Grace in Suffering

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I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten away, the great locust, and the young locust, the other locusts, and the locust swarm – my great army, that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed” (Joel 2:25-27). This passage out of the book of Joel, describes the judgment God brought upon his people because of their sin. Even though this chapter is mainly about God’s judgment, I think it gives an awesome insight into the love and grace of God. These people suffered the plague of the locusts because of their great sin before Him. The above verse even says the locusts were “my great army, that I sent among you.” In other words, God sent them. But here’s the incredible part. The Lord doesn’t owe these people anything for the consequences they suffered for their sin. They turned their back on Him time and time again. Every miserable thing they went through was just what they deserved for their waywardness. And yet, God said if they would repent of their sins, and turn back to Him, God would hold the judgment. And He would not only put an end to the devastation, but God would even restore the lost years, repaying them. What grace! 

Remember, my friends, God said, “I will repay you!”  Shocking, isn’t it? This means he would pay them back the price they paid for their sin which seems absolutely ludicrous! The fact is the people paid a dear price: ”Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army (locusts) comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert wasteland—nothing escapes them” (Joel 2:2-3). That’s quite a severe description, don’t you think?  However, God also said he would repay them. If they returned to Him, he would “restore the years the locusts have eaten away.” “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster” (Joel 2:12-13). Grace, grace, bountiful grace! 

So how will the Lord pay them back? I believe one way the Lord restores us from the suffering caused by our sin or the sins of others is by giving us an opportunity to glean lessons from our suffering, in order to help other people.  And nothing is more fulfilling than to be a blessing to someone else. When you engage in war against the enemy, physically or spiritually, you may risk life and limb, and give up a portion of your life. But, when you gain victory over your enemy, the rewards can be bountiful. As an agent of blessing to others, we come to realize that our past suffering is invaluable. Our compassion, our mercy and our wisdom multiply. The Lord compensates us for the misery that our own sin or the sin of others brings upon us. He will restore the years the locusts have eaten away.  Our pain and suffering have the ability to transform us in a way that nothing else can.

Let’s take a look at Peter’s story.  Peter had similar grace experiences with Jesus when he was first called to follow Christ and again after he denied him. “Those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”74 Then Peter began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man (Jesus)!’ Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Matt 26:73-75) Three times just before the crucifixion Peter had denied being associated with, or even knowing Jesus. And later, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” to which Peter earnestly replied “Yes Lord, You know I do!” Peter was fully forgiven and fully accepted by Christ in spite of his weakness.  Like so many of us, Peter was not aware of his weakness, until circumstances revealed it. But Jesus wasn’t fooled. He knew all along what was in Peter, and wasn’t surprised or taken aback when it was revealed. It is, as though Jesus is saying, “You’re still included Peter. You’re still one of my boys.” Whatever favor and love Jesus had for Peter before he denied him, He still had afterwards.“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15) After Peter was forgiven, he realized the depth of Jesus’ love and wanted to serve Him more than ever. “He who was forgiven much, now loves much.” (Luke 7:47) In other words Peter’s weakness didn’t change God‘s plan. I think the main message Jesus wanted to convey to Peter is “Nothing has changed. I still accept and approve of you and love you. I’m still going to work miracles through you. Your weakness hasn’t changed my plan for you. I always knew it was there and I chose you anyway.”Then Jesus goes on to reinstate Peter and commission him as repayment. In John 21:17,19, “Jesus asked Peter the third time, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” —-And afterwards, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me!” —- My friends, I believe that’s a commissioning! Reinstated, Restored and Repaid!  And again, I say– Grace, Grace, bountiful Grace! I don’t know about you, but this is incredibly comforting to this repentant sinner!

Come, Lord Jesus!

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     The last prayer in the Bible, which is also one of the shortest was written by John the apostle. He simply said, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20)

Three words, and yet, so much is inferred within that simple prayer.  John’s prayer is layered with heartache and anticipation, with distress and hope, with agony and joy. Can you imagine the apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23), savoring these three words, “Come, Lord Jesus!”, while abandoned among criminals on the island of Patmos? The promise that Christ will come again feels even sweeter when life on earth feels cruel and unyielding. It’s as if John is making a desperate attempt to literally draw the risen Jesus out of heaven, as he is fervently praying with all his might. The rocky ground beneath his knees was more than a prison; it was a model of the curse, twenty square miles overrun with the consequences of earthly sins. Suffering does that. It opens our eyes wider to all that sin has ruined. It lends an insight into just how much pain and devastation sin has brought to the world. And yet, in a strange way, suffering often awakens in us the promise of Jesus’ coming.

     Weakness and illness make us long all the more for new bodies. Prolonged relational conflicts make us long all the more for peace. Wars, earthquakes, and hurricanes (quite familiar to us in Florida) make us long all the more for a secure life, a secure ground to stand upon. The sin across this fallen world makes us long all the more for sinlessness. “Come, Lord Jesus!” is the cry of someone who really expects a better world to come — and soon. Suffering only intensifies our longing and anticipation. The prayer “Come, Lord Jesus!” is really many prayers in one. What will happen when Christ finally returns? The opening verses of Revelation 21 tell us just how many of our prayers will be answered on that day.

     “Come, Lord Jesus”, and dry our tears. Followers of Jesus are not spared sorrow in this life. In fact, following him often means more tears. Jesus himself warned us it would be so: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). And yet, Jesus promises to never leave us or forsake us. He promises to guide us and protect us. He is with us always even through the storms of this life. But one day, “He will wipe away every tear from our eyes” (Rev. 21:4). In that world, we will not have tribulation, or sorrow, or distress, or persecution, or danger. When he returns, we’ll never have another reason to cry.

     “Come, Lord Jesus”, and put an end to our pain. Some long for the end of heartache; others feel the consequences of sin in their bodies. For some, pain has followed them like a shadow. Revelation 21:4 continues, “. . . neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.” Can you imagine someone who has battled chronic pain for decades waking up one morning and feeling no more pain? The absence of pain will free our senses to enjoy the world like never before.

     “Come, Lord Jesus”, and put death to death. Jesus came on the earth that we may have eternal life defeating the power of death. Yes, death lost its sting when the Son of God died. But one day, death itself will die. When the author of life comes, “death shall be no more” (Revelation 21:4).

     “Come, Lord Jesus”, and rid us of sin. John wrote in verse 3, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.” Through that verse, John knew that God would not dwell with sin. For God to come and dwell with us, he will have to first completely destroy the sin that remains in us and in the earth— and that’s exactly what Jesus promises to do. The sin that hides in every shadow and behind every corner will be suddenly extinct. “Jesus will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil”. (Matthew 13:41). “When he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

     “Come, Lord Jesus”, and make it all new. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev.21:1).  Whatever fears have plagued you, whatever trials have surprised you, whatever clouds have followed you, they will all be transformed, in the twinkling of an eye, and stripped of their threats. In the world to come, we will have nothing to fear, nothing to mourn, nothing to endure, nothing to confess. Can you imagine?

     More than a prayer for relief, or safety, or healing, or even sinlessness, though, “Come, Lord Jesus!” is a prayer for Him, Jesus, our Savior and Lord. The burning heart of John’s three-word plea is not for what Jesus does, but for who He is. This is clear throughout the book of Revelation. The world to come is a world we want because Jesus lives there. His presence is paradise. John’s prayer, after all, “Come, Lord Jesus!”, is a response to Jesus promising three times in the previous verses, “Behold, I am coming soon. . .  Behold, I am coming soon. . .  Surely, I am coming soon.” (Rev. 22:7,12,20). The world to come is a world to want because Jesus lives there.

     While the apostle wasted away in prison, he could see the Bridegroom on the horizon (Rev. 1:12-16). His hair white, like snow. His eyes filled with fire. His feet, like burnished bronze. His face, like the sun shining in full strength. The man he had walked with, talked with, laughed with, and surely cried with, now fully glorified and ready to receive and rescue his bride, the church. The Treasure was no longer hidden in a field, but riding on the clouds. Even the vision of the new heavens and new earth in Revelation 21 makes God himself the greatest prize of the world to come: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3). Yes, we want a world without grief, without pain, without fear, without death. But better to have a world like ours with God, than to have any other world without Him. His presence defines paradise. Nothing less can satisfy us. . . 

       As Randy Alcorn in his book Heaven wrote, “We think that what we want is a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, sex, drugs, alcohol, a large-screen television, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. When what we really want is the person we were made for, Jesus, and the place we were made for, Heaven. We may imagine we want a thousand different things, but God is the one we really long for. His presence brings satisfaction; his absence brings thirst and longing. Our longing for Heaven is a longing for God.”

     When Jesus comes again, we will eat, drink and rejoice without end. Hunger and thirst will become distant memories. If worries have robbed you of sleep, if pain has made even normal days hard, if loved ones have been taken from this earth, if life has sometimes seemed stacked against you, if you can’t shake a restless aching from within, then come away to a quiet place and bask in the presence of Jesus. Take time to rest in Him a while. Seek His face. Seek Him with all your heart. Share His Word with others. Worship Him. Abide in Him. He is your all in all. This world may be the only world we’ve known, but a better world is coming…  and there’s still room at His table.

Fruit of Suffering

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Strutting before his brothers in his new coat-of-many-colors, there was Joseph, the favorite son. Excitedly, Joseph told them of a dream he had had and his promise of glory and great power to come. (Genesis 37:5-11). However, as the story unfolds, the cost would be far more than Joseph realized. In order to achieve that great power, he was humbled, betrayed by his resentful brothers, sold and made to become a slave in Egypt. And, as if that were not enough, although proving himself to be a trustworthy slave in Potiphar’s house (the captain of Pharoah’s guard), again he was betrayed and made worse than a slave…a prisoner. Joseph found himself cut off from his family, betrayed by his brothers, surrounded by a foreign culture, enslaved by a pagan ruler, falsely accused of molestation, and confined to a miserable dungeon. But in spite of it all, God had a plan.  For there in prison he met Pharoah’s butler, who eventually brought him to Pharoah, who then made him second in command, a key leader over Egypt.  “Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’”(Gen.41:55) So even though Joseph went through a period of extreme trial and suffering, God remained faithful. The Lord did not abandon Joseph in his suffering, rather, He blessed him and worked through it all for the good of Joseph, the Jewish people, the Egyptians and beyond. From an arrogant, braggadocios young teen to a wise world leader, Joseph’s telling words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20 reveal his transformation: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” What an unlikely route to glory! 

But that’s God’s way, even for his own Son. Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a prisoner and then was brutally executed. He surrendered to God’s will, “Not my will but thine.” (Luke 22:42) Jesus honored His Father. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee might bow” (Philippians 2:9,10). And this is God’s way. We are promised glory through suffering with Him. We are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:17). It seems as though the way up is down. The way forward is backward. And the way to success is achieved through God’s intervention in our setbacks.  If Joseph and Jesus teach us anything it is this: “God meant it for good!” (Genesis 50:20). The goodness of God is not freedom from problems, nor is it freedom from suffering. Though we don’t like to talk about it or even think about it. We shy away from suffering in the hope that it will all just disappear and that we’ll just live our lives totally free of any pain. We think unconsciously, or maybe it’s consciously, that if we just ignore the impending hardship or turn our backs on it, then we won’t be able to be hurt. After all no one eagerly votes, “Yes, take me”, to suffer. But, as believers, we do say yes to surrendering our very lives to Christ and trusting Him as our loving Father. Burying our heads in the sand does no good and might even bring us more harm. How foolish we are at times and slow to trust Him!

Paul said in Romans 8:18: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. There’s blessing even amidst our suffering. Our surrender to God can actually turn our suffering into fertile soil. God seeds us with strength and hope as we open our hearts to Him and trust Him during our painful times. Our hearts, like soil, receive His seed and begin to grow. Many times, there is a wait involved that can tempt us into believing that God is not working, that He doesn’t care, or that He has abandoned us. However, when we can’t see God moving, it doesn’t mean that he is not. God is always moving!  Remember that under the soil (our hearts), the planted seeds must break apart in order for them to grow! That breaking apart takes time according to the condition of the soil and God’s ultimate timing. Seeds break apart in God’s perfect timing, not ours. If the seeds break apart too soon, they won’t grow healthy roots to withstand and overcome future challenges of this world. But God is sovereign in His scheduling of our lives and that includes for Joseph as well. If Joseph had gotten out of prison earlier, he would have missed the opportunity for a window of position. Through it all, Joseph grew and bore much fruit, bountiful fruit:

1) He became a man of great influence, Pharoah’s right hand

2) He was given a gift of family in the land of suffering (a family through foreigners)

3) He became a man of vision 

4) He brought glory to God through His suffering

5) He was given authority over all the land of Egypt and wore Pharoah’s signet ring

6) He saved the remnant of God (the Jews)

 Joseph means “The Lord will increase” and he certainly did!  

“Joseph named his firstborn son, Manasseh, and said, It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.  The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” (Genesis 41:51-52)

Fruitful in the land of my suffering!  Such a powerful, hope-filled word!

The Quest

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“Those who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music”. That old adage is certainly true for those of us who walk to the beat of God’s drum. (Mark Batterson) When you take your cues from the Holy Spirit, you’ll do some things that will make people think you’re foolish and some will even think you’re crazy. 

Well, so be it…

When continual tears over an eight-month period led me on a quest to the Syrian border during war time, people definitely thought I was quite mad. Even my husband, at first, was questioning my sanity. And yet, I went to the border and so did he and God showed up and we danced to His music. During another time at a mom’s prayer group, a gentle whisper, beckoned me and led me to a praying mom in the nation of Malta. Did I know anyone in Malta? No, not at all. In fact, I wasn’t even sure where it was! Again, my dance seemed quite mad to some, but seeing the uplifted face of the lady of Malta after that encounter arrested in me any thought of fear or doubt.  Keeping tabs with the Holy Spirit is the quest of a lifetime. It’s invigorating, rejuvenating, and electrifying! It’s a thrilling and at times a bit scary ride of your life.  Sadly, today, there are many louder voices within our culture beaconing us this way and that, conforming us to the pattern of this world. And regrettably, many end up defining themselves by the culture. It’s a bit like selling our souls to the culture, wouldn’t you say? Those who choose not to conform may feel like they are driving the wrong way on a one-way street at rush-hour. While others are being slowly pressed into a cultural mold before they know it, and lost from the purposes God has planned for them. They let the expectations of others override the desires God has planted in their hearts. The voice of conformity stops their concerns of what God thinks and is overridden by the fear of what other people will think. Pretty soon they may find themselves unable to hear the gentle voice of the spirit, as they submerge themselves in the fruitless desires of the culture.

There is a difference between a quest and an adventure.  An adventure is something you choose. However, you are called to a quest.  An adventure is going somewhere and back again.  But you never return from a quest.  In his book, An Introductory Guide to

Listening Prayer, Bob Japenga describes how God invites each one of us to join on a quest leading to an intimate relationship with Him.  It’s not a there and back again. If developing such a relationship was not a quest, God would not have told us many times in His word to seek Him. It’s not because He is playing “hide and seek.”  After all, didn’t he compare our relationship with Him to a friendship and a marriage?  Friendships and marriages are quests, not adventures.  We don’t come back from a quest. The same is true with our relationship with God.  It is a quest and listening prayer is the significant key to our quest.

Prayer involves a two-way conversation between people and God. When we pray, we present our thanks, praises, and requests to God. As disciples of Jesus, we seek to learn from Him and be led by the Spirit in every area of our lives. Listening prayer is any kind of prayer that requires us to calm our minds and souls and be silent to focus on listening to God’s voice. A. W. Tozer emphasized how central this is in the life of anyone who wants to pursue God seriously: “The whole Bible supports the idea. God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by His nature continuously articulate. He fills the world with His speaking Voice. One of the great realities with which we have to deal is the Voice of God in His world.”

In listening prayer, we direct our full attention to God in faith for He desires to communicate with us. We patiently wait with open hearts, listening for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. As we listen, God may speak words of encouragement, revelation, or guidance into our spirits. He may bring scriptures or memories to mind. We may receive visions, pictures, or sensations. Or He may simply instill His peace, joy, or love in us.

We prepare for listening prayer by quieting our souls before God. Then it helps to begin with worship, offering our praise and gratitude to Him. Clearing our minds makes room to hear God’s voice. Therefore, we should follow with a time of surrendering distractions and anxieties to Him and receiving His peace. Then we invite the Holy Spirit to guide us in our time of listening. We may pray, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9). As we listen, we should fix our spiritual gaze on Jesus and avoid letting our mind wander by gently redirecting it to the Lord. Finally, we must stay attentive like Samuel, who when God called his name answered, “Speak, for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10).

As we listen, the Holy Spirit may highlight thoughts, scriptures, or mental pictures. Quietly write down anything meaningful so that you can reflect on it later. These impressions often bring clarity as you meditate on them. Listening prayer cultivates an intimate relationship with God. As we consistently make time to listen, we grow more attuned to God’s voice and learn to recognize the ways He speaks. Our discernment sharpens, and we gain wisdom for navigating life’s decisions. We can also experience the delight of true fellowship with our Holy Father.

I know listening prayer is something many of us do. But do our children? Is God’s voice the loudest voice in our life?  Is it the loudest voice in our children’s lives? Importantly, do we listen to Him daily? If not, let us reaffirm our commitment to listen to God daily through listening prayer and to intercede for our children as well. May we always maintain the fullness of our quest to know God…In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Courage and Joy

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Jesus was in agony. He was in anguish. He was deeply troubled in His spirit. Why? Because there was death in front of him; there was pain, there was hardship, and as He struggled on His knees in the garden of Gethsemane, it was evident He didn’t want to do it. Then He said to His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death” (Matt. 26:38). He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:39). But even still, he continued, “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus chose to go through with it, the pain, the great suffering. He chose it all. That’s courage, indomitable courage! Where did it come from? What animated Him in the face of that hardship? The book of Hebrews tells us, “for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrew 12:2). He didn’t let any danger, any obstacle, and the fear and the trouble that it produced in His soul keep him from fulfilling God’s calling on His life to redeem His people. It was joy that inspired Jesus in the face of hardship, and therefore, He became our greatest example of courage. 

Joy? Really? Was it joy? The Word says it was, so let’s look further.

G. K. Chesterton, a Christian apologist, defined courage as “a strong desire to live, taking the form of a readiness to die. Courage is when the desire for the good thing overcomes fear of the obstacle. It’s an overcoming.” Recently, I encountered an insightful quotation about courage attributed to Mark Twain: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, and not the absence of fear.” Recently a Christian leader expanded the quote: Courage is “a stable habit of the heart that masters the passion of fear, especially by the power of a deeper desire for a greater good.” And what’s the greater good? What’s the deeper desire? If you think about a parent running into a burning building to save a child. Rescuing the child is the greater good, and then there’s the obstacle, the fire. The desire for the child overcomes the fear of the fire, even in the face of death. 

When we look in the New Testament (Philippians 1) and we see Paul in prison in Philippi, he’s confident. His eager expectation and hope-filled joy is that he won’t be ashamed. With full courage, he will honor Christ, whether by life or by death. Because living is Christ and dying is gain. “ I (Paul) eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:20-21)”. Like Paul, as believers, we understand that through our willing sacrifice. We’re going to get more of Jesus. Obeying Him is better than anything. He strengthens us to face the danger, the hardship, and the fear of death that’s in front of us, because Christ is gain. Paul was in prison, facing the possibility of his own execution, but he was not despairing or depressed. He was joyful and hopeful. He does not view his imprisonment as a setback. Instead, he views it as an opportunity for gospel advance. He preaches to his jailers and proclaims the good news about Jesus to the whole palace guard. He seeks to make Jesus impossible to ignore among his captors. He brandishes the Word without fear. 

“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14) 

What’s more, Paul expects to be delivered, no matter how his situation unfolds. He expects that God’s Spirit will empower him to magnify Jesus, no matter what the cost. Paul has a Christ-treasuring courage in the face of potential loss and death. For him, to live is Christ and to die is gain, and this reality brings him courage and joy in the face of opposition, imprisonment, and death. “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” (Phil.1-18)

Courage is contagious. Boldness spreads. Fearlessness is infectious…

When Paul’s brothers and fellow workers saw his courage, their confidence in the Lord grew. Paul’s courage was contagious. When they caught it, their own courage grew. They were literally encouraged by Paul’s courage. And because Paul’s courage was rooted in seeing Christ as his greatest treasure, then his confidence and that of his brothers and fellow workers was not rooted in Paul but in Christ alone. They were confident in the Lord and their confidence in the Lord produced courage. They were emboldened by Paul’s courage and spoke forth the word without fear in the face of every opposition. Then their courage rebounded back to Paul and strengthened his own faith. He had heard that they, inspired by his example, were preaching the gospel of Christ sincerely and he rejoiced in this news. Paul’s joy was so full. He continued by encouraging them to stand fearlessly and join him in his joy-driven courage. He told them that they too must stand firm together, strive for the faith of the gospel, and fearlessly preach the good news together. The lesson of Philippians 1 is clear. Courage is contagious. Boldness spreads. Fearlessness is infectious. And when these virtues are caught, Christ is magnified…the result… joy, joy, incomparable joy!

Noah’s Walk of Obedience

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In Egypt, with the Israelite population growing out of control, Pharaoh decided to impose forced labor and to exercise post-birth population control by drowning all the baby boys in the Nile River, but allowing the little girls to live. Horrible, right? I am certain God didn’t like this either. So, because Moses’ mom could no longer hide him, in an effort to save him, she put him in a papyrus basket and sent him down the Nile. The word for this basket in Hebrew is tebah, and it’s the same word used for “ark,” as in Noah’s ark. It’s always so amazing to me how intricate and precise are the designing plans of God. Baby Moses was not just sent down the Nile River in a basket. It was, in effect, an ark. 

As you know, Noah’s ark and Moses’ ark were very different. Moses’ ark was about a yard long while Noah’s ark was probably 150 times longer. Moses’ ark was made of reeds from the Nile, while Noah’s ark was made from sturdy cypress wood. However, the two arks had two things in common. They were both covered in pitch or tar to keep them from sinking. And both arks represent the same thing – God’s means of saving humanity.

Noah’s ark saved a righteous family from God’s judgment on humanity. Moses’ ark saved the man who would lead a nation to safety after God’s judgment on Egypt. Both arks are about salvation, saving those God loves. The arks were life preservers for everyone on board, leading and preparing the world for the ultimate ark, the cross of Jesus. The cross is for those today who are sinking in a sea of sin.  God always sends an ark in one form or another to save us from drowning. Just imagine Noah and God’s exchange on the day Noah was told to build this massive ark of such incredible proportions. Just imagine for a minute, if God came to you and asked you to do what seemed impossible. What excuse would you give Him? You have to admit, Noah’s response was incredible. The Bible just states in Genesis 6:22, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” and apparently, without argument, without a word. Amazing! I’m just totally blown away by what he didn’tsay! Noah didn’t say: “I’ve never done that before.” “I’m too old.” “People will call me crazy.” “I’m not strong enough.” “It’s impossible, I can’t do it.” “This is ridiculous.” “It’s not the right time.” 

When God asks us to do something, it never seems to be a good time. And just why do you think that is? It might just be because it’s His time, not ours. He sees the big picture. We see only our pictures. God knows the plans for centuries to come. We see only the concerns of the day and the plans in our mere bubble of life. When God asked Noah to build an ark, Noah had plenty of reasons to say no:

“I’ve never built an ark before.” “I’m six hundred years old.” “The people around me are evil.” “How am I going to manage a floating zoo?” Despite the many possible excuses, Noah obediently did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22) Radical obedience, indeed! If Noah hadn’t obeyed God, just think what might have happened. All of humanity could have drowned in the sea. We just never really know what all is attached to the things that God asks or tells us to do. So many times, we give ourselves excuses for avoiding the things we know God is directing. Thus, in the end, we wind up limiting the plans God has for us, the opportunities He is offering. We can never limit Him but we can limit ourselves.

So what’s your reason for saying no to God? What is God asking you to do today that you may not want to do or have excuses for? Furthermore, what do you think God is asking your children and grandchildren to do? What is holding them back? 

Could it be:

1) Wrong priorities, putting others before Christ? Colossians 1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

2) Fear?  “For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

3) Inadequacy? “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

4) Lack of trust in God? Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

My friends, when God wants us to do something, there are no good excuses for not doing it. Noah didn’t question God’s instruction, he didn’t question God’s timing, and he didn’t question his ability to complete the task. Why? Because he really knew God and fully trusted Him. Radical obedience was his natural response to God. In fact, a notable pastor once said, “Great moves of God are usually preceded by simple acts of obedience”. While the task at hand for Noah certainly wasn’t simple, it was a step that preceded a great move of God.  We can learn much from Noah and his walk. The Bible tells us that during Noah’s time, the earth was so filled with evil that the Lord felt bad that he had made man, and His heart was grieved. The Lord was so grieved that He decided to destroy man and the earth. “God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” (Gen 6:13) However, the Bible stated in Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”(Gen. 6:8) Therefore, Noah and His family were saved by God because, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless, and He walked faithfully with God.” (Gen.6:9) One cannot walk with God unless they are walking in obedience, there’s just no other path. 

Father God, may our children and grandchildren always walk faithfully in radical obedience to you, this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Wrestling with God

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Wrestling is a sport that involves grappling with an opponent while trying to obtain a position of advantage using different methods or techniques. Surprisingly, it is a wrestling match that the Lord often uses to become our portal into faith. Jacob’s wrestling experience described in Genesis 32 can be used to shape our view of God and His blessings.  There are times when God only releases His blessings on us after a season of prolonged and sometimes painful wrestling with Him.

            In Genesis 32, Jacob is returning to His place of birth with his small tribe of wives and children after twenty years away and is mustering courage to reunite with Esau, the brother whose life he damaged through deceit and manipulation. Jacob is quite frightened because his estranged brother, Esau, is coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob doesn’t regard this as a welcome party! It appears to be quite an army, which terrifies him! So Jacob splits up His household into two camps and sends them all ahead of him, to try and avoid complete annihilation. Jacob, restless and unable to sleep, is left to spend the night alone — no doubt in desperate prayer. On this lonely night, he can’t hide behind his vast wealth, his many servants, or his large and complicated family… they’re all gone. He is alone in the dark in a desolate place…until he’s not. Until a nameless, stranger leaps out of nowhere, throws him to the ground and proceeds to wrestle Jacob until daybreak. At some point during this strange contest Jacob realizes that he is wrestling with God. Now that’s quite a revelation! Then amazingly, when God decides it’s time to end the match, he dislocates Jacob’s hip and demands to be released. Jacob, in significant pain, replies, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26). This response evidently pleases God, who pronounces this blessing on Jacob: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob (deceiver), but Israel (struggles with God), for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). That next morning Jacob then limps toward his tense reunion with Esau with a weakened body and a strengthened faith. Having wrestled with God, he knows his prayers regarding Esau will be answered. 

            This story may resonate with you as it does me. Have you ever found yourself alone in the dark in a desolate place?  How often, in that menacing darkness, have you done solitary battle with something you don’t recognize as God until much, much later? It is in relationship with God and in His all-encompassing presence that we fight the fights that bend, break, and remake us.  It is in God’s company that we face down our personal demons.  It is God alone who brings us to the ragged edges of our own strength so that finally, finally, we’ll surrender (a death of self), and allow ourselves to be transformed.  

            Take note of what God did when he wrestled Jacob. Jacob began the night dreading Esau’s arrival. He was full of fear and desperation. But he ended the night of struggle with God’s blessing and a renewed faith. All of our struggling with God in faith leads to rest, resting in Him that is. And isn’t it interesting that God did not simply speak to Jacob in a dream or vision as he had at other times and reiterate His promise with comforting words? This time God addressed Jacob’s fear by requiring him to wrestle all night. This probably felt to Jacob like a badly timed hassle when he just wanted comfort and assurance. However, later he realized just how comforting it was. Sometimes when we want God’s comfort, he sends it in unexpected and even unwanted packages. Surprisingly, God afflicted Jacob with an injury. This had the effect of making Jacob even more vulnerable to Esau, forcing Jacob’s faith to more fully rest on God and not himself. Evidently, from Jacob’s story, we learn that, if necessary, God will even cause us to limp to increase our faith.

Furthermore, wrestling with God changed Jacob’s identity. He was no longer to be known as one who received his blessing by deception. He was renamed Israel and received God’s blessing by prevailing with God by faith. This struggle turned out to be a profoundly gracious gift of restoration that God gave Jacob. Jacob’s tenacious faith pleased God and he rewarded Jacob’s request (Hebrews 11:6). When God calls us to wrestle with Him, there’s always more going on than we first understand and God always uses it to transform us for good. Jacob wasn’t the only person in Scripture to wrestle with God. David wrestled (1 Chronicles 13:11). Jesus wrestled (Matthew 26:39). These moments of personal struggle with God’s will are grounded in genuine relationship. That’s the kind of relationship God wants with us: one in which we learn (through experience) to trust his character, even when we struggle to understand and accept some of His choices. Wrestling with God is a matter of reaching out to Him as He is. It requires embracing his vastness and unpredictability. It may be kind of scary, but it’s the foundation for deep levels of trust in a faithful Father who is trustworthy even when we don’t understand.

            When God makes us wrestle Him for blessing, it is not because God is reluctant to bless us, even if that’s how it first feels. It is because he has more blessings for us in the wrestling than without it. Remember, God was the initiator and pursued Jacob for this match. Jacob was grappling in his own anxiety over Esau and his approaching army when God showed up. The wrestling drew Jacob out of his fearful preoccupation and forced him to focus on God. I doubt that Jacob wanted this forced focus or even believed he needed it at first. It wouldn’t surprise me if at the beginning Jacob had prayed as I might have, “God, would you get rid of this guy? This is the last thing I need right now.” But what he discovered was that the wrestling was a means of God’s grace, a channel for God’s blessing on Him. 

            So my friends, what is it you really need from God right now? What blessing do you want from Him and how badly do you want it? What I carry away from the story of Jacob’s wounding is the troubling, but solid truth, that blessing and bruising are not mutually exclusive in the realm of God.  We can limp and prevail at the same time.  I can’t dictate the terms of blessing.  I can’t say, “I want the blessing but not the limp.”  Sometimes, the blessing is the limp.  As dawn breaks, the stranger asks Jacob to disengage, and Jacob, tenacious as ever, says no: “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”  I love this line. I want to make it my life’s stance, because it assures me that sometimes, “winning” involves nothing more than not giving up.  Sometimes, the spiritual life is about little more than hanging on for dear life to a God who appears mysterious, bewildering, and a bit frightening.  Sometimes the whole of Christianity comes down to saying, “There’s so much I can’t wrap my head around, but I know there’s a blessing in this mess somewhere and I’m going to hang on until I find it.” God will meet you in your anguish, fear, and uncertainty. But He may not meet you in the way you expect or desire. Your greatest ally may show up looking at first like your adversary, inciting you to wrestle with him. If so, remember Jacob. There are multiple blessings in the wrestling. So when God calls you to wrestle with Him in prayer, it is an invitation to receive His blessing. Stay with Him and don’t give up.  He loves to bless that kind of tenacious faith and you will come out transformed. My friends, don’t let God go until He blesses you! Keep wrestling!

Bricks & Living Stones

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A few days ago I was reading a description of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) during my morning prayer time. Following the Great Flood, Noah’s descendants, who all spoke the same language, began to build a tower as an act of rebellion against God. Genesis 11: 1-4 states:

“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”

In Verse 3, “brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar” stood out to me and I kept hearing it over and over in my mind, so much so, that I wrote it in my journal and began to question why? At first thought do you think the Tower of Babel could be construed as a symbol of secular society?  I certainly do. By “secular society” I mean a world that sets itself in arrogant opposition to the will of God.  The verse above states that the Tower of Babel was constructed of bricks.  Bricks? Really? It seems too long ago for that? I started thinking about the characteristics of bricks and how they might apply to this God story.  First of all, they are unnatural and artificial.  You won’t find a brick occurring in nature. They are man-made. Secondly, they are identical and uniform.  It’s not easy to distinguish one brick from another.  Thirdly, they are functionally undifferentiated and interchangeable. A brick can serve equally well anywhere in a wall.  And finally, in a sense, they are all but worthless.  What if you do lose a brick, aren’t there hundreds more just like it? Think of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. The death and loss of one slave was of no account to the Egyptians. After all, that one slave was simply replaced by another. What could be more unnatural and artificial than a society that rejects God?  In such a state, citizens are made to conform to uniform standards thus losing their individuality. Their work is reduced to interchangeable roles.  And, because they have lost all their uniqueness, they become utterly worthless.

In opposition to the Tower of Babel,  “If then any man is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and furthermore, 1 Peter 2:4-5 states “As you come to him (Christ), the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house (church as body of Christ) to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 The Tower of Babel, was being built of bricks, a man-made construction, where rebellious people were attempting to reach the heavens to be like God, to “make a name for themselves”. Yet, Jesus made a new creation, the Church (the body of Christ), a temple built of living stones. Living stones have distinguishable characteristics:  First, living stones are not just natural, but supernatural. What could be more supernatural than a society in which Christ dwells? Secondly, they are utterly unique.  No two are exactly alike. In the eyes of Jesus, every human being is utterly unique and unrepeatable.  After all, what two human beings are exactly alike?  Thirdly, they are irreplaceable. A stone that occupies a particular place in a wall can fit nowhere else but in that unique space. In the Church, every person is irreplaceable, because each one of us has a mission no one else can fulfill. We have unique gifting and purposes that only God defines. And finally, living stones are extremely precious. “You are precious in my (God’s) sight and honored, and I love you.” (Isaiah 43:4) To Christ every human being is precious, because every one of us is made in the image and likeness of God.  Each one of us, therefore, has infinite value.

            So my friends, which would you rather be… a brick in secular society or a living stone in the body of Christ, His church?  As a brick, we would ultimately lose our identity.  As a living stone, we can become all, through Christ, that we are meant to be.  C.S. Lewis puts it this way when referring to the plan of God’s people: “God sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of us.  When He talks of us losing ourselves, He means only abandoning the clamor of self-will; once we have done that, He really gives us back all our personality, and boasts…that when we are wholly His, we will be more ourselves than ever.  [Letter XIII]

            In a secular society, men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, are able to be exchanged with each other without making any difference or without being noticed. They are interchangeable. Only in such a society can same-sex marriage and multiple genders be even remotely considered as possibilities.  In God’s Church, men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, are irreplaceable. In fact marriage, as anything other than one man and one woman for life, is inconceivable.

            So there you have it… Unnatural bricks versus supernatural stones? Secular society versus the Kingdom of God? Man-made bricks or living stones? Just think for a minute! Jesus was totally unique and definitely distinctive. There aren’t enough words to describe Him. He said and did things that no one before Him and no one after Him has ever said or done. He was completely different from all other religious leaders before or after Him.  He was born of a virgin, He turned water into wine, He healed the sick, He raised the dead, He walked on the water, He fed 5,000 people with a few loaves and fish, He stilled storms, He died on Calvary, He rose from the dead! He ascended to the right hand of God. Jesus was the greatest of all living Stones (1Peter 2:4). As the Psalm says, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Ps. 118:22) As believers we are the living stones, made alive in the Lord Jesus and through Him built up as a spiritual house. Today no longer do we need a temple of physical stones. We are the living temple, united in Christ Jesus!

Rooted in Grace

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This month our church has been in the midst of fasting and praying for 21 days as we begin the New Year 2024. A fast is a way of expressing a greater need beyond ourselves, our need of God and greater intimacy with Him. There is so much more I could say on the subject, but essentially, it’s a surrender, a renewal, a relinquishing of self, and a pressing in to the very heart of God. During a fast there comes a moment when you have to come clean with God…A moment when you need to unveil your secrets, struggles, and sins… 

A moment when you need to fall full weight on the grace of God.

During my prayer time, I’ve asked the lord repeatedly what is an attribute of God that he would like to have me focus on and grow in this year? Matthew 11:28-29 says: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your soul”. I want so much to learn of Him. So, in response, I began to notice Him speaking to me each day of His bountiful “Grace.” Praise God for abundant grace! I have so many questions that I’m asking Him and little by little answers are unfolding.

Sunday at church our pastor spoke on the familiar story of David and Goliath. Even though it’s a well-known story, I’m always amazed by the layers of treasure-filled wisdom hidden in God’s holy word, layers upon layers. I’ve always thought of David as such a strong, mighty, powerful man of God. Yes, I know he sinned greatly with Bathsheba, it’s true. However, as believers why do we sometimes believe or act as though our sin disqualifies us or others from the grace of God? According to Romans 5:15:

 “If many died through one man’s trespass, how much more did God’s grace and the free gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.” 

So, therefore, grace is that quality in God that produces free gifts for guilty sinners. 

And according to Romans 11:5-6, you can’t work to earn grace. It is free and undeserved. 

“At the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.”

None of us would be saved if grace was not undeserved favor.

So back to David’s story…Over the years, I’ve grown to really appreciate David. I know that he has his clear failures, and yet he is such a compelling and genuinely good king and man. I think of him as the shepherd who became king and “the sweet psalmist of Israel”. 

(2 Samuel 23:1). I think of him as a young warrior, who fought, lions, bears and a 

9-foot 6-inch giant. And this young boy was even strong enough to draw Goliath’s massive sword from its sheath and cut through his giant neck to take off his head! That seems unfathomable! 

In 2 Samuel 17, we see David’s son Absalom rebel against his father, march on Jerusalem, and send David retreating. David’s loyal friend Hushai characterizes David to Absalom:

“You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war.” (2 Sam. 17:8) 

Not just his men, but David himself is mighty — and David in particular is expert in war.

In fact, the first time Scripture speaks of David, even before the Goliath account, he is introduced by one of Saul’s servants not only as “skillful in playing” but as “a man of valor, a man of war” and “a man of good presence.”

“Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:18)

Eventually, in celebration of David’s many feats we read of women dancing in the streets, singing of the strength they see in David: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands”. David grows up to be a fierce warrior and Saul sets David over the men of war. Then in order to win Saul’s daughter as his bride, David brings the king two hundred Philistine foreskins. Even later we hear of David leading thirty thousand warriors in battle and being victorious wherever he goes (2 Sam. 8:6). At the end of his life, the reason God gives as to why David will not be the one to build the temple is that he is “a man of war.” The Bible further describes him in 2 Samuel 22 He “can run against a troop,” and “leap over a wall” (verse 29).

He writes that God “equipped me with strength” (verse 32) and “made my feet like the feet of a deer” (verse 33). God “trained my hands for war,” he adds, making his arms strong enough to “bend a bow of bronze” (verse 34). To be sure, an amazing physical specimen, a fierce warrior, an all-around mighty man is king David!

Yet, as David celebrates God’s good provision of physical, prowess, David makes a striking claim in verse 35. To me this takes David’s manhood to a brand-new level, and surpasses the glory of slaying a giant in his youth. He says to God in 2 Sam..22:36, “Your gentleness made me great. Did you hear that? He’s telling God, “Your gentleness made me great.”

David is saying physical manifestations are not what made him great. He is saying it was God’s gentleness that made David great. What does it mean that God’s gentleness made him great? We might understand this in two ways. One, God had been gentle with David. David had flaws, many failures and sins. God could have rejected him and cut him off from the throne at any point. Yet God was gentle with him; he was gracious with him. And what’s more, David recognized the fact. Ladies, I’m talking “Grace” of God. Gentleness is graciousness. Gentleness is “Grace.” David did not deserve it, but God was gentle with him. Actually, I think David is saying even more here. Not only had the omnipotent God been gentle with David, but God’s own gentleness with David had changed David. God’s own grace had come to take root in David’s heart and characterize his own life and leadership. I’m suggesting that when David grew in His relationship with God and came to the throne and wielded kingdom power, he did so with gentleness. He did so with “Grace.” In humility and gentleness, David chooses to let Saul go free, even though he could have seized the kingdom from Saul. Even after Saul’s death, David takes initiative to show kindness and gentleness to make provision for the house of Saul. In fact, there are many more instances where David demonstrated gentleness and grace.

The greatness of David is not that he slew the giant Goliath. 

The greatness of David is that as a man he slew the giants in his own warrior’s heart: arrogance and pride, selfishness, unrighteous anger, petty disputes, personal offenses, and luxuries. David was a great king, and the type of the Anointed One to come. He was a man who was not weak, but strong, brave, kind, patient, and gentle. David, having learned from God’s own gentleness with him, learned how and when to be gentle with others. Rooted in grace is greatness!

1.”For by grace our children and grandchildren have been saved through faith. And this is not their own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8–9

2.”But he said to our children, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9–10

3.”For sin will have no dominion over our children, since they are not under law but under grace.”Rom.6:14 

The Little Drummer Boy

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At a small group gathering the other night, while my husband and his friend were accompanying with guitars, I looked around the room to see the many smiling faces as songs flowed from their lips filling the room with joy and peace.

 I love Christmas carols. There is something so beautiful and honoring in singing carols about Jesus in the Christmas season. After all, that’s what Christmas is really about, His birth, His life, and His sacrifice for our redemption. 

We sang many of my favorite carols, Silent night, Away in a Manger, and What Child is This? But we did not sing another piece that I like very much, The Little Drummer Boy. There are so many pa-rum-pa-pum-pums in the song, that it’s not immediately obvious what’s going on.  The story kind of goes like this…The little drummer boy narrates and the Magi invite him to come along with them to see baby Jesus: 

“Come, they [the magi] told me . . . a newborn King to see . . . our finest gifts to bring.” 

When they arrive, they gather around baby Jesus bearing their gifts. But the little drummer boy is very sad that he has no gift that is fit to give a king. Timidly, he says that he only has a drum, but asks if he could play it for the baby Jesus. Mary nods her approval, and the little drummer boy plays- Pa rum pa pum pum- and baby Jesus smiles at him while the little drummer played his best for Him.

How special it was that the little drummer boy, who had nothing to give, came to Jesus who was born in poverty, among animals in a stable…a humble child who meets His humble father Jesus. You might say Jesus met him where he was. Our father is like that, you know.

Aren’t we a little like the drummer boy when we first meet Jesus? 

When we first come to Him, we sense in His presence our frailty. We come to Him feeling inadequate, insecure, and poor in spirit. We have really nothing to give, but then again, nothing is necessary. As we surrender to Him, He simply frees us to be who He’s made us to be? He tells us that we are enough and to take our drum and play it, pa rum pa pum pum, so that others may come.

And so, in obedience, we play it for Him and we play our best for Him, declaring that we are small, that we are weak, that He doesn’t need us in the least, but that with all that we are, with every little speck of nothing we have, we are giving it to Him. 

Worshipers of Jesus (like the Magi) encourage their neighbors (like the drummer boy) to consider Jesus — to come and meet Him. And when the neighbors do come, if they will believe, a moment happens when they realize their frailty and comprehend His glory, and then they look deep within themselves:

“But I am broken. I am empty and poor. I’ve got nothing to bring a King. All I have is this drum.” 

Turning to them, Jesus gently responds, “Play it for me and for my glory”, and then with awakened hearts they gladly play their very best for Him…

Pa rum pa pum pum…