God’s love – Page 3

We Never Wait Alone

Do you remember how much of childhood was spent waiting?

Waiting on Christmas, on your birthday, for the storm to pass so you could go swimming, waiting for your turn on the swing (Why did the person in front of us always take so long?)

Kids know about waiting.

I’m not saying kids are good at waiting. I’ve seen plenty of crossed arms, furrowed eyebrows, and impatiently tapping toes. And we can’t forget the glorious meltdowns.

When my kids were younger, I would tell them that waiting is a part of life. Even grownups have to wait. We wait for appointments, we wait in line at the grocery store, we wait for our kids to put on their shoes.

But waiting isn’t easy, is it? And not all waiting is equal.

A child waiting for Christmas knows that the day will eventually come. You will eventually reach the cashier at Walmart, no matter how many coupons the lady in front of you is holding.

But some waiting has no end in sight and no guarantee that the end will be what we want it to be. Our first response may be to nervously chew our fingernails, or eat all the chocolate, or stay really busy. But God offers us a different way. He offers two types of waiting that offer peace.

Waiting Expectantly: Psalm 27:14

The word used in this verse for wait has the idea of waiting expectantly, being alert. Don’t give up. Instead, give God time to act. It also has the idea of being twisted or stretched. This type of waiting means enduring.

This verse also tells us we don’t wait on our own and we don’t endure in our own strength. He shall strengthen your heart. He will cause you to be strong, alert, courageous, bold.

You aren’t waiting alone, and the waiting isn’t without purpose. God is working in you during the waiting to grow courage, purpose, and resolve in you.

He is with you. And in the waiting you will experience His faithfulness.

Restful Waiting: Psalm 62:5

Here the word used for wait is to grow silent, to be still.

It’s not a shut up and deal with it type of being silent. Instead, it means to cease moving, to quiet yourself, to find rest.

How can we do this? Because of where our hope is placed.

The next few verses tell us why it is safe to place our hope in God, the reasons we can rest as we wait. They describe God as a rock, a fortress, a refuge. Because of who He is we can confidently place our trust Him.

In this type of waiting we draw our strength from who God is. We lean toward Him during these times and in this quiet, resting place, He draws near to us.

You are with Him. And in the waiting you will experience His gentleness.

No matter the waiting, we never wait alone.

When Jesus Turns Things Upside Down

Jesus often said and did the unexpected.

He turned things upside down and left people perplexed.

When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he was confident that he was in good standing with God. The prevailing thought of the day was that riches proved that God was pleased with you. Add that to his rule-keeping, and he was practically guaranteed to inherit eternal life, right?

This man was trusting in what his religious culture said about his wealth.

And then Jesus asked him to give away the very thing that his trust was wrapped up in to the poor- the very people that he was certain God was not pleased with.

In one simple conversation “Jesus exposed in that man the thing that he treasured more than he treasured God.”

Jesus turned things upside down.

Nicodemus wasn’t confident he was in good standing with God, but he knew he was on the right path. He was, after all, a respected Pharisee.

And yet something in Jesus’ teachings led him to go to Jesus in secret.

In one statement, Jesus rocked the world Nicodemus had carefully built during a lifetime of serving the Lord.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The despair in his response leaps off the page. How can a man be born when he is old?

Seeing the kingdom of God was the focus of Nicodemus’ entire life.

“What if Jesus had told Nicodemus,’You need to work harder and trust God more’? Nicodemus could have gone home and tried to do better. But Jesus was emptying Nicodemus of any hope he had of fixing himself.

One sentence emptied Nicodemus of all of his self-centered schemes for rightness with God.”

He spent his life seeking God, but his trust was in the seeking, not in God.

Jesus turned things upside down.

The Samaritan woman at the well knew she wasn’t favored by God. She definitely knew she didn’t have a chance of being right with God.

After all, she had messed up way too much, searching for a relationship that would make her feel loved. Everyone, including her, knew that for a fact.

And yet, when Jesus revealed that her hope in relationships would always leave her thirsty and pointed her toward Himself, she recognized her need for Him.

When Jesus turned things upside down for her, she saw that things were finally right.

Jesus turned things upside down for these three to reveal that what they were trusting in could never fully satisfy. He poked holes in their false hopes so they could see that their need of Him, the source of lasting Hope.

And He does the same for us.

Sometimes we are the young ruler trusting in social status or rule-keeping.

Other times we are Nicodemus, hoping that our service to God, our sacrifice, our theological knowledge will make us complete.

And, more often than not, we are the Samaritan woman, hoping to find love and a sense of worth through relationships.

Jesus loves us too much to let us keep searching for fulfillment in things and people. He turns things upside down so that we can see Him clearly, run to Him readily, and find what we are searching for in Him.

Words in italics are from the workbook Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically by John Snyder. Used with permission.

What Will Be Different About This Year?

How did you bring in the new year?

We brought it in very quietly, which was different.

A year ago, we joined a few other families for a celebration filled with games, food, laughter, and fireworks. We threw open the door for 2020 and welcomed it in. I chose #2020seeingclearly as my hashtag for the year and made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish.

Then, like a snow globe in the hands of a toddler, the world, on a global and personal scale, was turned upside down and vigorously sloshed from side to side.

At first we were flustered about the intrusion, then frustrated. As it went on we became rattled, and eventually worn down. The more our world was shaken, the more we found that the things we cling to were shaken right along with us.

Trials and loss have a way of showing us what we are clinging to. If those things fail us, what are we left with?

What if we could cling to something that couldn’t be shaken, no matter how hard the snow globe is thrown?

My hashtag was more fitting than I imagined, though not for the reason I chose it. The days, months, and events of 2020 helped me see a few things very clearly.

I am not in control, but God is. Every plan can be cancelled, but the plans of the Lord never fail. His purposes stand. 2020 taught me to hold my plans loosely, and to look with eyes of faith for what God is doing.

Trusting God is the way to combat fear. Unlike things or people that we place our trust in, God will never leave or abandon us. His overall plan is to draw us closer to Himself, and He uses world events to do just that. Fear shouts in our ears, bringing chaos to a rising roar so that we cannot hear the calm, steady voice of the Lord saying I’ve got you. Trust me. Trusting God means that we stop listening to the voice of fear, and begin listening to truth.

The more I know God, the easier it is to trust Him. The way to get to know God is through His Word. The Bible is a gift from God to us where He shows us who He is and who we are in relation to Him.

He does this through story and through poetry. He lets us see people who failed Him and those who trusted Him. And we see how He responds to those people.

Through His Word we see His love for imperfect people just like us. We see how He works inside the bounds of circumstances, and how He works above the bounds of circumstances. He is not limited in any way.

As we get to know God, we see the depth of His love for us. His unfailing love for us helps us trust Him.

God’s love, trustworthiness, and character – these are the things that cannot be shaken by circumstances.

As we begin a new year, may we hold loosely to things and people, and tightly to the things that cannot be shaken. May we find solid footing as we spend time in God’s Word. May we cling to truth.

And may we give our time and energy to pouring these lasting things into the lives of those around us.

How to get started? A Prayer for 2021 is a great place to begin. It is a prayer asking God to do what only He can do and asking Him to use us as He does it. Click on the link for the printable PDF version of the image below.

What are your thoughts on 2020 and on the year ahead? What do you hope to do to make this year different?

Happy New Year, my friend!

Erin

Those Walking in Darkness Need the Light

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. (Isaiah 9:2)

Darkness pressed down like a heavy coat, swallowing everyone in the cave. For one minute we stood in complete darkness and silence. Even though my husband was standing right beside me, within seconds the first fearful thought popped into my head.

I am alone.

Of course, I wasn’t. I was surrounded on every side by members of our group as we toured Mammoth Cave.

But in the darkness, I felt alone. Trapped.

Within seconds scenes from every murder-mystery I’d ever seen or read came to mind. I thought about the others in the group. Who are these people? I don’t even know them. I tightened my grip on my backpack straps and distrust rose in my heart.

Thankfully the minute passed, our tour guides turned their lanterns back on, everyone laughed, breathed a sigh of relief, and we went on with the remainder of our 14-mile tour.

It took less than a minute for fear to surface when I was standing in literal darkness. And that makes me wonder:

Does fear surface in any type of darkness?

What about the people all around us who are walking in figurative darkness? Searching for fulfilment, purpose, peace, and happiness without any light. Surrounded by fear and distrust without hope of rescue. Or so they believe.

But we know that light shines in the darkness. And we know the Light of the World who came to rescue us, the One who came to be our hope.

Light broke through deepest darkness when God put on flesh and stepped into our world. He came as a tiny light, wrapped in the most vulnerable package.

He came in a way that we could receive Him.

If He had come like He did on Mount Sinai; we might have turned away in fear. In Exodus, the people were told to get ready, get clean, and not to touch the mountain or they would die. In contrast, Jesus came on a dark night, in a dirty stable, and only a few knew the Light had come.

Jesus came to show us what God is like, how deeply He loves us, and how we can follow Him.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As the Word, He brought thoughts from the innermost recesses of people’s hearts out into the light. He was gentle with those who were struggling, patient with those who didn’t even know they needed Him until He spoke to them. He challenged those who thought they had Him all figured out.

Jesus saw people living in figurative darkness and it moved him. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

Maybe they were tossed around by fear, suspicion, and distrust. Maybe they were seeking fulfilment, purpose, and peace in things that could never deliver. Maybe they felt trapped, like they would never be free from the darkness.

And He told them Whoever follows me will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

The light of life He offers shines brighter than a tour guide’s lantern and points us to the answer our hearts were made to search for – One who loves us beyond all measure. One who is always with us. One who shines light in the darkest places of our lives.

***********

We celebrate the coming of the Light of the world at Christmas, but we need this truth every day of the year. Discover the themes of Christmas in everyday life through my newly released book of short devotions In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life.

Better Than Wishes

Are you feeling Corona weary these days?

I asked that question during Mug to Mug a few weeks ago, and I was met with a resounding YES!!!

These days I can relate to the moment in The Lord of the Rings when Frodo admitted to Gandalf “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

We could fill in Frodo’s statement with many, many things from our own lives, couldn’t we?

“I wish _______ had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

J.R.R. Tolkien began writing The Lord of the Rings during World War I. I can imagine that this thought came to mind as he crouched in trenches, fought, and lost friends in battles.

In fairy tales wishes are made and granted all the time. Sometimes the wishes have strings attached, or the things wished for aren’t really what is best. Characters in fairy tales, and people in real life, make wishes based on comfort level, and on what is seen.

Thankfully, we have something far better than wishes. We have God’s promises. God’s promises are made with the very best for us in mind and they take into account future events that we have no way of knowing.

So what do we do when our wishes don’t match with His promises? When the working out of His promises in our life doesn’t look anything like we thought it would?

We place our trust in the unchanging nature and character of God.

We seek out comfort and avoid conflict, but God often calls us into situations and places that are uncomfortable and filled with conflict. He brings us into places where all we can do is trust Him. Maybe He knows that in trusting Him, we will know Him more deeply. And that, besides seeing us face to face, is His heart’s desire.

Take a moment to read this beautiful description of the intersection between our wishes and His precious promises.

My Wishes and His Promises
God has promised me His eternal life, but not a long life.
God has promised me perfect health on the new earth, but not on this earth.
God has promised me His comfort, but not a life without pain.
God has promised me His righteousness, but not righteous people.
God has promised me His home in heaven, but not a house on earth.
God has promised me His wedding feast, but not a spouse.
God has promised me His joy, but not a life without sorrow.
God has promised me His justice, but not human justice.
God has promised me His power, but not a life without weakness.
God has promised me His sufficiency, but not a life with no needs.
God has promised me His wisdom, but not a life without questions.
God has promised me His guidance, but not a life without confusion.
God has promised me His victory, but not a life without conflict.
God has promised me His presence, but not a life without loneliness.
God has promised me His vengeance, but not a life without forgiving.
God has promised me His grace, but not a life without repentance.
God has promised me His blessing, but not a life without obedience.
God has promised me His reward, but not a life without a race.
God has promised me His love, but not a life without rejection.
God has promised me His peace, but not a life without turmoil.
God has promised me His faithfulness, but not a life without faith.
Peter Reid, General Director of Torchbearers International (Jan.2020)

Let’s Talk! Where you are hanging on more tightly to your wishes than to His promises? Are those the areas in your life you have trouble trusting God with?

What are your thoughts on this quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer ? “God sent His Son not to fulfill my wishes, but His promises.”

If you would like an artsy copy of “My Wishes and His Promises” click here to get one designed by @themakingsofjoy. Then run over to Instagram and see what else she does. She’s one talented lady!

When God and Granny Clampett Agree on Vittles

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” Psalm55:22

On the Beverly Hillbillies, Granny was always offering people vittles, and usually the description of said vittles made people turn up their noses. But Granny’s heart was in the right place. She knew people needed food to live, and she loved providing for them.

Did you know that God gives us vittles too? Ok, it’s actually spelled victuals, though still pronounced vittles. But in Psalm 55:22, when it says He will sustain you, the word for sustain carries the idea of nourishing us, giving us food or provision. You know, victuals.

When he sustains us, He doesn’t give us just enough to keep our head above the water, He gives what we need to walk boldly in this broken world. He knows the difficulty of navigating circumstances and relationships. He walked through this world, and He understands.

How does that hit you today? Are you feeling overwhelmed, lost, or unseen? When we give our burdens to the Lord, He will hold us, guide us, hear us, be present with us.

And the word for cast? It carries the idea of throwing, hurling, to throw out, down, or away. It’s a very active word. The Lord invites us to hurl our burdens on him. To throw them away from us. To stop trying to carry them.

Casting our burdens on the Lord means we are trading the heaviness in our soul for abundant nourishment for our soul. We are trading anxiety for peace. We are trading fear for trust.

Casting off and trusting in God takes courage. It takes believing that God is who He says He is, and that He will keep His promise to sustain.

When we fling our arms out wide to cast our burdens on the Lord, we are then free to wrap our arms around Him. We cast so that we can cling.

As we cling to Him, He wraps His strong arms around us, and sustains us in every sense of the word. He isn’t stingy, like we sometimes secretly believe he is. He gives like a loving parent. He gives the vittles our soul needs in the deepest places.

#livingboldlyinabrokenworld isn’t easy, but it is possible. When storms swirl all around us, it’s difficult to keep our eyes fixed on God’s truth. I’ve gathered the truths that help me through the storms of life into a pdf, Truths that Anchor in the Storm. These verses aren’t lifeboats, pulling me out of the storm, they are anchors to help me stand inside the storm. I hope they will help you as well. Click on the side bar to receive your copy today.

Choosing Hope in New Beginnings

It’s August and that’s got me thinking about beginnings.

Of course, because it’s August, my kiddos are thinking about new pencils and backpacks and class schedules. They have had time to squeeze all the fun out of summer and are alternating between anxiety and anticipation as they imagine what this school year may hold.

But I’m thinking about the way beginnings are not all created equal.

A beginning signals the start of something. It also marks the end of something.

For my fellow hope writer Niki Hardy, the launch of her new book, Breathe Again marks the end of pouring over her manuscript and editing phrases for the 10 zillionth time. It means holding the finished product in her hands. It means celebrating with all the streamers and balloons. It also signals the beginning of a speaking tour to promote her book.

But not all beginnings mark pleasant endings or exciting beginnings.

Sometimes a beginning holds grief, such as figuring out a new normal for your life after a break-up, a miscarriage, the death of a loved one, or a diagnosis.

Some beginnings naturally bring hope. The difficult beginnings give us an opportunity us to choose between hope and despair.

Choosing hope in new beginnings changes everything.

We were created for hope, because we were created by the God of hope. We are loved deeply by the One who offers us hope that never wavers in a world where nothing stays the same.

Choosing hope requires us to trust what God says about Himself, what He says about His love for us, and what He says about living in this broken world. This isn’t blind trust, it is a trust that grows as we get to know the God of hope.

What kind of beginning are you in right now? A new school year? A new job? Figuring out a new normal for your life?

Do the words hope and trust feel impossible right now? It’s okay. Choosing hope is a process. Getting to know God enough to trust Him takes time. If you are looking toward Him, even with questions and doubts, you are looking in the right direction.

If you are reading this, wondering if hope really is a choice in your situation, I you encourage you to hop over to amazon and order Breathe Again: How to live well when life falls apart by Niki Hardy. Niki includes her own story in her book, as well as the stories of others who have chosen hope in all kinds of situations. Visit nikihardy.com and download the first chapter for free!

The Path of Grief, the Way of Hope

The January wind blew harsh on my face as I studied the line of trees stretching across the parking lot. Their branches had no leaves, but were loaded with small, hard, dark brown balls.

The trees matched the weather – bare, stark, hard. And the weather matched my heart as it trudged along the winding path of grief.

Grief is like a raging storm scattered with lightning bolts. These short bursts of light in the darkness momentarily reveal the deepest parts of our soul. These short bursts of light shake us to our core and let us know if what we are holding onto is strong enough to stretch into eternity. Like a lightning bolt slicing a mighty oak, grief splits through the distractions and barriers in our lives and brings us face to face with the reality that if we are without God then we are without hope.

But in the hands of God, grief mingles with hope. Loss and life intertwine.

In the midst of grief, hope reminds us that we were created with eternity in our hearts. We were created for more than this life could ever offer.

Hope comforts our hearts with the truth that our loved ones are with the Lord.
But even that comfort reminds us of our loss because if they are with the Lord, they are not with us. At the same time, there is also great encouragement. If they are with the Lord, we will see them again. The loss, though painful, is not permanent.

And what are we to do as we live in this in-between?

We are to walk the path of grief, so that hope can have its way in us.

God uses grief to touch places of our hearts that would otherwise remain unchanged. Grief is messy and uncomfortable, and the path of grief takes time. If we try to rush through grief, we will miss the hope.

“In western Christian culture, we’ve been conditioned to hide sadness, cover up weakness, and put a strong and cheerful face forward. We hide our grief for fear that others will mistake it for ingratitude. We bury our lament before it’s finished because we’ve been told there’s an open window somewhere that we should be focusing on instead.
And yet, when I look at Scripture, I see welcomed space for these things. There are no time limits or cut-off dates placed over them. Jeremiah does this beautifully in Lamentations 3. While the chapter ends with hope, there’s nothing of platitude in his writing.” Tasha Jun
In God’s hands, grief builds our trust in Him, strengthens our faith, and teaches us to walk in hope through this broken world because we know that a time is coming when all things will be made right.
The harsh January wind won’t always blow. Eventually, the warmth of the sun and the gentle spring breeze will coax the hard balls on the trees to reveal the delicate buds hidden inside. These buds will open, covering the trees with a explosion of white flowers, as if to celebrate being made new.
Loss and life. Grief and hope.

Not the Way It’s Supposed To Be

When it comes to dealing with grief, God doesn’t leave us to our own strength or resources. He walks through it with us. Jesus felt the same “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be” feeling that we feel when He stood in front of Lazarus’ grave.

“This just feels wrong. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

I’ve said this many times in my life.

I said it in 8th grade when a friend committed suicide.

I said it when I watched Grandma sobbing beside the body of the man she’d loved her whole life, clutching his wedding band in her delicate hands.

I said it in 10th grade when I stood beside Pappaw’s grave, staring at the trees in the distance as the pastor spoke, clinching my fists to keep the tears from falling.

This time I was in my early 30’s sitting with my Daddy outside King Daughter’s Hospital in Yazoo City, MS where Grandma was losing her battle with Leukemia.

The familiar mixture of sorrow and anger welled up as I spit out the words.

Daddy put his arm around me while I sobbed. He waited until I was quiet, and in his deep gentle voice, he said, “Nothing about death is right. Death didn’t exist until sin entered the world. It doesn’t feel right because we weren’t made to experience death.”

Through the years I’ve often thought of Daddy’s statement. And now, as I am walking through another time of grief, the words come back to me. We weren’t made for this.

We weren’t made for this, yet we still experience it. What are we supposed to do since we don’t have the resources or strength within ourselves to walk through these shadows?

In His mercy, God doesn’t leave us to our own resources or strength. He walks through it with us. He put on our flesh, He put on our feelings, in order to be with us. And He felt this exact feeling as He stood in front of the grave of His friend Lazarus.

Jesus got mad, like we do when death strikes our loved ones. But He didn’t get angry at God, like we often do. He directed His anger at the source of the problem. He was angry at death and sin. And when He wept, He didn’t leak out a few tears or get a lump in His throat. He burst into tears.

He felt angry that the people He loved had to undergo such pain. He was indignant that sin dared to wreak such havoc. And He grieved. Rev. Wally Bumpus puts it this way. “Jesus was grieved at what death had done to the crown of God’s creation.”

Jesus was saying “This is not the way it is supposed to be.” He acknowledged the pain-filled reality.

Then He called His friend out of the grave.

Jesus felt the anger, the soul-deep turbulence that we feel when death invades our space. He is qualified to walk through grief with us. As the One who destroyed death by rising from the dead, He has the power to comfort us like no other.

Knowing that my Jesus felt this same “this isn’t right” feeling changes the way I handle my grief. Instead of trying to push it aside and ignore it, I can follow His example and acknowledge this pain-filled reality. My grief can be mingled with hope because the way things are now is not the way things will always be.

Because of Jesus, one day death will be fully dead, we will be fully alive, and things will be the way they are supposed to be for all eternity.

Restored Before the Face of God

Reconciliation means to restore before the face of God. This word is hitting me hard right now. Our family and community are grieving the tragic deaths of three of our students and friends. These dear friends are face-to-face with God, still serving the Lord they loved. Death touched their bodies, but could not separate them from God’s love.

The greatest rescue mission in the world didn’t end with the rescue. It marked the beginning of God’s ultimate plan for His beloved creation: Reconciliation.

Reconciliation means to restore before the face of God. We are rescued in order to be reconciled with God. We are reconciled so that we can experience what our hearts were created for- intimacy with Him.

Reconciliation flows from God’s heart. Throughout the Old Testament we see His desire to be in relationship with His people. Over and over He said, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Our salvation through Jesus makes the way so that we can follow Him, love Him, feel His love for us, and one day, come before Him face-to-face.

The word reconciliation is hitting me hard during this season. Our family and community are walking through grief following the tragic deaths of three of our students and friends. This sudden loss impacts the dorms they lived in, the church they worshipped in, and the school they attended. It impacts churches and communities around the world who knew and loved them.

This sudden loss creates a vacuum for all the plans they had for the future. Sharron, Aaron, and Joy Naik loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him with their lives.

And all those plans are gone.

Or are they?

God’s desire to be reconciled with His people was so great that He sent His Son to pay for their sins, so that we could be in relationship with Him.

If God’s heart desire is to bring us face-to-face with Him, does He long for His children to be with Him? Is that why Psalm 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints? The word used for precious can also be translated as valuable. Is the death of His saints of great value because it marks the completion of the work He began in them? Is it of great value because it means that they can finally experience life as He intended it to be?

The enemy cannot tempt Sharron, Aaron, and Joy any more, he cannot whisper lies into their ears. He cannot touch them at all because they are in God’s presence. They are fully at peace with God. And they are worshipping Him with a nature made whole and a heart set free.

They are still serving the God they loved. Even death could not bring that to an end. Is this what it means in 1 Corinthians when it says death is swallowed up in victory?

And what about us? The ones grieving this great loss on this side of heaven?

The work God began in you and me is not yet complete. Is it possible that their death is a part of the process of God working deep within our hearts? Is it possible that these events could unlock parts of our hearts that we have kept closed off to God? Is it possible that God could bring beauty and joy from this tragedy?

I believe it is.

Our three dear friends came to us from Hyderabad, India, a city of 6.81 million. They had to adjust to our small community in French Camp, Mississippi with a population of less than 200. And many of the cultural differences between the two places were confusing. Today they are in the culture they were made for, no need for adjusting, no culture shock, because they are finally home.