Homestead Rescue

"Because you love me, I will rescue you. I will protect you because you know my name. When you call to me, I will answer you. I will be with you when you are in trouble. I will save you and honor you. I will satisfy you with a long life. I will show you how I will save you." Psalm 91:14-16

Last night I watched a show with Bruce that he had told me about last week. It is called Homestead Rescue which is about the Rainey family who accepts another family’s plea to come and help them save their homestead. Each request comes with very different circumstances that the Raineys must consider when they take the job. They use the resources that the family already possesses coupled with their wisdom and experience to change their living conditions. There was such a stark difference between the husband and wife who were in distress. The husband was humble, attentive, and open to every suggestion the Raineys made. The wife was a dreamer, but not a dreamer of reality...a dreamer of unrealistic demands. Through patient prodding from the Rainey daughter, the wife eventually bought into the ideas but made it clear it was not her dream although their homestead became functional and livable. The husband willingly and thankfully engaged in every suggestion they made and was humbled to tears in the end. It struck me that the husband and wife wanted the same thing, but the attitudes of their heart were as different as night and day. As I sat there watching this from my chair, I was left feeling disappointed in the woman and sympathetic towards the man.

I wonder if that is how God sees us as He quietly nudges us through His spirit trying to work solutions into our lives? Does He reveal small things that we are not doing that could make big differences? Does He suggest through His word subtle changes in our behavior that could lead to righteous living? Are we pleading for a rescue but are as stubborn in what it should look like just as the woman in the show?

I don't have to look far in my life to identify times when God has brought His version of fulfilling a desire of mine. It might have satisfied the request but certainly not the way I had envisioned it. He knows us to the core and fully understands our hearts. He understands the things we need to experience and the growth that must be made in bringing solutions into our circumstances. Last night reminded me that James was right in the Bible when he wrote ‘every good and perfect gift is from above’ James 1:17. Even the ones that dissatisfy us. We must have a heart like the man in the show last night...a heart of acceptance...a heart of humility...a heart of trust. I want God to see me with the same sympathetic heart through which I saw that man last night. I want God to teach me things that I do not presently know. I want Him to show me things I can do better to bring about His pleasure and glory.

I know it’s a tall order but as our passage above promises, He is an infinite Supplier!

With Waning Breaths

“Then he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,' Jesus said to him, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43 (Amplified Bible)

Each Thursday at noon a group of people from our church gather together both in person and virtual to pray for those who have sent prayer requests to our church. Out of all the overwhelming circumstances for which people need encouragement and hope, the one that breaks my heart most are the requests for a dying family member or friend who is not a believer. This morning I read that an individual has been given very little time to live and they are not in the family of Christ. As I was praying for the family such a powerful image came to mind. I pictured Jesus hanging on the cross with very few breaths left in His lungs. As He hung there in pain with His life ebbing away, He heard the man on the cross next to Him address Him. I can just picture Jesus using every bit of strength to turn His head to the criminal. He was asking Jesus to remember Him, referring to Him as Lord. And as one unbeliever chose to believe in a Savior, the Savior chose to receive him into His family in their waning breaths. I doubt anyone even heard them...I doubt anyone was even aware that a life who hung to die on earth had just been granted new life in eternity because of the other One on the cross.

We must pray for the salvation of others because that is their only hope. We cannot know the state of a person’s faith at the very end of their life. However, we can completely trust that God desires no one to perish. Only God knows when the knee bows and the mouth confesses He is Lord even if it is a private exchange when no one is looking or close by.

Just as Christ spent His last few breaths granting a miracle to the undeserved, He moves heaven and earth to grant our undeserved miracles. Some of our circumstances render us ‘lifeless hanging without hope’ until we remember to ask Him to attend to us in our suffering. With our last breath may we have the Lord’s name on our lips like the criminal. May our conversation be with Jesus no matter how dire our future appears. Despite our situations, Christ is always beside us offering new life. Be encouraged that Christ cares about our burdens and fully understands the gravity of our suffering. 

Greater Is He

“Let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

These are the words that a 13-year-old whispered underneath her breath no doubt flooded with overwhelming emotions. This girl was barely a teenager but was promised in marriage to a young boy. This girl with dreams of marriage up ahead seemed to be like so many other girls who were looking for the next move in a young person’s life. Yet, this young girl’s life was completely up-ended and interrupted from the mouth of God’s messenger. Her name is Mary and her life had just gotten turned upside down. Her emotions must have been a mixed bag of fear, insecurity, and maybe even disbelief. She went from being a favored fiancé to a shamed harlot to some who witnessed her circumstances. Although she could hardly believe it, yet she dared not doubt. Even at the tender age of 13, she received the message with acceptance and a ‘Let it be to me’ mantra that echoed the will of God.

This morning I'm wondering where are you in your life? Do you find yourself in a set of circumstances that you can hardly believe you are in? Is your situation throwing you into a life of chaos, confusion, and pain? Can you even imagine the questions that swirled in young Mary's mind as she had to walk out ‘the word’? If so, you have the same resources to lean into that a scared little 13-year-old girl had. You have the intense love of God looking over your situation and orchestrating every move even if you are paralyzed by fear. You have the promises of Christ that all things are possible with His encouragement that He overcame His circumstances and so will you. You have the Spirit who is within you in full abundance to comfort you, guide you, and give you the wisdom to need to make decisions step by step.

We all have had and will have circumstances interrupt our lives in such a manner that we swear it is our new address forever. But that is the enemy taking full advantage of our vulnerable state. Don’t give him the foothold...don’t take the bait...dare not believe him. God is so much greater than anything we will experience. His power is so much grander than the weakening pulse we feel in our circumstances. We must believe in the process, not man’s process but in the process of the Trinity...God our Father...Jesus our Savior... the Spirit our indweller. Let it be to us that God will rescue us! Let it be to us that Christ will help us overcome all our chaos! Let it be to us that the Spirit will enable and sustain us through it all!

‘But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.’ 1 John 4:4

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. ‘Recognizing all the other works God is doing in your life will prevent discouragement as you await your answer.’ Jesus, The One and Only, Beth Moore, p. 13. 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. We cannot lose sight that the timing is as important as the message within the fulfillment. The timing is what amplifies its authenticity while we await God’s yes. 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. ‘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. 

While in France...

“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” Lev 19:1.

What do you think of when you hear the command from God to be holy? Honestly, my eyes sort of glaze over and I pass over the word. Telling me to be holy is like telling me to be French. I took French for 3 years in high school from an amazing teacher, but as hard as I tried to learn the language, the culture, and the history I knew I would never be French. I even traveled to France with my teacher and a group from school. I tried my best to ‘be French while in France' but miserably failed. The only way would be for me to have been born into that bloodline. So, the word holy has always seemed out of reach for me until this morning. I learned this morning that the Hebrew word for holy means to be ‘set apart.’ When we view it that way, the call is not to be perfect but to remain faithful to the path that God has set apart for each of us. “As Christ followers, it is not our own goodness or good deeds that make us holy, but rather the work of Christ on the cross” You Were Made for This Moment, Max Lucado, p. 9-10.

In light of this translation, how do we set ourselves apart and attain holiness? We accept and receive the truth that apart from Christ we can never achieve it on our own. We make the decision that we will accept Christ and His work on the cross for us, and receive His invitation to join in His bloodline. We strive to exemplify the character of Christ which is set apart from the culture of this world. Lastly, we recognize that our holiness was assigned and granted to us only through Christ’s sacrifice.

To be holy is to set our decisions and behavior apart from our culture when it contradicts God’s word. To be holy is to set our conversations apart from the foul language, gossiping words, and judgmental accusations when talking with others. To be holy is to set apart times on our busy schedule to be with God and in prayer to God. Holiness is our response to the Godliness of Christ Jesus who swept us into the family of God.

Once we became one in Christ, we became holy and set apart because of what He did, not anything we attained on our own.

The Mist From Within

“For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life...” Genesis 2:5b-7

The story of creation is no doubt at the top of my list of favorite Biblical accounts and every time I read it, I chisel out a new gem. At first glance, our passage above is nothing remarkable or earthshattering until the part about the Lord forming man. But a closer look reveals the faithfulness of our God and how He provides for everything He creates. The ground was created by God and began dusty and dry. It had no means to water itself and no one had been created to tend to its surface. But God already knew the provision the ground would temporarily need before rain was a resource and man was a curator. And so, God provided the moisture. The next creation was man who was void of breath and life. And so, God provided the hands to work the land. God didn’t realize after the fact that the ground would need watering. He created it with that knowledge because He already knew how to provide.

Like you I am sure there are things that dominate your prayers ...cries that impassion your pleas...fears of things not being provided or needs not being met. It is easy to obsess over things that might happen...scenarios that have not yet occurred...worst case predictions that are rooted in no facts. Whatever situation in which we find ourselves today, we aren’t left to our own solutions. God has created our story and is orchestrating every detail and provision we will need every step of the way.

For the unemployed person who is feeling disillusioned, God will provide the resources to meet your needs until He provides the perfect job. For the one whose heart is grieving, God will provide the mercy, comfort, and enduring grace to carry you through the days and nights. For the fearful heart of a situation you are facing, God will provide the answers needed for you to make the right decisions.

If God sent the mist from within the earth to water the ground, how much more has He already anticipated that will be needed for those whom He loves? He fully understands every need that we require in every situation and will always meet those needs. He has been trustworthy from the time of creation and will be faithful through eternity. 

The In Between

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb...Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book.” Psalm 139:13-16. “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world...I leave the world and go to the Father.” John 16:28

I love how the New Testament echoes so much from the Old Testament throughout Scripture. God was so faithful this morning to connect these beautiful spiritual dots as I arrived at my meditation with a heavy heart for one of my best friends. She and her family will celebrate the life of her dad today, and will walk out the reality of our passage this morning. It will be painful on this side of Heaven, but today we fix our eyes on the eternal truth of the joy of him returning Home.

Her dad was created and formed 82 years ago by the very hands of the One who entrusted him to this world. God saw his life rolled out in a beautiful manner before he ever took one breath or lived one day on this earth. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, her dad was given a way back to be with the Father who created him so long ago. Christ explained to his loved ones that He came forth from God into this world, and He would return to God to be with Him forever. But the explanation didn’t make the pain go away for those He would leave behind, but it did fulfil a beautiful promise that we, too, have for our lives.

We have been created with such amazing blessings over the course of our lives. We enjoy the love, laughter, and fellowship of those we call our own. From our parents we learn and grow...from our parents we watch and emulate...from our parents we fully know we are loved and cared for. And yet, what we know in part down here is so much less than what we fully gain in Heaven. In the words and thoughts of Jesus, my friend’s dad lived out his ordained days in faith and purpose. He came from the hands of God but has returned into the arms of God forever. The in-between life he lived so well with his precious family is what makes today so difficult. But just knowing that his Homegoing is a fulfillment of a promise that the Father whispered into his created son 82 years ago, might just make today a little bit easier for his family. I thank God for this man’s life, I thank God for the love he instilled in all, and I thank God for a way back Home with reunions abound.