacrifice gave us the opportunity be loved in that way to begin with. I’m not even sure how to really wrap my head around that. Jesus genuinely rejoices in the fact that His sacrifice has resulted in my gain. Why is he able to do that (other than the fact that he is God -- duh)? Because he knows his Father. And because he knows his Father, he trusts his Father. And because he trusts his Father, he is secure in his Father’s love. It is within this security that freedom comes.

I am so far from living in that freedom on a daily basis. So, even though I know that there are many more dimensions to being loved as Jesus is loved, one thing I would like to take from that is a way to overcome those jealous moments – which are really just insecure moments, I guess. That I would not find my security in someone else’s approval. That that knowledge would take residence in my heart…not just my head. And that people’s affirmations would be only icing…not the cake. And through that may I not only be able to outwardly lay down my life for a friend or sacrifice for the benefit of the people you have entrusted me with, but I would do so with joy and without that unwanted jealousy or questioning of my value when someone else is recognized.

It's so much easier to say (well to write) than to live out. Well, maybe acknowledging it is at least step one...