Author: Cherry Finamore

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Faithful Servant

Dear Sister,

Sometimes I think I can’t give any more. It feels as if I’m pulled in a thousand different directions. “Help me here. Now.  Give me this. Now. Would you mind? Now. I’m hungry. Now.” And no one ever asks me what I would like. Or if I’m hungry. Or tired. Give, give, give, give, give. Not that the perception of the moment is accurate, mind you, but this is how I ‘feel’ when I’m having a pity-party. Thankfully, it does not happen very often.

Most of my days are filled with insistent calls upon me and I don’t even have little ones around tugging relentlessly at my apron strings. I’m close to the biblical three score and ten and my used-to-be little ones have now given me grand children. My life is instead filled with care-giving to my elderly mama, to a child with special needs, and my dear husband to whom I have been given the role of helper and life-giver. And I’m usually very thankful for the privilege. But some days…

It’s on days like these when I am reminded of a definition of servanthood I once heard. “A true servant is one who doesn’t mind being treated like one.” It is our sinfulness which gives license to think we are such great servants as we groan our way through dutiful acts, deserving of some thanks for our services. When we are not thanked or appreciated according to our expectations, often what we deem as our “gentle, servants’ hearts” are betrayed by another heart, a complaining heart, a frustrated heart, a fickle heart, an untrue heart, a disappointed heart, a heart that served in order to honor self and not to glorify our majestic God.

Romans 12 has been echoing in my mind of late, when I’m weary, when I want to give in to myself. Read it for yourself. Pray through it. Ask God for grace to do it. I know you grow weary too, in the face of the exigencies of life.

Paul tells us we must present our bodies as living sacrifices, dying to ourselves, a “living killing” as one author put it, holy and acceptable to God. He says we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. He exhorts us to do our acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Our love is to be genuine, not feigned or counterfeit. We are to love one another with brotherly affection and outdo each other in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, says Paul. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer.

My heart falls on metaphorical knees before Christ and repents of self-absorption, reminded of how Christ loved me when I was lost and unlovely, and very demanding; how He died the death I deserve; thinking of how He promises to never leave me or forsake me; how He welcomes me to His throne of grace for the umpteenth time. I ponder how He washed His haughty disciples’ feet as a vivid lesson to them and to us to meet the needs of others in true servant form. Imagine. The King of the universe on His knees, gently cleaning sweaty, smelly, filthy feet from the routine walk of messy living. 12 pairs. One of them hated Him. Jesus does this for me every day and for you, if you are His. In the remembering, in the confession, joy returns. Strength for the daily-ness  is renewed. Perspective is re-ordered.

Dear Sister, let us be faithful in lovingly serving others–our husbands, our children, our friends, strangers in our paths, especially when there is seemingly nothing to be gained in return. After all, Jesus told us that He, God in flesh, came to serve, not to be served, and I am to be like Him. Why do I ever think I am entitled to more?   Let us not grow weary of doing good, says Paul, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Our reward is heavenly. Lift your eyes above earthly cares and disappointments. Someday it will be His eyes you will see, so very clearly. Serve Him faithfully now.

Love,
Cherry

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Faithful Through and Through

Dear Sister,

When good things happen I often hear, ‘God is so faithful, isn’t He?’ I often wonder if the circumstance had turned out badly would I hear, ‘God is so faithful, isn’t He?’

It seems that the last ten years of my life have been a roller coaster of what we human beings call good and bad. New life, death, disease, healing, troubled relationships, forgiveness, excruciatingly slow sanctification. What I am learning practically, though I have long understood positionally and theologically, is that through all of it, God has remained faithful, true to His Word. Through the cancer diagnosis and viciously disabling treatments, through the healing, through the joy of two daughters’-in-law pregnancies and precious babies born, through miscarriages and premature, non-viable births, to sons and their wives weeping at their losses, to a little boy born with club feet, multiple castings and surgeries and pain for a grandson, to the death of a godly and loving father, to the decline of a mother and best friend…Yet, I can say with all confidence, without bravado, He is faithful.

God is not just faithful when all goes well. God remains faithful when the anguish is so intense that breathing is labored. God remains faithful when all earthly hope is gone. God remains faithful when a heart is filled with immobilizing fear. God is faithful when the days are dark, storm clouds weigh heavy in the skies, waves are crashing all around threatening to overwhelm and drown.

God’s faithfulness is not dependent on the circumstances in our lives. He is faithful to His own character, Who He is.  And we know Who He is from His Word. He is faithful to save for all eternity those whom He has chosen. He is faithful to forgive them because He said He would. He is faithful to complete the work He has begun in us because He promised to do so. He is faithful to never leave us or forsake us when the loved one is not healed in spite of our pleadings.  He made Himself known when babies were born imperfect in the world’s eyes.  He was there when little ones died. He was present at the graveside as they lowered the tiny box into the grave and I watched my son, with his own hands, shovel clods of dirt over their dream. Ashes to ashes…

Dear sister, God does not promise to make our lives trouble free. Had He done so, they would indeed be trouble free. He promised they would be difficult and filled with fiery trials and temptations. He has promised that He will chasten us for our presumptuous sins so that we will repent more quickly and deeply. He put us in this messy, chaotic, trouble-filled life to save us and sanctify us slowly but surely–and in the pain-filled process, gradually peel our hearts and eyes away from this world and its baubles and troubles and fix our longings on our heavenly home where all things will fully and finally be trouble-free. We would never crave the new heaven and earth if we were not weary of the old. We would never learn to love our God and find Him most satisfying above all people or things or places if we did not endure the dissatisfaction and emptiness of grasping and acquiring and fading, short-lived happinesses.

His faithfulness is based on who He is, not what we want Him to be or do. And we will never know Who He is unless we immerse ourselves in His Word so that He can tell us Who He is. When we live and breathe and exude Christ we will, with deep-seated joy in our souls, say, “He is faithful!”, though the tears are streaming down our faces.

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul.” Psalm 66: 16

Cling, dear Sister. Cling to our always faithful God.

Love,
Cherry

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Dare to Be Faithful

Dear Sister,

His middle name is Daniel. Dare to be a Daniel and all that. In my barrenness I had begged God for a child, but only if he would walk faithfully with God. So, He gave, and we prayed that this gift, this boy, would be the fulfillment of that prayer, that he would be like Daniel.

The book which bears his name is filled with strange imagery and prophecies which are not readily understandable, but the first few chapters in this Old Testament writing quickly grab my heart and I get it.  I pray that Daniel’s unabashed faithfulness would be in me and my family and all of God’s true children.

What if our boys were taken as spoils in a brutal war? What if we were taken as a trophy for some pagan king? Would we be immobilized by fear or hysteria? Would dread of torture or death cause us to submit to the new culture and its ways?

Yes, Daniel and his friends were cared for lavishly so as to adorn the pagan king’s reputation and kingdom by owning the choicest of young men, boys with good looks, intelligence, and aptitudes. But this care came with contingencies. Study hard or else. Wear a pagan, idolatrous name befitting the captor nation’s gods. Eat the royal delicacies or…

Was this a difficult submission for Daniel? The Scriptures do not reveal any conundrum in his heart. They tell us what he did. And he did it with incredible wisdom, winsomeness, and empathy for his caretaker. Oh, he studied hard and excelled. He knew that this secular education would not take away his knowledge and love for Yahweh, his God. He accepted his new Babylonian name.  He knew that it did not change who he was intrinsically. He was still Daniel in his heart. But…the food! That was a different story. God had strict rules about Israel’s permitted foods and those banned from the pagan nations. Perhaps the royal fare compromised those directives? Perhaps the edibles were dedicated to idols and consuming them would appear to the watching court to be submission to these false gods? For whatever reason, Daniel believed eating would compromise him and his testimony, yet he did not outright refuse. He politely asked his superior, to whom he had already earned favor by his excellent work and demeanor, for an exemption from the order to eat the king’s delicacies for a set period of time on the condition that his health and appearance would not suffer as a result. Scripture tells us he had purposed in his heart to not defile himself.  He resolved beforehand that he would not acquiesce to the culture in such a way as to compromise his walk with his God. This was his red line. You know the story. He passes the test and is eventually elevated to a high position in the court for all his pursuit of excellence. He is found trustworthy by all. But, exalted status often results in jealousy and evil men sought to undermine and bring him low–to the point of death. Through it all, Daniel remains faithful to Yahweh. He will not compromise though execution looms large before his face.

Recently I reread Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. I was struck by faithfulness like Daniel’s and his friends’ loyalties and was ashamed at the myriad times I fail to speak a simple word for Jesus when my only consequence might be a puzzled look or some scorn. How I long for, pray for such love for Christ that boldness would break forth from my heart and my lips no matter the fallout. I pray for deeds that stand the test of the furnace,  a reputation that causes even lions to be at peace with me. I ask Him for a life that is vindicated by God even as Daniel’s.

His name means ‘God is my judge’. Daniel lived in light of that designation. He did not want to disappoint. That’s how I want to live.

Love,
Cherry

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The Greatest Faithfulness

Dear Sister,

We just celebrated Easter. Like Christmas, Resurrection Day has taken on all the trappings of the Secularist. New Beginnings. Spring. Freshness of rain and sun to wash away winter.  Goddess of fertility.  Tulips and Narcissus. Bunnies and dyed eggs and pure sugar jellybeans. Such misdirection.

Recently, I read and reread 1 Corinthians 15.  If the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not true, we, of all people, are most miserable. If the resurrection is a fable, why give our lives to a myth just to make ourselves feel better about inevitable death hanging over our heads. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow only brings death, and with it, total silence. If Christ is not raised, nor will we be raised. Our faith is empty, says Paul. We are still in our sins. We might as well shake our fists at a mythical or unfaithful, mocking God who sits in a heaven reserved for Himself alone.

Ah, but we know better. We can read all the books on apologetics, proving the resurrection, and they help. But the greatest apologetic for the believer is the living and powerful Word of God which quickens our hearts to believe and understand the resurrection, the dynamite power that raised Christ from the dead, the same power that removed the glaze, the veil from our own spiritual eyes and lack of understanding concerning our Risen Lord. We now know wholeheartedly that we died in Adam. We, by faith, are certain we were made alive in Christ. Peter tells us we have been given a living hope, the confidence that comes from God Himself that we too will be raised from the dead, a heavenly inheritance that is not subject to earthly corruption or defilement, nor does it fade away. Peter continues to state that we are able to remain faithful to God despite the sure trials of this difficult life because His power and presence in the sufferings will prove the genuineness of our faith in Jesus Christ. The end result is the salvation of our souls. But only if we are His…

Life really is very short. The older we get, the shorter it seems. Eternity is a very long time.  We know the day of our birth. We do not know the day of our death. God knows. God determined it. Are we ready? Do we know Him? Do we belong to Him? We can work hard to make ourselves acceptable to our Creator or to make sure we make the cut between heaven and hell, but He says our supposed attempts at righteousness are the same as filthy rags. Jesus will say to those who worked hard with wonderful deeds, “Depart from me, You workers of iniquity. I never knew you.”  Terrifying. Our right standing before Christ is not based on our works or we would boast. It is based on His work for us, our sins placed on Him, His perfect righteousness given to us by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9) God says we are dead in our sins and corpses do not respond or make decisions.   Ask Him to make your heart alive to Him. You can’t conjure it up. He has to do it for you. He will take away your sins and make you His own daughter, and us, your sisters.

Trust Him, my friend, with all your soul. His Word says He is faithful to do it. He can be trusted completely. He will never deceive you. His faithfulness is without blemish, untarnished by any weakness.

” ‘Jesus sinners doth receive’,
word of surest consolation;
Word all sorrow to relieve, word of pardon, peace, salvation!
Naught like this can comfort give;
‘Jesus sinners doth receive.’

On God’s grace we have no claim,
yet to us His pledge is given;
He hath sworn by His own name,
open are the gates of heaven.
Take to heart this word and live:
‘Jesus sinners doth receive.’

When a helpless lamb doth stray,
after it, the Shepherd, pressing
thro’ each dark and dang’rous way,
brings it back, His own possessing.
Jesus seeks thee, O believe: ‘Jesus sinners doth receive.’

Oh, how blest it is to know: were as scarlet my transgression,
it shall be as white as snow by Thy blood and bitter passion;
For these words I now believe: ‘Jesus sinners doth receive.’

Now my conscience is at peace,
from the Law I stand acquitted;
Christ hath purchased my release
and my every sin remitted.
Naught remains my soul to grieve–
‘Jesus sinners doth receive.’ ”
(Hymn based on lyrics by Erdmann Neumeister 1671-1756)

Love,
Cherry

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Slowly Forward

Dear Sister,

It will be thirty-nine years in August. How eagerly I waited for the day of my wedding. We had dated off and on for nine years. Somewhere in there God saved us both for Himself. When my man finally asked my daddy if he could marry me, we planned and executed a wedding within five days. It had been a long and unpredictable romance, a whirlwind engagement, but the marriage has been slow and steady and faithful and satisfying. We promised before God and family on that day so long ago to love and honor and be true to each other till death do us part. By His grace we continue.

Our world is marked by unfaithfulness. Nothing new. The Bible is filled with unfaithfulness–Stories of many unfaithful people, that is. Unfaithfulness comes in many stripes and colors. Unfaithful to a spouse in adultery… Unfaithful in promises made to a friend… Our word has ceased to be our bond. Unfaithful concerning loyalties…Gossip…Disobedience to parents, to authorities, to God…all marks of the unfaithful heart. We find a myriad examples in our own relationships and spheres of acquaintances and God has given us many examples in Scripture. Adam and Eve. Cain. The whole world save Noah. Israel. Achan. King Saul. Scribes. Pharisees. Judas.

At times faithfulness seems tedious, like a lumbering ox plowing a field, ponderously going up and down the furrows day after day,  not understanding the reward following the monotony. Unlike the cow we have reasoning powers and can consciously discern that the everyday-ness of faithfulness yields much harvest, but we too easily get tired or bored and throw up our hands, wondering if it is worth it. How many diapers must I change and how many arguments must I umpire? How often am I required to suffer the wounds of that friend or family member? How much longer will I have strength to care for my frail parent? How many months or years must I pray for a son’s salvation? What’s in it for me? We’re tired of the world’s sneers at our beliefs and life-style. Don’t we have a right to autonomy, to be free to do as we please? And the world beckons with its deceiving and attractive selfishness. ‘Come with me. Throw off your yoke of bondage to others. Do as you feel.’  Exhaustion from responsibilities can do that to us.

But, as we know, all of life is bound up in consequences for decisions and behaviors. In our right-thinking moments we see the results of unfaithfulness around us, of the bodies strewn along the way, damaged and bloodied, marriages and friendships broken, reputations sullied, children devastated, hearts shattered. Lies. Deceit. We never sin alone.

But God…In His glorious strength and power intrudes into our lives (as Joni Tada aptly says) and breaks the power of our selfish hearts and gives grace to be faithful in that difficult marriage, to be kind in that hurtful friendship, to be patient with that little one who spills and makes messes, to be tender with the parent who is becoming a child again. We are not to be weary in doing good, says Paul in Galatians 6:9,  because in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. But before that, in the same chapter, he said that if we sow to our own flesh (selfishness) we will bear its fruit: corruption. If we sow to the Spirit (obedience to Christ) we will reap eternal life. That’s why we do not become faint-hearted in faithfulness to what God commands. And then Paul enjoins us to do good to everyone, as opportunity arises, especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

There you have it… We are weak and ‘prone to wander’, we find it difficult to consider others before ourselves and to focus our hearts on the reward for faithfulness. Let us turn from ourselves,  my sister, and “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”  Christ’s life was rough here on earth, but “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (From Hebrews 12:2)

When you feel as though you cannot put one foot in front of the other, think on that day when our longings to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your master,” will be realized and we will see Jesus face to face.  

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) All by His mercy and grace.

Love,

Cherry