Such Things

“Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

A dear friend of mine turns to a certain book whenever anxiety starts to arise in her life.  It is a book from one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado called Anxious for Nothing – Finding Calm in a Chaotic World.  I never have been a big worrier, neither as a child nor an adult, but I must admit that I ordered this book and Bible Study because of what is going on in our world.  I must finally own up to the fact that I am also heavy-heartened and I’m finding certain parts of our circumstances worrisome.  Sometimes our bodies explain to our minds what we are really feeling.  I don’t know why but now every morning when I listen to my worship music, tears just stream down my face…every morning.  It is part of my new routine I guess, so I no longer try to stifle the tears. I did this morning what I always do when I begin a new Bible study.  I opened the front cover, wrote the date and made notes as to what is occurring in my life and the life of my family and friends.  It helps me chronicle the prayer requests and timeline of how God has answered those prayers and/or brought my concerns to a resolution.  Never in a million years did I ever imagine the things I wrote in the front of this one today.  As you see the inside front page even looks chaotic with different colors, scribbles and exclamation points. 

Why did Paul feel the need to exhort us twice to rejoice?  How was he able to believe this with everything in his soul while sitting on a cold prison floor shackled to a Roman guard?  His days were limited in that prison because death was certain to find him.  He had nowhere to run… except out of options.  And yet, he rejoiced in the Lord and told us to…not just when things were good but ALWAYS.  “Paul’s prescription for anxiety is a call to ‘rejoice in the Lord.’ This is not a call to a feeling but to a decision…We can wear our fear or wear our hope.  We can cave into the pandemonium of life or lean into the perfect plan [and presence] of God.”  Anxious for Nothing, p. 17.  Rejoicing in the Lord is ‘a deeply rooted confidence that God is still in control… that God is good, and that God preserves and governs over everything He created.  When our minds race to anxiety we open us a devastating dialogue between fear and faith…who will win out?  Anxiety is normal during unstable times but left unchecked it can squeeze the life right out of us.  It can choke any joy we usually have, leaving us restless, sleepless and faithless.  Thankfully, we have 1651 pages of God’s comforts, encouragement and promises to which we can turn.  One of my favorite passages is a sure way to settle my angst and rally my joy!  So, today let us ‘think about such things’ and REJOICE!  Again, I say Rejoice!

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” Philippians 4:8.

Finding My Floor

"Jesus wept." John 11:35

As Jesus looked over His beloved city He cried at the state of it. He understood the pain between what the city once was and the reality of how it had changed.

Over the past week it seems that tears have escaped from where they normally hide out more times than I expected. But being brave…faithful…determined I would cut them off and exhort myself to ‘be well with my soul.’ Even yesterday I used one of the few freedoms I still have…going to our community Italian restaurant and buying dinner hoping one of our favorite restaurants don’t go on their own ventilator. I walked in and was overwhelmed with the Clorox aroma where garlic and pizza are the norm. Tables cluttered with chairs atop them reminded me of the disarray of this season. There was one gentleman pressing the dough with a worried smile, while a young lady wearing latex gloves gave me a half-heartened nod. I left there with tears in my eyes, but the day was beautiful, so I reminded myself to ‘be well with my soul.’ But this morning, as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came upon a link from one of my former favorite teachers of a group of Nashville singers alternating stanzas from ‘It is Well.’ I began listening and with the first note, tears charged as if running to war…and then I remembered…we are in a war against a killer.

I decided this morning to choose this collection of sheltered-in self-made studio performances to finally find my floor. I feel like I’ve been free falling for 10 days and I’m ready to hit pavement …and I did with this song. We can’t stand back up and bravely face the days ahead without understanding the free fall is finished. It was an ugly cry…a cry that ushered in memories of wonderful 'it is well' moments. I allowed myself to 'go there.' I was once again that little daughter who finished getting ready for church and was sitting on the living room floor listening to Daddy play 'It is Well' on our piano. I was the sister laying beside the others hanging our legs out of the back window of the family's station wagon staring at the stars. I was the granddaughter painting my fingernails at my grandmother’s house when I was not allowed to at home. I was the friend in my bright pink bedroom with the canopy bed trying to squeeze in the wicker hanging chair with one of my best friends. I was the student passing a note to my best friend when I should have been listening to the teacher. I was the mommy who tucked her little children in watching them sleep with the glow of the nightlight on their cheeks. I was the wife sharing a pizza with Bruce at the restaurant laughing in the low light. I was the woman on Sunday at my church standing beside others with raised hands and worshiping hearts. I feel like revisiting these ‘it was well’ moments will give me the faith, endurance and patience to wait on my ‘it is well’ future.

We can’t get back up until something stops us from falling, and for me this morning it was a song shared by people who beautifully broke the fall. It’s okay to grieve during this time because we have lost a lot. It’s okay to cry over the blessings we use to have as long as we remember God still has a storehouse of blessings up ahead. It’s okay to be a little scared because even the disciples were frightened as their normal escaped them. When we bring all of our emotions to the feet of Jesus His hands are large enough to unloosen the knot. He alone will make it well in our soul. He alone is our Floor where comfort begins, and faith expands.

Running in Place

“Therefore...let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

When I was in middle school, I remember the first time our P.E. teacher instructed us to ‘run in place.’ I thought the phrase itself was contradictory and didn’t see the point. As I looked around, I saw my fellow classmates lifting their knees and swinging their arms as if they were accomplishing something. But, always wanting to please my teacher I began the exercise. It felt weird…awkward…senseless but I soon realized that we were running in place as preparation for a future run. She was getting us prepared…she was stretching our muscles so we might not cramp…she was looking out for our best interest in advance of the real run.

I don’t know about you but during this challenging time some days I feel like I’m running in place…not going anywhere…not accomplishing anything…just waiting, waiting, waiting! It occurred to me this morning my encumbrance for this race is impatience. The more impatient I am the less endurance I have. I have to make myself go walking instead of sitting on the couch wondering what is in our future. How long must I run in place? Most of my prayers are for others since the needs of so many people are paramount. But when I lift up my own name to God, I ask Him to do for me what I cannot do for myself…lay my impatience aside so I can run in place with endurance. Every one of us has our own lane that God has set before us during this time. While we are at home God is preparing us for the run up ahead. He is exercising our spiritual muscle, toning it up for the future. He is busy orchestrating every detail in our lives as it relates to what we need. Running in place is important because it is a directed focus until the future is revealed.

Running in place means prayers for the moment, maybe 100 times a day. Running in place takes captive our fearful thoughts replacing them with faithful ones. Running in place means calling someone who might need a listening ear. Whether we feel it or not, God has equipped us all for a moment such as this. When we claim faith and calm over fear and impatience, we will run our race triumphantly even if our circumstances are binding us.

The Expected One

“Are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else?” Matthew 11:3

One of most unpredictable questions in the Bible was when John the Baptist was imprisoned. He was locked up and dependent on those who barely even knew him. They determined any freedom he might have…they determined what he would eat…they determined the timing of everything. His life was not his own as he sat on the cold floor hungry, lonely and searching. No doubt his mind was racing and although he had spent the biggest part of his life telling others about Jesus, he suddenly began questioning his own press. When John heard of all the wonderful deeds Jesus was doing, he sent his disciples to question Him. His question seems shocking to us…unexpected at best…unbelieving at worst. ‘Are you the expected one?’

But are we any different than John when we feel imprisoned by our circumstances? Isn’t it easy to say with our lips that ‘God is good’ when secretly in our hearts we wonder if He is even close by? When we begin to question the presence and power of Christ in us, we begin looking around for someone or something else to save the day. We set our eyes on individuals to save us instead of being watchmen for God’s delivery. We seek saviors in tangible items instead of seeking the One who saved us. We expect Christ to show up on our time frame and show up big!

‘Shall we look for someone else?’ The Bible promises that our search for the Savior will lead to one Man…one God…one Messiah. Anything other than Jesus along the road will disappoint… anything other than Jesus along the path will wither away…everything except for Jesus that we turn to will end up costing us. When our hearts begin to ponder whether Christ is really the one who can save us from our circumstances, we must replace our thoughts with truth. We must take captive our doubts before our doubts take captive of us. We must use God’s own words to encourage our hearts and remind us that the One who we are expecting is indeed the One who will triumph over these challenging times.

Into the Ark

“‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family’…And Noah and his sons and his wife…entered the ark to escape…The waters flooded the earth…But God remembered Noah…and the waters receded.” Ge 7:1-8:1

As I continue to search for our present predicament in the pages of the Bible, I remember Noah. His family was also called to stay in place…shelter-in…hunker down. Instead of a virus that marched across the world, the heaven’s opened up and flooded the world. They couldn’t even open the door and get a little exercise and fresh air. They were isolated in the wooden walls of an ark that would preserve their lives. It didn’t mean that they weren’t frustrated, fearful and impatient with life within their shelter. They also knew like we know, that to remain huddled together was to escape the threat. They also knew that their dilemma was temporary but within the walls it must have felt permanent. I wonder if they could even sleep as their containment vessel tossed and violently rocked as the entire world was drowning. I wonder if they were fearful that their food supply would run out. Would life as they knew it ever return to normal? How long would it be before stability returned? Did they place blame on God like many of us place on government? Did they continuously look at the waves like we obsessively look at the news?

I love that the Bible comforts us through this story as it reminds us that God remembered Noah as if we thought He had forgotten this family. But then I consider that maybe there are people within their own ‘shelter’ who may be feeling as if God has forgotten them during this storm. It is human nature to default to fear instead of clinging to faith. It is human nature to focus on the torrential downpours of life instead of the future rainbow. It is human nature to turn on the television instead of opening the Bible. But we don’t have to accept human nature because as believers, we are called to live above the fray. We are called to experience our highs and our lows by abiding in the spiritual realm of God. We were never meant to figure out our perils but rather to focus on God’s power. He is bigger than any storm and greater than any fear. He loves us with relentless passion and protects with a Mother’s fierceness.

Whatever your ark contains, understand and believe that God is with you and prepared everything for you during this experience. Consider that where we are is not the fault of any person, but the permissive will of God's great plan for the world. His thoughts and ways are higher than anything we can understand at present. But one day not too far in the future we will glance upward to witness a rainbow that bridges the chaos to the calm and the storm to the settled.

“And God said, ‘I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant…’” Ge 9:12-13

Suddenly, Jesus!

“That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid…Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them!  ‘Peace be with you,’ he said…Again he said, ‘Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’” John 20:19

For me it seems like a month ago instead of a week ago when the bottom dropped out of our world.  This time last week seemed concerning, but life appeared to be an extension of itself until a National State of Emergency was enacted.  We were all strongly instructed to huddle in our homes, and distance ourselves from the crowds outside of our walls.  In considering the disciples this morning, they must have had some of the same feelings but much more intense.  Their teacher, friend and leader had suffered one of the most brutal killings ever to have been enacted against man…a sinless man.  Just two days after knowing that Jesus took His final breath they were frightened and huddled together.  What had happened that their lives had been totally disrupted?  When would it be safe to go outside again?  Would they be attacked? When would things return to even a new normal?  With Jesus gone, they were suddenly out of work. Then the story turns beautiful…the story turns hopeful…the story was for them and is also for us.

Suddenly, Jesus!  There is no door…no virus…no circumstance that will restrict Jesus from standing right here with us.  Jesus told them the very same thing His spirit tells us…have peace in this…be brave…believe that there is purpose up ahead.  Like the disciples, we need Jesus to tell us that several times a day.  Like the disciples, we need to hear that just as Jesus was sent to die for all of us, we are being sent to encourage each other in this challenging time.  Like the disciples we need to be reminded that no grave, no illness, no government can keep us from experiencing the love and peace of Jesus. 

So whatever situation in which you find yourself this morning, remind your heart that ‘suddenly there is Jesus!’ He is in you, ahead of you and beside you as you walk out this experience.  He will neither leave you nor abandon you.  His face will shine upon you and keep you close.  And when you look for Him, you will find Him…when you call to Him, you will hear His reply.  So as we huddle up and do our part, we don’t huddle alone…we are huddling with Jesus who is in total control.

Daylight is Coming

“For I will pass through the land…the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you…” Exodus 12:12-13

If you ever have felt like the Bible was some ancient book that is difficult to relate, welcome to the year 2020 version of Passover. God had already sent 9 other plagues to Pharaoh as punishment that he was not releasing the Israelite’s. The tenth was the one that broke Pharaoh’s denial of freedom for the slaves. It was the slaying of the first born from every family ‘from the first-born of King Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon.’ God told His people to stay in their homes and not come out until He had passed over. He commanded them to sacrifice a lamb and cover their door-frame with the blood of the Lamb. When God was on the move, He would spare [pass over] the homes whose door-frames displayed the blood. I wonder if they knew exactly when God would pass over them? Did they begin wondering if they had done enough for the door-frame to display the blood? Had the Passover occurred? What about the other tribes…their friends…their families…were they spared?

Throughout the days, I have also wondered if my friends and family will be spared from the virus that is passing through our communities, cities and states. I wonder if people including myself are doing enough…washing our hands…not touching our faces…staying optimistic…‘sheltering-in.’ During the original Passover, they didn’t have social media, phones or 24-hour newscasts. They were bound to their home with nothing more than their faith…their commitment to do what was being required…their courage. Their stakes were high and so are ours!

Just like the Israelite’s, God is in our midst and is our Protector. Just like the Israelite’s, we are called to courage and hope for better days when the death of the virus occurs. Just like the Israelite’s, life will return to normalcy with a greater appreciation of freedom, community fellowship and corporate worship. We must do what is required while this temporary and deadly virus passes us by. We must check on each other and provide the encouragement and hope to frightened people. God promises to never leave us or abandon us, and we will take Him at His word. He gave us a Book to comfort us…a Book to guide us…a Book to show that the people of God have been turning to Him for delivery since the Garden of Eden. We must open our hearts and our Bibles during this time when the world has slowed down to a snail’s pace. We have everything we need in Christ for this moment in time. Daylight is coming!