Frustrating Jesus

“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you can do anything…help us. Jesus said to him, ‘If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!’” Mark 9:22-24.

Like many of you, I certainly understand the heartbreaking dilemma of being fearful for the life of a child. This poor father had watched horrific evil overtake his child, and bore the responsibility and burden of rescuing his son multiple times. No doubt he had tried everything and was terrified to take his eyes off his boy. I know for myself during a tough season with one of my children, every instance the phone rang I felt a sense of dread in my heart. Upon returning home, a flashing red light on my phone felt like a winking call from death itself. I had tried everything, and yet I felt I hadn’t tried enough. My faith was more about my strength, my ideas, and my intervention instead of God’s saving power. I believed God for my eternal salvation, but I lacked belief in His saving abilities. I am confident I exhausted Jesus…I was ‘an unbelieving generation.’ (Mark 9:19). I believed that He could, but I must have doubted that He would. I think my last statement is the echo of this dad’s proclamation, ‘I do believe, but help my unbelief!’

When we approach our challenging and scary circumstances with a ‘me-faith’ instead of a ‘He-faith’ we infuse weakness and futility into our situation. We call upon our own power instead of His, and call foul ball when our prayers go unanswered. ‘Spiritual power comes only when a person turns from self to God in faith…Jesus meant that anything is possible if we believe because nothing is too difficult for God, even when our experience seems to indicate otherwise.’ Life Application New Testament Commentary, p.186. If we don’t call on God’s power our words are simply empty mutterings. But when we are in tune with God’s power resurrections are realized…marriages are healed…prodigals return home…jobs are found…new beginnings bring hope. We cannot live our lives as an unbelieving generation questioning His power, His authority or His goodness. We only need to remember past times when He saved…when He intervened…when He comforted...to walk in the confidence that He will save again. When we pray let us pray in His name instead of our own.

‘Our Father, you are in heaven and you are holy. We ask for you to bring your kingdom and your will into our circumstances on earth. We ask that you give us your daily strength instead of trying to find ours. We humbly thank you for forgiving us and help us forgive the people who hurt us. Put a protective barrier between us and the evil that surrounds us. We recognize in all tough and heartbreaking circumstances that you have the power to change them, and the glory in which to reveal your awesome works both now and forever. Amen.’ (Based on the Lord’s Prayer)

Lost in the Forest

“They filled a large basket with food and set off into the forest to search for the way home. This time, luck was with them, and on the second day, they saw their father come out of the house towards them, weeping.” Hansel and Gretel.

This is the story of two children born to a woodcutter who loved them very much. He was a weak man, and their wicked stepmother hated them and was determined to rid herself of them. She was jealous of the children and forced her husband to lose them in the forest. The first time they left behind small pebbles which led them home, only to be taken back to the forest and left homeless. The second time they peppered the path with crumbs of bread, forgetting that the birds were also hungry. In their fear, hunger and loneliness they accepted the offer of an old lady who gave them enticing chocolates and delicious sweets. They enjoyed it for a bit, and then realized that the nice lady was indeed evil, and their landing place was really a trap. They tricked her into her demise, gathered her treasures and found their way back home. Their dad saw them coming and tearfully ran towards them, joyful that his wicked wife had died, his children were finally home, and they could share in the treasures forever.

I feel like we all experience seasons like the children in the story. We find ourselves in unfamiliar circumstances…lonely and tired…lost and hungry ... scared and homesick for kinder times. We make our plans to get back to those ‘normal’ times, but the pebbles get lost and the crumbs fail to lead back. We turn to desires that entice us…things that seem to make us feel better at the time. We enjoy them for a while, as they take our minds off our real dilemma…we miss the way things use to be… trying desperately to find our normal again.

No matter how far we separate ourselves from God, He is always going to run towards us with His arms wide open. He understands the forest because He created it. Even though we might feel lost, He always knows exactly where we are in heart and soul. He wants to show us the new normal when we are ready to put down our basket of futile attempts to find home. There are great treasures in our new normal, if we are willing to open our hearts to receive. Blessings don’t stop when seasons do, they just turn into different blessings. The key is to have an open heart and mind to receive the new circumstances, and embrace our Father as He gestures us in to our new seasons. His gifts are always good, and His faithfulness is as sure as the colorful sunrises and peaceful sunsets. So, fill your baskets with faith that what is up ahead is precious, and gratitude that we have a God who is still in the business of making all things new!

"And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”…" Rev 21:4

When The Waters Are Stirred

“He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” Col 1:17

I am a huge proponent of Christian counseling. I have recommended it to many individuals, couples, and families, but the main reason I am a fan is because during tough times it always delivered. During times where everything seemed to be falling apart it was the experience that gave me hope. Those visits were times of exhale in a season where I could barely breathe. It was the unpacking of burdens that I didn’t even remembering packing. My counselor usually made me feel like I was successful for choosing to ‘visit’, instead of judging me for my failures. With any good counselor, you should feel neither judged nor pacified…you should just feel heard. When our allotted time would expire, I would thank her and return to my car. The funny thing was that nothing about my circumstances had changed, but my prospective had shifted, my emotions had settled, and my belief in future resolution had once again been restored. Hope really does float when the waters are stirred.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is that He holds everything together for us. He doesn’t expect us to hold it all together, or to be everything for everyone. He fully understands us much better than we understand ourselves. He already knows what is packed in our hearts, and what burdens need to be released for Him to hold. His Spirit is the ultimate exhale for the world in which we exist. He is always ready to listen, no matter how difficult it is for us to express. He listens through the ears of love, instead of the ears of condemnation. He is the ‘holder-together’ of our entire existence so why don’t we allow Him to do just that? ‘It’s the main ingredient of the Fall (Genesis 3) as well as its primary effect – our need to control, our desire to create our own truth, to find our own way, to manipulate our circumstances to match our desires. Somewhere in the Garden, the serpent must have whispered slowly and deliberately into Eve’s ear, ‘It’s all up to you, my dear.’ And we pass the lie down from one generation to another.’ She Reads Truth, p. 108.

Sometimes we are our worst enemy, and the most critical of ourselves. When we spend time holding on to the One who holds us we will live above our circumstances. We will not only accept but we will embrace that we were meant to be weak to activate His strength. We were meant to lack to receive His awesome provision. We were meant to end where His power picks up. He has always been and always will be – let’s let Him!

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil 3:12.

When You Wish Upon a Star

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a [wo]man, I gave up childish ways…Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have fully known.” 1 Co 13:11-12

I have always been the perfect audience for fairy tales. I think I’ve always believed that wonderful and exciting things are just around the corner. With every Disney princess I tried on the crown. With every fairy tale’s calamity, I knew the rescue was imminent. For every twinkling star I saw in the sky I knew it had the power for my dreams to be realized. But then as I grew into a young woman, the crown tarnished, the rescues looked different, and the star I wished upon certainly failed to deliver.

I think God placed fairy tales in our world to put a snapshot of hope in our hearts. They symbolize purity with darkness that lurks around. They invoke feelings of triumph and tragedy, sorrow and joy, hopelessness and hopefulness…the things that are similar to the world in which we live. But God is writing a beautiful tale for you and for me that is not fantasy. He is penning the circumstances right before our very eyes, but we are so focused on one chapter that we are missing the very scenes that could change our lives. We busy our hearts and minds in the previous chapter where the villain seemed to steal from us. We skip ahead to a future chapter that makes no sense to us. We sit around and try to guess the ending of the book when God just wants us to join Him on today’s page. I read this line in my book this morning and it really opened my heart. ‘I have been earnestly focused on a single star, while God patiently gestures me to the galaxy.’ She Reads Truth, p. 166.

When we can lift our eyes and really engage in the story God is writing for our lives we will walk out our story as God intended. We only have partial understanding, partial wisdom, partial information but God has the fullness of all things. When we keep our eyes on the last sentence He has written we will keep up with the story. He knows us fully and loves us completely so everything we are…everything we need…everything we will be He holds in His hand. ‘He is the God who is not bound by my efforts nor held back by my doubt.’ She Reads Truth, p 166. God is the guiding Star…the only Star and when we wish upon that Star it matters not who we are… dreams will come true.

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Let It Be Well...

“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Horatio Spafford, ‘It Is Well with My Soul”

This is no doubt one of the most powerful songs to be sung because it was penned from a brokenhearted father who overlooked the 4 watery graves of his daughters.  Horatio Spafford stayed behind for business reasons back in 1873, while his wife and 4 daughters made a voyage to England.  He would join them after his business obligations had been fulfilled.  Their ship collided with another in the Atlantic where his daughters lost their lives.  He received a telegram from his wife that simply said, ‘Survived alone.’ “When Horatio Spafford sailed past the very spot on the Atlantic where his four baby girls sank into the depths, he grieved the passing away of things he knew were temporary.  Then he offered up these words of worship to the God who never moved, who presides over the sorrows and the seas.”  She Reads Truth, p. 160.  I can’t even imagine how he could sing these words, and I can’t even imagine how powerfully precious they were to the ears of God. 

Because we live in a broken world, we all experience deep suffering from losses that are forced upon us.  There will times when our lives are as peaceful as rivers, and then there are those times when mounting billows roll.  These are times when we have to force ourselves to let go and accept the circumstances that have crashed over our lives.  We are forced to wave goodbye to the temporary.  Horatio learned that through sorrows God taught him how to embrace the sorrowful times along with the joyful ones, and the difficult times with the peaceful times.  He taught this man that life will be an ebb and flow journey, and that God will always provide what is needed.  God wants our lives to be lived in complete trust during our temporary time on earth.  He desires that whatever comes our way in this broken world be well in our soul because we choose to hang on to the Permanent. The key word in this song is ‘taught’.  The only way I can say my challenging seasons are well with my soul is to have a teachable heart.  I must offer my suffering up to Him if I wish for things to ever be well in my soul again.  When we close our hearts to God’s grace and comfort, we close our hearts to healing.  Without a teachable heart, nothing life sends our way will be ‘well with our soul.’ 

With Thanksgiving upon us, I want to rejoice that it is well with my soul because this is not my home.  I want to sing with celebration that it is well with my soul because I will see all my loved ones again one day.  I thank God for my soul being well because of all the blessings in which I walk.  I want my heart to be confident that whatever future is up ahead, it will be well with my soul because God holds my entire future. 

Happy Thanksgiving and may it all be well with your soul because of the permanent love of God.

The Teddy Bear Exchange

“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3

A while back I saw this picture of Jesus asking the little girl to give up something priceless before showing her the exchange. She had to trust in His offer before she could see the reward. I am sure that the little girl didn’t even think she needed another teddy bear. She was content with the one she had…small in size…deep in comfort…longevity in possession.

In so many ways I am like this little girl. I hold tightly onto the comforts of this world, when God desires to give me so much more. I determine the measure of worth to precious things like my family, friends and possessions...grasping with white knuckles. This morning I visualized these bears representing my faith journey. God desires to expand and enlarge our faith, but it will always involve giving up something of this world to gain something larger from His hands. Many times, we fail to receive, because we are scared to believe. There have been many times when the exchange has happened…I reached out my little bear named Faith and God exchanged it for something grander. Other times, I have offered up my little Faith and my arms are still empty. But I fully understand that if the exchange hasn’t yet happened, it’s only because He knows that my arms are not yet big enough to receive the reward. Until that time, He gives peace…and I mean real peace. He gives His abundance …and I mean more of Him than I can ever imagine.

If God is asking you to give Him something, you can trust that what He is withholding will make your heart soar. You can trust that in the meantime He will be your peace and your abundance. Your faith will continue to grow as you lay things down at His feet.

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ And the Lord said, ‘If you have faith in God even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree which has very strong roots, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Luke 17:5-6

The Permanence of Permanent

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’” says the Lord God, “‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8.

It seems every time I turn around sin and death are lurking. Like many of you in your circle of influence, prayers are requested for so many things that it is difficult to keep up. The original fall from grace ushered in so much devastation that we can barely catch our breath from one heartbreak to another. As God wants to speak eternity in our hearts, Satan tempts us to believe that the temporary is the ultimate goal. The author of She Reads Truth cuts through the lies and reminds us there are only 4 things that are truly permanent…God…His word…our souls…His church. In a culture that wishes to confuse us about truth, Raechel Myers writes truth in her book saying that ‘everything other than these 4 things are all ashes and dust…it will all pass away…Breath is temporary, but life is valuable. Years are limited, but each life has an eternal weight to it. We can hope for people, but we cannot hope in people.” P. 149.

With Thanksgiving this week, it is easy to focus on the good things and people we have in our lives… these are our temporary pleasures given by God. Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that the good things are still temporary things. Money will go away, jobs will end, relationships get fractured, and bodies wear out. Traumas and tragedies strike the very core of our hearts, and they should. God created us to feel deeply and to love relentlessly like He loves us. There is nothing wrong with loving and grieving our temporary things, but when we make it our ultimate thing is when it becomes an idol. Sometimes something very important like our job, spouse, children or grandchildren becomes more valuable to us than the One who is permanent. It’s why we can’t draw boundaries …it’s the reason we strain to have control over things that end up having control over us. We are trying to hold on tight to ashes and dust instead of the Creator who used it to create us.  While God intends us to love the life He designed for us, we are to hold our lives loosely as we seek God tightly. He was there in the beginning of our lives, He is with us in the present, and He will be there in the end with His arms opened wide.

We must remember that true contentment and joy can only come through keeping our eyes on the Permanent, and enjoying the temporary with a surrendered heart. Our temporary things…our ashes and dust…are incredible blessings from God. Let’s keep them where they belong…held loosely with deep gratitude for the time we have to enjoy them.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Eccl 3:11.

Best Field Trip Ever!

“Listen, Shepherd…Rally your power…Revive us…Restore us, Lord…make your face shine on us…” Psalm 80:1-19.

I served as a chaperone on a field trip years ago that gave children who had never gone to the beach a day to discover that experience. The children came from families who used every penny just to feed their families. It was a very humbling day to see the splendor on their faces for one day, knowing that I had the privilege of going a few times a year growing up. One story that I still recount was when we were getting on the bus to go home, and I asked one little girl about her experience. She looked at me perplexed and said, ‘Mrs. Emmons, it was a great, but I know this beach was bigger when we got here than what it is now.’ You see, she knew nothing of the ebb and flow of the tides. She had not been exposed to that knowledge in her life. But in witnessing something new and powerful, she would never forget it because she experienced it. I’m sure many times after that day she looked for opportunities to experience that same event again. I wonder what impact that day had on her and it might have influenced her future.

There was another chaperone on a field trip back in the 1940’s. Dr. Edwin Orr, lecturer at Wheaton College, took a bus of students to John Wesley’s home. John Wesley was an English Anglican cleric and theologian who, with his brother Charles and fellow cleric George Whitefield, founded Methodism. Walking from room to room the students discovered evidence of the fervor of Wesley’s life. Wesley’s heart was on fire for spreading the message of Christ. The most notable marks of his life during that field trip were the two worn out patches on the carpet beside his bed. Orr explained that those worn impressions were the prayer marks of the time he spent on his knees asking for God to show His power to a disbelieving world. As the chaperone was taking a final headcount on the bus he noticed one student was missing. He retraced his steps and found him kneeling in the same spot that Wesley had knelt a century before. Respectfully, he gave the student a moment to finish his prayer and heard the young man say, ‘Do it again, Lord! Do it again!’ The two returned to the bus and the young student would never be the same and neither would we. That student was Billy Graham and God definitely DID IT AGAIN!

We can never be sure how God wants to use each of us. Graham was just a little boy from a dairy farm in Charlotte, NC. He had an open heart and spirit when God called him to set the world on fire. Every day is a field trip for all of us, if we will open our minds to the possibilities of what God can do through us to a watching world. God has been using ordinary people throughout time to do His extraordinary work. If we are fervent in our prayers, available in our lives and hungry in our walk God will certainly do it again!

Dining With the Divine

“I will stand on my guard post and station myself…I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply…” Habakkuk 2:1

I remember one of the best pieces of advice I read about parenting when my kids were young was to encourage them to make decisions before they were in the certain situations. So, before they would attend a party, I would tell them to be resolved in their choices. I would remind them that it would be much easier to decide in advance how to respond to temptations instead of in the face of pressure from their peers. This beautiful verse in Habakkuk confirms the same principle. Habakkuk knows that the word from God isn’t going to be pretty. He fully understands that he is representing a group of people who have turned their backs on God. He is ready to face the music, and confident God is getting ready to act. But interesting enough, he seems more concerned with his response than his impending circumstances.

We should all have this level of concern with how we are going to accept God’s will. We pray for it…we sing about it…we recite it…but do we really embrace it when it appears to be contrary to our desires? We must decide before the outcome occurs that we will reply with trust in His wisdom, confidence in His plan, and hope in His better tomorrow. When we cannot understand why our loved one must depart, we can be sure we will see them again one day in heaven…and our reply can be deep gratitude. When employment opportunities seem to evaporate we can have hope that God has a better one for us…and our reply can be trusting. When that relationship seems to be losing its pulse we can remember that God always can bring reconciliation…and our reply can be hopeful.

Our joy and satisfaction are products of our responses to life’s difficult challenges. Like Habbakuk, we can’t have a timid spirit avoiding communication with God. We must stand watch for God, inviting Him into our challenging seasons, and deciding in advance that His will is not only good, but great for us. It’s not what we will have to digest because life has a buffet of both savory and unsavory. It is more about inviting God to dine with us no matter what the menu.

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight…” Jeremiah 15:16

Leaving a Message

“Why was no one there when I came? Why was there no one to answer when I called? Is my arm too weak to redeem? Or do I have no power to rescue?” Isaiah 50:2

I remember the morning after Daddy joined Jesus in his new home, we split up the list of people to whom we were to contact. Daddy’s work was first on my list, so I sat down to make the call. I was completely caught off guard when the answering machine clicked on and his voice pleasantly invited me to leave a message. His sweet voice assured me that he would return my call as soon as he could…but I knew that he was not there…that I would never get that call returned.

I sometimes feel like I’m leaving a message on God’s voice mail, hoping He will return the call. With my deepest desires on my lips and in my heart, I call to Him waiting for Him to answer me. Thoughts of whether He is still there…will He hear my message…will He return the call? But this morning I read our verse above and was convicted that maybe He is getting my voice mail…my rehearsed and formal message in my prayers, promising Him things on which I don't deliver. Am I giving Him the appropriate time to speak to me or am I just praying to check it off my list? (He knows it anyway, right?) The point is not whether He knows it or not, but rather will we bring it to Him to discuss in our fellowship time. Just as a voice mail only gives us limited information, short-circuited prayers lack the opportunities for God to discuss the details of our lives. I wonder how many times He came to me but ‘no one was there?’ Why didn’t I answer Him when I felt the conviction of the Spirit? It wasn’t until I turned to Him in intentional worship and meditation on His word that He connected His strength with my weakness. It wasn’t until the suffering came, that I kept dialing His number until He indeed showed me He was able to save.

Our prayer life can be challenging with life’s competing distractions. (After all a girl must check her Facebook first thing in the morning, right?) Many mornings my first call to God is for Him to settle my mind and heart so that I can focus on our communication. In my Bible Study, Priscilla Shirer talks about how she ‘deals authoritatively’ with her distractions and emotions. We must have authority over our thoughts and behaviors to really hear from God. He wants us to be home when He visits, and to answer when He calls.

“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” Jeremiah 33:3.

Showing Up...

“So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy…” Romans 7:16

I love taking my morning walks and usually take the same path.  There is this one area that has been cleared off, and gradually the skeleton of a structure has appeared.  Every time I walk by it I wonder what it is.  I try to guess sometimes but I still do not know what the outcome will be.  The other day as I was walking past the land there was a man lacing up his boots sitting in his car with the door open.  I stopped and asked him what were they building.  His response struck me funny at first, but after considering his words I was inspired.  He simply looked up, smiled and said, ‘I have no idea, they just told me to show up and they would tell me what I needed to know.’   

I began thinking about the times when God asked me to do something.  Unlike this worker, I’m sure I asked a million questions regarding God’s direction.  ‘How long will this job take?’  ‘How does my part fit in to my overall desires?’ ‘I want to know exactly what my circumstances are going to be.’  The list goes and on.  If we would just live our lives like this man…showing up…lacing up our boots to work…confident that the One in charge will tell us what we need to do…we will be a part of a beautiful story.  Our plans will become His plans, and the building of our lives will become His structure.  His vantage point is up above and far ahead than any perspective we might have.  We don’t need to know the inner workings of the plans God has for us.  Even if He revealed them to us, they probably would not make sense.  God’s plans for us are cumulative and progressive, one building on another. 

I love the image of the man showing up, getting his feet ready to contribute, and leaving everything else to the builder.  It is the way I want to be when God calls me to work for Him.  I want to be present and available.  I want to show up, so He can show out.  I want to be involved as a humble servant, instead of showing up as an entitled worker.  He will use us in His work to the degree of our surrendered hearts in our endeavors.  He is a great God with a great plan for our lives that He assigned us when He formed us.

"I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Romans 9:17

Paraded In Front of Angels

“That night sleep escaped the king, so he ordered the book recording daily events to be brought and read to the king…The king inquired, ‘What honor and recognition has been given…for this act?” Esther 6:1, 3.

If you don’t believe that God is in the daily details of our lives, please open Chapter 6 of the beautiful story of Esther.  It seemed as if the loyalty of Mordecai, the man who previously foiled an assassination attempt on the king’s life, would go unnoticed…unrewarded…overwhelmingly forgotten.  But just at the right time, the night before the king’s official was going to request Mordecai be hung on the gallows, the king developed insomnia.  He called for the book of daily recordings to reread past happenings.  He discovered that nothing was ever done to honor and recognize the man who had saved his life.  Mordecai’s loyalty to the king only existed on the pages in the palace.  The king asked Haman, his official who hated Mordecai, his opinion on how to honor a great man.  Haman, thinking he was one of whom the king was speaking said, “‘Have them bring a royal garment…Have them clothe the man the king wants to honor, parade him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.’” Esther 6:8-9.  I can’t help but to smirk at the thought of this crescendo of pride crashing down as the king enthusiastically agreed, and uttered the name Mordecai.  It was the perfect timing of God to send the king insomnia, to remind him of the book of daily events, and have him turn to the exact page of Mordecai’s courageous act of loyalty.  All of this occurred before the morning rooster even crowed.  Haman never had a chance.  Not only was Mordecai’s delayed recognition brought to light, but it was the perfect timing of favor that saved his life.

Every bit of good that we do in God’s kingdom will be recorded in His book of daily events.  When we show loyalty to Him, we set ourselves up for future honor and blessings when His timing is right.  He wants to bless us…He wants to honor us…He wants to wrap a garment of favor around us.  All we need to do is look up from our phones and computers, and notice all of the of the hurting hearts around us.  We need courage to act on behalf of those less fortunate, and generosity to act on that courage.  Some of our blessings will be when we get to heaven, and are given the garment of praise and the crown of perfect righteousness.  He will parade us in front of angels and the saints who have gone before us.  We will take our crowns and lay them at His feet.  Many of our daily acts of love will be rewarded on earth, most likely when we aren’t even expecting it.  God loves to bless us when we have forgotten how we have blessed others.  We must always remember that God is in the daily details of all of our lives, and what we do for others, we do for the King!

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40.

Be Astonished!

“How long, LORD, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you…and you do not save? Why do you force me to look…” Habakkuk 1:2-3

I have several precious friends going through very difficult times right now. One has been an in-home caregiver to a parent for over 3 years, and the other is facing a mountain of legal and financial challenges regarding past circumstances. I find myself with a heart plea just like Habakkuk. ‘Lord, how long do they have to walk this journey? Why are they forced to continue on the same trajectory that seems to be empty of resolution? Why can’t resources open up? Why can’t things be settled? Why must suffering continue? When will you resolve these things, so their hearts and minds can finally rest?'

I have my own circumstances that frame how long and why not. Yet the very thing that calls my heart back to Him is confidence that He is doing something grander than any ideas I have. I also have gratitude for the prayers that He has answered. Those yeses that gave way to celebration…those no’s that invoked deep gratitude for greater wisdom…those maybe’s that keep my hope alive. I am certain that you too have your own ‘how long’ and ‘why’ questions. The Book of Habakkuk is a beautiful book of prayers from a pleading heart, and responses from a gracious and merciful God. It is a melodious symphony of a heart needing comforting, and a God who is a Comforter. God didn’t get angry that this man questioned His ways and timing. He didn’t judge him for his weakness. God wasn’t irritated with his impatience. God understood the heart of this man, and God understands our hearts when we hurt…when we are scared…when we are exhausted.

God listened then and God still listens now. He has a perfect plan for every situation we will face, and He has a string of events that must occur before our circumstances change. Even when things are not changing in our circumstances, our hearts are changing because we are more dependent on God. He holds the answers, He determines the timing and He blows our minds when the resolutions finally come. We can be fully confident that when our circumstances resolve, we will be able to trace His fingerprints through it all. ‘He’s received your questions with grace too – even the questions that remain tucked inside your heart, unshared, unspoken, unwritten. In His vast kindness towards us, in His knowledge of our frailty, God lets us ask our questions…A wider vision changes everything. If we are looking – I mean really looking – we’ll see the traces of God’s hand all around us. Already speaking, already moving, already working things into the shape of His own wise will and providence.’ Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla Shirer, p. 170.

‘Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days – you would not believe if you were told.’ Habakkuk 1:5.

Silly Seniors

“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

Last month some of my friends and I got together for the weekend, while some couldn’t make the get together. Even though a few weren’t there they were still included in most of the stories we retold. Our group has collective experiences, and individual experiences between each other. I know for me personally, if I look at one of them and simply say ‘Mrs. Boykin's boots’ she will fall out laughing. I know for another, if we hear ‘Play that Funky Music’ we immediately break out dancing. We have individual experiences that invoke emotional responses. During our weekend together, we were walking back home in the dark, and someone mentioned the Silly Seniors of our 1979 Senior Talent Show. At that moment, at age 56, the Silly Seniors of '79 walked the dark streets of Folly without apology singing 4 songs that we had sung 34 years go. All these years later it still brought joy to our hearts and a smile to our faces. We have collective relationship as a group, and individual relationships within the group.

This is how God loves it when dealing with His family of sons and daughters. He fellowships with us collectively, but then in His precious manner, He pursues intimacy with us in individual ways. I know that I can think of times in my life when God did something so sweet…so intimate…so God…that only He and I share that memory. A song that brought comfort from another time seeps into my mind…an encouraging phone call from a friend that I knew God initiated. There are some supernatural ways in which God has moved on my behalf that they are too personal to repeat. Without these individual experiences we live on the peripheral of what was meant to be experienced. We were made for intimate fellowship with God. We were made to have those private jokes with God…those intimate moments with Him…those precious nudges from His spirit that lets us know the invisible One is right beside us.

We can’t be satisfied with group mentality when there is so much to gain from our individual walk with God. God esteems our collective involvement with Him, but He longs for our individual fellowship with Him. There is nothing more lonely than feeling like we are outsiders in any group or relationship. God invites us to join the group, and experience the fullness of His family. But He also invites us to get away and share in the fullness of an intimate experience with Him. When we fully understand that we are all equal family members, we will freely fellowship as a member of God’s household.

“Therefore you are no longer outsiders, but you now share citizenship with the saints and you belong to God’s household.” Ephesians 2:19

When Earth Trembles

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  At that moment…the earth shook, the rocks split.” Matthew 27:50-51.

I was reading this morning about the moment Jesus gave up His life on the cross.  Jesus, the unblemished Lamb died at 3:00 in the afternoon, the exact time the temple priest was sacrificing lambs for the sins of the people.  Can you even imagine what they thought as they lost their footing when the earth began to violently tremble?  Did they understand the significance of what had just happened on that day?  Scripture makes it clear the whole earth shook in such a violent manner, it was felt everywhere.  Rocks began splitting in half and moving in ways they never had before.  The translation for split is ‘to violently tear asunder, or to terribly fracture.’  You see, creation had just lost their Love.   Creation fully understood that the hands who formed them had been nailed to the cross.  Creation fully understood that their master’s commands had been silenced.  The waves remembered the day when Jesus asked them to quieten themselves.  The sea longed for the day when at His command they were told to part.  The foundation of the world cried in such violent ways the heart of the earth split open.  The sun refused to shine for 3 hours that day wearing its dark garment of grief.  They knew…they understood perfectly what had just happened…and their grief was unbearable!

I couldn’t help but to remember certain times in my life when grief felt like the earth shook so violently that I would fall right off.  Phone calls on an ordinary day turned into my heart splitting wide open with the news on the other end.  Walking through circumstances that seemed so dark that the sun would never shine again.  But it did thanks to God who resurrects life!  At His command I was comforted.  At His insistence I laid my sorrow upon His shoulders, so I could walk forward.  He uninvitedly invaded my darkness with His brilliant light and the sun shone once again. 

I’m sure you have lived out circumstances that felt like a ‘terrible fracture.’  You might be walking through a situation where you earth has just trembled, and you are just trying to get your footing.  God has been the ultimate Stabilizer since the beginning of time.  He takes what shakes us and uses the good stuff, while discarding the debris that no longer benefits us.  He begins a beautiful resurrection project in our dead hearts where we must kneel together with Him.  We must be willing to be put back together by His creative hands. 

"When suffering shatters the carefully kept vase that is our lives, God stoops to pick up the pieces. But he doesn't put them back together as a restoration project patterned after our former selves. Instead, he sifts through the rubble and selects some of the shards as raw material for another project - a mosaic that tells the story of redemption."  The North Face of God, Ken Gire.

Meant To Be...

“Then the Lord said… ‘I know about their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them…and to bring them from the land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…therefore, go. I am sending you.” Ex 3:7-10.

My daughter Caroline has a wedding planning business called Mint to Be. She is an extremely hard little worker, and is very good at what she does. On different occasions she has invited me to join her and work alongside of her. I know that she can accomplish what is required on her own, but I believe that she delights in spending time with me. She could have asked anyone to join her in accomplishing what was required, or she could have just worked alone and done it herself. But I am so grateful that she invited me to work with her to accomplish the beautiful things that needed to be done before her clients’ weddings. At the end of the evening, I felt such joy to have been a part of something beautiful, along with spending so much time with her. It was such a blessing to see how she worked for the benefit of others, along with the love I have of spending time with my children. I feel like this is the emotional exchange we get when God invites us to join Him in the activities He has chosen.

Our passage tells us that God had already identified the future accomplishment (to rescue), had already invaded the situation (He came down), and stated the blessing (to move them from a land to a better land). Just like Caroline didn’t really need my help, she wanted to spend time with me while accomplishing her goal. I know that anytime God has involved me in His purposes, it has been a good and sweet land of fellowship, joy and satisfaction. God doesn’t need us but wants us…God has the power to accomplish without us but wants to fellowship with us. Some of the things Caroline wanted me to do were more difficult at my age than years past, but I was happy to do it. I fully understood that she didn’t want shortcuts, but wanted full beauty at the end of the day.

God will call us to partner with Him in easy things, challenging things, heartbreaking things and exhilarating things. It is up to us to position our hearts and spirits to understand to what He is calling us to accomplish in Him. ‘Shortcuts are not usually God’s way. He puts extraordinary tasks on the plates of ordinary people so that ordinary people can see what an extraordinary God can do through them.’ Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla Shirer, p. 157. We were meant to fellowship with God. We were meant to join Him in His work. We were not meant to be in isolation but in community with Him. We were meant to be His workmanship and His instrument to accomplish GREAT things through Him. We were meant to be His!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

Though Our Dreams Tarry...

“The vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.  Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3.

Delays…yuck!  Nobody likes them and yet we all must experience them.  In the Bible one of the longest delays was the pregnancy of Elizabeth and Zechariah.  The Bible says that were advanced in years and Elizabeth had been barren, unable to conceive.  How heartbreaking that month by month, year by year, decade upon decade their house felt empty…quiet…broken.  And yet, just as our verse beckons us in our delays, they waited for it…and the appointed time came!  ‘The intersection of the baby’s life with the divine purposes would be instrumental in the coming of the Messiah.  Elizabeth wasn’t too old.  God wasn’t too late.  The timing was right.  In fact, it was perfect.  Every single delay, even every single disappointment, had been for a reason.’  Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla Shirer, p. 151.

I believe it was 2005 and our pastor provided a piece of paper to each of us during the sermon.  It was a place where we were to write a prayer item that would be the anchor for our fast that week.  I can’t even remember what I wrote down because my mind and heart were distracted by anxieties regarding one of my children.  Anxieties stemming from choices they were making, and fear for their future circumstances.  Without much thought I jotted down something arbitrary (not sure why it wouldn’t have been what was on my mind), and began making my way to the altar to lay it down.  The closer I got the more I felt the Lord pulling me to my knees.  By the time I reached the altar I fell to my knees and began crying uncontrollably about my child.  (Granted this was not an altar time for prayer).  At first, I felt embarrassed to be on my knees crying in front of close to 1000 people, but God quietened my spirit.  His words fell upon my heart with an astounding voice, ‘Brenda, take care of my children, and I will take care of yours.’  I have never forgotten that day and I will never forget that promise.  Every time I serve to help another, I picture God serving either Kristen, Michael or Caroline.  Each time I pray with someone, I can just see Christ interceding and speaking to God about them.  There have been many beautiful promises fulfilled on behalf of my children since that day which I am so grateful.  For every fulfilled promise, it has anchored this truth:  I can trust that everything that flows into the lives of my family are conduits through which God will grow and bless them.  I have many goals for my children that are ‘yet for the appointed time’.  And ‘though they tarry, I will wait…for they will certainly come…they will not delay.’

What visions do you hold in your heart that is yet for the appointed time?  What goal do you have that feels like it will never be reached?  Are you like Elizabeth waiting on that positive reading?  Are you wearied from searching for employment?  Are you lonely and feel as if a relationship will never happen?  Are you tired of waking each morning with the heaviness of grief for a loved one who has passed over into the glorious land of God?  Though your dreams may tarry and linger, God hasn’t forgotten your prayers.  He completely understands what you want and what you need.  He is working in every hour to weave the thread that will hold it all together and bring it to fruition, creating a beautiful story.  Wait for it...believe in it...wait for Him and trust that He will either fulfill your dream or realign your heart for something even more beautiful. 

“Your petition has been heard…” Luke 1:13.

Searching for Donkeys

“One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off… ‘Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys.  Saul…went through Ephraim…went through the region of Shalishah…went through the region of Shaalim…went through the Benjaminite region but still did not find them.” 1 Sam 9:3-4.

This is a story about a prominent man named Kish and his son, Saul.  One uneventful day was about to turn into one extraordinary anointing.  Kish sent his son with one of the servants to find his lost donkeys.  Going from city to city searching for these animals must have seemed menial and mundane.  Just walking on the dusty road putting one foot in front of the other to no avail.  Most likely similar views, similar conversation producing similar feelings…frustrating…boring…futile.  Just when Saul was about to give up and return home, the servant told him of a man of God who might be able to help.  Now on the previous day, God had informed Samuel, the man of God, that He was sending someone for whom Samuel should anoint as King.  ‘At this time tomorrow, I will send you a man…Anoint him over my people…He will save them.’  When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ‘Here is the man I told you about; he will govern my people.’” 1 Sam 9:16-17.

Searching for donkeys…day after day doing the same thing, feeling the same way and getting the same results.  Most of our days filled with boring and repetitive tasks.  We are all searching for something…a new job…a new relationship…a new purpose…more contentment...a new season for heaven’s sake!  We cannot give up and give in to what seems like futile wanderings.  God has a calling on our lives, and each day matters to arrive at that destination.  We must force ourselves to believe that every activity of every day is critical to moving us from ‘searching for donkeys to finding our thrones.’ God is working just as hard in the ordinary as He does in the extraordinary.  ‘Saul’s frustrating, time-consuming task was actually a divinely orchestrated conduit to bigger purposes.  He could not have known how God was working on the other side…aligning events and people for his arrival.  And neither can you.  All you can do is fully engage in the task before you today.  Never think your circumstances are disconnected from His leading and His will.  He uses seemingly meaningless activities as tools to guide you towards His plans.’ Discerning God’s Voice, Priscilla Shirer, p. 143.

What if Saul hadn’t pressed on looking for the donkeys?  What if he hadn’t been supported by a person who pointed back to God?  What if he felt the job he was called to was menial and beneath him?  So many things could have deterred him from discovering his royalty…pride…impatience…a failure to fully engage.  We must also be cautious to fully engage in what is before us today…tomorrow… the next day.  We must believe that the donkeys for which we are searching are up ahead and God has already orchestrated the discovery!  Don’t give up…don’t give in…ask God to give you the patience to wait, the humility to act and the confidence to claim!

‘Samuel took the flask, poured it out on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said…‘the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance.’  1 Sam 10:1.

Freedom in Captivity

“The Arameans had…taken captive a little girl from the land…and she waited on Naaman’s wife… ‘She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master were with the prophet…then he would cure him of leprosy.’” 2 Kings 5:2-3.

This is a sweet little story with an enormous impact on the lives of those around her. This little girl had been kidnapped through an invasion of her land. It was determined that she would be a servant to the wife of a man named Naaman, a man who suffered with skin disease. This little girl could have been angry, scared or resentful to say the least. Anytime our circumstances kidnap us from our peaceful lives, we tend to become fearful, bitter or self-focused. But not this little girl on this special day. In her captivity she embraced her circumstances and served another. She not only did her job but looked beyond her on discomfort, and had the desire to make the lives of those around her better. She looked to the benefit of the other person instead of the situation in which she found herself. That is the exemplified action of love. She saw the need for healing in another person, and set aside her own present situation to help. Her wisdom, kindness and humility put into action God’s beautiful story of choosing the captive girl to give freedom to a free man being held captive by his circumstances. But this story wouldn’t have ended the same if the little girl had not fully engaged in the circumstances she found herself. She served where she was placed, she embraced her circumstances, and she had a heart for others.

I remember when I was facilitating Grief Share at my church I saw this divine phenomenon occur more times than not. Loved ones had passed and hearts were shattered. As this group met weekly for 13 weeks, I would see a few people exchange phone numbers to get together outside of the sessions. I watched parents whose hearts had been broken offer compassion and healing words to another. I witnessed the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of a few, who couldn’t forgive themselves for certain things that occurred prior to the passing of their loved ones. I watched God soften their hearts as they were bitter for the circumstances in which they found themselves. In that precious circle of pain, I watched the grievers become the comforters, and the students become the teachers. Many of those people had hearts like our little girl in the story above. One of the main reasons these groups were so helpful was because of the same motivation of heart. They were being held captive in their grief but chose to fully engage in their circumstances. They had a heart to help ease the pain of the others and the courage to reach out. I was always so blessed by these groups and still think about them often. Each one has a special place in my heart, and they are all such special people, still on their painful journey but walking in more freedom than before. Through their grief they helped others walk the journey towards healing.

‘The late author and Bible teacher Elisabeth Elliot said that one of the best pieces of advice she ever received in life was to “do the next thing.” We encounter God’s guidance as we engage and invest ourselves in our current circumstances. God is the God of right now. He calls us to not be regretful over yesterday or worried about tomorrow. He wants us focusing on what He is saying to us and putting in front of us today.’ Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla Shirer, p. 146.

“…he did...according to the command of the man of God…Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.” 2 Kings 5:14.

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