Jeannette Clift George
"The Relentless Creativity of God"
Program# 3227
First broadcast April 16, 1989
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Jeannette Clift George "The Relentless Creativity of God" Program# 3227 First broadcast April 16, 1989 |
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Biography Jeannette Clift George is the founder and artistic director of the A.D. Players, a Houston-based theatre company which performs all over the world. Her own extensive background in professional theater includes roles with the New York Shakespeare Company and the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Jeannette's film debut was in "The Hiding Place," for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination. She is widely-known as a Bible teacher and is the author of several books. [Biographical information is correct as of the broadcast date noted above.] |
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"The Relentless Creativity of God" The relentless creativity of God has affected my life in such a consistent manner. I'd like to share with you some of the things I'm learning about what God is doing in our lives through His own energetic creativity. I flew in this morning, and as I got on the plane in Houston, I walked into a plane that was already filled. It was filled with a group that had been touring, so they knew each other and everybody was talking and laughing and having such a good time! I felt I didn't belong. There was just a moment when I stood there thinking, "I don't fit into this group." In the first place, they were all young -- people are all so much younger now than they used to be, and there are so many more young ones than there used to be and all the women were slender. I always find that a little discomforting, particularly after a meal! You know, sometimes at luncheons you'll have a wonderful time, with wonderful food, and then they'll have a style show and all the models are size 4! Why they have size 4 models when they've just served all that rich food, I don't understand! Don't worry about it, because I'm on a very consistent exercise program -- I get most of my exercise jumping to conclusions and then I do weight lifting when I stand up! But this morning, as I stood in the plane, and I realized I was not part of that group, I experienced a feeling of not belonging and it reminded me that many of us go through our lives feeling that we don't belong. We feel alienated, disenfranchised, that we don't fit in. The relentless energy of God in His creative dealing with us first reaches out to us to tell us that believing in Him, we belong. Sometimes in my life I've thought, "I belonged in one time of my life, but I don't belong now." Or, "There was one time of my life when I was very productive and a 'belonger' and now that has changed." But I've found in God that those who believe in Him, belong. You belong. You are not alienated. You are a recipient of the friendship of great God almighty. As I stood there in the plane, I found myself looking to the people to tell me that I belong. I tried to get somebody's eye so that person might say, "Oh here, Jeannette, here's a seat for you." But nobody did. I realized that many times I look to people to tell me that I belong. But what told me that I belonged on that plane was the ticket in my hand. God's statement of fellowship, of relationship is far more trustworthy than any airline ticket. If you believe in the person of Christ, you belong. When I accepted Christ as a young child, I was in a Christian family. I turned my life over to the Lord as well as I understood. But when I began to grow up, I stepped away from that current of faith. I questioned myself out of the faith of my fathers because I didn't look for the right answers. As I wandered away, God was very gracious and allowed me to fall apart, to realize I had no way in the world of putting my life together but Him. So I came back to Him. I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord in my grown-up life, as I had accepted Him as Lord in my childhood. At that time I was in theater. Now there were not a lot of Christians in professional theater in New York at that time. The believers in the business used to meet once a month in a telephone booth and have a wonderful time of fellowship! So now I was a professing Christian in the midst of a society that did not agree with my faith. Once again, I felt I didn't fit in. Maybe I didn't belong. I've learned that as we accept the privilege of belonging, we will also accept the privilege of behaving -- that because we belong to Him, we will behave in agreement with the one to whom we belong. I was struggling through those early stages of development in the Christian life and people would give me those kind of phrases that were good phrases, but they didn't match what I was experiencing or what I was going through. I remember people telling me to read the Bible until I understood it. I remember one night in my apartment in New York I read, and I read, and finally I said, "Lord, I have just understood something -- I don't understand Your Book and I have understood that." Then I kept reading, and I kept reading, and I stayed with it, and God began, through the pages of His word, to impress upon me that I belonged, that He in me was conforming me to the potential of behavior that would be most pleasing to His plan. Well, I remember one time I was on my way to an audition and I had just bought some new shoes. When you're an unemployed actress you don't get a lot of new shoes, so I was very careful of those new shoes. It started pouring rain. New York City became a lake. In order to get out of the rain, I stopped into a little book store and waited there. I called my agent and said that I was going to be a little bit late. He said I could have the audition the next day just as well. As it turned out, I could have had it any time just as well because I didn't get the part! But I stayed in the bookstore. Then they closed the bookstore and I said, "It's still raining. Is there any place I could wait until the rain stops?" They said I'd be very welcome at a meeting upstairs. I said, "Oh thank you so much. What is the meeting?" They said, "A missionary meeting and program." I said, "Well, I'll go on and get the bus at the next corner. It doesn't look like it's raining that bad." Outside it was like somebody had taken the ceiling of New York City and just pulled it apart and all the rains came down. I came back and tapped on the window and nobody heard me. There was an awning and I stood under the awning and then they rolled up the awning and I kept tapping on the door. Finally, somebody from the store came and opened the door and I said, "About that meeting -- could I stay there for just a few moments?" They said, "Certainly." I went up and I sat in the back row. I didn't even sit down in the pew: I perched on the arm of the pew as I remember. I never put my purse down, and didn't take off my coat, because I thought I would only be there a minute -- just to wait out the storm. I heard Major Ian Thomas. Now Major Thomas always fascinates me because he speaks so well and because he teaches so deeply. But at that time, what fascinated me most about him was his accent. You see, I always feel that if you surprise the British, they'll talk just like anybody else! So I kept listening to see where this accent would falter. When I listened I heard him and I learned from him. He was speaking of Abraham. Now as a struggling Christian, I had been told by many people that I should claim the principle of the faith of Abraham. But I didn't understand what that was and what it had to do with my life until I was sitting there and Major Thomas said that in order for Abraham to obey God and to move out, Abraham had to pack. That interested me because packing was part of my life! I'm not a very good packer! I took a course on how to pack and didn't have enough room in my suitcase for the book! It occurred to me that if the principle of faith that dominated Abraham's life had something to do with packing, it might work for me. Have you ever thought how Abraham's wife, Sarah, told her neighbors that they were going to move? You know, they were wealthy people, they were prominent people. They didn't just disappear -- they moved like we move when we move from one place to the other. I've always imagined that Sarah's neighbor might have dropped by and knocked on the tent flap. And Sarah would say, "Well, come on in." The neighbor would enter and there would be Sarah with all the packing crates and barrels and boxes. And the neighbor would say to Sarah, "Well, what are you doing?" Sarah would say, "I'm packing." "Why are you packing?" "Because we're moving." "Well, why are you moving?" "Abraham's been transferred." "Well, where is he going?" "Funny you should ask that..." "Well, are you happy about going there?" "I really don't know." "Is Abraham pleased?" "Well, yes." "Why is he pleased?" "Well, he thinks it will be, uh, a good place to, uh, raise the children." "A good place to do what?" "To, uh, raise the children." "You don't have any children." "I know, that but we're going to." "You're going to have children?" "Yes." "Well that's the funniest thing I ever heard in my life!" "I laughed when I heard it, too." So of course they named the child laughter! What else? But in all of what Abraham did in obedience to God, he had to pack. It occurred to me that this would let me in on the Abraham principle. In the letter of Hebrews, in the 11th Chapter in the 8th verse it says that by faith Abraham, when he was called, did a wonderful thing. God in his creative energy in Abraham called him, and Abraham in response obeyed. That's incredible! I'm sorry to admit it, but there are so many times I try everything else but obedience -- only to find nothing else works. When Abraham was called, he obeyed and this is marvelous! He went out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going. Now that verse says that Abraham didn't trouble his mind about where he was going. He left that to God and that's the reason he could pack. One of the reasons I have so much trouble packing is I try to decide what is going to happen in the future. Do you ever do that? I can't make a decision today because I'm trying to figure out what will happen if I do this. And then will I be able to handle what will happen if I do that? And so I'm not packing very well. Abraham learned that when he left the results with God, he was able to obey the agenda that God had given to him. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we belong, and in belonging we behave in obedience. Now I need to tell you that when I turned my life over to the Lord, I had no idea what was ahead for me. I was very ill at ease, I thought that this was going to be a dull life. God has gone out of His way to be sure that my life is not dull, but there were certain things that I planned never to do. Because I wanted my relationship with God to be pleasant, I let Him know what those things were, because I didn't want Him to ask me to do what I had no intention of doing. So I told him I would never give a public testimony. I figured if He knew I was His, and I knew I was His, what business was if of anybody else's? I told Him I would never get mixed up in Bible Study, because I saw what that did to people. And I didn't want Him to be in any way disappointed by asking me to go into what was then called, "Religious Theater." It looked like the group found an extra striped bathrobe, so they said, "Let's do a play about Joseph." It didn't have a whole lot of planning around it. So I said I would never, ever, under any circumstances, regardless of the situation, be involved in religious or Christian theater. I now spend most of life travelling, giving my testimony. I have the great joy of teaching three Bible Classes, and I am the full-time director of a Christian theater company! I no longer mention to the Lord what I will not do. That might be what calls His attention to them. However, I have been known to go around saying, "I will not be a multi-millionaire," just to see if that would flip in my direction. But it hasn't worked. But you know what has happened? I have learned that when I believe in Him, I belong to Him. When I behave in agreement with my belonging, by His grace I become what He purposed me to be. I am in that process -- becoming. You see, God knows what is best for me because He gave me that by which I can live my life best. So when I am willing to behave in obedience, I have begun to become. That's celebration ground! The only reason all of these verbs come together in the relentless, persistent, creative energy of God is because we are beloved -- infinitely beloved by God. I was flying from Tucson to Phoenix one day, and I don't enjoy flying. I don't understand what keeps those things up. Other people can tell I'm ill at ease in flight because it's hard to kneel with your seatbelt on. In this particular instance it was a very short flight and I got on and I noticed there was a young woman there with her baby and they were just darling. They were both dressed in white pinafores and the mother was smiling and the little baby was saying, "Da-da-da-da" to everybody. She was darling. She had a little pink bow where there would probably be hair pretty soon. They sat down opposite me. Every time anybody went by the baby said, "Da-da-da-da," and the young mother said they were going back after having been gone to see Daddy and Daddy was waiting for them. I think they had been gone overnight -- it was some long, long time like that. Everybody was so happy and we all enjoyed the little baby. The mother had a little thermos there -- it had fruit juice in it and some peaches. She kept feeding the baby a little fruit juice and peaches. It was a rough flight. Every time the baby cried the mother fed her a little bit more orange juice and a little bit more fruit and I don't know how to get out of this story without telling you the truth. The flight was very turbulent. As for the baby, all of the fruit that had gone down came up. In fact, I think more came up than had gone down. I think there was more up than there was baby and it was sort of startling. The carpet was not in good condition and the flight was so rough that the attendants had to stay seated. It was a mess. Those of us on the opposite side of the aisle were not in good condition at all. We kept trying to tell the young mother that it was just fine. We were handing her kleenex and saying, "Most of us have been babies." It was a very loving time, but a mess! Baby was crying, Baby looked awful. We couldn't cry, but we looked awful. The mother was so sorry about it. Well, we landed. The minute we landed, Baby was fine. "Da-da-da-da." The rest of us were just awful, just awful. As we landed and began to get off the plane we all moved very carefully. I had on a suit and I was trying to decide whether to burn it or just cut off the sleeve. As we got down the aisle and off the plane -- have you ever tried to get away from something really unpleasant and it was you? Well that's the way we were. It was just really bad. I looked out the plane and there waiting with the people was a young man that had to be Daddy -- white slacks, white shirt, white flowers in a little green paper. I thought, "I know what's going to happen. He's going to run to that baby who now looked awful -- the hair, the pinafore -- dreadful! And he's going to run to that baby, get one look and keep on running. He'll say, 'not my kid!'" You know? As he ran to the young mother, I wouldn't say she threw the baby at him, but she did kind of leave quickly to go get cleaned up. He picked up that baby -- I was watching him -- and he hugged that baby, and he kissed that baby, and he kind of stroked that baby's hair, and he said, "Daddy's baby's come home, Daddy's baby's come home!" I watched them all the way to the luggage. He never stopped kissing that baby. He never stopped welcoming that baby back home. I thought, "Where did I ever get the idea that my Father-God is less loving than a young Daddy in white slacks, white shirt, with white flowers in a green paper?" You see, you believe in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and you belong and you behave and you become because you are beloved. Dear Precious Lord God, some of us need to come home and we're scared to. Thank you that your arms are open wide and your love is ready. Some wonder if they'll ever be accepted in your presence. They need to know, believing in you, they have the ticket to belonging. Then Lord, we thank you because you've already done the hard part that we might enjoy the relentless, creative energy of God unto us and in us unto your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. MUSICAL RESPONSE FROM KEN MEDEMA You see, I'm standing here with a ticket in my hand, But I don't think I belong on this plane. Walking down the street in New York City My new shoes getting wet in the rain. Sitting at the lunch, looking at the models, And none of them looks like me. And it's every where I turn, Seems like everyone's at home, That is except for me. If I could belong, then I would behave in another way. If I could belong, then I'd have so much more to say. I'd like to become so much more than I am, But you see there's only one thing wrong -- In order to become I've got to belong. Sitting on a plane, turbulent flight, Look what's going on across the aisle. Baby gets sick, makes a mess of everything, And there ain't nobody 'round making smiles. Plane lands at the airport, everyone's a mess. Daddy's coming to see his kid. I thought sure he'd be freaked out, But you know the truth is -- He held that kid, And as far as getting freaked out, The man never did! He said, "My baby's come back home. My baby's come back home. Oh, I'm happy as I can be, My baby's come back home." I want to belong, Then I could behave in a different way. If I could belong, Then I'd have so very much more to say. You see, I want to become something different, But there's only one thing wrong. There's no place in this world I can belong. Strange how you hear it, strange how it comes, Strange how it grabs you inside. Strange how He chases, and nudges, and finds you, Promises to be your Guide. And He comes like a Father And She comes like a Mother And your life can never be the same! And you're all different now, You're a whole new person, And you've got a whole new name! 'Cause I belong and I can behave, I can become, I'm coming home. I belong, I'm becoming, See what I'll become! You can belong, it'll be alright Maybe the time is right here tonight. The baby's come home -- 'Cause you belong.
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Interview with Jeannette Clift George
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