Grasping the Promises

 “The God who created you is the same God who is a covenant-keeping and promise-fulfilling God. Just as the Lord showed Himself faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He is more than able to bring about His plan for your life. You can trust Him to keep His Word to you.” The Study Bible for Women, Genesis… Written on My Heart Commentary, p. 67

It wasn’t until I was 45 years old that I began studying the Bible in depth. Fourteen years later I must say that while I love all the books of the Bible, Genesis marches in front as the leader. It isn’t the fact that it is the beginning of the Bible, rather because it is the book that puts God’s character and motivation right up front. Genesis is an account of many beginnings, and a multitude of promises to ordinary people whom God deeply and completely loves. Genesis displays stories moving from emptiness to fullness, darkness to light, good to evil, and callings to followings. If you have ever wondered whether God is concerned with the small details of your life, read Genesis. If you have ever wondered whether your deepest longing will ever become realized, read Genesis. If you want a track record of God’s faithfulness throughout the span of His children’s lives, read Genesis. And if you have ever doubted that God can mend broken family relationships into joyous reconciliations, you must read Genesis.Story after story God’s will trumps man’s plans. Detail after detail builds a life of faith, hope and purpose all orchestrated by God in His perfect wisdom and abiding love for us.

Like me, I’m sure you have dreams to be realized, prayers to be answered, and perhaps relationships to be reconciled. God is a God of reconciliation who has given us a ministry of reconciliation through the cross. ‘God’s calling is deeper than our plans, our dreams, and even our loves. I thank God for the opportunities He’s given me to choose Him and His ways over my personal desires, though it has never come easily…And where certain longings remain unmet, He is forging my faith and teaching me to live contently in the waiting…I want to live a life fueled by a faith than sees past the grave, grasping the promises that live beyond it.’ Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 193-194

Look to the Stars

 "But Abram replied, ‘O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?’” Genesis 15:2.

Now before we get consumed with judgment for poor Abraham, we must consider the tender intimacy that he experienced with God. Their relationship had transformed from the Creator and the created to the Father and His son. James goes so far in 2:23 to say that ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.’ The more intimate they became the more comfortable Abraham was in asking God anything. He fully understood that what he held in reserve from God would become a barrier to their relationship. He formed the brazen question to a God who isn’t fickle or thin-skinned. He had the courage to verbalize the question, and gave expression to what most of us feel in our hearts all these years later.

‘O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have _______?’ We all possess a blank that our hearts can fill in. In our prayers we fully recognize God is powerful enough to do the impossible…He is sovereign. In our prayers we acknowledge that His other blessings are good. But do our words fall short from asking the courageous question of Abraham…what good are the blessings when my heart longs for the one thing I don’t have?

God didn’t punish Abraham for his honesty. God didn’t withhold future fulfillment or blessings because He thought Abraham was greedy. God fully understood the heart of His child, and the longing of his child’s heart. And God still does. Romans 2:11 states that God does not have favorites, and that each man is no greater than another before Him. Even after God answered his question by taking him outside and showing him the numerous stars as it related to future blessings, Abraham continued the questioning. He asked another question that probably strikes the chord of our heart… ‘LORD, how can I know?’ Genesis 15:8. Again, God reaffirmed that His promise would be fulfilled in His timing…and it was. Abraham finally got the longing of heart, and because He believed, God credited righteousness to his spiritual bank.

I don’t know what _______ you hold in your heart, but God certainly does, and He also knows mine. When we pray let us all have the courage to fill in that blank and allow God to be God, the one of mystery…the one of perfect timing…the one of ultimate power. May we have eyes to see that God who has displayed past blessings has a whole sky of stars representing our blessings to come. Whenever you are feeling discouraged about what you do not have, look to the stars! Your future blessings are innumerable and uncountable thanks to a gracious God.

The Great Exchange

 

“Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him…Joseph said… ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn.’ But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know.’” Genesis 48:17-19 

As Jacob’s life was coming to a close, he wanted to bless his grandsons and include them in the inheritance. ‘In ancient Israel, blessing the oldest son with a double inheritance included being the headship of the family, property rights, and responsibility for the family among other things.’ Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 184. Joseph had probably dreamed for years that one day he would be reunited with his father who would eventually bless his oldest son. But when that day came, Jacob exalted the second born son in place of the first born. Joseph was not pleased with his father’s decision of who received the blessing. But his father was in the position of authority, inheritance and promise.

We are not that different from Joseph all these years later. As parents we also have dreams for our children’s future. I have played out scenarios in my heart of greatness for them as they walk out their life. Like you, I have prayed for our Father to bless them in prosperous and beautiful ways. But like Joseph’s father, we have a Father who sits in authority over the lives of our children. He has beautiful plans for each of our children, plans to which we are not privy. Like Joseph we may not always agree with the plans that are unfolding in our children’s lives, but God knows the exact timing and circumstances that will bring them into the blessings and promises of their fellowship with God. It is our responsibility to entrust God with our children as He entrusted us with them at birth. Our children are our treasures who we are to care for and tend to for their short time under our upbringing. But we cannot know God for our children, but can only introduce Him to them. It is up to them to forge a relationship with Him marking one of our greatest exchanges when we give them back to Him. We cannot try to control aspects of their lives but must allow God to determine their steps. ‘This humble posture of openness to God avails us to what God wants to bring us [and our children] and loosens our grip on how we think things should go. It also acknowledges our trust in God and His sovereignty…God is not bound by customs, birth order, or people’s expectations’ pp. 184, 185.

Although Joseph was disappointed, he had walked with God long enough to fully trust the plans that were unfolding for both of his sons. God had two different plans for the boys, and both lives were walked out in favor, promise and God’s great abundance. Joseph had an open heart for the work God was going to do in both of their lives. And, so should we!

Change of Name

 

"Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all my trouble..." Genesis 41:51

The day Joseph’s first child was born Joseph looked to his past in retrospect. He looked at all the pain of what happened with his brothers. He remembered the fear of the uncertainty of the future. He recalled the many nights he was bound in prison by the decisions of his family. And somewhere in all the joy of becoming a father, he determined that he would mark that past season by naming his child a name associated with forgetting his painful past. Manasseh translates as ‘forget’. I can look back at my Manasseh, that season when one of my children was walking through the darkest valley in the life of our family. Over an 8-year period many days I had fear of her death painted across the canvas of our lives. I would awake to the possibility that I would never see her face again. Dream after dream I had for her life was laid down with nothing to pick up in its place. It is a season that I wanted desperately to forget… my Manasseh. But God knew the plans He had for her, and they were plans to prosper her and not to harm her (Jeremiah 29:11). As I consider my Manasseh season 15 years later, I see it through the same eyes that Joseph’s father saw his past. I see it through the miracle of God's redeeming grace.

Not only did God save Kristen from death, but He redeemed her life in ways I could never have imagined. As I look at her life…her testimony…her faith…her children… I don’t want to ever forget the painful past. To forget is to no longer believe in a redeeming God and what He can do with our past pain. To forget would have been to miss out on the redeeming story God was writing for our family’s life. To forget would be to never see the transforming work of our Redeemer. ‘When God redeems our stories, they are better than if they never needed redeeming in the first place.’Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 178.

I began wondering what other descriptions we name painful seasons…widowed…divorced… unemployed…abandoned…adulterer…to name a few. Without our failures and mistakes there wouldn’t be stories of redemption. Without remembering our heartbreak our hearts would never feel the celebration of how God is faithful…all-loving…all-powerful. Not only did God allow me to see my daughter’s face again, but He allowed the same privilege He allowed Jacob all those years ago. “Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.’” Genesis 48:11

We all have painful circumstances from our past, but it might be the very thing that God is going to redeem.

A Certain Box of Matches

"So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed." Genesis 47:31b

Jacob was very weak and was at the end of his life. He called Joseph in and gave him instructions on his wishes after his death. These wishes would be an exclamation point to the end of a story that boasted years of twists and turns…heartache and joy…prophesies and fulfilled promises. At the end of Jacob’s instructions, Scripture draws the picture of Israel (Jacob’s God-given name) bowing himself on the head of the bed towards Joseph. And just like that, Joseph’s second dream when he was a prideful and boastful teenager came to fulfillment. “So he told it to his father…and his father rebuked him… ‘What is this dream…Shall your mother and I…indeed come to bow down…before you?’” Genesis 37:10. But the middle-aged Joseph didn’t receive the fulfillment of that dream with the same heart he had when he was given the dream at seventeen years old. This is a beautiful reminder that dreams have no expiration date and that God will do what He promises to do in your life and mine.

Any promise that God has given us is many times for the long game. There are things in our heart that we so desperately desire, and we feel as if God has ordained the fulfillment. We look for it on the horizon and days turn into years, and hope loses its pulse. Year after year we pull back the curtain scanning the landscape for evidence that the promise is close. Finally, one day we pass by the window without even stopping. ‘What we forget, or simply don’t realize, is that sometimes dreams have to die for God to resurrect them. Even if a flame goes out, it’s no match for a God who can relight it…Dear friend, if the promise God has given you is in accordance with His Word and will, you keep hanging on. He’s not out of matches.’ Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 173.

Just like Joseph, many times our heart is not ready to receive our desires. Joseph had to go through life-altering adversity to humble his heart to be willing to respond appropriately when the desire was on his doorstep. He had to be emptied out for God to have the space to fill him up with the blessings He had promised Joseph. Don’t ever stop believing in something that God has told you will be yours one day. Keep your eyes on the horizon because one day the landscape will display the dream coming to completion.

“The LORD will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever.” Psalm 138:8a

Walking with a Cane

“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day…He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint…So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: ‘For I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved’…and he limped on his hip.” Genesis 32:24-31

I have always thought that this was one of the most bizarre stories in the Bible. We are not told why the two were wrestling but we do know that the Man was a messenger from God with the authority and power to engage with Jacob’s petition. Being from God this Man could have taken Jacob’s life in a second, but instead they rolled around on the ground for who knows how long. All we are told is that ‘the struggle was real’ and it went into the early morning. Near the end of the encounter the Man touched Jacob’s hip giving him a permanent injury. Once his encounter with God was over, Jacob would never be the same and he had the limp to prove it.

While the story may be shrouded in mystery the message is clear. God will allow us to wrestle with Him over things we desire to happen in our lives. God will even allow us to prevail in certain struggles but the cost will remind us that God is in complete control of every aspect of our lives. ‘Jacob had learned that God, not his own cunning resourcefulness, was the source of his blessings and well-being.’ The Study Bible for Women, p. 45. From that point on, Jacob perceived his life through the view of a heavenly home. His limp had become his testimony, and all desires aligned with his future with God. There had been promises that God had made, some fulfilled on earth and some would be fulfilled in the heavenly country. ‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them…But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country’ Hebrews 11:13-16.

There have been plenty of times when my attitude with God was ‘out of joint.’ The things I prayed for were things of this world…status…image…material things. There have been wrestling matches with God when I asked Him to promise me things. Some of these items were not good for me, and some He allowed me to prevail by granting them to me. But time and time again, the message always ended up the same in the end. “Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21. Every day holds another encounter with God with different sides of the prism to behold. God is faithful and the plans He has for us are better than anything we could ever have for ourselves. Whether we receive His promises now on earth or later in our ‘heaven country,’ may our lives be marked by our encounters with God, fully embracing them and confidently assured by them. 

Make Ready our Chariots

 “So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up…to meet his father…and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.” Genesis 47:29

I cannot imagine Joseph’s emotions as he was waiting on the arrival of his dad. Joseph had waited 22 years for this reunion. I am confident over the years he daydreamed of the moment he would see his father’s face again. In thinking about his life, I imagine that on his wedding day there was a void in his heart because of the absence of his father. Who did he tell on the day he realized he himself was going to be a father? How many nights was his pillow wet longing to hug his dad’s neck one more time? While in prison, did his imagination drift to memories as a young teenager enjoying the favor of his father? I cannot even begin to comprehend his level of emotions as he was making ready his chariot.  ‘After more than 22 years of suffering, prosperity, and waiting – a lot of waiting – it was time to be reunited with his beloved father.’ Finding God Faithful, Kelly Minter, p. 156. 

My pondering leads my heart to my own father who has been in a distant land called Heaven for over 10 years. Things in my own life have happened that made me long to talk to him. There have been great celebrations and tough challenges over the past 10 years from which I wish I could have received his comfort and guidance. Many mornings on my patio I recall the fun memories of a long life together with him. But I sit here this morning encouraged and reminded that I too am making ready my chariot. Each day with Christ is a day closer to my reunion with Daddy. Christ is my chariot that I will ride in all the way home one day. But there is work to do on earth that God in heaven has assigned each of us. He lays out opportunities to participate with Him in Kingdom work. He equips us and infuses His power into our callings to accomplish His great will. We ready our chariots by serving God in all areas of our lives. We ready our chariots by reflecting the image of God and allowing transformation in our hearts to be more like Christ. We ready our chariots by being living testimonies of God’s amazing grace.

Just like Joseph, I look forward to the day when I step down from my chariot and reach up to hug my dad’s neck. I’ll never want to let him go and I never will have to. That day is also coming for you so ready your chariot every day in anticipation of the glorious reunions up ahead.

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart..." Ecclesiastes 3:11

The Cart of Prayer

 “Then God spoke, ‘Jacob, Jacob…Do not fear to go down to Egypt…I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.’ Then Jacob…and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob…in the carts…” Genesis 46:2-5.

Preceding our passage this morning was an emotional scene of Joseph’s brothers bursting through the door revealing that Jacob’s adored son was alive! They told him about Joseph requesting the sons to bring his father to him. Jacob was an old man who was now a very weak man. Our passage draws a beautiful picture of a man so surrendered to God that even in his waning years, he still had a heart of obedience. Instead of making the journey down to Egypt he could have insisted that Joseph come to him. Joseph wouldn’t have been able to run fast enough to throw his arms around his father’s neck. But instead Jacob trusted his sons, began the journey and arrived at the place where God confirmed the calling. 

Our passage this morning is so emotional for me and it reminds me of our dad after he had been battling cancer for 3 ½ years. I remember being at the beach when Daddy called me, along with calling Becki and Benay, and asked us to join him in prayer about returning to Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), a ministry that Daddy led in directorship for 10 years. CEF is responsible for bringing children to Christ through Good News Clubs in after school programs and day cares. This was my dad’s passion for many years and he worked diligently with many others towards this ministry. When he became sick, it was necessary for him retire, much to his disappointment. During that phone call he told us that he felt the urging of Christ to return to CEF and further the ministry. Daddy was spending much of his time in bed in a weakened state with his cancer beyond his control. Once he accepted God’s calling, he immediately contacted the board of CEF who joyfully received him back. During that timeframe, Daddy had strong and steady days which can only be explained through the power of God raising Daddy up allowing him to do the work He wanted him to do. God wasn’t through with him yet and our dad was still surrendered enough to hear His assignment. 

Hearing God is essential in receiving the task God has chosen for us throughout our lives. No one person is exempt from God’s love, blessings and purpose. We must carve out time each day to get into God’s Word, meditate on Him in prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to do the work of revealing the mind of Christ to us. 

I like to imagine that like Jacob’s sons carrying their weak dad in the cart, the prayers of my sisters and myself carried our dad to the place where God had called him. And just like Jacob, after the work was done God ‘brought him up again’ to Heaven to walk out eternity in His presence.

Making Room in our Wagon

 “So it pleased Pharaoh…And Pharaoh said, ‘…do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” Genesis 45:16, 20.

This morning I find myself settling in to the climatic reunion of Joseph and his brothers. In the Bible, Joseph’s story begins at the tender age of 17 with his future of greatness ahead of him. He spent his days tending sheep and daydreaming, but no dream matched the dream given to him by God. Revealed in his dream was the prophesy that his parents and brothers would one day bow down to him. I’m sure that dream was replayed day after day in his mind as he leaned on his staff watching the flock. I’ll bet the dream flashed before his eyes as he was thrown into the empty pit by his brothers. How could he ever be master over anyone since he was sold as a slave? The years rolled by and the adversity grew greater with each passing year. But God was with Joseph and kept his dream alive. By the time the dream came true, Joseph longed for fellowship with his family more than he longed for power over them. 

God is still in the business of working miracles and changing hearts. He places our dreams and desires deep within us and begins the heart work of transformation and spiritual growth. He gives us snapshots of our land of ‘exceedingly more’ along the way to encourage us. In our toughest times, He will remind us of what is at stake…the abundance of what it up ahead when our hearts are ready to receive it. But we cannot hold on to the things of the past. As Pharaoh commanded so does God command us to not be concerned of what we are leaving behind when we hook our wagons behind Christ. I love the way Kelly Minter expresses this concept in the story of Joseph’s brothers returning home to gather their father and make the final move from Canaan to Egypt. She writes, ‘Pharaoh encouraged traveling light and leaving some things behind for the abundance of what was ahead…If you’re like me, you tend to lament the stuff you can’t fit into the wagon – the stuff you’ve had to leave behind in the course of following Jesus.’ Finding God Faithful, p. 143.

God will never require us to lay down something greater than what He has for us up ahead. Our responsibility is to ‘make room in the wagon’ and patiently walk with Him to the exceedingly good land He has chosen for us.

A Tender Moment in Time

 “Please come near to me…I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…So now it was not you who sent me here, but God;” Genesis 45:4-8

We have arrived at one of the most tender moments in Scripture…a foretaste of what Christ did for us on the cross and it makes me cry. More than anything, Joseph wanted to be reunited in the family. More than anything, he longed for the love and fellowship he had missed for 22 years. The terror his brothers must have felt when they discovered the person in charge of their lives was the very one whose life they previously altered. But the most endearing attitude in this passage is something I desperately want to embrace in my own life. Like Joseph, I want the ability to see my most heartbreaking circumstances through the perspective of God’s eyes, not the eyes of my flesh. I want to remember when others wrong me that because I have been forgiven, I am to forgive. I want to look at those who have hurt me and tenderly whisper, please come near to me. I want to give grace to those who don’t deserve it, and I want to receive grace when I have failed. 

Having God’s perspective in whatever we are facing will bring us freedom in our circumstances. Like Joseph, when we can trace God’s steps through our challenging times, we come out the other side not blaming others but praising God. No path we walk on hasn’t first been cleared by God’s detailed providence of transforming power. The path that ends in spiritual freedom has been personally tended to and prepared by God. 

I’m sure that like Joseph, we may be walking the path in between promise and fulfillment…sadness and joy…fear and peace. It is easy to despair when dreams seem to have lost their pulse…hopes seem to barely deliver…fear and discouragement seem to take center stage in our story that is unfolding. But like Joseph, there is someone else who leans in to you and to me and whispers ‘Please come near.’ His name is God and He beckons us to ‘…draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,’ and to ‘hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.’ Hebrews 10:22-24.

And when we draw near to Him we see every detail of our lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly as the transforming work of a Savior who relentlessly loves and faithfully saves.

Freedom Legs

 

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved." John Newton, "Amazing Grace" 1779.  

Her name is Alice Marie Johnson and she is my most recent hero in a current culture that produces few. In 1996, she was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-violent drug crime, a sentence that would label her a ‘Lifer.’ After 22 years incarcerated, her sentence was finally commuted by the President and she was eventually pardoned. In an interview about her experience Alice responded to what it was like be a ‘Lifer’. “My final resting place was supposed to be in there. I’ve been told the death certificate for a dead prisoner will say you escaped your sentence only by death. And that was the way I was supposed to leave prison. Not walking out, but carried out lifeless and cold…But while they sentenced me to life, they couldn’t take my life from me like that. I could still choose to live. Incarcerated isn’t powerless. I still knew my power was in deciding who I am. ‘Lifer’: That’s a label, but that wasn’t me. I decide who I am. I’m Alice.”

I began considering how we all are labeled by our circumstances. Divorced…barren... unemployed...bankrupt...terminal…sinner …griever…addict to name a few. I have labels that I placed upon my own incarceration…labels of being a bad mother…a bad wife…a bad Christian. Living under the weight of labels can feel like a life sentence…'lifeless and cold.’ But as Alice pointed out, we can still choose to live and to live abundantly as Jesus promised despite our situations. When we place our power in the truths of God, no circumstance can hold us against our will. When we allow God to define us, we live and walk in freedom. The beautiful thing I love about God is that He not only commutes our sentence but He completely pardons our sins. He redefines us not by our actions, but by our repentance and His forgiveness. He breathes new life into our lives and removes the stain of labels. To continue defining ourselves by past mistakes is to not trust God for His Word and to believe that He is not who He says He is. It is to question both His faithfulness and His power. Alice Johnson believed God for His promises and never gave up hope. She said once God brought her out of her situation she had to ‘find her freedom legs.’ 

What do your freedom legs look like? Is it breaking out of depression and claiming hope for the future? Is it continuing to pray for that miracle when the horizon looks bleak? Is it taking God at His word when He says His plans are good and prosperous for you? Like the hymn states, grace teaches us to revere and trust God and grace will relieve us from all fears. 

We decide who we are…we are forgiven…now let us run with new legs the race that God has set before us!

Keeping the Change

 “But he said, ‘Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money.” Genesis 43:23

I remember when I was a little girl and would go with Daddy to the store. He would give me money to buy a treat as we were standing in line to check out. He wouldn’t handle the transaction for me, but would encourage me to interact with the cashier. After the purchase I offered him the change but he would always say, ‘You can keep the change.’ I always was excited that He gave me the double blessing… the treat and the leftover money. 

In the continuing saga of the family of Joseph they had paid for the grain their family needed to survive the famine. On their way home, each brother opened his sack only to find the money had been returned. Instead of turning around they continued home and enjoyed the grain. Later on, when the shelves were once again empty, they made their way back to Egypt to purchase more grain, but this time with double the amount of money. They were fearful that they would lose their lives because they hadn’t returned the money found in their sacks. After they told their story to the steward of Joseph, he assured them that God must have given them the money because he had received payment from the transaction…their debt had been paid.

Those words this morning just hang in the air with such humility and gratitude in my heart. We don’t need to look very far to see the extravagance and generosity of God in each of our lives. Just like Daddy, God gives us not only the means to receive but the blessing of ‘keeping the change.’ Just like the steward said, God has given us treasures in our sacks. God paid our debt for us when He stepped down from the throne and put on flesh, being crucified for my sin and your sin. Christ died and Christ was raised to pay our debt once and for all. We didn’t deserve this extravagant mercy and we certainly don’t deserve to ‘keep the change’ from that transaction on the cross. But that is who our amazing God is…He pays the original price and we get every penny of mercy and favor leftover from the transaction. 

There is no need to fear any kind of lack in the future because God has gone before us and will provide us with everything we need. And because we have such a generous God, there will always be leftover change.

Glam and Glitter

“All that glitters is not gold” William Shakespeare

When Kristen was around 4-years-old she was drawn to the most extravagant (sometimes tacky) displays when we would go shopping. She would always say, ‘Look Mommy…bue-tee-full!” One day I remember well. We were in Belk and walked past a mannequin who was dressed in glam and glitter. Kristen couldn’t take her eyes off the plastic woman who was adorned with jewelry and fancy clothes. We kept walking and stopped at the next department. I turned my head for a moment and when I looked back Kristen was gone. I was alarmed at first but then I remembered the mannequin who was dressed to the nines. Before I got to her, I heard Kristen crying and calling my name. I sped up only to find her holding the mannequin’s arm in her hands. Kristen had reached up and tried to hold the hand of the plastic figure and the arm detached from its trunk. I remembered this event yesterday as I was walking and Shakespeare's quote came to mind.

I began recalling the ways over the years I have reached for the hand of something I deemed as glitter. More times than not I was left with an ‘inanimate plastic arm’ in my hands with tears running down my face. My glitter beckoned me…image... secret spending…deception…pursuing approval…all glitter that was not gold! We can be so much like my little girl was at that age as we see things that we must have…things we think we cannot live without…things that are pleasing to the eyes…things that lure us away from God. God may allow us to wander off but His eyes never leave us. He knows right where we are at every moment and the things that tug at our desires. 

What is your glitter? Is it power…status…wealth…a promotion? Is it the shimmering promise of being accepted or the participation of gossiping? Sometimes glitter is a liar and will draw us in to attitudes and decisions that are anything but gold. God’s word has defined even better than gold in our lives. 1 Peter 1:7 explains that ‘the tested genuineness of our faith – more precious than gold – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor…’ Adversity produces lasting and authentic faith which will bring praise and glory to God. These are things we are to run after…to take hold of…to embody and embrace. I am so thankful that temporary glitter isn’t gold and that God offers us a better pursuit…a pursuit of excellence and righteousness.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above…Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-2

Open Storehouses

 “Then Pharaoh said, ‘Go to Joseph…’ and Joseph opened all the storehouses…” Genesis 41:54-56

Years ago, when we realized that work was becoming scare Bruce told me that he had started a file which included devotionals about trusting in the tough times…the confusing times…the times of lean and lack. The resources were all very encouraging and I was glad he was surrounding himself with words of hope and God’s faithfulness. But I didn’t really understand what his motivation was until he told me one day. He shared with me that it was a collection of resources that he could share with others who might be going through the same thing. That touched my heart to realize what he was doing with his tough years to impact others. Like Joseph who collected the grain and stored them up for a future famine for others, Bruce stored up encouragement in his storehouse even though he was living in lack. Over the next 3-4 years I know that many people have benefited from him opening the doors of his storehouse.

Kelly Minter, author of Finding God Faithful writes about the importance of what we gather and store up for eternal purposes. She encourages us to leverage our gift of influence with the spiritual things such as our time and our resources. She exhorts us to recognize that the most profound gift God has given us to give to the world is His Spirit. She reminds us to remember that God has given us everything we have and has brought us to where we are. What we store up will be what we hand out to others. Have we stored up bitterness…division…jealousy? Or have we stored up grace…wisdom…compassion? When others come to us for encouragement will we share the flesh or the Spirit? For the couple whose marriage was reconciled, be the storehouse of wisdom for another couple whose marriage is struggling. For the lonely heart, be a storehouse of companionship. For the poor, be a storehouse of resources. For the frightened parent of a prodigal, be the storehouse of hope for their hearts. As believers, we all have a story of lean and lack, and messages from the messes we have created.

We have a responsibility as Christians to bring comfort to the hurting and compassion to the suffering. None of us need to look very far to see people standing in line for hope…people desperately needing comfort…people paralyzed by their circumstances who need words of freedom. We all carry within us the Spirit of God who comforts us. We are to share with others what we have been given from God. 

Oh Lord, give us eyes to see those who need to receive a provision from our storehouse. Give us a heart to share every part of our lives with your given blessing. Help us to fling open wide the doors inviting all to experience your Spirit and welcome your Presence. In Your abundance, Amen!