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Did You Say, Rejoice? Really?

Dear Sister,

To my mind and apparently the minds of many others, these are dark days for our country—politically, economically, and spiritually. It seems our way of life as well as our freedoms are threatened more and more every day. I find myself tempted to wring my hands and pull my hair, muttering, “What to do? What to do?” Don’t you?

Well, STOP (and please remind me if you see me succumb)!

First, this is not our forever home. Think about that—breathe it in. Our eternal existence is not dependent on our saving this world, this country, or this government. Remember our church fathers? Even Jesus’ very disciples existed in a world full of slavery, religious oppression, political oppression, and nonexistent or bad plumbing! They were a mess. Yet, in the midst of that mess, in fact in prison himself, Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing 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, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Second, it is not our job to save the world! Jesus has already accomplished salvation for those whom the Father has given to Him(John 17), all we are charged with doing is sharing it, discipling those who receive Him and endeavoring to travel the path of righteousness (cross-carrying/dying to sins… NOT comfortable, but filled with His peace, His joy), for His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3b)

Finally, remember those Israelites—the ones who were slaves in Egypt for forever, rescued by God, then living in tents in the desert for 40 years before finally managing to move into their new home (that makes my two month wait for a house in a hotel room with seven people look like an awesome vacation). That poor group of people finally got their dream home only to lose it later because they stopped following God’s heart and ended up in exile/slavery again. Well, I found it interesting that in the midst of their troubles, they finally got permission (permission from the pagan king who held them captive) that they could rebuild the house of the Lord. “And they sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.’ And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” (Ezra 3:11) They were not comfortable, they were not free, they were not sure of anything really (and even the temple rebuild had setbacks); regardless of their worldly difficulties, they shouted, “God is Good! His lovingkindness is upon us forever!” Today, right here in the mess we are in, He is still faithful, good, and full of lovingkindness for us. Rejoice, dear sister, rejoice in the Lord!

Running with you,

Rebecca

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Overwhelmed to Overflowing

Dear sister,

I had to take a deep breath before typing this because I really don’t like admitting struggles: Sometimes singleness is really, really hard.

Maybe, sister, your life is really hard right now too. You’re lonely, you’re longing for a baby, someone close just died, you’re desperately praying for someone’s salvation, perhaps all your kids came down with a stomach flu at the same time and you’re just not quite sure how you’re going to survive the next few hours, much less a whole day.

These are the times that haunt us—these breathless, painful, deep, dark times where you can actually feel physical weight bringing you down. Sometimes they’re brief and you can see light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes you are pretty sure this is the cross God is asking you to bear for the rest of your time on earth.

First, have courage, dear heart! God tells us not to fear. But He doesn’t tell us to be strong. In fact, He says His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). What we do with our weakness shows Who we’re made of.

But in our weakened state we may be prone to turning our eyes from the One who provides strength. When we search for it in ourselves we start to question and want the things God has not provided. As John Calvin said, our hearts are idol factories. Always wanting to fill God’s place with other things.

This is, of course, literally the oldest sin known to man. God gave Adam and Eve paradise, fulfilled their every need, and yet told them not to eat of one tree. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6)

It is worth making the distinction that it is not sinful to desire things God has called good. The Lord said it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), and that children are a blessing from Him (Psalm 127:3), for example. It is godly to desire them. It is, however, sinful to be discontent when our holy desires are not met; when we’re coveting what others have. Let us learn from Paul, who wrote from a Roman prison “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

When the Israelites begged Moses for things he looked at them in disbelief. He and Aaron reminded them over and over again what God had done for them—He protected them from plagues, brought them out of slavery, brought them across the Red Sea. And throughout the Old Testament this is a recurring theme—paragraphs listing what God had done for Israel, over and over, and yet they said it was not enough.

In 2 Samuel the prophet Nathan goes to rebuke David after he has slept with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed. “Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.”’” (2 Samuel 12:7-8, emphasis mine)

In similar fashion, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) God has created us. He sustains us. He provides the air in our lungs and those lungs to breathe it with. He has given us food for our bellies, sleep for our minds, water for our bodies, and shelter from the elements. He sent His Son to do what we are unable to do: live a perfect life and bear His wrath. He who knew no sin BECAME SIN FOR US that we might dwell with Him forever, washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

And yet, sister, we dare to complain.

But even in this, God shows His amazing love for us. He delights in His children. He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17), He collects all our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8), He restores our souls (Psalm 23:3).

Rejoice with me, sister, that even when it feels like our desires will crush us under their weight, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined he also called, and those whom He called he also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” (Romans 8:26-30)

What breathtaking, deep, wondrous grace is this, O my soul! Drink deeply, sister, and be satisfied.

Love,

Sarah

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Hope in the Forest of Life

My family has had many changes recently. Since November, we have flown to Ethiopia to bring back our 18 month old twins, said goodbye to sweet friends, packed up our lives and memories in Okinawa, Japan, flew from Seattle to Boulder to Virginia and then to Kentucky visiting friends and family, moved to Puerto Rico, and are still waiting for our household goods to land so we can move into our new home. We have lived out of 4 suitcases, 2 pack and plays, 3 car seats, and backpacks for the entire time. I’ve had shingles, we have all been sick in bed, and Barrett started his new job. I wish I could tell you we weathered all this with grace, joy, and peace while trusting in the Lord’s Providence, but that would be a lie.

I’ve been short and mean with my children, I haven’t loved my neighbor as myself and, worst of all, I did not enjoy my husband and kids…and sadly, this revealed that my hope and joy were dependent on them rather than Christ! But that is another lesson for another time.

Dear sister, your story might not look exactly like mine, but you know that you have a circumstance, relationship, or depression that has left you like me: crying out to God, begging Him to help because you hate living this hypocritical life of saying you trust Him in all things yet your life was far from showing it. Own it friend. Acknowledge the sin you are holding on to of unforgiveness, jealousy, control, anxiety, or pride that has produced its fruit in your difficult time, leaving you feeling like life is hopeless. Oh sweet sister, you need to acknowledge the weight of this sin. You need to grasp how any one of these sins can push your life into the path of hopelessness. Don’t be afraid; don’t look away. Because it’s right here, when our sin bears down so hard, that the grace Jesus won for you at the cross will restore your hope and lift up your head!

What is this grace? Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. It’s my husband buying me a cupcake on the way home when we still aren’t OK. It’s my kids waking up cheering after I blew up at them the night before. But ultimately, grace is Jesus taking my sins—trying to control my husband and kids, losing my patience, not being kind to my neighbor, being jealous of the life SHE has, and fearing that life isn’t working out the way I planned—and nailing it to the cross. He bore the weight of God’s wrath on Himself for me. For ugly, sometimes unrepentant me! And then, don’t miss this, and THEN, he gave me His righteousness. He made me perfect in God’s eyes. This is grace! When God sees me, He doesn’t see the sin that deserves his wrath, He sees His perfect son and accepts me.

This is our hope! This is the big picture we can’t forget while walking in the son-blocking path in the forest of life. This grace reminds us that we are forgiven and have the hope of heaven! We have Christ forever!

Please don’t misunderstand me that all hardship is caused by personal sin, yet His grace on us should still bring us hope. When everything falls down around us, we know that we are forgiven and righteous because of the grace of Christ. Oh Lord, as we meditate on your grace, may that give us hope in hard times and motivate us to give grace to others.

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

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Forgiven, Chiseled and Secure

Dearest Sister,

Do you ever struggle with a particular sin…over and over again…no seeming victory? Perhaps it’s an obsession or an unhealthy habit. Maybe it’s your tongue gossiping or showing disrespect…Or laziness, or being desensitized to unwholesome shows, or self-righteousness, or materialism, or prayerlessness, or pride…So much to repent of…Unrelenting disquiet in the soul…Embarrassment to come before the Father once more…Do I really belong to the Father?  How can I be that new creation, yet still sin so much? Like The Pilgrim in Bunyan’s  classic we come to Christ initially with that huge burden strapped to our backs, only to find it rolling down Calvary’s hill when the Spirit opens our spiritual eyes to understand and embrace the gospel, but it would appear we sometimes become uncomfortable without that familiar burden and we start rebuilding that unnecessary heaviness that Jesus has already and perpetually removed from us positionally. Yet, we encumber ourselves with wrong thinking, unhealthy and sinful behaviors. We live in defeat and fear, depression and anxiety. We sin those same sins over and over again wondering where the power for victory lies. We try and try and try. We become exhausted, afraid to go to the Father even though it is to Him we must go for relief and safety.

A prayer by one of the old Puritans says,

“I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my willful sin; all my powers of body and soul are defiled; a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature. There are chambers of foul images within my being; I have gone from one odious room to another, walked in a no-man’s-land of dangerous imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature. I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself…” Paul speaks to this in Romans 7. He does what he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do what he does want to do. The Puritan says, “Thou has struck a heavy blow at my pride, at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee. But Thou has given me another Master and Lord, Thy Son Jesus…” Paul says, “But I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Sister, being weighed down by your sin is good in-so-far that it causes you to turn from self and idolatry and to Jesus. Bear with me as I quote the finish of the Puritan’s prayer: “Save me from the…pride of life, from everything natural to fallen man, and let Christ’s nature be seen in me day by day.” Now, get a visual of this plea. “Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining [fretting, being discontent], and delight to be [here it is!] not only chiseled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.” Did you see yourself being broken away from the rock, fully hewn into Christ’s sculpture, soaring free from the depths of imprisonment–made like Christ, being freed from besetting sins, slowly but surely?

Author Matt Papa says that we worship our way into sin and so we must worship our way out of it. We need a greater thrill (than the sin). We need a more captivating beauty. We must fix our gaze on Christ and His beauties rather than fixate on our sins. As we do this and are consumed by His excellencies we find ourselves being less and less attracted to the sin. I repeat Paul: “I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

God, our gentle Father, likens Himself to a mother hen or bird securing her babies under her wings. He does this for His children where He protects us from the world and sin and Satan, even from ourselves. I often think of myself in that place of protection and have composed and prayed the following prayer as a result–a prayer of holy resignation, when I finally give up the struggle, trying to conquer sin by my own willpower and run to Him.

Father, I behold your mighty greatness in Your Word and in the remembrance of a myriad acts of mercy and faithfulness to me. I see you beckon me to Yourself. Sometimes I come haltingly, ashamed and afraid. Sometimes I come running with desperation, trembling.  Always I come,  casting myself at Your feet, grasping them and Your clean robes. And always, You lift me up and wrap your arms around my quivering self and clasp me under your sheltering wings–so safe–and the shaking stops. I peer out from that haven. The world is still roiling, but I am forgiven and secure.

Take heart!

With love,
Cherry

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Hope in Tragedy

shame-1251333-1280x960Elisabeth Elliot wrote, “Heaven is not here, it’s There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next.” Elisabeth, whose firm grip on God’s promises was always a supreme encouragement to me, went to the full presence of the Lord a year ago this week after a decade-long battle with dementia. She left behind her faithful third husband Lars Gren whom she married in 1977 after losing her second husband Addison Leitch to cancer in 1973 and her first husband Jim Elliot to cannibals on the mission field in 1956.

Do we remember, sisters, that this world is not our home? Just last week here in Orlando we had singer Christina Grimmie (outspoken about her Christian faith) shot point-blank during an autograph session, 49 people killed and 53 wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in American history at Pulse nightclub downtown, and a two-year-old boy killed by an alligator as he waded in a lagoon at Disney while his father desperately tried to free him from the gator’s jaws. I’ve seen incredible hatred, judgement, and politicizing all these events as people—politicians, celebrities, and civilians alike—provide commentary on television and social media.

Sin is ugly, and it has ugly consequences. We’re all familiar with Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” That’s easy to remember when we see tragedy every time we turn around. But the rest of the verse contains the breathtaking truth: “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do we give thanks for that with every breath, sister? Do we speak about it every chance we get? C.S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

We hear a lot these days that Christians should stop hating. And you know what? They’re right. When the Pharisee lawyer asked Jesus in Matthew 22:36 “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered (vv 37-40) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

How can we love our neighbors? In practical ways: donate money, time, or blood; bring food in crisis and water when it’s hot out; care for children; provide for widows and orphans; be a shoulder to cry on, and so much more. But how can we best love our neighbors? By sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

“…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:22-25)

In these hard times, just as in all times since time began, we are not promised tomorrow. But if we repent of our sin and have faith in the work Jesus accomplished on the cross facing the fullness of God’s wrath for our sin, regardless of what happens we know where we are bound. Because we are in Christ, our eternal life has already begun, though we “now see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

And when we are before the face of God, “He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Our ultimate hope can be in no stronger foundation than Jesus Christ our Lord. Cling to Him, sister, now and forevermore.

In His love,

Sarah