Peace

Storms.

When I was little I was terrified of them, especially if they were at night.  They would blow up and I would huddle in my bed afraid to breathe.  Even pulling the covers over my head didn’t seem to help! As the thunder got louder and the lightning popped brighter, I would tremble beneath the covers until it began to pass.  Only as the storm passed by could I breathe easier and rest.

Life is a lot like that.  Storms come. They blow in like a gale sometimes and almost take our breath away with their suddenness.  The disciples knew all about this kind of fear.  Remember when they were out on the boat and the storm blew up? They were mad at Jesus for sleeping while they trembled for their life! All it took to calm the storm was for Jesus to show up and speak peace over it.

Sometimes life takes our breath away. Things happen that we have no control over.  What we have to remember, however, is that we know the one who controls it all.  Jesus is able to speak peace over any situation we find ourselves.  What keeps us from feeling that peace is us.  Sometimes we prevent Jesus from doing what he does best—taking care of us.  He may not choose to resolve the situation as we would choose, but he always speaks peace over us when we allow him to.

My daddy had a stroke a few months ago after going into the hospital for a fairly minor procedure.  He is diabetic and needed a toe amputated. Several tests later and he needed his entire leg amputated.  Somewhere in the midst of that day, he had a stroke that affected the only good leg he had left as his entire right side was paralyzed.  His speech and swallowing were also affected.  He spent weeks in the hospital and I truly never believed he would come home again. I just knew we would lose him. For a while I fretted and worried and then something marvelous happened. Jesus spoke peace over me.  I suddenly knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever happened, Jesus would carry me through it. Whether that meant carrying daddy home to heaven, a convalescent home, or a miraculous healing I knew that we were in the safest place we could be—Jesus’ hands.

Daddy is recovering at home.  Now tell me that God is not a God of second chances and miracles!

I don’t know what storms you are experiencing, but I pray that you are allowing God to speak peace over you.

Blessings!

For Such a Time as This...

The book of Esther has always been one of my favorite stories.  It’s kind of a Cinderella story if you think about it.  A simple, orphaned Jewish girl is raised from anonymity to the heights of the kingdom when she catches the eye of the king.  The problem comes when she hides her background. No one but her uncle knows that she is actually Jewish, and her Uncle Mordecai wants something BIG from Esther.  There’s a bad guy in the story and he wants to kill all of the Jews. Mordecai thinks that Esther can get the king to save them all, but if he is wrong then she and all of the Jews will die.

Woo!  That’s a lot to have on one person’s shoulders. Naturally Esther protests that she can’t do it. And then Mordecai says it,  “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14)

For such a time as this.  What a profound phrase.  It resonates with you when you are a Believer. Just this week God smacked me over the head with it not once, but three times.  I prayed with a complete stranger over a sick child--perhaps I was at just the right place for such a  time as this. As I told the story to a group, a friend stood up and said God told her to share those exact words with the group of kids she was working with--maybe we are here for such a time as this. And then today as I had a small pity party for myself a complete stranger walked over to me, handed me a bouquet of flowers, and prayed for me--and God whispered in my ear “for such a time as this.”

There is power in obedience, folks.  When we are obedient to the whisper of the Holy Spirit God is able to use us in magnificent ways for his kingdom.  We may never know why we are in the circumstances we are in, but just maybe it’s so that God can make beauty from ashes.  Just maybe, it’s for such a time as this.  

Great Expectation

In 1995, my husband and I found out we were expecting our first children.  We were overjoyed!  Just a few weeks later we discovered we would welcome twins!  We were still joyful, but now we were a little scared as well.  I wasn’t sure that i could handle raising two at one time, but my husband quickly reminded me God was on our side.

At 24 weeks of pregnancy I went into premature labour. After a week in the hospital, I went home to be on complete bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy.  I suddenly faced weeks of nothing to do but think.  Now you would probably think that I spent that time worrying, but oddly enough, I never worried about my babies. God gave me the peace that passes all understanding throughout that pregnancy and I felt closer to Him than I ever had in my life.  Instead, I spent my time thinking about those babies.  As I felt them move and saw the tiny imprint of their feet on my belly I wondered where life would take them.  I dreamed of their lives, the women they would one day marry, and the children they would one day have.  

I wonder if Mary did the same thing. I wonder if she stared at her pregnant belly in wonder at the child within.  Did she have any idea just what that child would accomplish? Did she truly believe what Gabriel had told her? Did she know??

God gave us the greatest gift we could ever have through a tiny baby.  No gift ever given could come close to comparing to the magnitude of God’s gift of Jesus on that ancient day.  Jesus would literally change the world with his birth, life, and death on a cross.  

Luke 2 has this to say of the birth:

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

Read that last line again.  They came with HASTE.  They hurried to see this miracle boy, this one whom angels watched over and heralded his birth.  

We should do the same.  This Christmas, don’t lose the wonder and excitement of the baby.  Remember Mary and all that she must have been feeling,  and hurry to the Savior.

Merry Christmas!

Ghosts and Goblins

When I was a little girl, we lived way out in the country. My mom ran a restaurant, so we inevitably were driving home in the evenings. Country roads are dark at night, folks! And to make matters worse, we had to drive past an old, old cemetery.  That sucker was so old, it was grown up with weeds, the headstones were tilted, and there were trees with moss draping down over the headstones to add to the effect.  As we rode by each night, I would squeeze my eyes shut as tight as I could, slump down in my seat, and try to think of anything I could to keep my mind off of that spooky old cemetery and the ghosts and goblins that must have inherited it.

As I repeated the ritual night after night, I must have exasperated my dad, because he finally asked me what I was doing. When I shamefully explained my actions, my dad said something that has always stuck with me. He said, “It’s not the people in the cemeteries you have to worry about; it’s the ones who are living.”  He was clearly talking about the state of the world we live in. Our fallen nature has made this place something much less than the garden God intended.  But I see those wise words much differently now.

We should be living each day with a sense of urgency.  We are too late to help those who have gone on before us. We need to spend each day “worrying” about those who are walking among us who don’t know Christ.  My friend Beth reminded me today that we need to live each day as if it is our last with regard to telling people about Jesus.  

Romans 10:14 says: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

We have an amazing story to share! There are opportunities all around us to tell people about what a wonderful Savior we serve. Don’t miss them because your head is covered up and you are slumped down in the seat in fear!  

Tungurahua

Tungurahua

I was privileged to serve on mission in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my entire life, Ecuador as I attended M-Fuge International with a small group of youth from my church as a chaperone along with our youth pastor.  That mission trip was life-changing for many reasons. We stayed at Campamento Bautista, high in the Andes mountains. The camp is literally located on top of a mountain, and the mountain right next to it is an active volcano named Tungurahua. That volcano rumbled and belched smoke and fire from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. It was magnificent!  At night you could see the ring of fire as lava bubbled up around the tip of its cone. By day you could see the smoke it emitted as a permanent cloud around the top.  Just when you got used to it, it would rumble and bellow and you would be in awe of it yet again.  The evidence of its activity was all around us. Roads that had been completely enveloped in lava and ash had been rerouted and you could see where the lava flow had poured down the mountain during the last big eruption.  Yet I was never scared of Tungurahua. I respected it, I admired it, I was in awe of it, but I wasn’t scared of it.  That beautiful volcano was burning with fire day and night. It never ceased to remind us that it was there. Tungurahua taught me to stay on fire for the Lord.

During the day, we were the hands and feet of Jesus to villagers in La Paz at the local school.  We shared Jesus during Bible School and then cleaned and painted the school for the kids and teachers.  We showed love the best way we could.  At night, we worshiped together on top of that mountain. It was the first place I ever heard Revelation Song and I will forever think of that mountaintop and those holy hands lifted high as that song echoed off of the mountainside.  It taught me to never take my worship experience for granted.

This was also the trip that I was privileged to see young men and women totally and radically commit their lives to Christ.  These young people began to live for Jesus in ways they couldn’t even have imagined before. Some were called to the ministry full time, and some were called to love God more fully.  It taught me to look at young people with fresh eyes.

It was as if the fire inside of Tungurahua mimicked the fire that was being stoked inside all of us. God did something awesome inside each of us on that trip. I never hear Revelation Song that I don’t think of that mountaintop experience and holy hands lifted high. And I pray for the young people of our nation that they too might experience something magnificent in their lives that turns them completely upside down for Christ.  I will never be the same, and that’s a good thing. Jeremiah 24:7 says, “'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”  This is what happened for us in Ecuador. God drew us close to Him as only He could, and radically changed the way we thought about Him. He can do that for each of us when we open ourselves up to possibilities. I pray that you will allow Him to do the same for you.

Perfect Timing

Perfect Timing

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up in the Sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed that way, He looked up in the tree. And he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down! For I’m going to your house today!”

I remember teaching this song to my sons when they were very young. I loved singing songs with them. Songs are opportunities to teach, and this song has many important lessons hidden within it.

I don’t know if you know the story of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector, one of the most despised men of all Israel because they cheated the people of their hard earned money. One day, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming. I don’t know if it was curiosity or excitement at seeing this man who had performed miracles, but Zacchaeus made his way to where the crowds were gathered that day. The only problem was that he was too short to see Jesus!  Nearby, however, was a Sycamore tree, and Zacchaeus used that tree to meet his destiny!

Jesus saw him immediately--of course he did, he was the Son of God! He knew just where Zacchaeus would be on that day!  You see, there are no coincidences in God’s kingdom.  Years before Zacchaeus was even born, God put that Sycamore tree in that exact spot because Zacchaeus would need it to meet Jesus on that day.  Long before Zacchaeus climbed the tree, the tree was already planted to meet Zacchaeus’ needs!

Zacchaeus had a divine appointment with Jesus, as we all do.  Luke 19  tells us that after seeing Jesus,  Zacchaeus was so convicted of his sin that he vowed to give back more than he had wrongly taken. Jesus responded to his pure heart by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

And so he does with all of us! God has a divine moment for each of us.  At some point in our lives, he knocks at the door of our hearts and offers to be our friend, our father, our provider, our comforter, our peacemaker, our King, our Savior.  What a pity it would be to miss out on such an opportunity! Zacchaeus realized it; do you?

A Father's Love

A Father’s Love

My dad and I have had a tumultuous relationship, but when I was a little girl I thought he hung the moon!  He was my very favorite person to hang out with. I can remember sitting in the bathroom while he shaved in the morning amazed as he lathered his face with an old timey brush and mug and then carefully scraped the hair from his face. He would then shake a dollop of old spice in his hands to smooth over his clean shaven face. He always finished with a quick brush on my cheeks of his left over after shave! I loved that smell. To this day when I catch a whiff of it, it brings back such happy memories!

Another of my favorite activities was riding in the car with daddy. He would let me jump in beside him—way before the days of child safety seats and seat belts—and he would carefully hold me with his arm as we drove around the countryside.  We always ended up at my uncle’s store for a chocolate soldier drink for me!  There was nothing better than being held by daddy’s arms. It was the safest place in the world.

That’s the same way I feel when I’m being held by Jesus.  When I’m reading my Bible, having a talk with Him, or just being still in His presence, I have such a sense of safety and love and utter peace about me. There is NO love like the love of the Father.

1 John says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1 NIV)  There is no greater love. We can think that we understand it, but there is no possible way to understand the height, depth, or breadth or God’s love for us. Some of my favorite times are the times I spend at His feet in awe of His presence.  Do you allow yourself time for that? I promise you if you are feeling distant from God it’s because you moved, not Him.  Move closer to God today. Spend time talking to Him like the friend He is. I promise you won’t be disappointed!