To be with Jesus

Well, I had to say goodbye to the sweetest lady I ever met yesterday, as she completed her journey on this earth. I will miss her more than words can say. But I am more than grateful for the time I was able to spend with her and to care for her, though I believe she did as much caring for me as I did for her. P.G. was a beautiful lady, inside and out. She raised four amazing children, which is a legacy to the life she lived. Even in her last few years, spent in a nursing home, she was able to work for the Lord, as she reached out to those less fortunate than herself and offered friendship and love to those that needed it. She spoke daily of her love of God, and shared His love freely. She was an inspiration to us all.

So, I am going to work this morning with a hole in my heart. But I praise God that the goodbye I had to say yesterday was really only, "see you later." Reunion day in heaven will be such an unspeakable joy, and it reminds us that our sadness is only temporary, and the reward is worth the wait.

An Easter Revelation

I am still reading "3:16 the Numbers of Hope" by Max Lucado. What I read this week just blew my mind, so I have to share.

"Mary, the mother of James, and Mary Magdalene have come to the tomb to place warm oils on a cold body and bid farewell to the one man who gave reason to their hopes.

"The women think they are alone. They aren't. they think their journey is unnoticed. They are wrong. God knows. And he has a surprise waiting for them.

" 'An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance' (Matt 28:2 NCV).

"Why did the angel move the stone? For whom did he roll away the rock?

"For Jesus? That's what I always thought. but think about it. Did the stone have to be removed in order for Jesus to exit? did God have to have help? Was the death conqueror so weak that he couldn't push away a rock?

"I don't think so. The text gives the impression that Jesus was already out when the stone was moved! For whom, then, was the stone moved?

"Listen to what the angel says: 'Come and see the place where his body was' (v. 6 NCV).

"The stone was moved--not for Jesus--but for the women; not so Jesus could come out, but so the women could see in!"

This was just such an amazing thought. The Lord was already risen. The tomb was empty. God had conquered sin and death. But no one knew. So, the angel had to move the stone, so that humans could be in on the action! It made me wonder what other stones he has needed to move, in my life, so that I could see what was really going on!

Inadequacy

Well, today, once again, I came face to face with my inadequacy as a Christian. I have a dear friend who is really facing some giants in her life right now. I tried my very best to help her through this difficult time. I felt that I would be able to do something for her. After all, I write books about how powerful my God is, that He can change lives. I just taught my class at church about Elijah on Mount Carmel, confronting 800 prophets of Baal, in a "My God is bigger than your god" battle, and I know that He is. I know that there is no problem that we can face that God can't handle. I know that there is no problem that we can face that God doesn't understand and care deeply about. I know that God can make the best come out of even the worst situation--He has done it for me.

But when I tried to help my dear Sister, I didn't have the words to say or the advice to give. I told her that God had a plan for her life. I said that she needed to trust God to show her what to do, that she needed to be patient, and allow him to work out the details. And I prayed with her (out loud, which I know most of you already know has been a hard skill for me to acquire). I said the best, most heart-felt prayer I could. And it was not enough.

Or at least it felt that way. I know that what I said is true. God will work out the details for the plan he has for her life. She can trust Him. But what if she is really just thinking, "That was nice of her to try to cheer me up," but she doesn't really believe it? I guess I expected some kind of miracle to happen right then. You know, tongues of fire, like the disciples experienced at Pentecost, or at least an overwhelming sense of peace, or something to indicate that God heard our prayers. How will she know that what I told her was the truth? What more could/should I have done? Or do I just sit back and say, "well, God, I did what I could. The rest is up to you?" (of course, it is!) It is just hard to try to help and not see any results. So, I guess I just keep praying and keep trying, right?

Jesus--The Stain Lifter

Last week, my coworker, Julie, decided to bless the staff on our unit with a hot waffle breakfast, to thank them for all that they do for our patients. I wanted to contribute, too, so I decided to make blueberry syrup to go with the waffles.

The next morning, I got up early and began to make the syrup. I washed the frozen berries that I had saved from last summer. They were so plump and juicy! I knew they would be perfect. I added sugar and cooked them up, making the most delicious, thick, sweet syrup ever! I quickly put the syrup in the container, making sure the lid was tight, and carried it out to my car. I couldn’t wait to share with everyone!

By the time I got to work, however, I found an enormous, sticky mess leaking out of the hatch of my car. The syrup had tipped over and somehow knocked the lid off the container, spilling about a gallon of thick, blue, sticky goo all over the inside of my car! I just couldn’t imagine how I would ever get the mess out. Blueberries make a great dye, so I was sure that my grey carpet would be purple forever.

I had to work all day. I thought about taking the car to the carwash next door to vacuum out the berries, but that still wouldn’t get the sticky syrup out of the carpet, and the stain would still be there. I would need a better plan.

When I got home, I got all of my cleaning supplies together and went to work. I scooped and scrubbed and dabbed and brushed, and then did it all again and again. It took me almost three hours, but with lots of detergent and elbow grease, I was able to get the carpet clean. (The rubber around my hatch still sticks, though I have cleaned it twice more).

This made me think. I have made a sticky, gooey mess of my life so many times. I have great big blueberry sin stains on my heart and soul, but Jesus has just the right “detergent” to get me really clean. The Bible says, “Though your sins are like scarlet (or blueberries?), they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, NIV). And: “These are they that have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14, NIV).

I praise God that He is able to cleanse even the messiest sin from my life, leaving no stain behind! Jesus is the best stain-lifter ever!

Family blessings

My daughter has been in the military for several months now. I have worried a lot about her since she left. I have especially worried about her spiritual life. She is in a special program and must spend many hours a day studying. She also has interactions with people from all walks of life, and I have worried about how she might handle new situations and new ideas. I pray for her a lot, and I have to remind myself that God is watching over her now, and my time to influence her is largely over.

I am pleased to say that I now know that I don't have to worry. My daughter has always shown great interest in spiritual things and has always demonstrated great faith in God. This week, she faced a great challenge, and things worked out in an amazing way:

She has been attending worship services on base weekly and has been highly involved with her new "church". Then, a few weeks ago, she finally got the opportunity to attend a church out in the community. She was immediately impressed that she needed to be involved in the ministry in this church. She was asked to participate in the worship service this past weekend (though I don't know exactly what part she took).

After she accepted the offer, things began to happen. First of all, she lost her ID card. This meant that she could not eat in the mess hall, among other limitations. Also, someone got ahold of her bank Debit card, and drained her account, so she had no money to go off base for her meals. She also broke her wrist. She was tired and hungry. She "had a very bad week."

She couldn't help thinking that somehow these "challenges" had some connection with her feeling that she needed to participate somehow in ministry. She asked her chaplain about it, and she prayed. A lot. She knew God was trying to tell her something.

When it was time for her part in the church service this week, she was given a message by her chaplain, which she was to present to her church. But she decided to give a message of her own. Everyone in the congregation told her afterward what a blessing they had received. Then the chaplain approached her. Would he be upset that she chose her own material, instead of the message he prepared for her?

He also told her what a blessing she had been. He saw that she had a gift. He could see that she was meant to be there. He told her that her message was exactly what that church had needed, and that God must have given it to her. Then he offered her an amazing opportunity: to serve in the ministry as a lay leader! He will oversee all of the paperwork and schedule the hours that she needs, so that she can essentially be an assistant chaplain. And this comes at a time that the current position is coming open!

And as for her "challenges"? She was able to get her credit protection program to work with her bank and her money in her account was restored, and she found her ID card. "Now I can eat!"

What an amazing God!

What's in a name

In American culture, people are given names for many reasons. If we are named after our parents or grandparents, or other people that were significant in our parents’ lives, our names may have meaning, but more often than not, our names have little significance, except that our parents liked the sound of it. In Bible times, however, people were often given names to describe their character. For instance, Abram, whose name meant “Exhalted father” (though he had no children at the time), was given a new name, Abraham, meaning “Father of many” after God promised to make him the father of a great nation. His son was named “Isaac,” which means, “he laughs,” because, as Sarah (his mother) said, “God has brought me laughter! All who hear abou this will laugh with me.” Gen 21:6.

Isaac had two sons, Esau, “hairy,” and Jacob, “deceiver.” Can you imagine what it must have been like to be in school in that culture? “okay, class, take your seats. Hairy, please sit down. Deceiver, did you finish your homework? Trouble, please erase the chalkboard. Smiley, please hand out the assignments…” I guess my name isn’t so bad after all!

But Jacob didn’t have to keep such a name for long. After a night wrestling with the Lord, he was given a new name, “Israel,” or, “One who struggles with God.” How fitting that he goes on to head a nation that continued to struggle with God throughout history. And now, for those of us who consider ourselves to be part of spiritual Israel, (see Galatians 3:29), we continue to struggle with God in our daily lives.

It seems that throughout the scriptures, whenever someone encountered a life-changing experience with God, he would change their name. Perhaps this is why he promises in Revelation 2:17, “…And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (NLT). I used to think that this meant that God knows something about my character that he wants everyone to know, so he changes my name. I would often wonder what it might be. That is a difficult question: what does God see in me that he would want to name me for? As I have pondered this question, a new idea crossed my mind.

I have read a lot about how bad it is to label our kids (or anyone else for that matter). Kids that grow up being told that they are “losers” or that they will “never amount to anything,” or that they are “stupid” or “fat” or “lazy” end up living up to the labels. They call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the kids hear it enough, they start believing it, and then they start acting like they believe they are actually the label. But, this also works the other way around. If we remind them how smart, or successful, or brave, or handsome, or beautiful, or thoughtful, etc, they begin to believe it, if they hear it enough.

So, now I wonder if God is choosing a name for me that will be more of a label of what He knows I can be. Coming from a fallen world, I worry that I won’t be fit for heaven. Maybe God will give me a name like “trusting,” knowing that I don’t have enough trust. Then, I may say to myself, “Wow. If God thinks I am trusting, maybe I am. Then I will start to act more trusting, because I think that God already sees me this way, and I won’t want to let him down. Then, I may actually find that I am trusting, as I exercise my new “trust” muscle.

As I thought about this more, I thought of ways that maybe I could use this new idea. Maybe I will start to call my children by more positive labels. When my daughter challenges me, I can say, “Wow. You are becoming such an independent woman.” When my patients or my coworkers bring me a complaint, I can say, “Thank you for helping me to fix this problem,” instead of shaking my head at their complaints. Maybe I can start looking specifically for people’s positive contributions and will see how caring, or thoughtful, or proactive they are, and treat them that way.

Maybe then God will have to think of a new name for me…..

The Brook Besor

Right now for my devotional time, I am reading, “Facing your Giants,” by Max Lucado. It is essentially a study of life-lessons from the story of King David. David is one of my favorite Bible heroes. His story gives me strength and courage, and an overwhelming sense of God’s love for me in spite of my failures.

Chapter 9 of Max’s book, entitled, “Plopping Points,” describes an encounter that I have somehow overlooked, in the dozen or more studies that I have done on the life of David.
As the story goes, David and his men had just returned from battle, only to find that their village had been destroyed, and their families had been taken captive by the enemy army. The men were devastated, worn out, and angry. They set off to rescue their families and recapture their belongings.

In their pursuit of the enemy band, David and his army came to a brook, called Besor. They rested a while, got some water, and then David gave the command to get back on the trail, but 200 of the soldiers decided to stay and rest. They could go no further. The army moved on and left them behind.

Max asks, “How tired does a person have to be to abandon the hunt for his own family?”

He goes on, “The church has its quorum of such folks. Good people. Godly people. Only hours or years ago they marched with deep resolve. But now fatigue consumes them. They’re exhausted. So beat-up and worn down that they can’t summon the strength to save their own flesh and blood. Old age has sucked their oxygen. Or maybe it was a deflating string of defeat. Divorce can leave you at the brook. Addiction can as well. Whatever the reason, the church has its share of people who just sit and rest.”

I remember the last time I was at Brook Besor. I can still taste the water. I was overwhelmed by Satan’s attacks on every area of my life. I couldn’t fight anymore. I was at the end of my rope, even considering throwing in the towel and ending my life. I remember yelling at God, “You promised me that you would never give me more than I can handle, but you did! I can’t take it! I can’t go on like this! If you want me to keep going, you are going to have to do something about it, because I can’t fight anymore!”

And do you know what happened? While I was waiting at the brook, too tired to fight, God did what David and his men did in this story: He fought the battle for me! Within weeks, things had changed. Through no effort of my own, some of the problems simply worked themselves out. Others became more manageable, and I was able to gain perspective on how to better handle each situation. Within months, I was back on my feet, and life was good once again.

Just as David and his army continued on their battle, rescuing their families and recapturing their belongings (and making sure that those resting at the brook got their share, even when the rest of the army wanted to exclude them), Jesus fights our battles, and wins the victory for us!

So, when you are battle-weary, come to the Brook Besor and rest a while. Let Jesus fight for you!