Category: Hope

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One Word…(or so)

ONE

During this current sermon series, Small Things, Big Difference, my pastor is encouraging each member of the congregation to focus on one word, one verse and one thought throughout 2015. It has been a pleasure watching so many accept the challenge. It took a few days, but eventually I settled on the word FAITH. My verse is Matthew 17:20—

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

After what God has done for me, I, of all people, should not be lacking faith. I think that’s what makes it all the more embarrassing. The largest spiritual marker in my life occurred 18+ years ago when my daughter beat the odds of surviving a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. No one needs to tell me that God is in the miracle business. And yet I still struggle with doubt when the going gets tough. I am no different from the Israelites who began grumbling shortly after God delivered them from the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea. Maybe you can relate.

In a sermon on faith given by our current Pastor Emeritus several years ago, he stated that maybe the issue isn’t really a lack of faith. For some, it’s not that we don’t believe God CAN do it, but rather that we have difficulty believing He will do it for us. That obviously hit home because I remember that statement to this day.

Reflecting on my word and my verse these past few weeks has led me to my one thought—He WILL do it for me! I’m trying to leave my “glass half empty” mentality behind. It has since occurred to me that maybe I’ve settled on the wrong word. Perhaps my word should be POSITIVE…

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 NLT)

or should it be REMEMBER??

But be careful that you don’t forget the Lord. Remember that he brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves. (Deuteronomy 6:12 NIRV)

Working backwards from my one thought has led to more choices and they are all good. Maybe I could get extra credit for choosing three!

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Not as Expected

A “do over”—I have joked with several family members that we should request one for this month. If only. December has not looked anything like I envisioned in my mind’s eye. I know a number of people who would agree with that assessment from their vantage point as well. It seems like there are a lot of people in my circle who are hurting right now for one reason or another. Don’t get me wrong, I have always liked the idea of escaping some of the hustle and bustle that seems to go hand-in-hand with December. I guess I just wanted the slowdown to be of my own choosing. As it turns out, the fallout from a simple cold has caused me to be still and tuned into the Hallmark channel for a sizable portion of every day these past few weeks.

My expectations and my reality leading up to this most holy of days are out of alignment.  I can’t help but think I have something in common with those who walked the earth thousands of years ago. They were watching and waiting for their Savior and promised Messiah. I imagine they were looking for their King in a palace. Instead His life started in a stable. I bet they expected Him to wear a crown made of jewels rather than one made of thorns. Reality doesn’t always equal expectation.

Admittedly, I like to have my ducks all in a row. I find they rarely line up as expected though. The bottom line:

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

When life doesn’t go according to plan (and even when it does), we can be thankful that He is in control. Because I know how much He loves me, I wouldn’t want it any other way. And He loves you too. I leave you with one of the promises God made His children, the Israelites, when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

May you find comfort in that promise and enjoy a peace-filled Christmas even if your reality doesn’t meet your expectations. Christmas is about the reality of who Jesus is—God in the flesh.  When invited into our hearts, He far exceeds any expectations we could ever have.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:23 NIV)

Christmas

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Never Late, Never Early

On Time

I have been giving a good bit of thought to the subject of timing lately. I believe it all started when my nephew’s wife went into labor 8 weeks earlier than expected. The doctors were trying to do whatever they could to buy the baby more time inside his mother’s womb so he could continue to develop. Though they were only able to hold him off for one more day, he arrived at God’s appointed time. We were expecting him to win the prize for the first baby born in 2015, but God had a different plan. The prize turned into a 2014 tax deduction instead! All kidding aside, he is making good progress and is expected to go home in the coming week, an extra special reason for his family to give thanks this Thanksgiving.

According to the calendar the baby was early, but isn’t God’s timing always perfect? What about His timing when you’ve prayed the same prayer day after day, year after year, waiting for an answer that hasn’t yet come? His timing doesn’t seem so perfect then either, does it? So how do we know God’s timing is perfect? I want to simply say, “because He is God,” but I went searching for some reinforcement for that answer in the Bible. I landed in a not so familiar book—Habakkuk.

The prophet Habakkuk laid out his complaints to the Lord in the first chapter of the book. It was a time of fear, oppression, persecution, lawlessness and immorality in Judah and Habakkuk didn’t understand why God was allowing this to go on. God planned to use the mighty Babylonians to punish His people and that led to more questioning from Habakkuk. Why the increasingly powerful and evil Babylonians? God assured him that He would also punish the Babylonians after they had fulfilled His purpose. In his time of struggle and doubt, Habakkuk received this response from God found in the second chapter of the book:

“But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” (Habakkuk 2:3 TLB)

In this verse we find hope to replace our doubts. God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. As I often say, “He’s got this!” He has a purpose and a plan for your life and mine and He will carry it out at just the right time. Rest in that assurance today and keep the faith!

Celebrate God’s goodness this Thanksgiving and throughout the coming year—Happy Thanksgiving!

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Looking Back

What a week—I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced so many emotional occasions packed into a seven day period. Since my body doesn’t seem to process stress very well, I often turn to writing to help the cause. I call it my therapy. My hope is that my words benefit you, my readers, in the process.

First, there was my daughter’s last dance recital on Sunday. Then, we celebrated her high school graduation midweek. To put the icing on the cake, pun intended, my baby girl is 18 years old today and joining the ranks of the adults. This may not sound like a big deal, especially if you’ve never heard Hillary’s story, but I can assure you it seems monumental to me. She defied the odds and overcame a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. We brought her home from the hospital after 88 days in intensive care following her birth. Not coincidentally, I wrote about every one of them! I think that may have been when I first discovered writing as a form of therapy.

Celebrating Hillary’s 18th birthday today is a real milestone in my mind, one that I haven’t taken for granted. During her last year of high school there was a need to go through old photo albums in search of pictures to share at various end-of-year functions. This led to quite a bit of reminiscing on other milestones in her life and served as a reminder of God’s faithfulness in the past. When the going gets tough and it seems God is distant, we would be wise to intentionally look back at the trials He has brought us through in getting us to this point. It is a great faith-building tool. It reminds me of this passage from the Old Testament:

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7 NIV)

To serve as a reminder that God stopped the flow of the Jordan River in order to allow the ark and the Israelites to cross, Joshua commanded a man from each tribe to bring up a stone from the river. These stones would later be piled up at Gilgal to serve as a memorial to God and this mighty act of His. I studied this passage several years ago with my small group and was encouraged to collect “stones” of my own to commemorate God’s great work in my life. These spiritual markers could be any item representing the life-changing events that God has used to mold and shape me. Remembering helps keep us going when the seemingly impossible enters our lives. By looking back, we are reminded that with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

As I look back at how my daughter’s life started and the many hurdles she has jumped along the way in her 18 years, I can’t help but think of these words from David’s prayer after the prophet Nathan shared his revelation with David regarding the building of the temple:

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? (1 Chronicles 17:16 NIV)

I don’t necessarily know where you’ve started, what you’ve been through, or how far you’ve come, but I would imagine you, like me, are able to see some significant life-changing moments in the rearview mirror, moments that God has used to shape you into the person you are today. Will you join me in giving thanks to God for bringing you THIS far? To Him be all praise, honor, and glory. Amen.

(Written in honor of the birthday girl—From your first picture to your most recent, you’ve come a LONG way, baby!)

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