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Fixing Our Eyes

5/17/2022

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1–3)

Have you ever seen the movie, The Three Amigos with Steve Martin, Martin Short and Chevy Chase? (Yes, it’s a comedy). There is a ridiculous scene where Steve Martin is up on a high wall "quietly” trying to get Martin Short and Chevy Chase’s attention. (They are literally right below him “waiting for his signal.”) Steve Martin tries bird calls, each one more elaborate and expressive than the last. The whippoorwill’s call degrades into “Look up here... Look up here” and finally, in a moment of pure frustration, he yells, “HEY YOU GUYS!” Lately, the LORD has been trying to get my attention and has been calling me to “Look up here... look up here” through
Hebrews 12:1-3.

Hebrews 12 speaks of a race. Some of you may like to run but truth be told, it’s not my favorite pastime. Spiritually speaking though, that is what God is calling us all to do, to run the race He has set before us. This is no sprint; this is the marathon called LIFE. How do we do it? How are we to endure? Pure and simple, we must fix our eyes on Jesus. Good runners don’t run with their eyes on the ground; they look up and ahead; they want to see where they are going.

What do we see when we cast our eyes up to Jesus? We see a risen Savior seated at the right hand of the throne of God, AND we see a Savior who also ran a race, who shows us how to run, a Savior with nail-pierced hands and feet. On this earth, Christ ran, Christ endured, and Christ fixed His eyes on the JOY set before Him: the JOY that the cross would bring, the accomplishment of the Father’s will, the purchase and cleansing of our souls through His blood and sacrifice on that cross.

You and I are wrapped up in that JOY, His JOY. He ran the race for us and now He calls us to run the race for Him and in Him, in the strength He provides through His Spirit that abides forever within each one who belongs to Him. That strength, weary pilgrim, comes as we “consider Him”--literally as we are “consumed with considering” Jesus—"who endured such hostility by sinners against Himself.” Why did He do that? “So that you [and I] will not grow weary and lose heart" (verse 3).

When my eyes are fixed on my earthy cares (problems I can’t fix, people I love who are suffering beyond description), it is easy to grow weary and lose heart. If you find yourself in such a place, I encourage you to look up, to keep looking up, to “set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth” (Colossians 3:4). Take God’s word to heart, take courage from your courageous Savior and run.

“Do not fear, for I am with you, do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

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How Can God Be in Control When Life is Out of Control?

4/22/2022

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Over the years I have been especially comforted by the words and devotional thoughts of Christians, some who have gone before and others who continue to live the life of faith and have something to say to me about that life. I thought I would use this post to include a few favorite reflections.

Hannah Whitall Smith: The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life
~ Is God in Everything? ~
"The question here confronts us at once, 'But is God in everything, and have we any warrant from the Scripture for receiving everything from His hands without regarding the second causes that may have been instrumental in bringing them about?'... Second causes must all be under the control of our Father, and not one of them can touch us except with His knowledge and by His permission... By the time it reaches us it has become God's will for us, and must be accepted as directly from His hands.... He, who counts the very hairs of our heads, and suffers not a sparrow to fall without Him, takes note of the minutest matters that can affect the lives of His children, and regulates them all according to His own perfect will, let their origin be what they may... If our Father permits a trial to come, it must be because the trial is the sweetest and best thing that could happen to us, and we must accept it with thanks from His dear hand. This does not mean, however, that we must like or enjoy the trial itself, but that we must like God's will in the trial; and it is not hard to do this when we have learned to know that His will is the will of love, and is therefore always lovely."

J.C. Ryle: Practical Religion
~ Makes No Mistakes ~
"The Lord Jesus makes no mistakes in managing His friends' affairs. He orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom: all things happen to them at the right time, and in the right way. He gives them as much sickness and as much health, as much poverty and as much riches, as much sorrow and as much joy as He sees their souls require. He leads them by the right way to bring them to the city that will be their eternal home. He mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and takes care that they do not have a drop too little or a drop too much. His people often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough to imagine that their course of life might have been better ordered: but in the resurrection day they will thank God that not their will but Christ's will was done."

Trenton Black Singer/Songwriter
When the Rain Falls Hard

When the sun shines it face on the meadows
And it warms all the lands that you roam
And it grows up the trees like tall towers
Round the place that you’ve always called home.

When the stream flowing by fills with laughter
And the bend in its path is a smile
And it asks you to sit down beside it
And to rest from your work for a while

You’ll be singing the song of the happy
You’ll be singing the praise of the kind
You’ll be singing the song of the peaceful
As you rest and you strengthen your mind

* * * * * * *

When the cold bitter waves crash around you
And they howl as if showing their teeth,
But you stand on a Rock with the light on your face
While the darkness goes howling beneath

When the winds blow in every direction
But they never can cut you adrift
And the cable strains hard at the anchor
But the anchor refuses to lift

You’ll be singing the song of the battered
You’ll be singing the song of the strong
You’ll be singing the song of the hopeful
As you stand all the day and night long

* * * * * * *

When the clouds fly to unwanted places
And they flood out the back ways and roads
And they drown out your glad expectations
As they bring to you heavy new loads

When in days and in nights you are restless
And the pain stabs so deep to your heart
And gray forecasts arise all around you
And it seems they will never depart

You’ll be singing the song of the broken
You’ll be singing the song full of tears
You’ll be singing the song of the burdened
As you fight through the sorrows and fears

* * * * * * *

When you look up ahead for a pathway
But you find that the journey is done
And you look all around for a shadow
But you stand in the light of the Son

When the mist that has shrouded your footsteps
Blows away and is ever no more
And you lay down your bundle of troubles
On that bright and long sought after shore

You’ll be singing the song of contentment
As you sit and you rest by that sea
You’ll be singing the anthem of victory
When at last from life’s pain you’re set free

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Mr. Standfast

2/4/2022

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I recently ran across some reflections I wrote in a journal in the days preceding my father-in-law's home going to heaven (in November 2013).

"I have been attending daily at the bedside of my father-in-law who is dying. His 5' 7" 135 pound frame has shrunk down to less than 90 pounds. He is no longer able to move his legs and can barely move his arms. Understandably, he is completely bed bound and needs help moving from side to side to prevent bed sores. We have been given the blessing of toiling with him, as it were to the rivers edge, that great, wide, deep river that Bunyan describes. There is yet a work to be done, a daily surrendering to the Father's will and timing. Watching my father-in-law "walk" this path has been a teaching time for my soul…his patience in suffering, his thankfulness and gentleness. God has given us times of sweet conversations… recollections of childhood memories, prayers and hopes for those whom he loves, yes, all mixed in with times of confusion, worry about his glasses, waking up at 3:00 in the morning and thinking it's midday..."

We did toil to the river's edge with Anthony, "Abuelito", and watched as he passed over to the other side. These words describing Mr. Standfast (from Pilgrim's Progress) seemed written just for him…

"When Mr. Standfast had thus set things in order, and the time being come for Him to haste him away, he also went down to the River. Now there was a great calm at that time in the River; wherefore Mr. Standfast, when he was about halfway in, stood a while, and talked to his companions that had waited upon him thither: And he said,

"This River has been terror to many, yea, the thoughts of it also have often frighted me; but now methinks I stand easy… The waters indeed are to the palate bitter, and to the stomach cold; yet the thoughts of what I am going to, and of the conduct that waits for me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing coal at my heart.

"I see myself now at the end of my Journey; my toilsome days are ended. I am going now to see that Head that was crowned with thorns, and that Face that was spit upon for me. I have formerly lived by hear-say and Faith; but now I go where I shall live by Sight, and shall be with Him in whose company I delight myself. I have loved to hear my Lord spoked of; and wherever I have seen the print of His shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too.

"His Name has been to me as a civet-box; yea, sweeter than all perfumes. His Voice to me has been most sweet; and His Countenance I have more desired than they that have most desired the light of the Sun. His Word I did use to gather for my food, and for antidotes against my faintings. He has held me, and... kept me from mine iniquities; yea, my steps hath He strengthened in His Way."

It has been 3 years and 3 months and today, February 4th, is Anthony's birthday. We still feel his absence, yet, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and so we draw comfort and joy from his reality, though a part of us is missing. While we await that grand reunion around the throne of Christ, we remember that...

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main: if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind: and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." (John Donne)

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Eyes to See

11/2/2021

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Something was wrong; there were sounds in the night that disturbed my sleep. As I stumbled out of bed toward the rustling, I felt a wave of nausea growing. By the time I reached my 8 year old’s bedside and realized he had the stomach flu, I barely had enough time to call to my husband for help before I too succumbed. But this would be no ordinary night of stomach flu. This was not a “once and done.” One by one during the night my other boys joined Aaron and I on mats by the closest available bathroom and wave after wave sent us to our knees on the bathroom floor. By 6:00 in the morning I was concerned about the ferocity of this bug and the toll it was taking on my brood; and so, a call to the doctor ensued. He assured me that my 3 boys would be fine; he would send medication to the pharmacy, but he wanted me (after vomiting more than 10 times) to get to the hospital emergency room. You see I was in the midst of chemotherapy and he knew the danger I faced with a compromised immune system and loss of fluids. My dear husband gathered up his bald beauty with ziplock bag in hand and proceeded to whisk me away while our 15 year old daughter with tears in her eyes waved good bye—suddenly having in her care three brothers with the stomach flu and two elderly grandparents—one of which was wheelchair bound and in the late stages of Alzheimers.

You may be wondering, "Why on earth would you want to share that unsettling scene? Don’t you know no one likes hearing about the stomach flu? Just the thought can send some of us to the sink to wash our hands or to the pantry for saltine crackers and coke!" Well, what follows loses some of its weight without the details. You see, I remained in the hospital a couple of days following that escapade with the flu, and Rebekah—with her dad mostly by my side at the hospital—held down the fort at home. Not only did she keep the home fires burning, but she called me the next day to share some verses God brought to mind from
2 Corinthians 4:16-18. I remember holding the phone in my hand: “Mommy, listen to this...

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying (I could definitely attest to that), yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Here was my young daughter opening my eyes to the unseen. She herself was experiencing affliction. In some ways she had the harder part. I had people caring for me, while she was the caretaker of everyone left at home. Somehow in the midst of it all, she took time to look up to her Caretaker and was able to see beyond her circumstances to a weightier glory.

There are times in our lives when we feel like the "Afflicted Psalmist" of Psalm 102. What a precious Lord we have who does not censor us when all of the overwhelming emotions come pouring out:

Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call answer me quickly. For my days have been consumed in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth. My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, indeed, I forget to eat my bread. Because of the loudness of my groaning my bones cling to my flesh. I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop... For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping (Psalm 102:1–7, 9).

But though life’s circumstances are at times overwhelming, God’s promises are not diminished; they are not negated. They are real; they are weighty. What we need are eyes of faith to see the unseen.

Look at the seen and the unseen in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

The Seen The Unseen

Our outer man is decaying..........................Our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Our afflictions are momentary (temporal)............................Our glory to come is eternal.
Our afflictions are light (compared to what will be).............Our glory to come is weighty.
Our afflictions are in the present.............Our glory to come is far beyond all comparison.

Can you picture an old fashioned balance scale like the one at the top of this page? On one side place your afflictions. The scale tips heavily downward, doesn’t it? The afflicted psalmist felt the weight of it, and when trials come, we do as well. Now on the other side of the scale place the promises of God: your inner self being renewed, your future glory which is weighty and eternal. What happens to the scale? Suddenly what is so heavy (our afflictions) are lifted up, “light” in comparison with the glory to come, the glory that is actually being forged through your suffering. The key is the comparison and having eyes to see.

Lord, give us eyes of faith with which to see.

"Not only is all your affliction momentary, not only is all your affliction 'light' in comparison to eternity, and the glory there, but all of it is TOTALLY meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that. I don’t care if it was cancer or criticism; I don’t care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn’t meaningless. It’s doing something. It’s not meaningless. Of course you can’t see what it’s doing. Don’t look to what is seen... It’s working for you an eternal weight of glory. Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart. But take these truths and day by day focus on them. Preach them to yourself every morning. Get alone with God and preach His word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.” John Piper ~ “The Glory of God in the Sight of Eternity” http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/do-not-lose-heart

Though You Slay Me (Shane & Shane with John Piper~music video)

Photo Description: Polski: Stara waga kuchenna; English: Old two pan balance
Date29 January 2011
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Author: Nikodem Nijaki

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A Great Story

8/21/2021

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Who doesn't enjoy a great story? When you crack the cover of a new book, you begin a marvelous journey of discovery... You meet friends and foes, you discover new lands, whether real or the fanciful imaginings of the author... Any tale worth the read will take you to that "nail biting" place where you wonder how its all going to work out. The human heart loves to wrap itself up in an engaging tale. Why is it so many people frequent the movies? You might answer, 'People love to be entertained.' Perhaps so, but I think at the root of it people love a great story.

Recently, my 16 year old son said something quite profound about storytelling. It actually prompted this post. First, you have to know a little bit about my son. He is one of the most imaginative individuals I've ever known. When he was a little boy, rather than getting on the floor in the midst of his toys, driving cars across the carpet or building a lego empire, he would often sit in a chair with eyes a million miles away. I used to think, 'What's wrong with this child?' Look at all the toys at his fingertips. Why doesn't he play with them? I came to realize that the world of his imagination and the stories developing in his brain were much more captivating than the plastic blocks on the floor. To this day, his writing and prolific illustrating continue to reflect this creative bent (yes, the picture above is one of his first efforts with watercolor).

"So what did he say that was so profound?" Glad you asked... He and I were talking about the trials of life ~ which may seem like a strange topic for a teenage boy and his mom. What can a 17 year old know about suffering? But this is a young man who has lived with and amongst the suffering. He was 8 when I had cancer and when his grandmother died in our home; he witnessed the daily decline of his 91 year old grandfather and stood at his bedside when he took his last breath, and for the past four years he has watched his brother struggle daily with a serious and chronic illness. It was this young man who said to me, "Mom, our lives are like a story, and what makes any story compelling is the conflict. Without conflict that needs resolving, a story wouldn't be worth reading." He went on to say that we know Who is writing our story and we know that the ultimate end will be a "happily ever after" like no other.

His musings were pure gold to me and came at such a time when the reality of the day-to-day made it difficult to see beyond the pain. The Lord used his words to remind me of the Author and Perfecter of faith who is indeed in the midst of writing a great tale, our tale. My son enabled me to see the distress of our circumstances as an essential part of our life story - the conflict that once resolved is going to resound to the praise and glory of the Author (and can even resound to His glory before the resolution).

One other musing... I recently started listening, with my chronically ill son, to some messages on the book of Job preached in 1964 by Francis Schaeffer. In the introduction, Francis Schaeffer mentioned that scholars agree that the book of Job is likely the oldest book in the Bible, written before Genesis. It made me wonder, 'Why did God choose to write the book of Job first?' Could it be that the problem of pain and suffering and our need to understand it in the context of the seen and unseen world and a personal Creator is in the forefront of the mind of God? Could it be that the LORD wants us to know first and foremost that He is engaged in our suffering and is at work in the midst of it to purify our faith, to make Himself known to us in a more intimate way, and to put on display before the heavenly host and a lost world His love and care for His own? Job, the first of all of the 66 books of the Bible to be written... Something to think about...

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though the outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

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The Lovingkindness of the Lord Extends to the Heavens

7/30/2021

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We live in a world where things wear out. Our “stuff” wears out ~ our cars, houses, clothes (Okay, maybe not the old 70’s polyester :-)... Our bodies wear out... I don’t know about you, but many times my patience wears out... and sadly, even some of our relationships seem to wear out. But, I found something the other day that doesn’t wear out!

“Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting” (Psalm 138:8)

Think of it; the affection of God toward you NEVER becomes thin nor threadbare. I know some of us may feel like we have made a good go of wearing out God’s lovingkindness with our sin, our ingratitude, our lack of trust, our own self-focused hearts. Others of us may feel, in the midst of trials, as though we wake up each day locked outside of God’s storehouse of lovingkindness, looking in at the windows but with no access.

If you’ve ever read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, then perhaps you remember Christian’s run in with Giant Despair and his imprisonment in Doubting Castle. He was locked in the dungeon, feeling helpless and hopeless, but in that place he managed to pray. Suddenly in amazement, Christian realized and exclaimed, “What a fool am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty? I have a key... called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.”

Well, I have good news for you and me. If we are found in Christ, if we have been adopted into His family, then we, as His daughters, also have that key in our possession and this promise is ours:

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting.” (Psalm 138:8)

In Christ, not only do we have the key to unlock the dungeon door of Doubting Castle, we also have open access to the storehouse of God’s everlasting lovingkindness. As much as we dip into that treasury, it remains undiminished and continually overflows toward us, His daughters.

Picture it this way, if you and I were to stand downstream from the Niagara Falls and dip a glass into the clean, clear waters to drink, how long would it take us to deplete that supply, to drink that river dry? We could dip and drink for a lifetime and never put a dent in the flow. The funny thing is, the water that supplies the Niagara Falls is finite, but...

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting.” (Psalm 138:8)

Regardless of life’s circumstances, God’s kindness and care permeates them all. Do you believe that? Will you join me in choosing to believe that promise... not hypothetically... not from a distance, but right now, this very minute, in the midst of the circumstances in which you find yourself? When we do, it looses our tongues to join David as he sings this song to the Lord,

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:5,7-9)

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Bookends

5/4/2021

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I find that suffering tends to orient me to the here and now. God often uses it to pull me in and help me not run too far of head of myself, or perhaps too far ahead of Him. Pain makes the present tense very present, if you know what I mean. I don't often find myself day dreaming about the future during difficult days, rather the reality of the here and now keeps me focused on how to simply navigate through my day.

It might seem strange to say that I've been living in the present tense for years now. Is that an oxymoron? Alzheimers diagnosis and intense care of a live-in parent (2003-2005), my cancer diagnosis and treatment (2005), chronic pain following cancer treatment (2005-present), my son diagnosed with and battling a serious and chronic illness (2010-present), another live-in parent needing total care (2011-present) have all comprised my "present tense" for the last 10 years.

The Lord has been with us in the midst of it all, not a helpless spectator but an Active Orchestrator. He and I have often wrestled together (picture a dad wrestling with his little child... always gentle, never crushing). He has been a patient Parent, ever teaching me more about His love for me and my family.

This past week He helped me in a practical yet profound way to have a new lens through which to view my present tense. I was reading Psalm 92, and though I read the whole Psalm, I didn't really get beyond verses 1-2.

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night."

The psalmist is having a conversation with the Lord and recognizes that it is good to give thanks to the Lord but he didn't leave us wondering how to do it; he actually shows us. He tells us that first thing in the morning we can declare (literally to be conspicuous, to tell, to make known) God's lovingkindness. Before our feet ever hit the floor we can assert what we know to be true: "God, You are full of lovingkindness." And once out of bed we can look for someone with whom we can conspicuously share that glorious news.

Then at night, at the end of the day when we climb into bed, we can look back on our day and recount God's faithfulness. Faithfulness is something that comes into focus as we look back over the events of the day and see how God met us and intervened according to our need. In other words, after living through our day experiencing God's grace and care and strength and help, we can declare, "Yes, God, you are not only full of lovingkindness, but look at how faithful You were to carry me through this day!" Do you see the bookends?

Perhaps you are so weighed down by the burdens of your present pain that it's hard to apprehend the lovingkindness of the Lord. Let me encourage you with this thought from Hannah Whitall Smith (1870).

"Let your faith 'throw its arms around all God has told you' and in every dark hour remember that 'though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations,' it is only like going through a tunnel. The sun has not ceased shining because the traveler through the tunnel has ceased to see it; and the Sun of righteousness is still shining, although you in your dark tunnel do not see Him. Be patient and trustful and wait. This time of darkness is only permitted that 'the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.'"

If you are finding it difficult to find the words, let Psalm 103 gives you some specific expressions of His lovingkindness to throw your arms around.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits... He

pardons all your iniquities (v.3)
heals all your diseases (v.3)
redeems your life from the pit (v.4)
crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion (v.4)
satisfies your years with good things so that your strength is renewed (v.5)
performs righteous deeds & judgements for all who are oppressed (v.6)
makes known His ways to us (v.7)
is compassionate & gracious, slow to anger & abounding in lovingkindness (v.8)
has NOT dealt with us according to our sins (v.10)
has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (v.12)
has compassion like a father (v.13)
knows our frame and is mindful that we are but dust (v.14)

This is our sovereign God whose lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting (v. 17). That's a lot to throw our arms around, isn't it?

May the bookends of declaring His lovingkindness each morning and recounting His faithfulness each night frame your day and give you peace and joy in your present tense.

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A Look in the Mirror

3/30/2021

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Truth be known, the older I become, the harder it gets looking in the mirror. My face, my hair, my body reflect back to me lines of care, more gray, and the scars of a battle with cancer. Today, however, I didn't have a run in with my bathroom mirror but rather with the spiritual mirror. When I took an honest look, I didn't like what my soul reflected back... the lines of life's cares that hadn't been lifted up to the Lord, a cold, gray heart that had been unsuccessfully pumping through the day without drawing from its life Source, and the scars of a battle with sin (or were those fresh wounds I perceived...).

Part of me wanted to justify my struggle and focus on the circumstances of life that in all honesty are just plain hard, but then I read Psalm 63, a psalm of David, and found what I was missing... not a "make over" to mask what's really there but rather the honesty of a mirror and the revitalizing balm smoothed on by the God of the word.

What made Psalm 63 powerfully poignant was not that it was written by a king on his throne enjoying the glory of his kingdom and the allegiance of his subjects. No, it was written when David was fleeing the vehement sword of Saul and found himself in the wilderness of Judah. Yet he wrote, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

I have to admit when I first started reading, I couldn't echo David's prayer. I was not seeking God earnestly though I needed Him desperately. My soul was not thirsting for Him though parched to the bone. But I kept reading...

"Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name... My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."

It was then the prayer began, 'Lord help me to seek you earnestly, help me to thirst for you and yearn for you in the midst of my wilderness.' It was not going to be because of a change in my circumstances that I might praise Him, but because His lovingkindness is better than even life itself. 'Lord help me to bless You as long as I live...' a tall order when clothed in this body of flesh, yet "as long as I live" happens only one moment at a time. Could I make a choice this moment, right now, with the power and help of my resurrected Savior to bless Him? Might I - energized by His Spirit - take time to meditate on who He is and remember His unchanging faithfulness to me, for He has indeed been my help. It truly is in the shadow of His wings that I can sing for joy. Joy is a rare commodity when life is hard - yet He shows me where it is found: in the shadow of His wings, by His side, even in the midst of the wilderness.

By God's grace and with His help when I glance in the spiritual mirror, though circumstantially in the wilderness still, may the reflection I see be a soul clinging to God, upheld by His right hand, singing for joy in His presence, and praising the God whose lovingkindness is better than life.

He is Risen!

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Oh That I Had Wings...

3/10/2021

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David exclaimed, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest" (Psalm 55:6). He was in great distress as the words preceding this exclamation reveal, "My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me." Have you ever wished you could take flight and leave your circumstances behind? If only we had wings...

I was reminded this past week that the Christian does indeed have wings, but rather than winging us away from our troubles, they are wings that enable us to fly up, as it were, to the throne of grace where we might receive help in our time of need. As a bird must have two strong wings to fly, we also need two wings to fly up to our heavenly Father. One wing is "Surrender" and the other is "Trust" ~ but how does a human sprout wings?

Deuteronomy 32:11 tells us...
"Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions." Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) describes it this way. "The mother eagle teaches her little ones to fly by making their nest so uncomfortable that they are forced to leave it and commit themselves to the unknown world of air outside. And just so does our God to us. He stirs up our comfortable nests, and pushes us over the edge of them, and we are forced to use our wings to save ourselves from fatal falling. Read your trials in this light, and see if you cannot begin to get a glimpse of their meaning. Your wings are being developed" (The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life). And yet look closely, God is there even as we are learning to fly. The mother eagle hovers over her young watching the progress of her eaglets and is ready to catch them and carry them on her pinions when they themselves are too weak.

Not only do trials develop our wings, but our response to our trials does as well...

"Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord, will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles..." (Isaiah 40:30-31).

Are you weary and tired? Do you feel like you are stumbling? Is the Lord stirring up your nest so that you will develop and exercise the wings of Surrender and Trust? That will happen as we learn to wait for (literally: to look for, hope and expect) the Lord.

This past week I felt like a bird with a broken wing. Have you ever watched a bird struggle to take flight with a broken wing? There is a lot of effort, a lot of flapping and false starts, but no flight, only increasing distress. What breaks the wing of Trust but doubt, doubting God's goodness, doubting His promises. And what disables the wing of Surrender but sin, perhaps in the form of anger and frustration at the sovereign God who has lovingly stirred the nest.

If you, like me, feel like one of your wings is broken, take courage that though your "soul may feel as if it were in a prison from which it cannot escape, and consequently is debarred from mounting up on wings. No earthly bars can ever imprison the soul. No walls however high...can imprison an eagle so long as there is an open way upward; and earth's power can never hold the soul in prison while the upward way is kept open and free. Our enemies may build walls around us as high as they please, but they cannot build any barrier between us and God; and if we "mount up with wings" we can fly higher than any of their walls can ever reach... The only thing that can really imprison the soul is something that hinders its upward flight."

Don't allow doubt or sin to cloud over your clear path upward. Remember that ultimately the roof of sin has been removed altogether from your prison by the Savior. Trust, Surrender and wait for the Lord.

"The dove hath neither claw nor sting.
Nor weapon for the fight,
She owes her safety to the wing,
Her victory to flight.
The bridegroom opens His arms of love,
And in them folds the panting dove."

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Be Anxious for Nothing

1/30/2021

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Fear and anxiety is a human condition, part of the fabric of life. How many times in a simple reading of the bible do we come across words or phrases dealing with anxiety and fear. Often it is the Lord Himself who is comforting His people with the words, “Do not be afraid” or “Do not fear,” and often these comforting words come in the context of the Lord reminding His own that He is with them. He told Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” In like manner, the psalmist in Psalm 27 reminds himself, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?”

In the New Testament, Philippians 4:4-9 is one of the most extensive passages on this subject.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Many have read these words and from them have drawn the conclusion that feeling anxious is a sin. They reason, ‘The Lord has given a command to not be anxious; therefore, if I feel anxious I must not be trusting the Lord; I must be sinning.’ But is this true? Tim Keller has rightly said in his podcast The Wounded Spirit that human beings tend to be “reductionists” (both Christians and non Christians alike), over simplifying the conditions of the human heart. He also observes that Christians in particular have a tendency to be “moral reductionists;” that is, they tend to reduce problems of anxiety to a moral cause, discounting the complex realities of the inner life and the human frame. It looks something like this, “If you are anxious, you are sinning.”

I believe the life of Christ is one of the most powerful proofs that feelings of anxiety and fear are not sinful in and of themselves. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read some profound words regarding how Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane felt as He contemplated His imminent arrest, crucifixion and bearing of the Father’s wrath because of the sins He would carry.

(Jesus) began to be grieved (i.e. sorrowful, denoting both physical and emotional pain) and distressed ... He said..., “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death...” He fell on His face and prayed... (Matthew 26:37-39).

(Jesus) began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said..., “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death...” He... fell to the ground and began to pray... (Mark 14:33-35).

And being in agony (i.e. anguish, anxiety, struggle) He (Jesus) was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:44).

Jesus, the perfect sinless Son of God, felt deeply grieved, anxious, distressed, and troubled to the point of death, to the point that he began to sweat great drops of blood (which, by the way, is a rare medical condition that occurs when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress - called hematridosis). The only conclusion we can draw, then, is that feelings of anxiety are not sinful. Jesus felt anxious. This realization alone should bring great comfort to those who battle feelings of anxiety and depression. Your Savior understands.

Anxiety and depression are a part of being human. For many, the “ups and downs” of life fall within manageable levels. Feelings of happiness, sadness, and the concerns of life are in proportion to the situation. There are others for whom depression and anxiety are likened to those unwanted visitors who, when they stop by, have a tendency to overstay their welcome. But there are those, yes Christians and non Christians alike, who experience anxiety and depression as lethal enemies. These emotions don’t simply come and overstay their welcome; they come as intruders with weapons in hand intent on destruction. Those in this category often suffer from a definable physiological illness and often need medical intervention. Dear Christian, realizing the need for medical help and acting on it is not a failure to trust; it does not take anything away from the cross of Christ.

The beauty of the the word of God is that for those in all three categories, the promise of God is that “The Lord is near” and the invitation of God is to “Call out to Him for help!” I heard it aptly put this way... When we are in distress and riddled with anxiety...“the Lord does not tell us to ‘calm down,’ He tells us to ‘call out’” (Philippians 4:6). For those who do call out and still experience overwhelming feelings of anxiety, don’t allow your feelings to condemn you; God is near. Continue to entrust yourself to your heavenly Father as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Lord will meet you in that place and minister to you there. For those whose feelings of anxiety and depression have become “as intruders with weapons in hand intent on destruction” and who realize that you need medical attention, take comfort from the fact that trusting God and going to the doctor are not mutually exclusive. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I entrusted myself to God even as I went to the doctor, even as I received treatment for my condition. The God of peace will be with you.

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Valorie

I am first and foremost a follower of the Lord Jesus who is my life (Phil. 1:21). In February 2005, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My diagnosis came 4 months after my mother-in-law was placed on hospice in our home and was succumbing to the ravages of Alzheimers. That journey has changed my life in many ways. Even since that time, the Lord continues to shape this clay vessel through suffering as one of our precious sons battles severe and chronic illness. My heart's desire through this blog is to point people to the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction (2 Cor. 1:3-4) and to encourage those who are burdened to trust in that Man of sorrows who is acquainted with grief
(Isaiah 53:3).

Valorie

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