I've been meaning to write this post for days and days...when I finally get all that other stuff done that needed doing...and when the mood/inspiration hits...and when I've dealt with all those little problems that have suddenly cropped up...and when a slot of time magically opens up and I'm not sleepy or hungry or grumpy or weepy or...Yeah, you get the idea.
Because here's the thing: that day never arrives. Never. We'll always have some reason, some excuse for not doing what we know we need to do, because God's called us to do it...but it's not urgent. It's not easy. And frankly, we simply don't feel like it.
And then suddenly it hit me--that's the very reason I need to sit down and write about this right now, whether I feel like it or not! Because the choice, the action I want to write about is also one that cannot wait until you feel like it. Or till your circumstances improve. Or till that mythical day when life calms down a bit.
Nope, you've just got to start doing it, because despite your feelings or your challenges or your circumstances or your difficulties, nothing nothing, nothing is more important in the midst of a storm than this ridiculously simple but profoundly life-changing choice--
Choosing to rejoice.
Choosing to be thankful.
And specifically, literally, choosing to name those reasons. Say them out loud. Write them down. Somehow, someway, make the choice--in the midst of the raging storm--to count your blessings.
"Yeah, yeah," you say. "Trite," you yawn. But let me tell you from the perspective of someone who has been there--it's utterly life-changing and perspective-restoring.
I've shared it a million times, but one day--maybe around day six or seven of Janie's stay in the ICU, a middle-aged man was admitted in the little room right next to hers. The walls in the ICU are so thin you can't really call them walls, so we could hear everything that was going on. And this man had been in some kind of accident. Like Janie, he had suffered some kind of brain injury and was unconscious.
We heard them go through the same protocol we'd already heard every hour with Janie. They'd yell, "Mr. So and so, Mr. So and so, wake up! You are in the hospital. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, wiggle your toes..." And so it would go, hour after hour. Just as it had with our daughter. For all those long days with Janie, nothing. No response. Hour after hour, day after day, nothing.
But with this other fellow, the very next day he obviously woke up and began slowly responding in some way to their questions. But (to my shame) instead of rejoicing for them, I felt sick with sorrow for us. "Why couldn't that be us, Lord? Why him and not Janie? Why won't you wake up Janie? We've been here a week...he's been here a few hours...why Lord?"
My mind and heart headed down a dark, deadly path of ugliness, despair and envy, and let me tell you, that will never take you anywhere good.
But I can only describe it as the extraordinary grace and goodness of God, for just as my mind started down that hideous road, the Lord stopped me in my tracks. And I seemed to hear "Start rejoicing. Start naming all the reasons for thanksgiving. Now!"
And this stubborn, slow-learning, often disobedient child, for once, listened and obeyed. I started that moment to begin making a mental list of things for which we could be thankful. Yes, it was a mighty weak and reluctant list at first, but praise God He takes us just as we are and blesses even our tiniest, most pathetic attempts.
"Umm, well, thank You for the Starbucks downstairs. That's something anyway, to have hot tea." I tried haltingly to continue: " Uh, thank You for these nurses and doctors. They have been amazing....and while I'm at it, thank You for our friends who have done so much to help us and to keep things going at home...thank You for my wonderful brothers and sisters who have been here with us in the midst of this fight constantly...thank You that we could come to this hospital and receive such extraordinary medical care...thank You for the praise music playing in Janie's room...thank You for Your Word that has truly come alive as never before..."
By now, I was on a roll, and the innumerable reasons for thankfulness and praise began to pour out...while the ugly despair and envy began to diminish.
Now, that's not to say everything changed...because it did not. Janie remained unconscious for another week. We fought fear and fevers and lung problems and discouragement and exhaustion. But we knew we were not fighting alone. We knew God was with us in the fight. We knew the Body of Christ was fighting alongside us. And we knew there are always, always, always reasons for thanksgiving and praise.
So that's my ridiculously simple suggestion...but I'm telling you--you will pierce the darkness with words of thanksgiving and praise so that the light begins shining through and your heart will be lifted. Lifted to look up...and see Him. And know that He is with you, beside you, before you, behind you, in you and for you.
It truly is a golden bridge of praise--a bridge that takes you from discouragement and despair and crosses over the darkness into the light of indefatigable joy and hope.
But you have to choose to cross over that bridge of praise. And often it simply begins by taking the first tentative, reluctant step. Don't wait to feel like it. Don't wait till circumstances improve. Don't wait till you think you really have a reason to praise. No, simply start praising and thanking. "Tune your heart to sing God's praise," as the old hymn puts it.
It's a choice, an act of the will that may or may not change your circumstances but that will profoundly, beautifully change you.
"Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ for you." (I Thess.5:16-18)
It's a command...and you have to choose...and no matter the storm, there will always, always, always be plenty of reason to rejoice and to give thanks. So just start. Start small, but start today. Start now.
To God be the glory.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Another lesson: A Soundtrack of Praise
Another very simple but I believe profoundly powerful lesson for the storms: maintain a soundtrack of praise.
I mean that quite literally. Keep praise music, worship music, uplifting music that strengthens your soul...keep it playing in the background. At the hospital, at home, in the car. Music--especially great hymns or praise and worship songs--has a power all its own to remind your heart of the truth. Because in the heat of the storm, our hearts forget.
Pain or fear of discouragement almost always lead to spiritual amnesia. Yes, we might know intellectually that God is in control, that Jesus is with us every moment, that the Lord is working all things out for our ultimate good and His glory. Yeah, yeah, yeah....
But as the wind and waves lash and disorient us, we can't feel it. We can't feel Him...and so we forget. We all forget.
We need to be reminded. And music speaks to your heart. Music brings to your conscious memory that which you already knew, but forgot or doubt. Music somehow reaches past the pain, the fear, the sorrow and speaks strong, true Truth to your weary, burdened soul.
It happened over and over again to us when Janie was in the ICU. Amidst the continual beeps and alarms of the equipment and the constant visits from the nurses, we softly played worship music in the background. We started playing it in the hope that in some mysterious way, Janie might be able to hear it deep in the recesses of her coma and thus be somehow strengthened in her battle.
But what we learned was that we--her often frightened, fragile parents--were the ones who were powerfully and beautifully ministered to by that music. Because we were reminded afresh of truths like--
Lost are saved, find their way, at the sound of Your great name
All condemned, feel no shame, at the sound of Your great name
Every fear, has no place, at the sound of Your great name
The enemy, he has to leave, at the sound of Your great name
Jesus, worthy is the lamb that was slain for us, son of God and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great name
All the weak, find their strength, at the sound of Your great name
Hungry souls, receive grace, at the sound of Your great name
The fatherless, they find their rest, at the sound of Your great name
Sick are healed, and the dead are raised, at the sound of Your great name
Jesus, worthy is the lamb that was slain for us, son of god and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great name
Oh, Your great name
Redeemer, my healer, almighty
My savior, defender, You are my king ("Your Great Name")
Or--
Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but Heaven's will
No scheme of Hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night
Sing it, o death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
("Christ is Risen")
Oh and so many more! Even today, when I hear one of those many glorious songs we played on that little boom box in the ICU, tears of joy and thanksgiving spring to my eyes. I'm reminded afresh of my Great God. Of who He is. Of all He has done for us in Christ. Of all He can do. And of all He has promised for us in the future.
And it's all ultimately good...extraordinarily, supernaturally, eternally, good-as-it-gets good.
But in midst of the storm, your heart needs to be reminded.
In the midst of the storm, your soul needs to be strengthened in Him...in His Word, in His character, in His faithfulness, in His everlasting love, in His omnipotent power. Music preaches to your heart like almost nothing else, and despair flees in the face of praise. So keep playing that soundtrack of praise.
"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Ps.95:1-3)
It's okay if you forget...we all do. Just put on those worship songs, those hymns, that praise music, and I promise, you'll start remembering.
And in remembering, your heart will begin rejoicing.
And in rejoicing, you will find yourself revived and restored...even in very teeth of the storm.
Because Jesus will be right there with you in the storm...and He is always, always, always enough.
To our Savior, our Redeemer, our King of Kings, and the One who has defeated sin and death, be all the glory.
I mean that quite literally. Keep praise music, worship music, uplifting music that strengthens your soul...keep it playing in the background. At the hospital, at home, in the car. Music--especially great hymns or praise and worship songs--has a power all its own to remind your heart of the truth. Because in the heat of the storm, our hearts forget.
Pain or fear of discouragement almost always lead to spiritual amnesia. Yes, we might know intellectually that God is in control, that Jesus is with us every moment, that the Lord is working all things out for our ultimate good and His glory. Yeah, yeah, yeah....
But as the wind and waves lash and disorient us, we can't feel it. We can't feel Him...and so we forget. We all forget.
We need to be reminded. And music speaks to your heart. Music brings to your conscious memory that which you already knew, but forgot or doubt. Music somehow reaches past the pain, the fear, the sorrow and speaks strong, true Truth to your weary, burdened soul.
It happened over and over again to us when Janie was in the ICU. Amidst the continual beeps and alarms of the equipment and the constant visits from the nurses, we softly played worship music in the background. We started playing it in the hope that in some mysterious way, Janie might be able to hear it deep in the recesses of her coma and thus be somehow strengthened in her battle.
But what we learned was that we--her often frightened, fragile parents--were the ones who were powerfully and beautifully ministered to by that music. Because we were reminded afresh of truths like--
Lost are saved, find their way, at the sound of Your great name
All condemned, feel no shame, at the sound of Your great name
Every fear, has no place, at the sound of Your great name
The enemy, he has to leave, at the sound of Your great name
Jesus, worthy is the lamb that was slain for us, son of God and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great name
All the weak, find their strength, at the sound of Your great name
Hungry souls, receive grace, at the sound of Your great name
The fatherless, they find their rest, at the sound of Your great name
Sick are healed, and the dead are raised, at the sound of Your great name
Jesus, worthy is the lamb that was slain for us, son of god and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great name
Oh, Your great name
Redeemer, my healer, almighty
My savior, defender, You are my king ("Your Great Name")
Or--
Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but Heaven's will
No scheme of Hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night
Sing it, o death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
("Christ is Risen")
Oh and so many more! Even today, when I hear one of those many glorious songs we played on that little boom box in the ICU, tears of joy and thanksgiving spring to my eyes. I'm reminded afresh of my Great God. Of who He is. Of all He has done for us in Christ. Of all He can do. And of all He has promised for us in the future.
And it's all ultimately good...extraordinarily, supernaturally, eternally, good-as-it-gets good.
But in midst of the storm, your heart needs to be reminded.
In the midst of the storm, your soul needs to be strengthened in Him...in His Word, in His character, in His faithfulness, in His everlasting love, in His omnipotent power. Music preaches to your heart like almost nothing else, and despair flees in the face of praise. So keep playing that soundtrack of praise.
"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Ps.95:1-3)
It's okay if you forget...we all do. Just put on those worship songs, those hymns, that praise music, and I promise, you'll start remembering.
And in remembering, your heart will begin rejoicing.
And in rejoicing, you will find yourself revived and restored...even in very teeth of the storm.
Because Jesus will be right there with you in the storm...and He is always, always, always enough.
To our Savior, our Redeemer, our King of Kings, and the One who has defeated sin and death, be all the glory.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Another lesson for the storm--your thoughts
Another lesson for the storms--train your thoughts.
Okay, maybe that sounds strange, but I cannot tell you how critical it is in the midst of a frightening, seemingly out-of-control (or at least, out of your control) storm to not allow your mind and your thoughts to run wild. And believe me, they will...if you don't manage or discipline or train the thoughts that will flood your mind.
Yes, all those terrifying thoughts involving the worst case scenarios will pop into your mind. That's inevitable. But what's not inevitable is what you choose to do with those thoughts.
Each of us has the choice whether we'll chew upon destructive or despairing thoughts as a cow chews its cud...or whether we'll instead focus our mind's attention upon what God says is true and good and right.
Martin Luther expressed it this way: "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil.4:8)
Don't allow your mind to be hijacked by the frightening, terrible, negative, ugly, destructive. No, instead, think, think, think about the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent, commendable. One way leads to discouragement, despair and terror while the other leads to encouragement, peace, and hope. We cannot control the circumstances...but we can control our thoughts...and therefore our attitudes, our perspectives, our hearts. Death or life. Despair or hope. Discontentment or joy.
Can I give just one example? My husband shared that during one of those especially dark and frightening days with Janie, he found his thoughts became almost unbearable with all the terrible, worst case "What if's?" His mind was racing (and so was mine).
Richard prayed and asked the Lord to help him, to please give him some thought he could cling to and could focus upon instead of all these deadly destructive thoughts.
Immediately the words to the great old hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" came to mind...and in particular this little phrase, "Strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow."
Richard knew it was God's answer and provision for him--and for all of us--in that moment. It was if the Lord gently whispered that He would give the strength for today that was needed. All we all needed to do was to look to God, depend upon God, and trust God for today's strength. And our faithful Heavenly Father would always provide it. Today's strength for today's need. Today's grace for today's challenges. Today's peace for today's fears.
But in addition, God has the bright hope for tomorrow. He won't give us tomorrow's strength today...no, we have to trust Him for that when tomorrow comes. But He will be just as faithful and powerful and good and loving tomorrow as He is today, and He will give us just what we need tomorrow when tomorrow arrives. That means we can dismiss those terrifying thoughts about the future...because He's got the future. He's got us. And He's got bright hope for tomorrow. And His hope will never ever disappoint.
So today, go to Him for today's strength. And fix your mind and your thoughts upon His goodness, His grace, His love, His provision for today. Tomorrow He will be there as well--just as powerful, good, gracious, wise, loving--and that's what you can focus your thoughts upon when tomorrow arrives.
It all begins by choosing--in the midst of the storm--what we allow our minds to dwell upon--choose life, hope, peace, gratitude, truth, joy...choose Almighty God and His faithfulness!
To God be the glory.
Okay, maybe that sounds strange, but I cannot tell you how critical it is in the midst of a frightening, seemingly out-of-control (or at least, out of your control) storm to not allow your mind and your thoughts to run wild. And believe me, they will...if you don't manage or discipline or train the thoughts that will flood your mind.
Yes, all those terrifying thoughts involving the worst case scenarios will pop into your mind. That's inevitable. But what's not inevitable is what you choose to do with those thoughts.
Each of us has the choice whether we'll chew upon destructive or despairing thoughts as a cow chews its cud...or whether we'll instead focus our mind's attention upon what God says is true and good and right.
Martin Luther expressed it this way: "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil.4:8)
Don't allow your mind to be hijacked by the frightening, terrible, negative, ugly, destructive. No, instead, think, think, think about the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, excellent, commendable. One way leads to discouragement, despair and terror while the other leads to encouragement, peace, and hope. We cannot control the circumstances...but we can control our thoughts...and therefore our attitudes, our perspectives, our hearts. Death or life. Despair or hope. Discontentment or joy.
Can I give just one example? My husband shared that during one of those especially dark and frightening days with Janie, he found his thoughts became almost unbearable with all the terrible, worst case "What if's?" His mind was racing (and so was mine).
Richard prayed and asked the Lord to help him, to please give him some thought he could cling to and could focus upon instead of all these deadly destructive thoughts.
Immediately the words to the great old hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" came to mind...and in particular this little phrase, "Strength for today, bright hope for tomorrow."
Richard knew it was God's answer and provision for him--and for all of us--in that moment. It was if the Lord gently whispered that He would give the strength for today that was needed. All we all needed to do was to look to God, depend upon God, and trust God for today's strength. And our faithful Heavenly Father would always provide it. Today's strength for today's need. Today's grace for today's challenges. Today's peace for today's fears.
But in addition, God has the bright hope for tomorrow. He won't give us tomorrow's strength today...no, we have to trust Him for that when tomorrow comes. But He will be just as faithful and powerful and good and loving tomorrow as He is today, and He will give us just what we need tomorrow when tomorrow arrives. That means we can dismiss those terrifying thoughts about the future...because He's got the future. He's got us. And He's got bright hope for tomorrow. And His hope will never ever disappoint.
So today, go to Him for today's strength. And fix your mind and your thoughts upon His goodness, His grace, His love, His provision for today. Tomorrow He will be there as well--just as powerful, good, gracious, wise, loving--and that's what you can focus your thoughts upon when tomorrow arrives.
It all begins by choosing--in the midst of the storm--what we allow our minds to dwell upon--choose life, hope, peace, gratitude, truth, joy...choose Almighty God and His faithfulness!
To God be the glory.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
More Lessons for the storm...Hope
Exactly six years ago today, also on a sunny Sunday morning like today, we got terrible news from one of the doctors in the ICU. As he entered the room early that morning, I jumped up from dozing on the little cot beside our daughter's bed, anxious to hear from they had learned from her latest MRI. It wasn't good.
I was basically told that if Janie survived, she would never be the same again. She'd likely be in a wheelchair, with a feeding tube, unable to communicate, etc. He acknowledged that they couldn't predict the extent of her disability unless and until she work up, but emphatically declared that "you will not ever have the daughter you have once known" or something to that effect. Devastating--though he was clearly not trying to hurt us but to help us prepare.
And yet, even in that hardest of times, God was there. For a few hours, hope had fled, and I can honestly say it was one of the darkest times of our lives, yet the Lord provided dear friends and family at the very moment we needed them. Almost immediately after the doctor left, Russ Andrews suddenly walked in with his well-worn Bible under his arm, and he quickly started praying. Moments later, my dear sister, Jane, arrived. There's nothing like the gift of loving presence in the midst of fear and sorrow. Just having that person there infuses you with strength.
Back at home, Joe Knott suddenly showed up on our doorstep shortly after I had called my husband with the news. Richard said they knelt down together on the floor in the den and prayed...and Joe's presence there was an unimaginably beautiful gift to an incredibly broken-hearted daddy.
A little later that same morning, however, we had another doctor come in--the man I have often said I would name my child if we ever had another one!--Dr. Tucci. As I described it at the time, it was as if hope blew into the room, for Dr. Tucci shared that although he had no evidence or reason to explain this, he believed, based simply upon his years and clinical experience as a neurologist, that Janie would eventually wake up and "would one day be able to walk into his office and thank me."
Funny, nothing changed outwardly. Janie was still unconscious and completely unresponsive. She still had a fever, still was on a ventilator, still had one lung that was filling with fluid and on and on. But yet, everything had changed for us--because we remembered that we had hope.
And hope is a priceless gift. But it is a gift, that no matter our circumstances, we have already been given in Christ. He is the Hope that will never ever disappoint us. As our daughter, Mary Norris, shared, "Doctors can only give you news; they cannot give you hope." And Jesus Christ is our unfailing Hope.
That, dearest Katherine--and anyone else enduring a storm today--is another one of the lessons God taught us in the storm: your Heavenly Father always has hope for you, no matter the circumstances. And His hope will never fail and never ultimately disappoint. As Romans 5:3-5 explains it: "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
As you look to the Savior, you will always find hope.
In addition to finding unending hope in Christ, you will also discover His hope and love in the dear friends and family God has put in your life and will send to you at just the right time. They are hope incarnate! Early that dark Sunday morning six years ago, it was Russ, Jane, and Joe...but throughout our storm it was our precious brothers and sisters (what a blessing family is!) and countless friends (who are too numerous to name for fear of leaving someone out!). Our gracious God always seemed to send someone right at the moment we desperately needed a dose of hope and encouragement. Phone calls, texts, and personal visits. Carpooling, cleaning, feeding, encouraging, praying.
Never take the gift of friendship and family for granted and know that they are part of God's provision of hope and help for you in midst of the storm. Allow them to love and care for you. Thank your Heavenly Father for their presence in your life. And when all you see and feel is darkness around you, lean upon them. Trust that they are praying for you when you have no words or even desire to pray. They are praying, and God is listening. And know that Christ is shining His light of love and hope through them.
(Thank You, Lord, for the gift of friends and family! These pictures were taken a few weeks later after Janie woke up and Tessa was recovering, but they still make my heart sing! And in one of the pictures is our dear friend, JoAnna, who is now in heaven and is surely getting everything organized and making everyone feel loved and included!)
As Paul prays in Rom.15;13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. He is Hope incarnate. And He will also send His hope in the form of those who love you. You are never alone in the storm. Hope is always there.
To God be the glory.
Friday, August 24, 2018
August 24th...Lessons for storms
As I shared recently, my dear sister-in-law is fighting a fierce battle today. She's battling a difficult form of cancer...but she does not battle alone. Never alone. Not only does she now have countless folks all over the country praying for her, as well as family and friends beside her loving and helping her, but most importantly, she has an Almighty Lord who is with her and for her every moment of every day and every night. The cancer may be aggressive, but her faith is in her all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing, all-gracious God.
How I wish I could take away the pain, take away the fear, take away the cancer. But while I can't do that, I can battle with her and for her with my prayers. And with my words...and that's what I've decided to try to do over the coming weeks and months, beginning today.
For you see today, August 24th, marks a special day for our family. So it seems appropriate to think back over that time and share some of the lessons God taught us in the midst of one of the most challenging storms our family has faced. Lessons that stay with us to this very day, and lessons that I pray God will use to encourage my precious sister-in-law and any others who might be enduring or entering a difficult storm in their lives.
Exactly six years ago today, on a Friday just like today, on a bright and sunny day just like today, our world was rocked and changed forever when our daughter and three of her friends were in a serious car wreck. I won't go into the details, but two of the girls were seriously hurt. Tessa was flown to Chapel Hill with multiple broken bones in her back, wrist, hip, and shoulder. Janie was flown to Greenville with a traumatic brain injury. Janie was in a coma, and though the doctors and nurses tried repeatedly, they could not wake her up. For two weeks, we prayed and waited, not knowing first if she'd survive, then if she would ever wake up, and finally if she did wake up, how extensive her brain damage would be.
Again, I won't go into details because that's not the point of this post. Rather, I'd love to share some simple lessons we learned through this time. (I'll try to stick to just one or two lessons each post so this may take a while!)
I have to add, as hard, terrifying, and painful as that time was, my husband and I both said we felt God's presence, His love, His grace, His strength for one moment at a time, as never before during those long, dark weeks. There were days and nights where the Lord's presence was so palpable in that little ICU room that the air seemed thick with Him--we knew He was there. It was as if I could feel His gentle but powerful breath on my face and His loving but strong arms around my shaking shoulders. I will never forget that nearness.
That's one lesson--in the darkest, hardest moments of life, God is there. He will be there. He is always there. You are never ever alone, and you will never be alone. He's promised in His Word, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb.13:5) That's not to say you won't feel fear or pain or despair--but He will be there. He will walk with you in the darkness, and weep with you in the sorrow. And that should give us such peace--the Almighty One will be with me, no matter what. And if He's with me, He'll enable me to walk this broken road and to face anything.
Stop worrying about whether or if He'll be there--He will. No matter what.
Secondly, instead of asking and fixating on why, start asking what. I'm not saying this because God can't take your doubts and your raw why Lord? questions. No, you can be completely honest with your Heavenly Father. He can take it, and He will love you just as much after you shake your fist at Him in anger and confusion as He does when you trust and thank Him profusely.
But the problem with why questions is that they take you nowhere. We may never know the answers to our why questions until we get to heaven. Instead, it's more helpful to ask God what-- What do you want me to learn through this? What are You doing in the midst of this? What promise in Your Word can strengthen me in the midst of this? What other person can I encourage even in this hard place?
In response to those questions, I can tell you from personal experience, God will teach you and grow you through whatever it is you're enduring.
He will be working and moving in innumerable redemptive ways you likely cannot see and do not know, but He is. He always is.
His Word contains countless promises you can cling to that will refocus your confused gaze, revive your weary heart, and renew your depleted strength. Go to Him in His Word and be filled
And there will always, always, always be someone else you can help, love, and encourage, even in the midst of your pain and difficulty. Go love that person by God's grace and for His glory. Mr. Rogers would always tell children that in the midst of crisis and calamity, "Look for the helpers." You can be that helper for someone else. You can be "Jesus with skin on" for someone else...and the person who will ultimately be most blessed, will be you.
Thank You, Lord, for this day. Thank You for Your extravagant grace and mercy in saving those four precious girls and in using all the pain, fear and difficulty for far greater good and for Your greater glory. Please help my sweet sister-in-law, and all who are in the midst of fierce, frightening storms today, to cry out to You, to feel Your presence and love as never before, to cling to Your Word, and to trust in You, Your goodness, Your power, and Your plans.
Jesus, You are the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not, and will never ever, overcome it. (John 1:5) Shine, Jesus, shine, and help us to see Your irrepressible Light.
To God be the glory.
How I wish I could take away the pain, take away the fear, take away the cancer. But while I can't do that, I can battle with her and for her with my prayers. And with my words...and that's what I've decided to try to do over the coming weeks and months, beginning today.
For you see today, August 24th, marks a special day for our family. So it seems appropriate to think back over that time and share some of the lessons God taught us in the midst of one of the most challenging storms our family has faced. Lessons that stay with us to this very day, and lessons that I pray God will use to encourage my precious sister-in-law and any others who might be enduring or entering a difficult storm in their lives.
Exactly six years ago today, on a Friday just like today, on a bright and sunny day just like today, our world was rocked and changed forever when our daughter and three of her friends were in a serious car wreck. I won't go into the details, but two of the girls were seriously hurt. Tessa was flown to Chapel Hill with multiple broken bones in her back, wrist, hip, and shoulder. Janie was flown to Greenville with a traumatic brain injury. Janie was in a coma, and though the doctors and nurses tried repeatedly, they could not wake her up. For two weeks, we prayed and waited, not knowing first if she'd survive, then if she would ever wake up, and finally if she did wake up, how extensive her brain damage would be.
I have to add, as hard, terrifying, and painful as that time was, my husband and I both said we felt God's presence, His love, His grace, His strength for one moment at a time, as never before during those long, dark weeks. There were days and nights where the Lord's presence was so palpable in that little ICU room that the air seemed thick with Him--we knew He was there. It was as if I could feel His gentle but powerful breath on my face and His loving but strong arms around my shaking shoulders. I will never forget that nearness.
That's one lesson--in the darkest, hardest moments of life, God is there. He will be there. He is always there. You are never ever alone, and you will never be alone. He's promised in His Word, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb.13:5) That's not to say you won't feel fear or pain or despair--but He will be there. He will walk with you in the darkness, and weep with you in the sorrow. And that should give us such peace--the Almighty One will be with me, no matter what. And if He's with me, He'll enable me to walk this broken road and to face anything.
Stop worrying about whether or if He'll be there--He will. No matter what.
Secondly, instead of asking and fixating on why, start asking what. I'm not saying this because God can't take your doubts and your raw why Lord? questions. No, you can be completely honest with your Heavenly Father. He can take it, and He will love you just as much after you shake your fist at Him in anger and confusion as He does when you trust and thank Him profusely.
But the problem with why questions is that they take you nowhere. We may never know the answers to our why questions until we get to heaven. Instead, it's more helpful to ask God what-- What do you want me to learn through this? What are You doing in the midst of this? What promise in Your Word can strengthen me in the midst of this? What other person can I encourage even in this hard place?
In response to those questions, I can tell you from personal experience, God will teach you and grow you through whatever it is you're enduring.
He will be working and moving in innumerable redemptive ways you likely cannot see and do not know, but He is. He always is.
His Word contains countless promises you can cling to that will refocus your confused gaze, revive your weary heart, and renew your depleted strength. Go to Him in His Word and be filled
And there will always, always, always be someone else you can help, love, and encourage, even in the midst of your pain and difficulty. Go love that person by God's grace and for His glory. Mr. Rogers would always tell children that in the midst of crisis and calamity, "Look for the helpers." You can be that helper for someone else. You can be "Jesus with skin on" for someone else...and the person who will ultimately be most blessed, will be you.
Thank You, Lord, for this day. Thank You for Your extravagant grace and mercy in saving those four precious girls and in using all the pain, fear and difficulty for far greater good and for Your greater glory. Please help my sweet sister-in-law, and all who are in the midst of fierce, frightening storms today, to cry out to You, to feel Your presence and love as never before, to cling to Your Word, and to trust in You, Your goodness, Your power, and Your plans.
Jesus, You are the Light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not, and will never ever, overcome it. (John 1:5) Shine, Jesus, shine, and help us to see Your irrepressible Light.
To God be the glory.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Waiting well
Waiting...is hard.
Or maybe I should say, waiting well is hard. Because, really, we all wait an awful lot, and anybody can wait poorly, right?
I'm a professional at waiting impatiently, foot tapping, fist clenching, when I get in the loooong, sloooow line at the Harris Teeter. Or when the person in front of me at the stoplight sits there looong after it's turned green--obviously checking out social media--while the rest of us in line behind them, wait irritatingly, even angrily.
Then, of course, there's the especially challenging, anxious waiting: waiting to get into the desired school, waiting for the right person to come along to marry...waiting to get pregnant...waiting for the potentially life-altering diagnosis...waiting for healing...waiting for the prodigal to come home...waiting for reconciliation.
As we wait and wait and wait, we start to wonder...and then to worry. What if God says "no?" What if God doesn't come through? What if the worst happens? What if I don't have what I need to survive the disappointment? What if I just can't endure any more of this long, hard siege of waiting?
Did you notice something about those questions, however? They all began with "What if...?" That's so often where we--or at least I--go off the rails and fall into the swamp of despair and doubt. All the "what if's" can literally sap the life and joy and hope right out of you and fill you instead with fear and doubt and despair.
But you know what? Maybe when those "what if's" start pounding at the door of our hearts, our minds and wills need to answer firmly with "But God has said..."
I love what Spurgeon wrote: "Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death, will not the internal corruptions and the external snares, will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of 'He has said'?"
Yes! We respond to all the "what if's" and fears and doubts that assail us by waiting with God's unfailing promises. We run to His Word. We remember His faithfulness. We trust in His goodness and grace. We recall how faithful He has been to us in the past. We recount how God worked and moved in countless ways when His people in the Bible endured plenty of hard waiting of their own.
Bottom line: if we want to wait well, we must wait with and in God's Word.
Just a couple of examples: Abraham waited twenty-five years for God to send the long promised son to ancient Abe and his old wife, Sarah. That's a mighty long time of getting up every morning and hoping, maybe this is the day...and then, by the end of day, saying sadly, nope, not today. Only to get up the next morning, get busy worshipping, working, cleaning, traveling...and waiting, hoping once again: maybe today? And then, for about 9,125 days straight the answer was, nope, not yet. That's an awful lot of days of waiting.
Yet God's Word says, "And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise." (Heb.6:15)
Andree Sue Peterson writes, "Twenty-five years he waited. Unglamorous years of eating sand and believing for a son. Just think of the daily talking to yourself you'd have to do under these conditions to keep waiting for something humanly implausible based only on a word you heard way back when. Abraham is one of the greatest men in history for simply believing God for a long, long time."
Or how about Joseph? Though God had seemed to give him a vision of his future greatness and authority, Joseph's brothers betrayed him, and thirteen long years he waited in Egypt as a slave and then a forgotten prisoner in a stinking dungeon. That's 4,745 looong days, says Peterson, "to choose trusting God's word and faithfulness over bailing out of his teenage vision of the bowing sheaves and stars." How long does it take us to bail? To lose hope? To start complaining and fretting and doubting?
But all those days and months and years for Abraham, for Joseph, for Moses, for Hannah, for Zechariah and Elizabeth...they were never ever forgotten by God. Every day, every moment, during all that waiting, the Lord was working and moving behind the scenes in countless ways that they could not see and did not know. But we do...because we know the end of the story.
Because in our waiting, God is working. And in our waiting, God is building godly, strong, resilient, persevering, faithful character in us...in our children...in our loved ones...in our friends.
Does knowing that make it fun to wait? No sir. But it makes it worth it. Because as I've shared before, when God wants to grow a mealy little mushroom--that's here today and gone tomorrow--He takes about six hours. When He wants to grow a mighty, majestic, towering oak tree--that's here for generations offering shade, stability, and beauty--He takes about sixty years.
We're all enduring some kind of hard waiting right now...but instead of tumbling into the pit of fearful "what if's" that lead only to doubt and despair, let's turn to God's Word and choose to trust in His promises. Let's recount His faithfulness. Let's recall His goodness and grace. And let's remember that He's working and moving in our lives, in our loved ones' lives, to grow mighty oaks of righteousness and faithfulness.
I'm willing to wait well with Him for that. How about you?
To God be the glory.
Or maybe I should say, waiting well is hard. Because, really, we all wait an awful lot, and anybody can wait poorly, right?
I'm a professional at waiting impatiently, foot tapping, fist clenching, when I get in the loooong, sloooow line at the Harris Teeter. Or when the person in front of me at the stoplight sits there looong after it's turned green--obviously checking out social media--while the rest of us in line behind them, wait irritatingly, even angrily.
Then, of course, there's the especially challenging, anxious waiting: waiting to get into the desired school, waiting for the right person to come along to marry...waiting to get pregnant...waiting for the potentially life-altering diagnosis...waiting for healing...waiting for the prodigal to come home...waiting for reconciliation.
As we wait and wait and wait, we start to wonder...and then to worry. What if God says "no?" What if God doesn't come through? What if the worst happens? What if I don't have what I need to survive the disappointment? What if I just can't endure any more of this long, hard siege of waiting?
Did you notice something about those questions, however? They all began with "What if...?" That's so often where we--or at least I--go off the rails and fall into the swamp of despair and doubt. All the "what if's" can literally sap the life and joy and hope right out of you and fill you instead with fear and doubt and despair.
But you know what? Maybe when those "what if's" start pounding at the door of our hearts, our minds and wills need to answer firmly with "But God has said..."
I love what Spurgeon wrote: "Will not the distresses of life and the pangs of death, will not the internal corruptions and the external snares, will not the trials from above and the temptations from beneath all seem but light afflictions when we can hide ourselves beneath the bulwark of 'He has said'?"
Yes! We respond to all the "what if's" and fears and doubts that assail us by waiting with God's unfailing promises. We run to His Word. We remember His faithfulness. We trust in His goodness and grace. We recall how faithful He has been to us in the past. We recount how God worked and moved in countless ways when His people in the Bible endured plenty of hard waiting of their own.
Bottom line: if we want to wait well, we must wait with and in God's Word.
Just a couple of examples: Abraham waited twenty-five years for God to send the long promised son to ancient Abe and his old wife, Sarah. That's a mighty long time of getting up every morning and hoping, maybe this is the day...and then, by the end of day, saying sadly, nope, not today. Only to get up the next morning, get busy worshipping, working, cleaning, traveling...and waiting, hoping once again: maybe today? And then, for about 9,125 days straight the answer was, nope, not yet. That's an awful lot of days of waiting.
Yet God's Word says, "And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise." (Heb.6:15)
Andree Sue Peterson writes, "Twenty-five years he waited. Unglamorous years of eating sand and believing for a son. Just think of the daily talking to yourself you'd have to do under these conditions to keep waiting for something humanly implausible based only on a word you heard way back when. Abraham is one of the greatest men in history for simply believing God for a long, long time."
Or how about Joseph? Though God had seemed to give him a vision of his future greatness and authority, Joseph's brothers betrayed him, and thirteen long years he waited in Egypt as a slave and then a forgotten prisoner in a stinking dungeon. That's 4,745 looong days, says Peterson, "to choose trusting God's word and faithfulness over bailing out of his teenage vision of the bowing sheaves and stars." How long does it take us to bail? To lose hope? To start complaining and fretting and doubting?
But all those days and months and years for Abraham, for Joseph, for Moses, for Hannah, for Zechariah and Elizabeth...they were never ever forgotten by God. Every day, every moment, during all that waiting, the Lord was working and moving behind the scenes in countless ways that they could not see and did not know. But we do...because we know the end of the story.
Because in our waiting, God is working. And in our waiting, God is building godly, strong, resilient, persevering, faithful character in us...in our children...in our loved ones...in our friends.
Does knowing that make it fun to wait? No sir. But it makes it worth it. Because as I've shared before, when God wants to grow a mealy little mushroom--that's here today and gone tomorrow--He takes about six hours. When He wants to grow a mighty, majestic, towering oak tree--that's here for generations offering shade, stability, and beauty--He takes about sixty years.
We're all enduring some kind of hard waiting right now...but instead of tumbling into the pit of fearful "what if's" that lead only to doubt and despair, let's turn to God's Word and choose to trust in His promises. Let's recount His faithfulness. Let's recall His goodness and grace. And let's remember that He's working and moving in our lives, in our loved ones' lives, to grow mighty oaks of righteousness and faithfulness.
I'm willing to wait well with Him for that. How about you?
To God be the glory.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Hope is a Person
Hospitals are hard.
They can be places of hurt, of demolished hope, of fear and uncertainty, of pain and sorrow. But they can also be places of healing and hope, of babies born, of dreams restored, of courage found and faith displayed. In hospitals, we experience the reality of Charles Dickens immortal words, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..."
After a hard week in the hospital for my sweet sister-in-law, yesterday was one of those especially hard days. We learned that she has a particularly challenging form of cancer, and although we thought we were prepared for difficult news, well, we weren't really prepared. I don't think you ever fully can be.
And yet even in the heartbreak and fear, there's that kernel of hope. Because our hope isn't in a great diagnosis, or in wonderful doctors, or in perfect health, or in happy circumstances...our hope is in Christ.
Hope isn't a feeling. Hope isn't a concept. Hope is a Person, and His name is Jesus.
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
As my daughter, Mary Norris, so eloquently expressed it to my sister-in-law when she learned of the news yesterday: "One thing I will never forget is something someone told me when Janie's situation was looking really bleak--doctors can only give us news...they cannot give us hope. Hope comes from God and God alone. Your future is secure and He meets us at our weakest and most lonely, vulnerable places."
We have a God who weeps with us in our pain and sorrow. We have a God who fully suffered and completely understands every single pain, sorrow, and disappointment we'll ever face. He knows what it is to betrayed...to be rejected...to be lonely...to suffer pain and defeat and death.
And He's promised us that on this lovely, broken planet, we too will suffer. "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation..." Yes, we will experience sorrow, pain, disease...BUT that's not the end of the story!
No sir! Finish the verse! Because following yet another of those amazing "but's" in the Word of God are words of glorious hope, certain hope, Jesus-this-is-gonna-get-mighty-good-hope: "...But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
I don't know what you might be enduring today or facing tomorrow, but this I do know: Jesus has promised never to leave us us nor forsake us. (Heb.13:5) He's promised He's bringing ultimate and eternal good out of ALL things. (Rom.8:28) He's promised that He's making all things new (Rev.21:5 And by the way, He's not just making all new things, but making all things new! Praise God!!) He's promised that He is preparing a place for us in heaven (John 14:3) and that our light and momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor.4:17) And He's promised that He's overcome the world...so we can, we should, we must take heart!
I have to quote my precious daughter one more time in the text she sent to my sister-in-law: "Isn't it amazing how we have a God who sits with us in our pain? That if feels like He draws nearest when we're hurting and provides tangible reminders that He loves us? He is ultimately writing a story that fully redeems everything on this earth and one day it will be made whole again. We can rest in that assurance and in the meantime hope in His unfailing promises." Amen and amen.
Cancer doesn't have the last word. Divorce doesn't have the last word. Disease doesn't have the last world. Depression doesn't have the last word. Addiction doesn't have the last word. Destroyed finances or relationships or health don't have the last word.
Jesus has the first and last word forever and ever and ever. He is our Hope. He is our Anchor in the storm. And He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Real, abundant, eternal, glorious, hope-fulfilled Life with a capital L.
I don't know what the coming months will look like for my dear sister-in-law...or for any one of us on the planet for that matter. But I know the One who knows and holds us all in His nail-scarred hands. And if He says He's always with us...and He's overcome the world...and He's bringing our good and His glory out of all things...and He's making all things new, well then, we're good. Even while we fight the good fight against this cancer, we place our hope in God and in God alone. And He's got us. He's got her. He's got you. He is Hope.
To God be the glory.
They can be places of hurt, of demolished hope, of fear and uncertainty, of pain and sorrow. But they can also be places of healing and hope, of babies born, of dreams restored, of courage found and faith displayed. In hospitals, we experience the reality of Charles Dickens immortal words, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..."
After a hard week in the hospital for my sweet sister-in-law, yesterday was one of those especially hard days. We learned that she has a particularly challenging form of cancer, and although we thought we were prepared for difficult news, well, we weren't really prepared. I don't think you ever fully can be.
And yet even in the heartbreak and fear, there's that kernel of hope. Because our hope isn't in a great diagnosis, or in wonderful doctors, or in perfect health, or in happy circumstances...our hope is in Christ.
Hope isn't a feeling. Hope isn't a concept. Hope is a Person, and His name is Jesus.
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
As my daughter, Mary Norris, so eloquently expressed it to my sister-in-law when she learned of the news yesterday: "One thing I will never forget is something someone told me when Janie's situation was looking really bleak--doctors can only give us news...they cannot give us hope. Hope comes from God and God alone. Your future is secure and He meets us at our weakest and most lonely, vulnerable places."
We have a God who weeps with us in our pain and sorrow. We have a God who fully suffered and completely understands every single pain, sorrow, and disappointment we'll ever face. He knows what it is to betrayed...to be rejected...to be lonely...to suffer pain and defeat and death.
And He's promised us that on this lovely, broken planet, we too will suffer. "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation..." Yes, we will experience sorrow, pain, disease...BUT that's not the end of the story!
No sir! Finish the verse! Because following yet another of those amazing "but's" in the Word of God are words of glorious hope, certain hope, Jesus-this-is-gonna-get-mighty-good-hope: "...But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
I don't know what you might be enduring today or facing tomorrow, but this I do know: Jesus has promised never to leave us us nor forsake us. (Heb.13:5) He's promised He's bringing ultimate and eternal good out of ALL things. (Rom.8:28) He's promised that He's making all things new (Rev.21:5 And by the way, He's not just making all new things, but making all things new! Praise God!!) He's promised that He is preparing a place for us in heaven (John 14:3) and that our light and momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor.4:17) And He's promised that He's overcome the world...so we can, we should, we must take heart!
I have to quote my precious daughter one more time in the text she sent to my sister-in-law: "Isn't it amazing how we have a God who sits with us in our pain? That if feels like He draws nearest when we're hurting and provides tangible reminders that He loves us? He is ultimately writing a story that fully redeems everything on this earth and one day it will be made whole again. We can rest in that assurance and in the meantime hope in His unfailing promises." Amen and amen.
Cancer doesn't have the last word. Divorce doesn't have the last word. Disease doesn't have the last world. Depression doesn't have the last word. Addiction doesn't have the last word. Destroyed finances or relationships or health don't have the last word.
Jesus has the first and last word forever and ever and ever. He is our Hope. He is our Anchor in the storm. And He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Real, abundant, eternal, glorious, hope-fulfilled Life with a capital L.
I don't know what the coming months will look like for my dear sister-in-law...or for any one of us on the planet for that matter. But I know the One who knows and holds us all in His nail-scarred hands. And if He says He's always with us...and He's overcome the world...and He's bringing our good and His glory out of all things...and He's making all things new, well then, we're good. Even while we fight the good fight against this cancer, we place our hope in God and in God alone. And He's got us. He's got her. He's got you. He is Hope.
To God be the glory.
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