Tag: Savior

Posted on

Joy in Dark Times

Dear sister,

One of our homeschool mom’s stood in front of our group with tears in her eyes as she recounted her time spent comforting her friend whose husband was killed in a helicopter crash off the shores of Hawaii. She described how his extra boots stood watch at the door and how the mechanical smell of the uniforms he left behind laced the house. The widow and her four children grieved deeply, asked why loudly, and some became silent as they turned inward sadly. They were used to having him absent for long spells, but contemplating him never coming home tore their hearts.

Two days later, I listened to an Indian women give her testimony of how her husband broke her neck and spine, smashed her head on railroad tracks, and pulled her sari so hard it stripped her naked in the streets. She managed to run away only to face the condemnation from women who told her she should have stayed with her husband. She told of her reoccurring blackouts as a result of years of beatings and how she was threatened by the mafia to stop trying to free their slave labor children or else.

Both women cried out to God saying that He must have made a mistake! How could this God they loved, allow this guttural sorrow and pain to his child and then say He is the comforter of the widow, father to the fatherless, and head lifter of the broken? As they were sharing this part of the story, through their tears something remarkable appeared: A smile. Not one that declared madness or hilarity, but one that revealed the hope they had that the scripture was true and their hope secure in Christ. This God declares that He will bind up the brokenhearted, never leave or forsake His children, is able to catch all the burdens we throw at Him, and wipes all our tears away forever. The widow clings to the knowledge that she will dance with her husband again in heaven while the abused knows vengeance is the Lord’s. Because of this, she now rescues those from the slavery and bondage she knew well.

After hearing the testimony of the widow’s friend, my daughter declared she wanted to watch “Inside Out”. As I saw Joy and Sadness try and help Riley out of her newfound pain, I realized the cartoon explained to me something simple: sometimes we need sadness to bring joy. We do not realize the pain of sorrow often alerts us (and others) of our need for encouragement and help. Our emotional marbles cannot be parsed. They are not simply red, blue, yellow, green, or purple. They are often mixed. These women experienced this in their own lives; the body of Christ came in their deepest need to sit, listen, pray, and be the hope they needed when they had little. And joy came in the morning.

Now what does this all mean for us sisters? Oh sister, there can be joy in the sorrow when our faith is grounded on the foundation of the Word. The Bible’s narrative is true. There is sin in the world and bad things happen because of the curse of Eden. This world will never be perfect again until Christ returns and takes us home (which is our Blessed Hope). Yet, from the beginning, God promised a deliverer and rescuer to come to save those who trust in Him. The Old Testament points to the coming One, the gospels reveal this Messiah, while the Letters tell us how to live in light of what Christ did on the cross. Christ endured the suffering of the cross for the joy of our salvation. He is our example of going through pain with a solid, sturdy, joy of trusting and obeying His Father. He had joy in His suffering.

What about us sisters? What are we grounded in? Will we have joy when sorrow and pain knock us off our feet? Will this deep joy come from our knowledge of the Word and it’s hope of a Savior? The assured hope that we serve a Savior that was abandoned, spat on, hated, and cursed, yet trusted that His Father had Him and would never forsake Him? That He found joy in the trial of even death itself? Like these sweet, broken women, feed yourself on the truth of the Word so when storms rage, you too can break into a confident smile because you are loved, will never be forsaken, and that joy comes in the morning because his mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great.  Our hope comes with joy!

Joyfully Yours,

Colleen

Posted on

God’s Plan Is My Hope

My Dearest Sister,

You may or may not know this, but I am the kind of person who likes to have a plan for everything. Knowing what’s going to happen next makes me feel grounded, secure and like everything is under control. You could definitely say that I am not a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of person. While this may just seem like a funny little quirk, as I’m sure my husband will tell you it can be a real problem sometimes, especially when my plans start to fall apart. Being an Army wife, it can be especially difficult at times because there’s so much of the future that is unknown. Where will we be stationed after flight school? When will my husband get deployed? How long will it be until I can see my family back home again? It’s hard to plan around the unknown. But if I don’t make sure everything is in order, who will, right? Maybe you have felt this way yourself at some point.

This anxiety about the future has been on my mind a lot lately. It wasn’t until I had utterly “freaked” myself out about what our plans for the future were going to be that I remembered a favorite passage in Jeremiah: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). It was almost as if God was saying “Hey, Lauren, you need to calm down and relax. Remember the peace I have in mind for you. Hope in me and the future I have planned for you, not the plan you’re designing for yourself.” As soon as I read that passage, it was like the floodgates of hope just opened up. God has everything under control. Even if I don’t know the plan, I can be sure that He only has my good in mind. I can always hope and rely on God’s goodness. What a reassurance that was to me! No matter how thoroughly I plot my plans can always fall apart, but God’s plans for me never fail. I always have a hope for the future in Him.

As marvelous as this promise is, the concept of hope extends even further. Not only do we have a reason to hope for our future in this life, but we have a greater and more glorious hope in the next eternal one. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 highlights this hope: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day…. we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” When we are in Christ, we have a hope that surpasses our earthly troubles and worries. Too often we focus on the temporary of this life, the perishing things around us. What we should be focusing on are the spiritual things that are eternal and don’t pass away because that is where our hope is secure. So while the sea of life may be rough and toss us about in its swells, as Hebrews 6:19 says about the promise of eternal life in Christ, “this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” Even the waves of trials and heartaches – though they may be great – cannot overcome our hope in Christ. For you see, dear sister, even the pain and suffering on this earth have an end. When we start looking past the temporary and focus on the endless hope we have in Christ, suddenly the temporary isn’t as daunting anymore.

Even though I am trying to hope and trust in God’s plan for my future, it is very difficult sometimes. At least if I write down a schedule, I can see it and understand it because it’s directly in front of me. It is much harder to hope in the unseen things. But as Romans 8:24 so poignantly says “hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees?” Therefore, we can only hope in the unseen, the spiritual truths of God, not in the sure things of this life. Oh, how marvelous the Word of God is, the way it challenges us to change! And so, dear sister, I urge you to join me in focusing on your hope in Christ for your future, and not leaning only on your own plans for yourself; to remember your hope is not just in this temporary life, but in the eternal. What a better season to change our focus than this Christmas? Let us celebrate together the birth of the One who brought hope to the world, not just a temporary hope, but an eternal one. For while the visible things of this world will pass away, nothing can take away the hope we have in our Savior.

Your loving sister in Christ,
~ Lauren

Posted on

The Virtue of Self Control

Dear Sister,

As the autumn leaves begin to express changes beyond their control, I meditate upon what truly controls those changes that always result in the colorful splendor of a landscape that had been monochromatic for many months.  It is not that the leaves lack self control.  It is that they submit to the One Who controls the leaves—and everything else in His Creation.

Often enough, I think that I am in control of my time and space, my person and health, my ambitions and my will.  I make my agenda, go for my walk, and make my plans.  I think that I have it all together—that is, until someone or something gets in the way of what follows the “my”.

I used to believe that self-control was something I demonstrated to others.  I always received an A on my report cards in the area of Behavior and Self-Control.  How glad I was to know that the teacher had missed those times— when I chatted during class, when I used a cheat sheet, or when I lied that I knew John Lennon’s cousin!   With total satisfaction, I took my “A” in Behavior and Self-Control and thought of myself as being a very good little girl.

You know, Dear Sister, my Christian walk began late in life, but, I thank my God for His perfect timing.  I love my Holy God, I love the Holy Bible, and I love His holy people.  But what I do not love is the sinner that I was and still am.  To think that my good behavior and self-control had been rewarded, I recognize even that as sin.  There is no small sin—not for a child, not for a woman, not for the daughter of the Most High God.  Sin is sin, the result of not having self-control.

How could there be true self-control, without God controlling the SELF?  Whenever I forget that, and I forget it too often, I will answer unkindly, or boil up with impatience, or participate in gossip.  You could see me in action anytime someone crosses my plans, or crosses my path, or crosses my pride.  There is only one cross that should affect us. It is the Cross of Christ.  

Self-control is a wonderful virtue that comes when we believe that all of our sins—past, present and, future sins— are completely forgiven because God has given us the faith to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  His death on the cross was not drama for books and films, but was a real event that had cosmic effect over all time, space and creation.  It is a virtue that helps us set limits, restrains our behaviors, and keeps us hopeful.  As Peter states so tenderly: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  (1 Peter 1:13)  Although Peter may be speaking here about Christ’s Second Coming, for new believers, or for those you and I meet today who may believe, this is great advice for the changing of lives and for the renewing of minds.  

As you and I, Dear Sister, continue in our Christian walk, remember that we want to hate sin and anything out of control that reeks of sin, and that when we do sin, we have Jesus, our Advocate, and God’s Throne of Mercy and Grace.  We need to remember that our Christian walk is paved with virtuous struggles, preserving us by God’s Holy Spirit.  Again, I refer to Peter, whose lack of self-control mirrored our impetuosity, our impertinence, and our impropriety.  He indicates here how each virtue moves toward self-control, and, then, builds upon self-control.  

From 2 Peter 1: 6-8,  “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

Notice, Dear One, self-control is right in the middle!
Let us look, again, at the exquisite leafy panorama in orange, yellow, red and gold, and remember that the same God Who controls these dying leaves, are controlling us and preserving us for a magnificent eternal life with Him.
Enjoy His gift of autumn!
Mimi