He was pleased to come

"Pleased as man with man to dwell; Jesus our Emmanuel. Hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King."

Well, the Christmas maelstrom seems to going strong, and I have allowed myself to be swept right along with it. Forgive me, Lord, for I know so clearly that is not how it is supposed to be! But in the midst of all the activity and the sudden moments of blind panic when I recognize how much I have to do, God gives these sweet, quiet moments of joy. It's as if the blinders of busyness are removed, and God reveals just a hint of the glorious, unbelievable reality of what He did at Christmas! It's one of those moments C.S. Lewis once described as being "surprised by joy."

That's what happened the other day as I was driving along rushing to get errands accomplished before school pickup. As I listened to the song, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," the words suddenly broke through, "pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel." The Lord Jesus didn't break into time and history with reluctance or resignation or regret. He came eagerly! He was "pleased" to dwell with us, His sinful, disobedient, distracted, rebellious children.

I just don't think any of us can begin to appreciate what a sacrifice this must have been for the utterly perfect, glorious, holy Creator and Sustainer of the universe. For absolute perfection to come live amidst squalor and ugliness far exceeds anything our imaginations can comprehend. Yet He came willingly and joyfully. And He came in the lowest and most humble of circumstances...and He was pleased to do so!

No wonder the angels were singing! So how can I do any less? During this season of the year, my mouth should be filled with praises and wonder at what the Almighty Sovereign of the universe did for you and for me at Christmas. "Let men and angels sing..." Let us sing not just with our voices but with our hearts. And with our attitudes. And with our actions. So to the One who came--and was pleased to come--be all the glory forever and ever!

Come, take, learn

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mt. 11:28-30

I read these throughly familiar words today, and (I'm embarrassed to say) for the first time I really contemplated what it meant to take Jesus' yoke upon me. Boy, I've got the "weary and burdened" part down flat, as I'm sure many of us do! We are all so busy, so often overwhelmed with life's challenges, so exhausted and depleted. We already feel like we are living life with absolutely no margins, no extra space and then the unexpected hits: an illness, a wayward child, a strained relationship, and we simply feel like our rocking boat is about to capsize.

But Jesus calls us to "come," to "take," and to "learn." How thankful I am that He doesn't command us to "do!' He doesn't tell us to buck up, to do better, to try harder, to be better. He simply tells us to "come." As Matthew wrote these words, I wonder if he was reminded of Jesus' original call to him. Here was Matthew, a despised tax collector (considered by the Jews to be the worst of the worst), and when Jesus first sees him sitting in his tax booth, He tells Matthew "Follow Me." Again, not "Get your act together, Matthew, and then you can come join the rest of the disciples." Not, "Stop sinning," or "stop stealing money from your people," or "stop betraying your nation and become a man of integrity and then you can try to follow and obey Me." No, simply, "Follow Me."

Jesus knew that is all Matthew could do at that point. Jesus knew that it all begins with a relationship with Him. It all starts by following the Savior and then all the rest will follow. How often we get it all turned around--we think we have to figure it out or improve or shape up before we come to Jesus. But He tells us simply to "come" just as He told Matthew to "follow." You know, I may fail at obedience or prayer. I may forget to have an attitude of gratitude or of love and grace towards others. But, by golly, I can "come!"

When we are discouraged or disappointed or despairing, we can surely "come" to the Lord Jesus. And that is where it starts...and sometimes if that is all we can do, then that will be enough. He is more than able to fill in all our empty, desperate spaces.

But if we can take just tiny baby step more, He calls us to "take," and o, the blessings when we take His yoke upon us! Why do I want to try to drag along my ponderous burdens myself? Why wouldn't I want to exchange my weighty burdens for His yoke of blessing and rest?

As I pondered the meaning of His yoke, I thought of the yoke of an ox and the symbolism of submission. Warren Wiersbe writes that "To 'take a yoke' in that day meant to become a disciple." In other words, to take His yoke would be simply to surrender to Him, to follow Him in obedience. It's not a yoke of burden but a yoke of blessing and rest for as we daily surrender to Him, He gives us peace and joy and hope and forgiveness and all that we need to live this life. And His yoke is "easy" and "light." Does that describe the burdens I place upon myself or other people? I don't think so. My self-imposed burdens lead to condemnation and exhaustion and discouragement. His lead to rest and peace and joy.

But finally, He tells us to "learn" of Him. We first have to come to Him as our Savior. Then we have to choose to take His yoke by surrendering to Him and His plans and His ways. And then we daily learn of Him--a process in which we daily, yearly, come to know Him better and better through His Word. I learn how to cook by spending time reading recipes and cooking. I learn to play golf by listening to a teacher and then by practicing. I learn of Jesus by reading His instruction manuel, the Bible, and then by daily "practicing" obeying what He tells me. And in return, He gives me His peace, His rest, His joy, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, His love, His power. Wow! So simple. So profound. So burden-lifting to exchange my burdens for His yoke. To daily come, take, and learn.

Help me, help us, Lord Jesus, to take You at Your Word. When life is closing in and our burdens threaten to overwhelm us, help us to come and take and learn. When we feel discouraged or defeated, help us to come and take and learn. When life's circumstances are far beyond what we can handle or bear, help us to come and take and learn. And He will provide us rest--true, abundan- life, rest for our souls. To God be the glory!

The Urgent or the Important Pile

Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote on here! This pretty much reflects my life--how often I can get sucked into lurching from one thing to another on my extensive to do list, and the next thing I know, I am focusing on the urgent rather than the important. The urgent screams out our name, and we feel we MUST get those letters out, that laundry folded, those phone calls made, those emails read and answered... It truly never ends. But the important waits quietly and unobtrusively in the wings of our frenetic lives. Spending time alone with God in His Word, reading to our child at night, sharing struggles or blessings with our family at dinner, eating a real dinner together (!), writing or calling to encourage a friend who is going through a tough time--these are the important things of life which renew us and transform our lives from a dull, practical gray to a rainbow of colors.

It is said that President Eisenhower had a firm rule about what papers were to be put on his desk. There were to be only 2 piles of paper--one was only the most urgent papers and the other only the most important papers. Ike later commented that only rarely were the piles the same. Urgency is the enemy of peace and perspective and gratitude. But when we daily choose to do that which is important, we find His joy bubbling up even in the midst of busyness or struggles.

So, nothing profound, but just a reminder that today, do that which God tells you is important and watch how He will order your day and enable you to do that which is urgent, but nonetheless secondary. As one proverb puts it: reverence for God adds hours to each day. Take time to express your gratitude today. Don't just think it (though you do need to start there--sometimes we forget to even think about what we are grateful for!); share it out loud with someone you love...beginning with God and then ending with someone who has a "skin face." Who knows how your word of encouragement might make all the difference to that person?

Try, just for today, to practice an "attitude of gratitude." When you feel yourself starting to complain--even if it's just abut the weather--turn it around and think of something to be grateful for instead. Yesterday morning early, I took our dog out for a walk. It had rained hard the night before, and as we walked up one dark street, the streetlight illuminated a carpet of newly fallen yellow leaves. It was a burst of joy as I thanked God for that lovely carpet of brilliantly colored leaves under our feet--a gift for which I had paid absolutely nothing but enjoyed far more than any shiny bauble purchased at a store. As I picked up my sons' clothes (again!), I smiled as I thanked the Lord for the privilege of raising those boys. As I once heard and remind myself of daily, "I am here to serve with joy." One cannot help but be filled with joy even in the most mundane and unrelenting of service when one chooses gratitude. And when we choose to put the important, the eternal, first in our lives, our perspective will be changed from one of grim determination to get it all done to joyful expectancy in how God will enable us to do all He's called us to do.

So, today, I choose to finally write in this blog and share how God is counseling my all too often preoccupied and therefore ungrateful heart to seek Him first. Do the important. Do it today. And watch Him put the song back in your heart. To Him be all the glory!

I recently heard David Jeremiah speak on one of my favorite passages, Hebrews 12. Those first 4 verses would have to rank as life verses for me. How I long to daily "fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." But my focus today is on the 2nd part of that verse (2), on verse 3, and on verse 11. We're to fix our eyes on Jesus "who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Verse 11 goes on to speak of discipline (who likes that? Nobody!): "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Now I love the first couple of verses of this wonderful chapter, but God has been teaching me a little different lesson from this passage, and it's all about endurance and faithfulness under pressure. Like so many, I struggle with patience. I don't like to wait. I don't like to suffer--and especially see my loved ones and friends suffer. "Lord, do something NOW! Change it NOW" is all too often my heart's cry. Like my dear friend, Ashlie, I have about a 5 degree window of comfort when it comes to the temperature: between about 68 and 73 degrees is about perfect. Otherwise we complain we are burning up or freezing to death. I don't get hungry; I am "starving." When my children display their sinful, selfish nature (which, of course, they got from their sinful, selfish mother), I tend to grow utterly discouraged and defeated and assume I am the worst mother on the face of the earth.

About 10 years ago, my mother died suddenly and unexpectedly, my sister-in-law discovered she had aggressive breast cancer, my beloved aunt, Janie, died, and my father was diagnosed with terminal melanoma--all within just a couple of months time. My dear Daddy, though shaken to the core, I'm sure, explained, "well, we're going through a rough patch." I always loved that, because it implied that while the present was tough going, the rough patch would one day end, and we would come out on the other side. I've got to think part of his resilient attitude came from serving as a gunnery officer on a destroyer for 4 years during World War II. Daddy won the bronze star for his service, but he never talked about it. After his death, we found his bronze star in his sock drawer. We realized he put it there so that every morning when he got out his socks, he would be reminded of all the fine young men who had so much potential for greatness in this world but who had given their lives so that we might be free. It was if he lived every single day for the rest of his life recognizing that he wanted to make a difference in this world for all those young men who never had the opportunity to do so. Seeing such sacrifice changes your perspective and gives you resilient strength.

But our ultimate example of endurance in the midst of unimaginable hardship is the Lord Jesus. As verse 3 commands, we need to daily "consider Him" and what He endured so that we will not lose heart. When someone mistreats us and we feel hurt, we need to consider Him and those who betrayed Him, spat upon Him, whipped Him, mocked Him. And He came to save them--the very ones who mistreated and rejected and hated Him! When we experience physical pain and discomfort, we need to consider Him hanging on that cross-naked, raw and bleeding, desperately thirsty, gasping for air, forsaken. When we feel as if our life is a failure, we need to consider Him. His disciples never seemed to "get it," one of them betrayed Him, another denied Him, and none stood by Him at His most desperate hour. And the people He came to save all misunderstood and rejected Him. When we feel exhausted and overwhelmed by all we have to do, we need to consider Him and the impossible task of saving the world, not to mention healing the hoards that flocked to Him, teaching and training His disciples, loving all those who came into contact with Him from the littlest children to the prostitute to the tax collector. Our challenges pale in comparison to what He faced and dealt with everyday--and He did it with love and grace and kindness and patience! O, if only we would have Him ever in the forefront of our thinking and consider Him with every decision we make, every word we speak, and every action we take.

But back to two phrases from these wonderful verses that I italicized earlier: "Who for the joy set before Him," "endured such opposition from sinful men so that you may not grow weary and lose heart," and "for the moment all discipline seems painful...but later on..." Aren't so many of us in that challenging inbetween place of waiting for that "later on" but right now stuck in the midst of "opposition" or "discipline" or "painful." If we can just hang in there past the discipline, past the opposition, past the "for the moment" and get to the joy or "the harvest of righteousness and peace" that comes "later on" or, as some translations express it, "afterwards."

Writing this blog entry has been a perfect example: I have been trying to get it written for 4 days, but every time I write a few sentences, life at our house seems to come unglued! I frankly have no idea what I've written so far or how incoherent it might be! Nothing major, but just the typical frustration of life and of not being able to get things done or finished. But can't life just sometimes be so hard? Waiting for that wayward child to return. Waiting for that medical report. Waiting for that relationship to improve. And while we wait, we experience pain or fear or loneliness or exasperation or exhaustion or persecution.

What reminder these verses are that God does His best work in the midst of those frustrating, lonely, painful, exhausting places that come before our "afterwards" for He uses those times in such powerful ways...and afterwards comes the joy! Jesus looked beyond the cross and saw us--we were His joy! He looked beyond the agony of the cross to see us, the many children He would bring to victory. Imagine the ridicule Noah endured as he built that ark for 120 years and preached repentance to the people who laughed at him and ignored him. But later on, he was able to save his family in the midst of the world wide flood. Or think of Joseph languishing in that prison in Egypt, betrayed by his brothers, left to rot in a dungeon in a foreign land. But later on, he rejoiced that he was able to save his family and his entire nation from starvation in the time of famine. The Bible is replete with examples of godly men and women who suffered and struggled and endured and waited for their "afterwards..."

David Jeremiah put it this way, "Everyday I have to face something I don't want to face or do something I don't want to do. So much of life is doing what you don't want to do because you know God has called you to do it, and somehow you have to get past the discomfort and pain of where you are right now and look into the future and do it by faith because beyond the pain of today there is the joy of the future." He went on to explain that endurance involves doing a lot of things I don't feel like doing." Isn't that the truth?! Endurance, to me, means doing the hard thing even when I don't feel like it; and then doing it again and again and again, even when I'm weary and overwhelmed and discouraged because I know that someday, somehow there will be that joy, that harvest of righteousness and peace.

Some days that just seems downright impossible. But I think heaven stands on tiptoe to watch and applaud when it sees that weary, discouraged but faithful man or woman of God who, though in the midst of the battle, keeps going, keeps enduring, keeps trusting. A story and poem Dr. Jeremiah shared sums this all up. A wonderful old chaplain who had been faithfully serving God for many years found himself in a place of deep discouragement. His life's work seemed to have come to naught, and he felt lonely and ineffective and depressed to the point that he was considering quitting. A friend came to visit him one day to try to encourage him, and the friend left Ray with a little box that had some poems that he had collected. Ray stuck the box on the shelf and forgot all about them.

A few weeks later, he pulled the box off the shelf and half heartedly looked them over. And God used one of those poems to minister to him in a powerful way. Here are the words to that poem:

I want to let go, but I won't let go

There are battles to fight, by day and by night

For God in the right, I'll never let go.

I want to let go, but I won't let go.

I'm sick, tis' true, and wearied through and through

But I won't let go.

I want to let go, but I won't let go

I will never yield--

What lie down in the field and surrender my shield?

No! I'll never let go!

I want to let go, but I won't let go

May this be my song, through legions of wrong--

"O God keep me strong that I may never let go!"

Amen! I don't know if anyone is reading this, but if you are, don't let go!! It's always too soon to let go! It's always too soon to quit, no matter how tough the battle or how hard the long day might seem! Our Almighty Savior, the Lord Jesus has been there before. There is no place we can go that He has not been, and He will lead us through these difficult days to the joy on the other side. He has already seen our "later on" and it is glorious! So, "may this be our song, through legions of wrong, O God keep us strong that we might never let go!" To the One who has been there and has already secured the victory for all of us be all the glory! Amen

But if not...

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Rom. 12:12

What a verse! So few words, yet so much wisdom and power! And, O, how short I fall in fulfilling Paul's command, but by the grace of God, might we all live out these 10 words. It can sometimes take so little, just some inconvenience or unmet expectation or disappointment, and we suddenly lose our joy, respond with irritation, become preoccupied with anxiety, be overcome by discouragement, or fall back into a bad habit we thought we had renounced. In nearly every instance where this happens to me, I can trace it back to a period of rushing about with my busy schedule and failing to really spend time alone with the Lord, allowing Him to transform and renew my mind. It's incredible how quickly we can lose our perspective when our focus is upon ourselves and our activities rather than the Lord and His agenda for our day.

I could spend months meditating upon this verse (and I plan to--since I need to so badly!), but just a quick thought or two. How do we remain "patient in affliction" when we often stumble at even minor annoyances or struggles? We have to be "joyful in hope" and "faithful in prayer!" If my hope is in my accomplishments, my children's successes, my appearance, my pleasures, my good works...if it is in anything that begins with "my" then I am in trouble because none of those things will ever provide lasting joy. Our hope, our joy is in Christ and His faithfulness, His sufficiency, His goodness, His grace, His love, His infinite provision for any and everything that we'll ever face. When I recognize that I am a great sinner but the Lord Jesus is an infinitely greater Savior then my hope is in the right place--and it is a place of abundant joy!

And faithful in prayer--well, how much time do we spend worrying or plotting rather than praying? The power comes from prayer--not from trying harder or working longer. Not from sleepless nights or frenzied days. No, power comes from faithful prayer. Many years ago on a cold winter morning, a group of college students decided they wanted to hear the great Charles Spurgeon preach at his church, The London Tabernacle. As they entered the church, an older man approached them and asked if they wanted to see the heating plant. Though this did not interest them in the least, they did not want to offend the man and so followed him down the stairs to the basement of the church. Their guide opened the door and inside the students saw 700 people on their knees praying for the service that would be occurring on the floor above them. The older man quietly shut the door and whispered, "This is our heating plant." That guide introduced himself and told them, "This is the secret of the ministry of the Tabernacle." The man's name was Charles Hayden Spurgeon. No one in that service knew of those praying in the basement below them, but what power resulted from that faithful prayer! No one else may ever know of our faithful prayer, but God knows and responds, and we will deeply feel the supernatural difference.

I have several friends that I see living out the truth of this verse. They are facing hard, at times heart breaking, challenges in their lives, yet I see them joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. What a powerful witness they are to a world so often devoid of hope, joy, and patience! In their own quiet way, they are loudly, yet without words, proclaiming the truth of the Gospel. How I thank the Lord for their testimony--though if you asked them, they probably have no inking of their impact upon me and, I'm sure, many others. Their courage and faith in the midst of affliction encourages and inspires others as they face their own battles.

I couldn't help but think of one of the most desperate times in World War II. Hitler's mighty war machine had stormed across France, leaving destruction and defeat and despair in it's wake. Thousands of British and French troops were dug in along the coast of northern France in a last ditch effort to hold off the German forces. But now, trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk and facing imminent obliteration by the Nazis, the trapped British soldiers broadcast a brief 3 word message across the channel: "But if not."

This was not some kind of code. Rather, they were broadcasting a Biblical reference to Daniel 3:16-18. I bet you remember the story: King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered everyone in his kingdom to bow down to the golden statue or be thrown into the fiery furnace. Everyone bowed down, except 3 young Jewish exiles: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In one of the most stirring passages in Scripture, they tell the most powerful man in the world at the time (as they faced imminent incineration) that "our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." Dan. 3:17-18

Now that is faith! That is joyful hope in the invisible God even in the midst of the very visible choking smoke and flames. If God delivered them, they would trust Him, obey Him and worship Him. "But if not" their response would be the same--trust, obedience, and worship of the One True God. Their hope was founded not upon the changing circumstances but upon the Changeless Sovereign Lord.

Likewise, those British soldiers sent a message of courage to their beleaguered nation that even if they were not rescued from the hands of the Nazi enemy, they would continue to trust God and remain loyal and courageous to the bitter end. They would never bow down to the Nazis. (and if you are not familiar with the story of the miraculous deliverance of the Allied troops from Dunkirk--well, it's worth looking up!! Incredible! Their seemingly impossible evacuation and salvation from certain annihilation literally saved the nation of Great Britain from defeat by the Nazis )

"But if not"--even if my child never recovers or my loved one dies. Even if I lose my job and my home. Even if that addiction is not overcome or that relationship is not reconciled. Even if the worst happens, God is still faithful and worthy of my trust, my obedience, and my worship. No matter what "but if not" you are facing, choose today to be "joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer" and watch what the Almighty will do. And know that you are wordlessly testifying to a watching world of the greatness and power of your God. To Him be the glory.

Connected to the Power

It all began innocuously enough: I started dinner by putting the chicken in the oven to bake and then about 45 minutes later opened the oven back up to put in the bread when I discovered the oven was stone cold! All the lights had been on, everything appeared to be operating normally but there was absolutely no heat. So I tried the lower oven--same thing: all the lights but no heat. Well, no problem (other than a disgruntled husband anticipating the appliance repair bill), I'd just cook it on the grill.

Dinner was coming along when I put something in the microwave to cook, and low and behold, all the lights and sounds and action of a working microwave but again, no real power, no heat. That appliance bill was getting bigger, and my husband was getting grumpier. Not to mention it felt incredibly hot and stuffy in the kitchen.

But even with all those malfunctioning appliances, dinner was cooked, served, and while being consumed, we noticed the lights seemed a tiny bit dimmer. As we talked, we noticed, that yes indeedy, the lights were definitely dimmer! In fact, as it got darker outside, the lights seemed to be growing dimmer exponentially! We may be a little bit slow around my house, but it dawned on us that either we were in the midst of a twilight zone episode or something was wrong with our power! It truly was spooky: while we waited on the power company to come determine the problem, the house grew stiflingly hot and the lights quickly dimmed and then went out completely. By about 9:30 the whole house was dark and quiet (and did I mention, HOT?)

Thank heavens for Progress Energy! They arrived and quickly determined we had some problem with the place where the power came from the street to our house. Some fuse or something or other was blown and hence almost no power was getting to our house. It looked for all the world like we were connected to power--the line was connected, the appliances were ready to do whatever they are supposed to do, the lamps and lights had working light bulbs all ready to supply all the light we needed, and the air conditioner was trying to cool the house. But nothing worked because the source of power had been cut off. We had all the bells and whistles but no power. Not until Progress replaced the fuse or repaired whatever was preventing the power from coming through the lines from the power source to our house did we get any power. But, o, glory, when that power line got reconnected, we had air conditioning! We had lights! We had working washing machines and whirring blenders, and baking ovens!

The thing is, we could have the nicest appliances, the most fanciest lights, the most efficient cooling system, but if we don't have power, it's all for absolutely no avail. Without power, we got nothing except a dark, hot, useless shell of a house.

Isn't that so true of our lives? We tend to get so preoccupied with all the bells and whistles, all the trappings of "life," yet we grow exhausted and discouraged and frazzled because we are not connected to The Power Source. How often have I tried to rush out into my busy day without first being sure I am connected to the infinite power of my Savior? And then I wonder why I can't seem to get anything done or why I snap at my children or why I feel utterly ungrateful for all the manifold blessings bestowed upon me by my Extravagant Lord.

Jesus made it abundantly clear for us: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing." John 15:5 O, Lord Jesus, I am such a slow learner--or such a quick forgetter! Help me to daily, hourly abide in You, my power source and the source of every blessing and every good thing in my life. Today, will you stop and choose to abide in the Lord Jesus? When you feel discouraged or discontented or distracted or defeated, will you go to Him and ask Him to teach you what it means to quietly abide in Him. To, in the words of Brother Lawrence, "practice His presence" and acknowledge that He is right there with you and ask Him to guide and direct your thoughts and actions and words. Tell Him simply, "Yes Lord" to whatever He has for you today. And then rest in Him, Your power source.

When you do, you'll see those dimming lights start to come alive and hear the air conditioning of your heart start humming again in the light of His presence and power and peace. To Him be all the glory!

Glimpses of the glorious sun/Son

It was quite early in the morning on our last day of our week long vacation at the beach. I was out walking and enjoying the gentle sea breeze and the stillness that lingers so briefly just before the busyness of a new day. I walked with a heavy heart as I thought of and prayed for friends dealing with very difficult challenges--cancer, possible paralysis, loss of a loved one. I listened to God's Word on my ipod (technology is definitely good for some things!), but my heart asked "why, Lord?" "Why cancer? Why tragic death? Why paralysis?" The world can be such a hard, unforgiving place sometimes.

Most mornings at the beach I had been walking right on the sand by the ocean, but today the tide was too high so I was relegated to the sidewalk behind the houses and away from the ocean. A small disappointment...or so I thought at first.

As I walked, I noticed off to my left and up ahead a tinge of orange. I tried to look through the trees and to my astonishment, glimpsed just a tiny sliver of a brilliant pumpkin colored light coming up through the clouds. At first I didn't even realize what it was. And then it dawned on me--it was the sun coming up in all its' glory!

And glorious it was! As I walked along, I would catch snatches of it through the trees as it rose higher and higher in the sky. Now it was a giant, shimmering ball of orange fire, and it had pushed past the clouds and the trees that had been obscuring my vision. The water on the sound shown with a beautiful peach reflection. And at the end of the podcast I had been listening to, I heard a psalm of praise of how joy comes in the morning and how God turns our mourning into dancing!

I felt like Job! God had not answered my "why" questions. He had needed to--He simply gently reminded me of who He is and what He does and all He has and is creating.

Just as I could not see that brilliant sun for much of my walk, it was still there. Whether I saw it or not, it was there, shining in all its' glory! He is there--even when we cannot see Him or feel Him. But, O, how glorious the tiniest glimpses of that shimmering sun! Just a sliver here, a peach reflection there, a moment of seeing the ball of fire through the trees. I realized that is so often what I really perceive of the Lord of the universe--He is so far far above my thoughts, my understanding, my imaginings. But every now and then--whether through a worship service or a powerful song or a gorgeous glimpse of His creation or the tender love of a friend or the hug of a child or a powerful word from His Scriptures--I catch just the tiniest glimpse of His glory.

And it is so incredible, for it reminds me that we were not made for this world but for the next. And the view there will be glorious..all the time...for it will be filled with Him. No sorrow. No cancer. No paralysis. No divorce. No separation. No disease. No disappointment. No guilt. No aging. No death.

But glory! And the beauty of that flaming sun will be seen in everything and in everyone. I can't see that sun now. But I can remember. And I will remember that the One who fashioned that sun with a mere word is in control of ALL things, all circumstances, and all people. Whether we can see Him or feel Him, He is there. And one great day, we will see Him as He really is. And it will be glorious. So until that time, we wait and we trust and we remember. The sun is there shining in all its' glory, even when we cannot see it through the clouds or the rain or the storms. And so is The Son. Even now, with nail scarred palms open wide, He welcomes even the most wretched of the earth (like you and like me) and beckons "Come to me, all ye who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my burden is light and I will give you rest for your souls."

Come, Lord Jesus. Come, brilliant, shining Son, come and to You be all the glory!

Our daily choice

From C.S. Lewis: "On a daily basis, we are faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished on the cross for us in His Son, Jesus."

Amen!! How often I need to be reminded of this! This is another way of putting what Jennifer Rothschild shared about proclaiming "what is" rather than "what if." We must daily, hourly counsel our hearts that God is faithful, omnipotent, righteous, holy, perfect, loving, and we must act based upon that truth rather than upon our fickle, unreliable feelings. If we have to repeat it out loud a thousand times a day, then do it! Say it!

Stop wallowing in self-pity or selfishness. Stop allowing all the fearful "what if's" to fill our hearts and minds. Stop dredging up the past and condemning ourselves for sins we have taken to the cross or circumstances that cannot be changed.

Act and speak the Truth we know rather than the emotions we feel. Sure, those feelings are real, and God made us with personalities and souls that feel pain and joy and fear and hope, but He also gave us His eternal Word to guide and and steady and instruct us and His supernatural Holy Spirit to encourage and enable and direct us. Will we surrender to Him and His Truth or to our emotions? Might we daily choose Him and the Truth over our feelings and sinful selves. To God be the glory!

A New thing!

Isaiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert, and streams in the wasteland.

How hard this is for most of us. Forget the former things: forget the failures, forget the slights, forget the mistakes, forget the disappointments. Don't dwell on our past--all the times we missed the mark or missed the opportunity. Don't dwell on those times we came up short or inadequate.

The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah commands us to stop wringing our hands with regret or condemning ourselves over our failed past. Sure we've blown it. Such is the condition of fallen sinful humans. But we need to take whatever sins condemn us from our past and nail them to the cross of the Lord Jesus. And then leave them there, trusting that His blood covers them all. Totally and completely. The sinless Son of God died for those failures, for that bitterness, for those commissions and omissions, for that selfishness and irritation and doubt.

But we need to go beyond forgetting the past; we need to look ahead with hope and anticipation at the "new thing" God is doing. I don't know about you, but I'm not always crazy about new things. New clothes, new food, new cars, new babies, new friends--who wouldn't like new things?! But often we do not welcome "new" when it comes to changes we do not desire or seek or understand. "New" health problems, new dynamics in our families that create strain and tension, new schools or jobs or roles that leave us feeling unsure and unable. I tend to enjoy resting in my rut of the known, the established, the familiar.

But our God is a God of adventure! He relishes seeing His children step out into the unknown and uncontrollable and then discovering His supernatural peace and strength and joy on the other side. I'd never step out in faith if God didn't push me out of the nest now and then! It's never comfortable, but it's so thrilling when we discover those "streams in the wasteland" or that "way in the desert." If it were up to me, I'd never set foot in the desert or the wasteland--I'd just meander along the tame, familiar and well-traveled city streets.

And think what we would miss! The joy of experiencing a "way" or a "stream" of God's grace and goodness and provision and joy even in the midst of the hardest and most challenging of circumstances. Nothing tastes better than cold fresh water when one is desperately thirsty. Or what is better than being lost and frightened and then suddenly discovering exactly where we are and getting back on the path again? (Of course, if you are driving in the car with a man, you may never experience this, since the option of stopping and asking directions is simply unthinkable!)

So thank You Lord for fresh starts and new beginnings--whether they be wonderful or challenging. Might we embrace wherever You place us and whatever You are doing as we look unto You in faith. To the One who makes all things new, be all the glory!

Be not offended in Him

This has been a week of unexplainable tragedies coming into the lives of friends and acquaintances. A young 2 year old child drowns. A friend of my son, helping with his church's mission trip before heading off to his freshman year of college, hits his head while swimming and now battles pneumonia and possible paralysis. A friend of the family is hit by a drunk driver while riding his bike and is now hospitalized with multiple broken bones. A friend's mother is driving home from out of town and is hit and killed instantly by an RV that has blown a tire. A young mother renews her battle with cancer and faces more pain and uncertainty.

My heart weeps and my soul cries out, "What on earth, Lord? You possess all power, all wisdom, all sovereignity. You could have prevented all of these tragedies. You can heal with a mere word. You can stop the lion's mouth or the cars' direction. You can part the seas and give air to the drowning one. You can restore, revive and raise from the dead. Do it again, Lord! Do it again! I cannot begin to fathom why You have allowed these tragedies, but our hope and our trust is in You."

With all that has happened recently, Jesus' rather strange response to John the Baptist's question came immediately to mind. You remember the story: John the Baptist, the man of whom Jesus said none born of a woman was greater, the one who lived in the desert and ate locusts, has been arrested by the wicked Herod. He sits in a dark dungeon, awaiting his fate, and doubt assails him. What if he was wrong? Perhaps all his sacrificial life's work has been for nought if Jesus is not the long-awaited Messiah. Why else would he sit rotting in jail? Surely the Messiah would not allow such a thing. So John sends his disciples to Jesus with the question: "Are the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Luke 7:19

Listen to the words which follow: "In that hour He [Jesus] healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight. And He answered them, 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight , the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed in he who is not offended in me."

Did you notice the word "many?" "Many" but not "all" of the the people were healed. "Many" but not "all" of the blind had their sight restored. Why? We will not know this side of heaven, but God knows. He could have healed every last one of them, but He did not. He healed most, but not all, and while I rejoice in the power and grace and mercy of the Almighty who could and did choose to heal, I wonder at the mystery of a God whose ways I cannot understand. But I know that His ways are so far above and beyond my ways and my understanding, and in that I find consolation. If I could understand Him, how big could He be? As Job declared in the midst of his terrible ordeal, "But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. when He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:8-10 Or Job's assurance, even though he has lost his family, his wealth, his health, and his friends: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my flesh has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God." Job 19:25-26

Wow, that is faith even in the midst of terrible suffering and complete bewilderment with what God was doing. Warren Wiersbe once described faith as "simply obeying God in spite of how we feel, what we see, or what we think might happen." Faith is trusting that God can heal, God does heal, but when, in His mysterious purposes, He chooses not to heal, we trust Him anyway.

I don't have time right now to really ponder all that Jesus said to John the Baptist, but His last statement has really struck me: "Blessed is the one who is not offended by me." What a powerful statement--will we refuse to be offended by the mysterious and sometimes down right upsetting ways of our Lord? When we cannot understand, when we doubt and cry and grieve, will we still at the same time stubbornly cling to our faith that He is our almighty Redeemer who is good and merciful and in absolute control? I have no question that God can handle our doubts, our questions, our tears, our anger, our confusion--just read the Psalms and see the raw emotions directed at God. But He still delights in our stubborn faith that refuses, ultimately, to be offended in Him. Offended and broken hearted sometimes in His ways, perhaps, but not in Him. I do not understand why God allows these tragedies, but I trust Him and know that ultimately, somehow, someway, all things will work together for our greater good and His greater glory.

These words of Gene Edwards in the powerful little book, The Prisoner in the Third Cell, express it so well: "A day like that which awaited John [when he awaited his execution] awaits us all. It is unavoidable because every believer imagines his God to be a certain way, and is quite sure his Lord will do certain things under certain conditions. But your Lord is never quite what you imagined Him to be. You have now come face to face with a God whom you do not fully understand. You have met a God who has not lived up to your expectations. Every believer must come to grips with a God who did not do things quite the way it was expected. You are going to get to know your Lord by faith or you will not know Him at all. Faith in Him, trust that is in Him...not in His ways....The question is not, 'Why is God doing this? Why is He like this?' The question is not, 'Why does He not answer me?' The question is not, 'I need Him desperately, why does He not come rescue me?' The question is not, 'Why did God allow this tragedy to happen to me, to my children, to my wife, to my husband, to my family?' Nor is it, 'Why does God allow injustices?' The question before the house is this: 'Will you follow a God you do not understand? Will you follow a God who does not live up to your expectations?' Your Lord has put something in your life which you cannot bear. The burden is simply too great. He was never supposed to do this! But the question remains, 'Will you continue to follow this God who did not live up to your expectations?' 'And blessed are you if you are not offended in me.' He goes on to conclude "Dear reader, no one can fully understand the pain you feel as you suffer your present situation. Whether it came upon you because of circumstances or by the deeds of men, one thing is certain. Before this present tragedy entered into your life, it first passed through the sovereign hand of God. 'And blessed are you...'"

I do not presume to even begin to understand the ways of God. But here's what I do know: I know, like Job, "that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth." I know that He loves you and me so much that He sent His only beloved Son to die in my and in your place so we could have abundant, eternal life, both now and forever more. I know what I have seen in His Word that He is Creator, Sustainer, Revealer. I know that He has all power, all glory, all peace, all love, all majesty, all hope, all wisdom, all grace.

And so I choose to rest in the knowledge that while I will never know or understand, He does. I choose to place my faith and trust in the One who gave all for sinners like me. Lord, I am not offended, and I praise You that because of the Lord Jesus, You are not offended in me. To You be all the glory.

Prayer for our nation

Happy birthday, America! How thankful I am to live in this nation and to enjoy all the freedoms and blessings won for us by the blood, sweat, and tears of countless men and women before us. Forgive us, Lord, for how easily we can take these priceless gifts for granted. Yesterday, our pastor encouraged us to join him (and a number of other churches) in committing to praying every single day for our nation, as well as our families and churches, from July 4 through election day November 2nd. If anyone is reading this, I hope you will join me in praying for our nation (and families and churches, of course!) through election day. How our nation needs revival and restoration. The news seems to be all bad--from our rejection of the Lord in nearly every public arena to our decline in moral values to our frightening economic situation to the seemingly impossible wars we are waging against those who wish to destroy us. One could be tempted to despair.

But with God, we can never ever despair for with Him, all things are possible. As Winston Churchill urged in what was surely the shortest but most powerful commencement address ever given and delivered right in the midst of the dark days of World War II: "Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never give up." I am reminded of a verse I read not long ago in Numbers 11:23 where God asks an anxious Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short?" No! If in God's extravagant grace and mercy, He chooses to forgive and restore this nation, then He can and will do it. And that is my prayer. Below is Peter Marshall's prayer for America. It is even more appropriate today than when he penned these words over 60 years ago:

Our Father, we pray for this land. We need Thy help in this time of testing and uncertainty, when men who could fight together on the field of battle seem strangely unable to work together around conference tables for peace.

May we begin to see that all true Americanism beings in being Christian; that it can have no other foundation, as it has no other roots.

To Thy glory was this Republic established. For the advancement of the Christian faith did the Founding Fathers give their life's heritage, passed down to us.

We would pray that all over this land there may be a return to the faith of those men and women who trusted in God as they faced the perils and dangers of the frontier, not alone in crossing the continent, in building their cabins, in rearing their families in eking out a livelihood, but in raising a standard of faith to which men have been willing to repair down through the years.

Thou didst bless their efforts. Thou didst bless America. Thou hast made her rich. Wilt Thou also make her good?

Make us, the citizens of this land, want to do the right things. Make us long to have right attitudes. Help us to be Christian in our attitudes. Let all that we do and say spring out of understanding hearts.

Make us willing to seek moral objectives together, that in united action this nation may be as resolute for righteousness and peace as she has been for war.

Bless those who bear responsibility. May they be led by Thee to do that which is right rather than that which is expedient or politically wise. Save us from politicians who seek only their own selfish interests. Illumine the minds of management as well as labor, that there may be an end to selfishness and greed, to the stupidity of men who are unable to find in reasonable agreement solutions to the problems that plague us.

Bless this land that we love so much, our Father, and help her to deposit her trust, not in armies and navies, in wealth and material resources, or in achievements of the human mind, but in that righteousness which alone exalteth any nation, and by which alone peace can finally come to us. This we ask in that name that is above every name, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

Amen, Lord, and to be all the glory!

Stop Wasting the Sirens

I was so convicted recently when I read an article by Jonathan Parnell entitled, "Don't Waste the Sound of Sirens." He noted that because we hear the sound of sirens so frequently, we typically just ignore them and go on about our daily activities. "But wait, that sound means something! It means that there is an emergency. Someone is in need, and that's not something to ignore. Sirens come into our day loaded with significance. Whether they are heard faintly in the distance or close enough to disturb our ears, they come into our day as an invitation to get out of our bubble of self and remember that there are 6.8 billion people in the world. They invite us to remember that the world is in need and that opportunities are emerging everywhere for God to glorify His name and make His goodness known. Next time there is the sound of a siren, we don't want to waste it. Would you consider a simple prayer for the person in need? Would you pray for the driver and team who are rushing to help? Would you pray that Jesus be embraced and that God be glorified, somehow at some point? And would you pray that the day be hastened when the sound of sirens will be no more?"

Amen! How often I have simply tuned out that sound. But it should always remind us that somewhere, somehow, someone is hurting or in danger or in desperate need of God's miraculous intervention. We need to break out of our selfish little bubbles and pray! There is a hurting, lost world out there, and we need to stop worrying about the tiny inconveniences in our lives that all too often steal our joy and peace and start praying. Lord forgive me for my shallowness and selfishness and help me to pray to the One who has all power and can transform and bring good and glory out of even the worst of circumstances.

I've just learned of a "siren" for a friend of one of my sons. He was in a diving accident and is in surgery right now. Suddenly all the little piddily things I was concerned with, all the things on my to do list seem utterly ridiculous, for our friend Chase needs the miraculous, the omnipotent healing touch of our Redeemer and Sustainer. So Lord I lift him up to You right now and pray earnestly on his behalf.

And for every siren sounding on this day, we trust that You know. And You can do immeasurably more than all we can even think to ask or imagine. So we pray for Your presence, Your healing, Your peace, Your wisdom, Your miraculous intervention, Your strength and all to Your glory.

Pray and work

Just a quote I reread the other day that I really love: "Here is the secret of great success: Work with all your might, but don't trust in the least in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing of God, but work at the same time with all diligence, all patience, and all perseverance. Pray then and work. Work and pray. And still again pray, and then work. And so on all the days of your life. The result will surely be abundant blessing." George Mueller

So convicting and so true! Work and pray. Pray and work. But the prayer must always come first and foremost. John Bunyan put it this way: "You can do more than pray after you've prayed, but you can't do more than pray until you've prayed." How often we do the complete antithesis of this--get busy, get frenetic, get focused on every possible solution we can think of and then, eventually, we remember to pray. Or we pray after everything else seems to be failing. The result invariably is burnout, frustration, exhaustion, or irritation. Again, it comes back to remembering! We've got to train ourselves to stop and pray first. We have to remember to seek the Lord's guidance and enabling before we get busy with all our efforts and ideas. But then we go after it with all our hearts and trust the results up to Him.

Okay, waaaaaaaay easier said than done! But nobody ever said the Christian life would be a cakewalk. G. K. Chesteron once wrote that "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; rather it has been tried and found difficult." Are we willing to do the hard thing or do we just want to float along in the world's easy current? Are we willing to roll up the sleeves of our minds and choose to renew our minds in God's Word daily and then act upon what we are reading or do we just want to drift along, absorbed in our supercharged schedules and oftentimes mindless activity? I've learned I can be awfully busy without being one bit fruitful. I can look and feel like I'm getting a lot accomplished and crossed off my to-do list, but all the while, like Martha, I'm missing out on the "one thing needful" with the result that my soul feels malnourished and listless.

Help me, Lord, to seek You first and foremost; to pray, to continually feast and graze on Your Word, but then to get busy with wherever You have placed me and whatever You have given me to do. To pray with all my heart and then work with all my heart--and all to Your glory. Then the laundry, the cooking, the carpooling, the cleaning become infused with the sacred and the eternal. Brother Lawrence, the monk in a monastery's kitchen many years ago, explained that whatever he was doing, he would do it to the glory of God. If he was peeling potatoes, he would do it to the glory of God and while doing it, he would "practice the presence" of knowing God was right there with him. What a difference when I know that God is with me as I straighten up my messy house for the thousandth time and that I can do it to His glory to the best of my ability. Work and pray; pray and work--and He is pleased. All to His glory alone.

Remembering...again!

Just some very brief ramblings: I am struck anew by the importance of remembering. I have been so convicted about daily speaking "what is" rather than "what if." But I need to remember "what is!" And we (or at least I) are so prone to amnesia when it comes to God's faithfulness! I can read my Bible in the morning, but come late afternoon when my schedule goes crazy and one of my teenagers displays very unbecoming ingratitude (a nice way to put it!) and my nerves start to fray... I simply forget what and who my Almighty God is. I view everything through lenses of doubt and irritation and shortsighted selfishness. I need to put on those 100 year glasses and remember Who is in control, how important this "crisis" will be 100 years from now, and what God wants to teach me and my loved ones through this. I tend to get focused on "why" rather than "who," "how," and "what." I forget to pray rather than plot. I forget to worship rather than worry. I forget to choose faith and trust rather than strain and anxiety.

I am trying to read the Bible in 90 days this summer. So far, I am hanging in there (barely), and it's been great. But recently I've been reading about the Israelites wandering through the desert after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt. How striking is their spiritual amnesia! God miraculously delivers them from slavery in Egypt, and a few days later the appearance of the Egyptian army terrifies them and causes them to look back with laughable longing at the good old days of slavery and deprivation. God parts the Red Sea and the next minute they are whining and complaining about the lack of water. God sends manna every morning to provide for their sustenance, and they start complaining about the lack of variety in their diets.

When you read so many chapters in one day, the juxtaposition of God's faithfulness and the Israelites grumbling, complaining, and doubting is really startling. How on earth could they forget God's goodness to them so quickly? How could they forget the miraculous ways He has moved in their lives over and over again? How could they be so ungrateful and untrusting? What is wrong with those people that every little setback that comes along seems to cause them to forget everything they should know about who God is and what He has done and what He can do?!

And here I am, sitting in a comfortable house I did not build, typing on a computer I did not make, using fingers and a mind I did not create, writing about family and friends I do not deserve, and relying on grace I could never earn. God has shown His faithfulness to me and those I love in myriad ways. And yet how quickly I forget! I start complaining and worrying and griping just like the Israelites. Reminds me of the time a London newspaper asked G.K. Chesterton what was the problem with the world. "I am," he responded. Amen to that!

So right now I am choosing to remember and to be thankful. My oldest son graduated from High School today. Last night I felt such sadness that neither of my parents were alive to see him graduate. These big events in my children's lives always seem to make me feel their loss more keenly. As I looked at his purple graduation robe, the reality that our children are growing up and moving out and that life is changing (and I don't like change) really hit me hard. How easily we can slide into "the slough of despond" when we start focusing on what we are losing, what we lack, what we have that we don't want or want that we don't have.

But I have to keep learning the lesson that when God is in the equation, everything changes! I have to focus on "what is" rather than "what if." I have to keep remembering God's faithfulness and power and greatness and goodness. I choose to thank the Lord for allowing my son to graduate and move on rather than focus on my own little selfish point of view that he is leaving our home and I will miss him. Boy, when I get all wrapped up in myself, I make a mighty small package! But when I look up rather than around or in, the view is so expansive, so breathtaking. So today, I choose, again, to remember and to be thankful and to give Him all the glory!

Are you living by "what if" or "what is?"

Jennifer Rothschild lost her sight when she was 15 years old. She was a normal, active, healthy teenager who especially loved art and wanted to draw and paint when she grew up. One day she and a friend were painting on a large new white sheet for a field day event at school, and she noticed a lot of gray dust in one of the corners of the sheet. She tried to brush it away, but it wouldn't budge. Then she noticed some black marks in another corner of the sheet. When she complained to the friend about all the dirt and dust on this new sheet, her friend responded, "Jennifer, I don't know what you are talking about. She sheet is white." That was her first indication that something was wrong. Not long after this, her parents took her to an eye hospital where they did a number of tests that revealed that she had a disease of the retinas that would leave her completely blind.

Jennifer said that she and her parents drove home in stunned and devestated silence from the hospital that day. When she got home, there sat the upright piano her family had purchased several years earlier. She had taken piano lessons on and off so her ability was pretty limited. But though she could no longer see to read the music she sat down and began playing she had never played and never memorized. The song that flowed from her heart through her fingers is the song that still reverberates through her life and the dark places she goes through: the old protestant hymn "It is Well with my Soul."

When people asks her if she prays for healing, she responds that there are days where she cries out to God, "Lord, take it away." But generally she doesn't pray for healing. She knows that God is sovereign and He can do it if He chooses, but what she really prays for and what she needs most is contentment, "because if I don't learn contentment in the midst of these circumstances, then if in the mercy of God, He delivers me from it, I'll be grumpy about something else." How true that so many of us fail to redeem the difficulty in our lives, because we assume that we'd be content if our circumstances changed. If my finances improved, if my husband improved, if my children improved, if my job improved, if my home improved, if my health improved... But as Jennifer declared, "True contentment only comes in the midst of the difficult circumstances. Because God makes it well with your soul--not always with your circumstances."

One of the things Jennifer said she has learned as a woman navigating through the darkness of faith and blindness is that it doesn't have to be well with your circumstances for it to be well with your soul. We don't wait for our circumstances to change so that we can experience some level of contentment in our faith. Rather, we ask God to change us in the midst of our circumstances.

Boy that is a lesson I needed to be reminded of--I must daily ask God to teach me contentment right smack in the midst of whatever circumstances I am enduring or enjoying. I cannot choose my circumstances, but I can always choose my response. I can choose gratitude or grumpiness. I can choose faith or fear. I can choose resting in God's sovereignity or restlessness and anxiety. I can choose joy or joylessness. I can choose to enjoy the present, irreplaceable moments of my life each day or I can choose to be looking ahead in worry or behind in regret. O how many of those priceless moments have I missed, because I was mired in preoccupation with my circumstances or about ruminating over other moments that have already passed or that are yet to be!

Jennifer explained that as a blind young woman graduating from high school, the thing she most desperately craved was independence. Independence had been striped away from her at every level as a result of her blindness. So she decided to go to a college about 90 miles away from her house. On August 15 of 1982 she would be a college freshman, and "this seemed like the best idea ever--until August 14 at 3 in the afternoon." As she stood in the front yard of her house, she suddenly was filled with fear at the realization she would be away from home, away from help of any kind, away from all security. She didn't know anybody and wondered who would help her, how would she cross the busy streets--and on and on the fears assailed her. Her mom cried with her and told her she had to go, but she only needed to try it for 2 weeks. If she couldn't handle it, her mom and dad would come pick her up. Well, she loved it and she met her future husband in those first 2 weeks!

"For some of you, it's August 14th." We are looking at our future and it looks uncertain or frightening. "Much of the reason we hover in the front yard of our lives and it's always August 14th is because we are so dominated by our feelings...Fear is a legitimate emotion. But you should allow it to become for you an intuitive detective that holds the hand of God and walks you to Him." We don't walk by our feelings; we walk by faith.

How many of us are daily living our August 14's and saying, "what if?" What if my husband loses his job? What if my child can't handle college? What if our family can't handle this health crisis? What if..... You fill in the blank. What if I really do trust God more than my feelings? As Jennifer declared, "What if is the language of fear and speculation." If we want to be people who truly follow God and walk by faith, we need to stop speaking "what if" and start speaking "what is." And here's "what is: God who called you is faithful, the God who in Isaiah 45 says I will give you treasures in darkness."

The bottom line: I want to be a woman who stops saying "what if" and starts saying "what is--God is faithful and I choose to trust Him more than I trust my feelings." How we all need to remind ourselves daily of this truth! We have to counsel our hearts, for our feelings are such variable, unreliable, wobbly things! But God is changeless and eternal and true and good and great, and I can trust Him with my families lives and with my friends lives and with all in this world that can seem so hopeless.

So today, when those "what if's" assail you, choose to counsel your heart to say "what is" and remind yourselves of the faithfulness of Your almighty, all sovereign, all glorious Lord! He has brought you this far--He will not let you down now...or next week...or next year. Even when we don't understand what He's doing, we can trust His heart and choose to speak the truth of "what is" as we walk by faith and not by feelings. To Him be all the glory.

We will remember what we've forgotten!

"Everything we need to learn is what we've already forgotten... The Church doesn't need to reinvent, but to remember." Dave Owens (one of our church's ministers).

We will remember, we will remember

We will remember, the works of Your hands

We will stop and give You praise

For great is Your faithfulness

So goes the chorus of one of my favorite songs, "We will Remember." Such a simple truth and yet so profound. I know that I have the memory of a gnat. I can't remember names. I struggle even with faces! I forget to take my children to birthday parties or to attend school events, even though they are written on my calendar... because I forget to look at my calendar! There is so much that I forget, but when I forget who God is and what He has done, then discouragement and disillusionment and despair and distraction will set in and take over.

Just the other day, my husband and I grew very discouraged over something one of our children was dealing with. Suddenly, our minds were filled with all the worst case scenarios, and we felt defeated and anxious. Note the word, "felt." It was all about feelings rather than Truth. Somehow in all our dire calculations, God had been left utterly out of the equation! And He is the equation! We had forgotten who our Almighty God is, what He has done, and that He is still on the throne and is still in the business of doing "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..." But we needed to remember!

We all need to stop in the midst of whatever crisis or challenge we are facing and choose to remember who our God is and what He can do and remember that His Holy Spirit dwells within us and can enable us to face whatever life hands us and to do whatever He's called us to do. But it all has to start with a conscious choice to remember and then to ask Him to enable us in the power of the Holy Spirit to act upon the Truth we know rather than the emotions we feel.

During a very difficult time in Martin Luther's life, he was carrying a number of heavy burdens and fighting many difficult battles. Though usually jovial and light hearted, Luther was depressed and anxious and very discouraged. His wife, Katherine, endured this for some time until one day when he returned home, she met him at the door wearing a black mourning dress and veil.

"Who died?" he asked her.

"God, " his wife responded.

"You foolish thing!" said Luther. "Why this foolishness?"

"It is true," she persisted. "God must have died, or Doctor Luther would not be so sorrowful."

Luther got the message, his perspective changed, and the depression lifted.

How often I live as if God has died! How quickly I lose perspective and grow discouraged or fearful or discontent--for I've forgotten that My God, the One who created the far flung galaxies, who sustains the world and causes the earth to turn and the sun to shine, who raises the dead to life, the One who renews and redeems and restores and reinvigorates--My glorious, omnipotent, gracious God is in control of everything and everyone and every moment!

In his old age, John Newton, in one of his last sermons, declared that he was a very old man and his memory was failing him. But two things he always remembered, "How great a sinner I am and how great a Savior Christ is." Amen!

How thankful I am that I don't have to get it all together to remember the greatness of my Savior and the infinite enormity of His resources! I am a helpless, hapless sinner...but he is a great Savior! I am exhausted and overwhelmed...but He never runs out or runs low. As Paul Miller put it: "Jesus opens His arms to His needy children and says, 'Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28). The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy." Boy, now there's a standard I can meet: overwhelmed, wandering mind, messy. And Jesus bids me "come." Come weary and worn out and weak... but come remembering who He is and what He has done and what He can do.

We will remember, we will remember

We will remember, the works of YOur hands

We will stop and give you praise

For great is Thy faithfulness.

You're our Creator, our life sustainer

Delivered, our comfort, our joy

Throughout the ages You've been our shelter

Our peace in the midst of the storm

With signs and wonders You've shown Your power

With precious blood You showed us Your grace

And we will shout, our God is good

And He is the faithful One

We will remember, we will remember

We will remember the works of Your hands

We will stop and give You praise

For great is Thy faithfulness.

Our Lord never ever forgets us. May we stop forgetting Him. In the midst of the storms or the sunshine of our lives, in the mundane or the messy, in our sinfulness or our strengths, in our busyness or our barrenness, we must choose to remember. He is so worthy, so great and so good and to Him be all the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Fear the Lord, not the Future

Last night I awoke at 1:30 and was filled with dark condemnation and anxiety. As I lay in bed, a litany of worries engulfed me, and my exhausted mind poured over imagined dire possibilities as well as all my pitiful shortcomings. There is something about the late nighttime hours that seems to give birth to every frightful worry and care, and we feel oppressed and lonely and utterly inadequate.

I finally got up at 3 a.m. and went and poured out my heart to the Lord. I read in those quiet moments, "Ps.147:11 "The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." And Ps.145:19 "He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them." What a reminder it was to me this morning that we are to fear God, not circumstances or possible senarios or failures. He is our Hope when life seems hopeless. He is our Way when we have no idea where to go. He is our wisdom in the midst of confusion. He is our abundant Life when we are empty and exhausted. He is our Victory when we are facing defeat. He is our Song when are joyless. He is our Light when we walk in utter darkness. He is our Peace when we are anxious. He is our Grace when we are completely unworthy.

And He is the source of every good thing in our lives. As I poured out my heart to Him, I started thanking Him for every blessing I could think of--and as the list grew longer, my anxiety grew weaker and weaker. Ps.136 commands us over and over: "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever." Sometimes we cannot figure out what on earth He is doing. Sometimes His plans seem mystifyingly and dramatically different from our hopes and dreams. As Beth Moore wrote: "God's ways will always be higher than ours, but we don't have to understand Him to settle the matter in our hearts that we can trust Him." Amen! It really is true that you cannot be filled with gratitude and worry at the same time! We daily, hourly, have to choose to focus on Him--the awesome unchangeable One-- on His greatness, on His blessings or focus on our ever changing circumstances. I choose Him! And for all the tomorrows, when faced with the choice once more, I pray for His grace and mercy to choose Him again and again and again all the way to glory!

In the words of one of Peter Marshall's prayers:

Thou knowest, Father, the things of which we are afraid--the terror by night, the arrow by day that takes us unawares and often finds us without a vital, ready faith. We know that Thou hast not promised to surround us with immunity from all the ills to which flesh is heir. We only pray that when they come, if come they must, they shall find us unafraid and with adequate resources to meet them. Give us a constant faith and a steady courage, that we may neither whimper nor in peevish petulance complain before Thee. We thank Thee that Thou dost still rule over the worl that Thou hast made. Kings and emperors come and depart. All the shouting and the tumult, the screaming hurricanes of time have not deviated Thee from Thy path. Help us to remember, O Christ, that Thou art victorious--Christus Victor--reigning over all; that in due time, in Thine own good time, Thou wilt work all things together for good to them that love Thee, who are called according to Thy purpose. May we find our refuge in that regnant faith, and so face the future without fear. Give to us Thy peace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Beautiful Savior

How overwhelmed and thankful I am that we serve an Almighty God who is infinite in His love and mercy and grace. He is the God of the victorious and the overcomers and the righteous. But He is also the God of the disorganized and the failures and the weak. He is the God of 2nd and 3rd and 4th chances. I often think of the words of Alan Redpath when he asked, "What does God expect of you?" And we would think, obedience and holiness and worship.... But Redpath goes on to exclaim, "Do you know what God expects of you? All God ever expects of you is failure!" Boy, I can do that, Lord! That is one expectation I can meet with flying colors!

But Redpath went on to gently add, "But God knows you need never ultimately fail because He has given you His Holy Spirit." Wow, I fail so frequently. Just look at my pitiful track record at writing in this blog! I fuss at my children. I waste time on the unimportant. I want my own selfish way and think my plan is somehow better than my Lord's. I let pride blind me to my own sin. My priorities get all messed up in my busyness and haste to get everything done on my to do list. I get irritated and impatient. O the list could go on and on. A list of failures.

But then I read God's love letter that tells me that God's perfect, sinless Son died on a cross to take those sins, those failures, those weaknesses, those selfish and prideful ways and covers each and every one of them with His blood. He takes my sin and gives me His righteousness...what an exchange, what a Savior!

How often I take this for granted, but then I see the hideousness of my own sin and I am overcome with amazement and gratitude for what He did for me, for us. The words of "Knees to the Earth" come to mind:

Wonderful Savior

My heart belongs to Thee

I will remember always the blood You shed for me

Wonderful Savior

My heart will know Your worth

So I will embrace You always as I walk this earth

Be blessed, be loved, be lifted high

Be treasured here

Be glorified

I owe my life to You my Lord

Here I am, Here I am...

O that I might always remember the blood He shed for me! Might I daily bless and love and lift Him high. Might I treasure Him with all my heart and glorify Him with all my actions and thoughts and words.

He is so worthy. And we are so unworthy. But He found us of priceless worth...such that no price, no suffering, no betrayal, no humiliation could be too great to redeem the ones He loved. Our beautiful, wonderful Savior--to You be all the glory!

Cardinals and the love of God!

Whew, it's been quite a while, but I'm thankful to be back! I shared with some ladies the other day something that I do that sounds kind of silly, but it is a small way to help me to keep my focus on God during the day. I guess it's a another way to, in Brother Lawrence's words, "practice the presence." Whenever I see a beautiful red cardinal, I always take it as God reminding me "I love you!" I love to walk our dog, Moses, on the greenway, and I don't think I can recall a day when I haven't seen at least one (and usually several) cardinals. Whenever I see one, I whisper "I love you too, Lord!" Every time I see a cardinal now, I smile and rejoice at the extravagant love of God!

But yesterday, as I walking I was listening to the daily audio Bible podcast (which goes through the Bible in a year) and the account of Jesus' crucifixion. It was a very wet, overcast day with heavy clouds and fog. As I pondered what Jesus had done for my sin and was surrounded by bleakness and dampness, I felt overcome by the divine love that willingly endured such agony and humiliation on our behalf. And then I saw the first brilliant spot of red fly right in front of me. I smiled and thanked God for His love, and then another beautiful cardinal and another landed in front or beside me on the greenway. They each stood out like bright red jewels in the gray landscape. In the space of 10 minutes, I can't even remember how many cardinals I saw but it was probably in double figures!

It was if God was telling me, "This is how much I love you. Look at the cross and see those wounds and the crimson blood, stark against the brown and muddy ground. See My perfect, sinless Son hanging on that cross for you. See Him alone and naked and bleeding. See His betrayal and humiliation and agony. But witness His single minded determination to die for His love of you. This is how much I love you--immeasurable and unconditional and infinite." Such is the love of God. How we need to be reminded--immense, incredible, indefatigable, infinite, indestructible love! One or two cardinals just would not do it--so God sent cardinal after brilliant red cardinal to remind this often preoccupied, forgetful, selfish heart how truly great He is and how truly wonderful what Jesus has done. O Lord Jesus, I remember and I repent and I rejoice! To You alone be all the glory forever!

P.E. in heaven!

As we were driving along in the car the other day, Peter (my 8 year old) out of the blue declared, "I can't wait to get to heaven 'cause we won't have to do any schoolwork." (We had just spent about an hour struggling with spelling homework!) He went on, "But don't even talk to me about P.E.! P.E. is going to be amazing in heaven!" Can you guess what he tells me everyday was his favorite part of the day?! Yep, we know heaven is going to be incredible and so it must include lots of P.E.!

When we daily ponder heaven, it puts everything else in our lives in perspective. When Peter shared this, I was reminded of an illustration I heard several years ago. The great old preacher, John Newton wrote: "Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his [carriage] should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way. What a fool we would think him if we saw him ringing his hands and blubbering out all the remaining mile, 'My carriage is broken! My carriage is broken!'"

And yet how often is this my foolish attitude! I have the infinite joys of heaven just before me, and I am blubbering "My energy is broken! or My parenting is broken! or My finances are broken!..." I have God's unbreakable Word that tells me He loves me and cares for me and guides me and strengthens me and renews me, but I am blubbering about my broken carriage--and the city is only a few minutes away! John Piper put it this way: "Picture this life as a journey on your way to receive a spectacular inheritance. It will protect you from idolatry and make all your burdens lighter, and quell all your murmurings."

Lord, forgive all my murmurings, my love of things and comfort and ease, my failure to be truly and continually and overwhelmingly thankful for the abundant life You graciously offer us now and the infinite and eternal joys of heaven in the future. It's less than a mile to the city...and all that fabulous P.E.! To God be all the glory!

When God says no

Sometimes God answers no to our most fervent requests. Physical healing, restoration of a relationship, fulfillment of long cherished dreams or desires, victory or success in a sporting event or school subject or business opportunity. We all love to joyfully share the affirmative answers to prayer--that is when God answers them the way we want them answered--and we are quick to give Him all the praise and glory.

But how about when His answer is no? Are we quick to thank Him and tell others about how great and sovereign and omnipotent He is?

I don't even need to answer that--at least when it comes to yours truly.

But God's no answers are just as sovereign and gracious and worthy of our faith and gratitude. Why? Because He is God, that's why. Because even when I can't see it or understand it, He sees fully and knows absolutely everything, and He knows what is best, pleasing and perfect. Because He loves us more than we could ever even begin to imagine, and so, like a loving parent, He always always always wants the very best for us. Because His Word promises us over and over again that He works all things together for good and that all His plans for us are good, and He loves us with an everlasting love.

Yet how quickly we forget! I am so often like a spoiled child with the "what have You done for me lately?" attitude. I can't see past my own nose to the bigger, beautiful picture He has spread out in front of me. How often I settle for infinitely less than He longs to give me, because I am so insistent that my way is the best way.

No, I will never understand horrific earthquakes and genocide and cancer. But I just have to trust that my Savior does, and what a glorious day that will be when He reveals His mysterious purposes behind all of the pain and suffering and we will truly understand for the first time.

But in the meantime, I choose to thank Him for His "no's," even when I don't always feel like it. I do it in faith and trust based on my knowledge of my Savior. I do it, because, just as I read last night in Streams in the Desert, "This thing is from Me." (I Kings 12:24). "My child, I have a message for you today; let me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise, and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your inmost soul; use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. 'This thing is from Me.'"

Nothing happens to any of us unless and until it passes through our loving, all knowing Heavenly Father. That's all I need to know--this thing is from Him so I can trust that somehow, someway it will be to my greater good and His greater glory.

I just read today's Caring Bridge entry from the husband of a mom about my age who is dying of cancer. Hospice has been called in, and her time on this earth is short. He writes: "It is a peaceful time, and we have been spending our time at home with footrubs, singing from various friends and family members, listening to praise hymns and Chris Rice CD's and trying to walk with the Lord each day that He provides us. He has told us not to worry about tomorrow; He will guide us with His perfect guidance and He in fact is holding our right hand as we go on this journey through life. We know that He leads us to Glory in eternity, and there is nothing that can separate us from His presence...[He thanks everyone for all their prayers and kindness] They are all being answered. We are prepared for each new day and what it is that God has in store for us. Rain, sleet, snow or shine, each day is a blessing because He knows His plan for our lives and it is GOOD!"

AMEN! So when God anwers no, it is really always yes in His perfect plan for each of our days. All our waiting on colleges with answers we don't necessarily like? It's yes in Him! How I love what he wrote--"each day is a blessing because He knows His plan for our lives and it is GOOD!" This from a loving husband watching His beloved wife die from cancer.

So thank You Lord for the yeses and the no's and everything in between! Help us all live our lives every single day with gratitude and joy and peace and trust that You are there, in perfect control, and "this thing is from" You--our loving, omnipotent Papa. To You be all the glory!