Let There Be Light

Last night I was reading Psalm 4 and noticed verse 6b: “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” (ESV). That led me to think of Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” From there I jumped to John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” And then on to John 8:12: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

We often hear about Jesus being the Light of the world as these verses describe. But the next verse that came to mind surprised me. In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” I had never thought of this verse in conjunction with His statement in John. He is the Light of the world, but He calls us to carry the same light ourselves. We are not unlike candle holders, bearing His light for others to see. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes of this verse:

“So not only have we received light, we have been made light. We become transmitters of light. In other words, it is this extraordinary teaching of the mystical union between the believer and his Lord. His nature enters into us so that we become, in a sense, what He Himself is. It is essential that we bear in mind both aspects of this matter. As those who believe the gospel we have received light and knowledge and instruction. But, in addition, it has become part of us. It has become our life, so that we thus become reflectors of it. The remarkable thing, therefore, of which we are reminded here is our intimate relationship with Him. The Christian is a man who has received and has become a partaker of the divine nature.”

Light reveals reality: by it we can see what is around us in this dark world we live in. Light exposes the dirt and sin in our lives and in the lives of others that needs to be cleaned up. It also shows the cleanness of lives that have been made as white as snow. Light illumines the path ahead, so we are not stumbling around like those living in darkness.

I wonder how well we are carrying the light sometimes. Are we living in the light of confession and repentance, or are we trying to keep some parts of our lives hidden from view? Are we helping others to see their need for the light of truth, or are we overlooking them for the sake of niceness? Are we revealing the path to the One who is Light, or are we helping them remain in darkness? Are we letting our light shine in the darkness, or are we hoping someone else will do the job for us?

As we have celebrated the coming of the Light into the world this Christmas, may we allow that light to shine into our lives and reveal any darkness we need to deal with. And as we move into the New Year, may we let God’s light shine in us and through us to a world walking in darkness.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Waiting for Joy

In this third week of Advent the theme is joy. Joy is one of those terms that is hard to define very well. We’ve been told that it is supposed to be different from happiness, which is based in circumstances (related to Old English happenstance, hap, luck). It should be more deeply rooted and therefore more enduring than happiness. The first definition listed on Dictionary.com is “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.” That clears things up, right? If we can’t clearly define what we mean by joy, how do we know if we have it?

Bible translations differ, and where some translations use the word “happy” others substitute “blessed.” This is one reason that happiness is often tied to having favorable circumstances. However, the Greek and Hebrew words for “joy” are used fairly consistently across translations.

I find it interesting that the Bible never seems to indicate that joy is unchangeable. Paul wrote that he was “overflowing with joy” (2 Corinthians 7:4), and longing to “be filled with joy” (2 Timothy 1:4). David prayed “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:12). James warned “Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:9). Solomon stated, “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief” (Proverbs 14:13).

To be honest, I find it a bit of a relief to know that a lack of joy does not necessarily indicate a lack of faith. Yes, joy is part of the Fruit of the Spirit and hopefully will increase over time. But that also means it is up to the Holy Spirit to produce joy, not me. We can do things to nurture joy, but we can’t make it grow. I came across this verse a few days ago, and I have great appreciation for Paul’s prayer here: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11). Sometimes we have to wait for the joy to come, and faith is our lifeline while we wait.

May we learn to wait, to trust, and to bow to the One who is in control.

(Check out Bow the Knee, words and music by Christopher Machen & Michael Harland)

Rescued

A Short Story

No one knows how we got here. We’ve been on this island our whole lives. The older folks don’t talk anymore. In fact, they don’t do much of anything. They’ll eat a little food if it’s put in front of them, but they all have this glassy stare. The glazed look has been appearing on younger and younger people. Even the kids seem to be more or less oblivious to everything around them.

We get up each morning, go to the fields to collect whatever food is available, cook our meals over the community fire, then go back to our wooden shacks to sleep till another day. There is no school since there is nothing to learn and no one to teach us. No one is interested in learning anyway. We are all just surviving from day to day. You can tell when someone has given up and is preparing to die. They stop eating altogether, and usually they just close their eyes and wait for it to be over.

I don’t know how old I am since no one bothers to keep track of time, but I’m one of the younger people on the island. I realized early on that I was different from the others. I observed the people around me and couldn’t understand their despondent outlook on life. I investigated the island to see what else was here, and found that we had abundant food supplies. I was interested in our world when no one else seemed to look past their own nose.

I looked out over the sea and off in the distance there was another island just barely visible. I really wanted to go there, but our island had no boats and no tools for making anything of substance. As our old shacks rotted, very little was done to repair or replace them. Some folks slept outside because they couldn’t be bothered to make a new shelter. So the chances of getting help making a boat were pretty slim. One of the talking people would just say, “It’s no use.”

It seemed like the island was drowning in hopelessness. There was no hope for change, so there was no reason to work, learn, build, talk, or even think. And eventually each person decided there was no reason to live.

I often pondered these things as I sat on the high rocks overlooking the sea. I don’t know why, but that other island seemed to hold the key for our survival. I held onto that hope even though I couldn’t imagine how deliverance might come. We had no way of getting there, and I had seen no evidence that there was anyone there who might be able to get to us. The island could be deserted, or they could be in the same condition we were in.

It was tempting to give in to hopelessness, but something wouldn’t let me. I kept looking at that island and tried to imagine what life might be like over there. I didn’t have anything to compare it to except for those few times I had seen a young child who still had a spark of life in his eyes. He would make eye contact, and maybe even smile a little. Or if you were lucky, he might hold your hand for a few seconds. But it wasn’t long before the deadened, hopeless look came over him and he was just as self-absorbed as everyone else. I could imagine that on that other island were people who looked at each other, smiled, talked together, and held hands. That was the extent of my imagination, but I clung to it every waking moment. And sometimes it even slipped into my dreams. Once in awhile I would whisper to myself, “Please come find me.”

One night I awakened from a beautiful dream of ‘my island,’ as I had come to call it. The night didn’t seem as dark as usual. I looked out from my shack and thought I saw movement beyond the embers of the cooking fire. I wasn’t at all afraid. I quietly slipped out to investigate. Something was moving in the shadows, and as it headed toward the shoreline I could see that it was a man. He wasn’t moving too quickly, and I had no trouble catching up with him. As soon as I was within a few paces, he stopped, turned around, and looked right at me. Even in the darkness I could see his eyes and I saw that they were full of life and love. He was unlike any of the people on our island. I was so drawn to him that I couldn’t look away from his face.

“I heard your prayers,” he said. I didn’t speak, but I wondered what he was talking about. “I heard your whispers for help, and so I came for you.” As he said that, I realized that he was standing beside a boat. He beckoned for me to get in, and as I stepped up beside him he put his hand on my shoulder. In that moment, my whole world changed. All hopelessness was gone. I suddenly saw the stars in the sky and heard the sounds of crickets and owls in the woods behind me.

“Come home, child. Your place is with me.”

* * *

I wrote this short story several months ago, and as I was thinking about Christmas it came to mind again. It’s a reminder that God came to us, to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. The difference is that He didn’t just come and pluck us out of our situation. He actually became one of us and grew up among us. He rescued us from the hopelessness, but He also left us here to bring the good news of Life, Light, and Hope to others.

Peace in Confidence

I spent Sunday afternoon watching the perennial favorite The Sound of Music. It occurred to me as I watched that Maria had more problems with becoming a nun than just falling in love Captain Von Trapp. She also had some significant theology problems. When she first is ordered to leave the convent, what is the song she sings on her way? “I have confidence in confidence alone; besides which, you see, I have confidence in me!” Don’t you think a novitiate should be stating her confidence in God alone?

Then after the Captain affirms his love for Maria, she sings, “For here you are, standing there, loving me, whether or not you should. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good. Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.” So apparently her belief is that you eventually get what you deserve. Even though she could only remember her “wicked childhood,” she is certain that she must have done something to earn this love she now received.

What amazes me is that in the 30 or 40 times I’ve seen this movie I’ve never once considered the heresy that it is propagating! We probably all have times when we get caught up in the drama or the tradition that we don’t really think about the fallacies we’re taking in. (Television is a great anesthetic to the brain.)

Right after watching the movie, I picked up a book I’ve been rereading, Shame Interrupted, by Edward Welch. In writing about the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), he quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the first beatitude: “It means the complete absence of pride, a complete absence of self-assurance and self-reliance. It means the consciousness that we are nothing in the presence of God. It is nothing, then, that we can produce; it is nothing that we can do in ourselves. It is just this tremendous awareness of our utter nothingness as we come face to face with God. That is to be poor in spirit” (p. 142).

Jumping ahead to the sixth beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” Welch comments, “One good message from this beatitude is that pure is possible for the poor in spirit. How can that be? When you assemble the pieces you have so far, you know that pure is possible because you are purified by Jesus. Pure is something that is done to you. You receive it by faith through the gentle yet powerful touch of Jesus” (p. 149).

Among the many great lessons of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus points out two keys here: 1) We have no confidence, ability, or righteousness in and of ourselves. 2) All that we have comes from God through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Based on those two realities, we can cling to the other promises in that sermon-- “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious...” (Matthew 6:33-34). “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you... how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (7:7,11).

I’ve needed these reminders lately when the promises of Scripture have seemed to apply to either the past or the future, not the present. So Friday evening I started compiling for myself a list of scriptural “Promises for Today” and the beatitudes were one of the first places I stopped. I also spent considerable time in the psalms, and Psalm 27:1 has come to mind several times in the past few days: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Here are just a few of the other promises I pulled out:

·         Psalm 37:5-6- “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”

·         Psalm 57:2- “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.”

·         John 15:5- “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

·         James 5:11- “Behold, we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

·         Isaiah 30:15- “In returning [repentance] and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

In this second week of Advent the Peace candle is lit. Peace is built on the foundation of hope. Peace becomes a reality when we fully believe and have confidence in the God who keeps all His promises. Jesus Himself was the fulfillment of many Old Testament promises, and He continues to fulfill promises today and every day. We can depend on Him while we await the fulfillment of the final promise of eternal life in the kingdom in His presence.

“It is impossible for God to lie. We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:18-19).

© 2013 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

I'm Entitled!

I’ve been reading the book of Job lately, and it seems to me that Job’s friends have gotten a lot of bad press over the years. Much of what they say is actually true, despite the fact that they don’t know the back story taking place in the heavens. And Job wasn’t as guiltless as he first seems. Early in the book it says that “in all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (1:22), but by 42:6 he is repenting “in dust and ashes.”

What happened in between? My reading is that Job had a bad case of entitlement. He basically says, “Let me state my case before God. I’ll prove my innocence and convince God He was wrong to put me through all this suffering.” Even the oft quoted verse “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” actually ends with “yet I will argue my case before Him” (13:15).

I haven’t used those exact words, but that has been the motivation in my heart at times. “I’ve done these good things, I’ve trusted You and praised You, and yet I’m suffering. I’ve endured various types of suffering, and yet You still don’t bring me relief.” Sometimes it seems like we should be entitled to things we don’t get. Not just material things, but the spiritual blessings that come from being a child of God. He says we’ve been blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3), and yet those blessings often seem so elusive.

Now’s a good time to confess that I don’t always practice what I preach. I can write about true hope being founded on the expectation of God’s promises, while simultaneously wishing God would change my circumstances. And when He doesn’t, I can get angry enough to want to argue my case before God. Hope can quickly degenerate into entitlement if I’m not careful.

So where does that leaves us? A few thoughts come to mind—

1) It does no good to argue with God or try to bargain with Him. His ways and means are so foreign to us that all we can do is put our hand over our mouth as Job did.

2) There may be a bigger story taking place than we can ever imagine. I’ve often wondered exactly how the heavenly dialogue of Job 1 was revealed in order to be included in Scripture. Did God tell Job what had happened, or was some other writer enlightened after the fact?

3) God’s promises in Scripture are true whether we believe them or not, and whether we experience them for ourselves or not. Despite Job’s fears that God wouldn’t even listen to him (9:16), he found out that God not only heard him, but knew what was going on better than Job did.

4) Sin can hinder us from seeing what God is doing. Whether it was Job’s sense of entitlement, or the Israelites’ fear that God wouldn’t provide for their needs in the wilderness and in the Promised Land, sin can get in the way. It can make a small problem bigger, and it can make it last longer. I’m sure the Israelites felt entitled to enter the Promised Land after their slavery in Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, but they found out they had missed out on the blessing because of their lack of faith. The Promised Land then became the dream of the next generation.

What it boils down to is: confess and repent of what is revealed to be sin, trust God to keep His promises, and pray for the eyes to see what He is doing and the endurance to wait for His timing. Easier said than done, but I’m working on it!

Expectancy

It hadn't occurred to me till this week that a synonym for hope is expectant. Doesn't "expectant mother" sound more hopeful than "pregnant"? (Personally, I like the term used in the Opus cartoons years ago- "infanticipating.") 

Since we're nearing Advent, I've been thinking about the hope that Mary must have had after learning that she was to be the mother of the Messiah. The announcement from an angel must have started hope growing. Then her visit to Elizabeth strengthened her hope. The shepherds' arrival reinforced her hope even more. She had the expectation of not only raising a child, but a child unlike any other. 

Jesus would literally be the Hope of the world. Mary had no way of knowing how that hope would be fulfilled, though the words of Simeon in Luke 2 told Mary it would not be easy for her to witness-- "A sword will pierce your own soul as well." The ultimate hope for the world would come through the pain of a sacrificial death. The expectation of eternal life came through the apparent hopelessness of death. 

For this first Sunday of Advent, I wonder what hopes we are cherishing right now? If hope is based on expectation, what are we truly expecting, not just wishing for? Christmas tends to become a time of wishing, rather than hopeful expectation.

-Wishing for a particular gift, or wishing for the money to buy the "perfect" gift.

-Wishing for a change of circumstances, or wishing things wouldn't keep changing. 

-Wishing for the holiday season to last, or wishing for it to be over. 

But hopeful expectancy is found in Christ. We can expect that He will always love His children (2 Thessalonians 2:16). We can expect that He is always at work in our lives, making even the hard times work for His purposes (Romans 8:28). We can expect that He will cause spiritual fruit to grow in our lives as we trust in Him (Galatians 5:22-23). And one day we can expect to see Him face to face when He comes in glory (2 Thessalonians 1:10).

-In Christ, we already have the perfect gift, and we are encouraged to share it with others so that it might be multiplied. 

-In Christ, we know that we are loved, accepted, and forgiven, regardless of our circumstances. 

-In Christ, every day is a holy day, set apart for us to serve Him and glorify Him by using the gifts He has given us. 

May this Christmas be one of growing hopefulness as we expect God to fulfill His scriptural promises in our lives!

Faith and Healing

For several days now, I’ve been thinking about what might be considered a grey area of the Christian life. It started a couple weeks ago when, after talking with someone about my ongoing depression, he recommended a book for me to read. I’m still wading through that book, and while it has some good principles, the basic message seems to be “You need to repent!” At the same time, I downloaded a free eBook that looked like it could be interesting. Halfway through the book, the author writes about all kinds of illness including colds and flu, “Why is it that believers are not breaking this curse of sickness? …I’m convinced that there could be several reasons why we’re not healed. It could be because we lack spiritual understanding. It could also be that we are afraid and hope for a quick fix. We are often weak in our confession of faith.”

Now I’m not saying that repentance is unnecessary, or that we don’t need to have a good understanding of who we are in Christ and faith that He can do the impossible. But there are a lot of other factors that come into play as well, like bacteria and viruses! The health side of the “health and wealth gospel” is a lot more insidious than the wealth side. Most Christians can agree that God does not intend for all believers to have great wealth. But there seem to be quite a lot of Christians who believe that healing is more a matter of faith than of good medical care. I won’t argue that sin isn’t to blame for some illnesses. Poor stewardship of our bodies leads to all kinds of problems. And some doctors do tend to overprescribe, often at the insistence of their patients. Humanity can be blamed for many of our problems, both social and physical. But living in a fallen world has its own issues. I’m sure Adam and Eve never had to deal with sickness while they were living in the Garden of Eden.

So I was wondering what the Bible has to say about health and faith. Most of the references come in the Gospels as Jesus healed people wherever He went. He specifically tells one woman, “Your faith has made you well” (Luke 8:48). And He tells Jairus after his daughter’s death, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well” (Luke 8:50). The fact that great crowds gathered to be healed indicates that they had some degree of faith in His ability to heal. But how many of those people actually believed in Him as their Savior, Redeemer, and Messiah? It appears that very few of them were still following Jesus at the time of His crucifixion.

The passage that intrigues me is John 5 and the Pool of Bethesda. Verse 3 says there were “multitudes of invalids” waiting by the pool, and yet it appears that only one person was healed that day. There is no expression of faith by the man before Jesus heals him. So why was he healed when no one else was? Then in verse 14 Jesus meets him again and says, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” This seems to indicate that sin was somehow a cause of this man’s suffering, and yet there was no call for repentance before Jesus healed him. So there is no direct correlation between repentance, faith, and healing in this case.

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray… And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up… Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:13-16). These verses imply that prayer and healing do often go together. However, if this were always the case, how are we to interpret the following statements?

• “I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20).
• “Indeed [Epaphroditus] was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow” (Philippians 2:27).
• “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23).

Was there no faithful person to pray for the healing of these men? That’s certainly unlikely, given that they were associates of the Apostle Paul. Some would claim that the dispensation of miracles had ended and there were no longer any people who had the gift of healing. More likely, these illnesses were from natural causes, and though God could have healed them, for whatever reason He chose not to. Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12 may also have been some physical ailment that God did not relieve.

I come to the conclusion that 1) God can heal, 2) God sometimes does heal in response to prayer, faith, and repentance, 3) God does not always bring physical healing, and 4) God often uses doctors and medicine to bring some measure of healing. (This site has an interesting article on Luke the Physician: http://www.icr.org/article/doctor-luke/.) Who are we to judge or prescribe how God will or will not work in a particular situation?

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).

Stones of Remembrance

I was thinking awhile back about the moments in our Christian lives that we tend to remember. Depending on your denomination or tradition, you may have special recognition for child dedication, baptism, first communion, marriage, and perhaps ordination. Some churches give certificates or Bibles for special occasions. But if you think about it, those events represent a very small number of days out of a lifetime of experiences.

This observation came to mind as I was watching someone being baptized, and I realized that when I was baptized at seven years old I had a child’s understanding of faith, and I didn’t really know that Christianity wasn’t about being good. My understanding has grown through the various stages of my life. The past year has been one of significant growth and change, and part of me wished I could be re-baptized to signify a fresh start. I’m not a proponent of rebaptism, particularly when I think of the symbolism of being buried in baptism and raised to new life. If the old flesh is dead and buried, it does not need to be buried again. I accept by faith that one baptism is enough, regardless of my limited understanding at the time. (Do we ever fully understand our new life in Christ?)

So that leads to the question—how can we memorialize the special events or new stages of our life of faith? I was reminded in the Old Testament of the multiple times that people gathered “stones of remembrance” to build a memorial or altar following some event. Noah built an altar after coming safely out of the ark (Genesis 8). Crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God directed the people to gather stones for an altar (Deuteronomy 27 & Joshua 4). Elijah gathered twelve stones to build an altar, which he then used to disprove and disgrace the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Abraham, Jacob, and Moses all built altars and renamed places in memory of something that God had done there.

I wonder if we should adopt a similar practice at times—creating something to remind us of how God has worked in a particular time or place? I think we are naturally inclined to create memorials, whether it’s a photo album, scrapbook, souvenir, or bumper sticker. We like to remember where we’ve been and good times we’ve enjoyed. So why not adapt that for the good things God has done and blessings we’ve enjoyed? Obviously we don’t want to fall into the trap of worshiping the creation rather than the Creator (as Israel did on multiple occasions). But we can all use reminders of the things we should be thankful for. It doesn’t have to be anything big. At one time in my life I collected small white stones out of my driveway to mark a certain event, and those stones are now inside a paperweight I made. And more recently, I’ve simply been counting the weeks on my calendar to remind me of how God has given me victory in a particular area (16 weeks and counting).

When God directed the Israelites to gather stones after crossing the Jordan, they were told, “When your children ask why these stones are here, you are to tell them what God has done” (my paraphrase). Part of the value of the memorial is in sharing the story with others, passing it along to children, grandchildren, and friends to teach them how God has worked in the past so that they may trust Him for the future. And in remembering together, you can also praise God together.

It’s something to think about as we approach Thanksgiving. What has God done in the past year that you need to share with someone? What family stories need to be preserved in some way so that they won’t be forgotten in the next generation? Just as the Jews still observe their feast days to remember and teach what God did in the past, we can use special occasions like Thanksgiving to do the same.

“[Remember] so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (Joshua 4:24).

Hope in God's Steadfast Love

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Have you ever considered the converse statement, “If in Christ we have hope for eternity only, we are to be pitied”? Perhaps it is just because of where I’m at in life, but that latter statement has come to mind more than once in recent months. Yes, we need to have hope for eternal life, which is Paul’s point, but don’t we also need hope for daily life? Certainly there are times when the eternal hope is predominant, such as in the case of terminal illness or when enduring persecution for your faith. At those times, daily life may be so precarious that hope has to rest in the promise of eternal life free from pain and suffering.

But for most of us there are a lot of days to live in this life before we arrive at the fullness of eternal life. So where do we find that hope to carry us from day to day when circumstances are discouraging, life feels less than enjoyable, and perseverance is lacking?

Last night I came across this verse: “But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love” (Psalm 147:11). Something clicked for me in reading that. God’s love is our source of hope. There are more than 120 references to God’s steadfast love in the Psalms alone (26 in Psalm 136). It doesn’t matter what is going on around us—we are assured of His love, so we can endure. We know that He cares (1 Peter 5:7); He is with us (Matthew 28:20); He is at work in us (Philippians 1:6); and He will bear fruit in us (John 15:5, Galatians 5:22). That knowledge should give us hope to keep pressing on, though I’ll be the first to admit that that is sometimes easier said than done. I’m preaching at myself here and I’ve had this preached at me a few times lately.

When relationships hurt—hope in His steadfast love.
When work is frustrating—hope in His steadfast love.
When stress piles up—hope in His steadfast love.
When sorrows accumulate—hope in His steadfast love.
When nothing seems to change—hope in His steadfast love.

Rich Mullins' song Verge of a Miracle is a reminder to me that God’s love is near, and that is a promise we can hold onto when nothing else makes sense. It’s also a reminder that we may never know when we’re on the verge of a miracle. The miraculous usually isn’t announced in advance!

I Am Worthy!

Sometimes I’ll run across a book that phrases something just a little differently and it will make me think more deeply about the subject. This week that happened with Shame and Grace, by Lewis B. Smedes. Here’s what he wrote, “You can tell that grace is gracious if it makes you feel better for having it, feel lighter, and, when it comes down to it, feel like the worthy human being you are. The question is: are we accepted by grace only in spite of our unworthiness or are we also accepted precisely because we are worthy? …Is it possible that we could be undeserving of grace and yet worthy of it? …Think of the difference this way. If I deserve some good thing that comes my way, it is because I did something to earn it. If I am worthy, it is because I am somebody of enormous value” (119-120).

Perhaps, like me, you may still be inclined to object “I’m not worthy!” But consider these verses:

• “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God…” (1 John 3:1).
• “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
• “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Those who are parents probably remember the birth of your child vividly. What did that infant do to deserve your love? Absolutely nothing. But are they worthy of your love? Of course. The fact that you love them makes them valuable in your sight. They belong to you and so they are worth more than any possession.

Dennis Jernigan comments on a couple different albums, “[If someone] came for me and risked their life for me that would bestow upon me great value… I must have been worth something for [Jesus] to lay aside the riches of heaven for me.” God so loved me that He sent Jesus to the cross on my behalf. I am worthy because God chose me and loves me. In myself I am undeserving of such mercy and grace, but Jesus filled the gap for me. I can’t do anything to deserve God’s love and acceptance, but I am worthy of it anyway! My worth is not determined by anything I will ever do. My worth is determined by God alone.

At the end of his book, Smedes includes the following personal statement of faith, which I believe is worth reprinting in its entirety:

• I believe that the only self I need to measure up to is the self my Maker meant me to be.
• I believe that I am accepted by the grace of God without regard to my deserving.
• I believe that I am accepted along with my shadows and the mix of good and bad I breed in them.
• I believe that I am worthy to be accepted.
• I believe that grace has set me free to accept myself totally, and without conditions, though I do not approve of everything I accept.
• I believe that nothing I deserve to be ashamed of will ever make me unacceptable to God.
• I believe that I can forgive anyone who has ever infected me with shame I do not deserve.
• I believe that I may forgive myself for anything that I have ever done to shame myself or another person.
• I am gratefully proud of being who I am and what I shall be.
• I believe that the grace of God heals the shame I do not deserve and heals the shame I do.
• I believe that grace is the best thing in the world.

Seeds of Faith

Last night I was reading Psalm 126. Verse 6 says, “He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” That got me wondering—what exactly are the seeds we’re supposed to be sowing as we go out weeping? I think that question is answered by asking a different one—what is the fruit or sheaves we will one day reap? I suppose it’s natural to think of the Fruit of the Spirit. Some may also think of the harvest of souls Jesus talked about in Matthew 9:37-38. There may be other interpretations as well.

So if we’re wanting to reap a harvest of fruit in our own lives or in the lives of those we love, what seeds do we need to sow? I would suggest that what we need most is the seed of faith. It doesn’t have to be any bigger than a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). Just a tiny bit of faith can make a huge difference. It can move mountains and make valleys more bearable.

How does this relate to the first part of the verse—going out weeping? As one who’s done my share of weeping, I think this can be applied to any of the trials and tribulations of life (John 16:33). We all walk through difficulties at various times, and we’ll all face the valley of the shadow of death as well. In the midst of those troubles, a tiny seed of faith can make the difference between hope and hopelessness, between peace and fear.

There are times, though, when even that tiny bit of faith seems to be missing. In those times, we need the faith of others to help carry us through. Like the paralytic in Mark 2, we need some friends to carry us to Jesus. They may do that through prayer, through reminding us of God’s love and faithfulness, or even through the seemingly mundane things like driving us to the doctor or fixing a meal. Several times in the Gospels it is said that people were coming to Jesus bringing the lame, blind, crippled, children and babies, and Jesus never turned them away. A few times a person couldn’t be moved, but a messenger was sent to Jesus and He responded to their requests of faith.

Sharon Jaynes writes in Your Scars Are Beautiful to God, “Sometimes we don’t have the energy to make it to the Healer alone. How blessed to have friends who will be the stretcher bearers to carry us to the Savior, risk the rebuke of others, and are not afraid of getting a bit messy in the process… It is a gift to have one person with whom we can be completely honest. How much better if we can have two or three… A friend can remind me of God’s faithfulness when my memory is clouded by the circumstances of life” (p. 71).

On the good days, it’s easier to remember that God loves, cares, is in control, and is faithful to us. On the bad days, we often forget (or don’t believe) that God really is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). That mustard seed of faith, either our own or others’, can keep us moving forward toward that eventual day of harvest and rejoicing. For those who feel lacking in faith, seek out someone who can help carry your burdens, and be encouraged by knowing that even a little faith can move mountains. One day you may find that you have sown seeds you didn’t even know about as you kept walking through the valley. For those who have loved ones who are struggling with some problem, don’t discount the value of your own faith and the effect it can have on them. Keep doing the “little” things of loving, encouraging, and praying for them.

“Jesus answered, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly” (Matthew 15:28).

“I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Praying Specifically

Bill Hybels just finished a sermon series on prayer at Willow Creek. In one of the messages, he commented on something I’ve often thought about. Now that it’s on my mind I can’t help but notice it when people are praying, and that is the frequent use of the phrase “Be with,” as in “Be with Bill as he travels” or “Be with John in the hospital.” As Hybels pointed out, why are we praying for something that is already promised to believers in Scripture?

·         “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

·         “…even the Spirit of truth… You know him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

·         “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

·         “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

·         “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14).

Granted, there are a couple times in Scripture where Paul says, “The Lord be with you” (2 Thessalonians 3:16) or “The Lord with your spirit” (2 Timothy 4:22), but I would take these more as a word of blessing (benediction) than as a prayer request. More often, Paul blesses the readers with “grace be with you” or “peace be with you.”

What exactly is it we’re hoping for when we pray “Be with Aunt Margaret”? I would suggest a few things we can pray that are more specific and more scriptural.

·         Give peace and comfort to John in the hospital and heal this infection quickly.

·         Protect Bill as he travels and keep him alert on the roads.

·         Remind Margaret that You are with her as she mourns and bring friends alongside her.

·         Encourage Sam and let him know he is loved by You and by his family.

·         Bring Sue to a saving knowledge of Your love and grace.

I know when we’re praying, especially in public, it is hard to come up with the right words to convey all our desires for a person. So “be with” has become a catch-all phrase to fill the gap (and “bless” is right behind that in usage). I’m not sure how we can recognize answers to prayer if all we pray are vague generalities. But if we pray specifically and scripturally, it should become more evident how God is working to answer those prayers. It’s a bit like writing a strategic plan (something we’ve spent months on at our office). If a goal is not specific and measurable, how do you know if/when you’ve reached it?

One of the other comments Hybels made in his sermon series is that he finds it hard to concentrate on prayer unless he writes it out longhand. That’s something I’ve started doing recently for some of my prayers. I’ve been reading through the Psalms and when a verse catches my attention I write it down and then write a prayer based on the thoughts triggered by it. That’s not a substitute for praying on the go as needs come to mind, but I find that I am more likely to include praise and thanksgiving if I’m taking the time to write out my prayers.

I suspect we all need help in our prayer lives, and that’s probably why so many people won’t pray out loud. No matter how verbally adept we may or may not be, we can take comfort in the fact that “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Singing the Truth

Do you have any hymns that just irk you? A few have come to my attention in recent weeks. They are hymns that are generally pretty good, with catchy tunes, but have just one phrase that totally destroys the message. When we sing them in church, I’ll often drop out on the troublesome line.

One song that I have a problem with is “At the Cross.” The verses written by Isaac Watts are great, but the refrain by Ralph E. Hudson has issues. “And now I am happy all the day!” Really?! I find that hard to believe. I haven’t observed any Christians that I believe could sing those words completely honestly, which is why I choose not to sing them. I think the hymn was better off without the chorus. As one blogger wrote, “The text and musical style of the refrain… are not well-suited to the soul-searching gravity of Watt’s text…” (http://drhamrick.blogspot.com/2009/01/alas-and-did-my-savior-bleed.html).

Another hymn that frustrates me is “I Must Tell Jesus” by Elisha Hoffman. Once again it is the last line that hinders the overall message, “Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.” It is true that Jesus can help, but rarely does He choose to do so apart from human agents. The Church is known as the Body of Christ for a reason—we all need one another. This hymn is on target when it says, “I cannot bear these burdens alone,” which is precisely why we need to be talking to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and not just assuming that God will answer our prayers privately and without anyone else being involved.

A third hymn, “Tell It to Jesus” by Jeremiah E. Rankin, has the same problem: “Tell it to Jesus alone.” I begin to wonder if some of the hymn writers just got tired of looking for a good rhyme and settled for words that are lacking in biblical depth. I also wonder if these indicators of “private faith” are reflective of the culture in which the hymns were written. All three of the men mentioned (not including Isaac Watts) were Americans writing in the late 1800s. American culture in general is individualistic, and that may well have deepened following the disruption of the Civil War, which certainly did not foster unity and trust.

Thankfully, there are a great number of hymns and choruses with solid theology, some centuries old and some newly written. Unfortunately, many churches are stuck with a very limited number of songs due to familiarity or perhaps laziness. And even more unfortunately, many church members don’t actually think much about the words they are singing. They either don’t know or don’t care if they sing something that is untrue and/or unscriptural. I’ll admit that for many years I haven’t paid much attention either. Only recently have I been more conscientious about knowing what I’m singing, and that’s probably because I’ve been thinking and writing more about specific subjects such as the Body of Christ. At a recent event I was observing a non-Trinitarian person as we were singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and I had to give them credit for not singing the last line, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” Since they didn’t believe that to be true, they weren’t going to pretend it was okay to sing it.

It’s usually up to the pastor or worship leader to evaluate the quality of the musical message, and they may not have the time to do so. I challenge you (and myself) to think about the words we sing. Are they biblical? Do I believe them? Am I being honest with myself and others by making these claims? I’d also challenge those who are involved in children’s ministry to think about the songs we are teaching our kids. (I personally have problems with “If you’re happy and you know it,” “Climb, climb up sunshine mountain,” and similar tunes.) Do we really want our children singing something unbiblical just because it has a catchy tune and fun motions?

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Co. 3:16).

Suicide Facts

Since I’ve taken a break from tradition to focus on Mental Illness Awareness Week, I wanted to share the following “Ten Fables and Ten Facts about Suicide” and “Warning Signs to Watch For” from New Light on Depression: Help, Hope, & Answers for the Depressed & Those Who Love Them, by David Biebel and Harold Koenig (pp. 236-237). This is a helpful book despite the fact that it’s almost 10 years old. It is written for Christians, but has valuable information for anyone. Another good resource is http://www.save.org/

Statistics show that about 15 percent of clinically depressed persons will commit suicide. So it is essential that we know the facts.

Fable 1: People who talk about suicide do not commit suicide.
  Fact 1: 80 percent of those considering suicide do talk about it in one way or another.

Fable 2: Suicide happens without warning.
  Fact 2: Suicidal people give many clues of their intentions.

Fable 3: Suicidal people are fully intent on dying.
  Fact 3: Most are undecided but are willing to take a gamble that someone will discover their plans and intervene.

Fable 4: Once a person is suicidal, he is suicidal forever.
  Fact 4: Suicidal intentions usually are time-limited.

Fable 5: Improvement after suicidal crisis means the risk is over.
  Fact 5: Most suicides occur about three months after improvement begins, when a person has enough energy to act out his or her thoughts.

Fable 6: Suicide is more common among the rich.
  Fact 6: Suicide occurs in equal proportion throughout society.

Fable 7: Suicide is inherited or runs in families.
  Fact 7: Suicide is an individual pattern.

Fable 8: All suicidal patients are mentally ill.
  Fact 8: While extremely unhappy and perturbed prior to death by suicide, many who take their own life would not be judged mentally ill.

Fable 9: Deep religious faith makes suicide impossible.
  Fact 9: The despair and hopelessness accompanying severe depressive illness can undermine faith.

Fable 10: Caregivers (family or friends) can always prevent suicide.
  Fact 10: People intent on suicide may succeed even when friends and family do everything possible to prevent this outcome. When this happens, it is not the caregivers’ fault.”

Warning Signs to Watch For

• Expressions of helplessness or hopelessness
• Extreme withdrawal from friends, family, and usual activities
• Talking about suicide or ending it all
• Self-destructive or risk-taking behavior
• Giving away favorite possessions
• Sudden changes in behavior or mood
• Increasing use of alcohol or drugs
• Identification with someone who has committed suicide
• Preoccupation with thoughts of death
• Clear plans
• Previous suicide attempts

Christians and Depression

This is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Many folks know that I’ve struggled with depression most of my life, sometimes major, sometimes minor, but almost always there. So it’s a subject I’m often researching, looking for new medical breakthroughs or just looking for encouragement from people who have been there. So I thought I would share some of the things I’ve been reading lately on the subject of depression. I’ve read some good and not-so-good books in the past couple weeks, and I see the same theme repeated in many, as the following quotes reveal.

In Gwen Smith’s book Broken into Beautiful she says, “I’ve spent most of my life hiding behind a smile… I’ve always considered my past just that: my past. I’m pragmatic that way. I’ve experienced shame, pain, and brokenness as much as the next person. I just haven’t been in the habit of sharing the particulars with people who could possibly judge me for it” (p. 7).

Barbara Crafton writes in Jesus Wept (not a book I’d recommend), “The umbrage we take at depression in people of faith lies in a mistaken idea of what faith is for: we imagine that a closer walk with God will make us consistently happy. We’re so committed to this idea that some of us take sorrow on the part of religious people as evidence of their hypocrisy… Neither faith nor the lack of it guarantees happiness” (p. 95).

Another author I’m starting to like is Sheila Walsh. I have not yet read her first book, Honestly, but in Extraordinary Faith she quotes a woman she met, “I used to believe. I used to believe that God loved me, and the church would be there for you when times got rough, but it’s a crock. The church is just a building full of people pretending to be okay when they’re bleeding to death” (p. 83).

And one book I haven’t finished yet is New Light on Depression, by David Biebel and Harold Koenig. They list and refute ten myths about depression: 1) You’re depressed because you want to be depressed. 2) You can beat depression with willpower. 3) You’re depressed because of unconfessed sins. 4) If you’re depressed, you’re just feeling sorry for yourself. 5) Depressed believers have weak faith. 6) It’s easy to tell when you are depressed. 7) Depression is just another word for grief. 8) Christians will be understanding and supportive. 9) Depression is a waste of time. 10) Depression arises from repressed anger (pp. 75-91).

The common, and disturbing, theme in all these is that Christians tend to stigmatize believers who are suffering from depression (as well as other mental illnesses). There is a lack of understanding and an abundance of misconceptions about depression and how it relates to faith. As a result, Christians who are depressed end up with added shame for not living up to the standards of their community, and they may try to survive in secrecy. Jan Dravecky in A Joy I’d Never Known mentions a pastor who preached at her, “If you are depressed, you don’t need medication, you don’t need counseling, you don’t need to go running after everything the world has to offer. That will only open you up to the power of Satan…” Some small part of me hopes that this guy suddenly experiences depression for himself!

The truth is that people from all walks of life can suffer from depression. It often has nothing to do with faith, although shame and guilt can certainly add to the problem. Sometimes it leaves without treatment, but often medication and/or counseling are needed. At the very least we need friends who will encourage us and remind us of the truth of God’s promises in Scripture.

For those who are seeking to help a depressed person, the two most important things you can do are listen and pray. Listen without judging. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask the suicide question. Share encouragement and truth as appropriate. There may be times for offering advice, but you need to be sure they are open to hearing it. And pray for the person when you are together as well as any other time they may come to mind. We all like to fix problems, but there are no quick fixes to depression. As John Townsend writes in Where Is God? “God uses our difficulties to make us relationally based people, rather than solutions-based people—relationships first, solutions second” (p. 116).

For those who are in the hole of depression, the top two recommendations I can give are: 1) Be totally honest with at least one person who can support and encourage you with biblical counsel and wisdom; and 2) Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on even when the road never seems to end. I feel like my whole life has been one of learning and relearning how to let people in. When I don’t, that road ahead of me looks like a never-ending uphill climb. But as I let others join me, I no longer notice the road but begin to enjoy the journey.

I’m not sure I’ll ever be completely free from this particular thorn, but as Paul said it does keep me humble and reminds me that God’s grace is sufficient even in this weakness. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). My frequent prayer for myself and for anyone suffering from depression is that of Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

One Body

Sunday as we were taking communion, the cracker that I happened to pick up was melded to another cracker. The phrase that came to mind was “the two shall become one flesh.” When I looked that up later, I found it quoted in 1 Corinthians 6:16, and the following verses come right after it, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him… Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (vv. 17, 19-20).

Those words seemed appropriate for communion. It’s not just about partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, but a reminder that we are united with Him in one body. “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). In the words of Henri Nouwen, “The Eucharist is the sacrament through which Jesus enters into an intimate, permanent communion with us. It is the sacrament of the table. It is the sacrament of food and drink. It is the sacrament of daily nurture… Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a constant memory of his life and death. Not a memory that simply makes us think of him but a memory that makes us members of his body. That is why Jesus on the evening before he died took bread saying, ‘This is my Body,’ and took the cup saying, ‘This is my Blood.’ By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ, we become one with him” (Bread for the Journey, Sept. 30).

The other phrase that was triggered by my “twin” cracker was “becoming like Him.” That could come from 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.” Another verse is Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.”

I wonder sometimes whether it is outwardly evident that I am becoming more like Him, or is it too hidden from view? Is my “cracker” being absorbed into His, or am I something else altogether? (You may be thinking I’m a nut.) As Pastor Matt pointed out, our modern perception of the church is that of independent “small bites” without any consideration of the fact that we are one body, all melded into one another and into the larger Body of Christ. (The worst marketing device I’ve seen was the “prepackaged communion cup and wafer.”) Perhaps our efforts at convenience and visitor-friendliness have backfired when it comes to the unity of the church.

During communion I also remembered a previous time when my communion cup had a slight crack in the side. I had to hold one hand under the cup to catch the drips. It makes me wonder whether a lot of Christians want the “sanitized” Jesus, enjoying the Baby of Christmas but avoiding the suffering, blood, and death on the cross. They want the joy and peace of knowing they have eternal life, but they don’t want any interference in daily life, and certainly not any real pain or suffering. They want a little bit of Jesus, but they don’t want to “get any on them.”

We’re probably all guilty at various times of thinking that church activities and the Christian life are too inconvenient, too intrusive, or just too much. Have you heard the old line, “Jesus gave His life for you. The least you could do is give your life for Him!”? I’m not sure guilt-trips ever work for long-term motivation. But perhaps if we begin to see ourselves as one body, living and functioning together, we’ll find a growing desire to participate more fully in life together.

May our local body be visibly conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

Signs

I’ve been rereading Exodus lately, and I’m really liking Moses. I can identify with his fears and questions. He starts off by killing an Egyptian, and runs off to Midian to avoid the consequences. (I wouldn’t mind hiding out in the wilderness for awhile.) So God has to get his attention with a burning bush. After Moses hears the orders from God, what is his response? Not “Here am I, send me,” but “Who, me?!” God assures Moses of His presence and plan, and yet Moses insists on having all the details spelled out for him. And after God tells him everything, Moses still says, “I need a sign.” God gives him several signs, and yet Moses still responds, “I can’t do this! PLEASE send someone else.” So God allows Aaron to go along and help out.

Throughout the whole process of freeing the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, Moses continues to question God. Moses does seem a bit more confident at the Red Sea—“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord” (14:13). However, verse 15 leads me to believe Moses was still quaking inwardly since God asks, “Why do you cry to Me?” After all the signs that Moses has seen, and the reassurances he’s gotten directly from God, in Exodus 33 we find him asking for yet another sign of God’s continued presence and direction in this plan. This time Moses gets to see God’s back as He passes by the cleft in the rock. And knowing that the wilderness experience goes on for many more years, you know that Moses has a lot more times of doubt.

It’s reassuring to know that even the “big name” guys of the Bible don’t have it all together. No matter how much they’ve seen and heard, they still question God’s plan (and maybe His sanity!). Apparently God doesn’t tire of reassuring His children of His love and care. They may be lightly chided, like Jesus asking the disciples, “Where’s your faith? Why were you so afraid?” But God never tells anyone, “No, I’ve given you enough signs! Just do what I said.” At least, He doesn’t say that to those who earnestly seek Him. Jesus quotes Isaiah’s words says that unbelievers “keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing but do not perceive” (Luke 8:10). And Paul says that God’s “eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived… So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

But for those who are children of God, He seems to delight in giving reminders of His love. Like a loving parent, He doesn’t say, “I told you yesterday that I loved you, and nothing has changed since then. Do I have to say it again?” No, He’s eager to say “I love you” every day, multiple times per day, and as often as we need to be reminded.

In the book Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge, they relate the story of when each of them asked for a simple sign of God’s love and the answers were granted immediately. (I believe it was dolphins and starfish that they were looking for.) I had a similar experience a couple weeks ago up in Blowing Rock. In that area of North Carolina, small, almost perfectly cubical rocks (limonite) can be found and I’ve spent a lot of time looking. I’ve never found more than one about half an inch in size during a weekend visit. Well, this particular weekend I was feeling pretty low, and so I asked God that as a sign of His love He would allow me to find a good size square rock. I started looking, and within about a minute I found three, and within the rest of the weekend I found two more. It seems like a really small thing, but it was the reassurance I needed just then. I may not have faith that can move mountains, but I do have a God who can move stones no matter how big or small.

When we start doubting God’s love, the enemy likes to capitalize on that and make us feel like an isolated, incompetent failure—the “only one in the world” who questions whether God really cares or really has the power to change our circumstances. But God isn’t surprised or judgmental when we say, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” Sometimes He’s just waiting for us to acknowledge our weakness and ask for His comfort and help.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).