Seeing the Glory of God

I remember the first small group that Ken and I led, may years ago. I struggled, because I thought he should do a better job of leading.  I was pretty critical, so I needed to repent!  But it was also true that he could grow in having the character of a leader.

I began to pray that my husband would become a strong spiritual leader. 

You know, we need to remember that God often answers our prayers on a different timeline than ours.  We always think we need a quick answer, and if God doesn’t answer right away, he’s not answering.  But this isn’t true.

Over the years, my husband has become more and more of a strong spiritual leader, and God has worked in ways I would never have predicted.  Who would have known that 12 years ago, Ken would be offered a job in Columbus, and he would decide to take the job so we could help with a small church?  Helping with this church really brought growth in his character.  Who could have predicted that he would start listening to so many teachers, and grow exponentially in Bible knowledge?  Who could have said that our church would have to let our minister go, and Ken would find himself gradually stepping into the gap?

This past weekend, Ken and I registered to go to a conference for leaders of small churches.  I just want to appreciate what a miracle this is.  God has powerfully answered my prayer.  Ken always had the potential.  He never sought or desired a position.  And he probably won’t stay at the helm, only until someone else can fill the shoes.  But this is where God has put him, and he has risen to the challenge.

All of this plays in perfectly with today’s red letter verse: “Jesus replied, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’” (John 11:40)

Those who have been following the blog know Martha had just said, “Wait a minute, he’s been dead for 4 days, and he stinks,” in response to Jesus’ command to roll away the stone in front of the tomb of her brother Lazarus.

So the verse is Jesus’ answer to her.  And I think his question was referring to his earlier statement to her, when he asked if she believed that he was the resurrection and the life.  Martha said yes, she believed!

Do we believe?  If we do, we will also see the glory of God.  We’ll see the glory on judgement day, the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised to eternal life.

But we’ll also see the glory of God through prayers that have been answered in amazing ways.  That’s exactly what I feel right now.  I am just praising the glory of God.

Another prayer that’s been answered in an amazing way is that my friend Kenonia’s son was baptized yesterday.  This young man started looking at the Bible several years ago.  But life took him far away from his spiritual seeking.  Kenonia and I prayed for him often. Then, God placed him in Texas, where there’s a small church close to the military base where he is stationed.  Over many months, he began to go to the church and study the Bible again. 

I wish I could share with you more of the saga of this young man’s life, but let me just say that it’s super incredible that he got to the point of making Jesus Lord, and getting baptized. 

So I am just glorifying God today.  And it encourages me so much to say, “Yes, I believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life,” and to know that I will see the glory of God many more times (God willing) in my lifetime.

Let’s all hold onto our faith, and not get discouraged!!  God may not work instantly, but he is certainly working, and answering prayer.

The House of Hope

This recent picture of people at church fills my heart with such hope!!

Today I want to talk about what I call the “House of Bleakness.”

The House of Bleakness is my greatest fear.

I first encountered it when I was around 16, and my mom and stepdad divorced.  It felt like I had lost my stable home in one fell swoop, and my new reality was that life stunk.  I’ve experienced it other times over the course of my life, like when my marriage was struggling, or when raising my kids was really hard, or when things tanked at church.

Here’s how I describe the House of Bleakness.  It’s when the worst happens.  Dread catches up with you.  You feel hopeless. You feel powerless.  There’s no way to spin it positively.  It’s like stark grey prison walls encompass where you’ll live, and where you’ll be.

I think when Lazarus died, Mary and Martha were in the House of Bleakness.  Let’s look at today’s red-letter passage.

“Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  ‘Take away the stone,’ Jesus said.

“Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.” ( John 11:38-39)

Martha’s description summed up her attitude about the situation — it stunk, literally.  Lazarus was too far gone.

But, if Mary and Martha were in the House of Bleakness, Jesus was in the “House of Hope.”  It was like he was coming from a whole different place, and saw with completely different eyes, when he said, “Take away the stone.”

Do you know what the House of Hope looks like?  It looks like the light of goodness reaching every place, like a spring bubbling forth from dry ground, like manna in the desert, like grace that’s sufficient.

I think in all of us with the Spirit, there’s a place where hope bubbles up, and light shines.  We just have to clear away the inner debris to find it. 

And sometimes the debris is like what you’d find in an abandoned lot in the South — all kinds of weeds and stubborn vines.  Worries, fears and emotional baggage have taken over, to the point that we forget that our faith is underneath. 

Here’s the thing to remember when we’re in that state.  The House of Bleakness isn’t as big or as permanent as we think.

We want to think, “It’s going to stink. That’s the reality and it will always be that way.”

But Jesus whispers to us, “Roll away the stone.”  He challenges us to get out of our box, to pray, believing that with him it can be different.  He reminds us that he’s bigger than our situation, and that he’s good, and loves us so much that he wants to give us good gifts.

And we can know that even if God doesn’t say, “yes,” to our request, we still have his comforting presence with us.  There’s still the promises that God works for good, and that a blissful Home awaits us.

I can so relate to Martha, when she told Jesus that the situation was hopeless.  The House of Bleakness lurks at the back of my mind, and sometimes the bottom drops out and I think I’m there again.  But every time it does, I fight back.  I face it with Jesus.   I read scriptures, and my list of truths I’ve learned.  I push away the inner gunk, and find that bubbling spring of hope. 

Here’s one of my go to passages for this.  I wrote a song with these words, and they serve as a great reminder when I’m struggling.

“As for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

Your salvation all day long

I know not it’s measure.”  (Ps 71:14-15)

Let’s all fight to be in the House of Hope. Let’s come from a whole different place, see with the eyes of Jesus, being confident in the love and power of God.

Lost

I lost my 40th anniversary present. That was the worst feeling!

A few weeks ago, Ken and I went out of town to see our children. As I was packing, I took off the present, a gold heart necklace (which I wear constantly), to put on another piece of jewelry.

When we returned from our trip, I couldn’t find my anniversary necklace anywhere. I thought I left it on the bathroom counter. I wondered, “Did I pack it?” (Don’t judge my scattered brain!) I searched all through my suitcase, and then I looked everywhere — under the bath mats, all over the bedroom, in the trash. I finally had to admit it was lost. (Sigh of sadness.)

Two weeks later, Ken and I went to visit my father-in-law. On the last day of our stay, I looked down, and there on the carpet of the guest bedroom, was my necklace!! It must have been in a crevasse of my suitcase, and got pulled out with clothing.

Yay, I was rejoicing so much!! I showed my family, and then put it on immediately.

This reminds me of a parable Jesus told:“Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:8-10)

Ken and I listened to a talk recently, where the speaker said an effective part of sharing is admitting how lost you were. As I thought afterwards, it really took me awhile to get in touch with this.

So, I’m going to be raw, and admit that I was so lost, like the coin, or the necklace. I had gone down foolish paths, chasing after the wrong things, making choices that brought harm to myself and others. But even when I straightened out, my heart was still full of gunk – all kinds of selfishness, stubborn opinions, criticalness, lust. Everything was all about me.

How could it be that Jesus went after me, like I did with my necklace? But he totally did. He put so many people in my life, and put me in the right places at the right time. And he took on himself the spiritual consequences of my choices, so I could be “found,” new, clean, forgiven.

I don’t appreciate it enough. But you know, just like I see now how valuable my anniversary necklace is to me, I realize now how valuable it is to me that Jesus saw me as valuable, even in my gunk.

He rejoices over me. But I rejoice over him as well.

May I strive to keep this heart, as I wear the gold heart around my neck.

The Power of a Question

Many years ago, I taught Sunday school with a young woman named Denise. We were both in our 20’s, fresh and enthusiastic. Denise played a scripture memory game that the children absolutely loved. She put cards with scriptures around the room, and then called out a key phrase from a scripture. The kids raced everywhere gleefully to see who could be the first to get to the card with that phrase.

The game must have worked, because, to this day, I have the phrase, “SUDDEN DISASTER,” stuck in my mind, and it leads me the scripture, “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.” (Prov. 3:26)

Do you have a fear of sudden disaster? Have you faced it recently? Last weekend, I got with a friend who had recently received some very bad news. She told me how she cried all day, after she heard. It was really tough.I could relate, because, in the last week or so, I’ve had two pieces of tough news about loved ones, and it’s really weighed down my heart.

The Bible verse I’ve been studying has been so helpful to me, as I go through this. I believe it’s tremendously powerful for us all.

It takes place as Jesus was talking to Mary and the Jews who were grieving the death of Lazarus. He asked them, “Where have you laid him?” (John 11:34)

Now it wouldn’t seem like asking a question would be especially effective. Yet, when you ask a question, it can communicate that you care. I recently watched a video about a man who lost his faith, and then recovered it. He said that he never would have made it without the help and support of a church leader, and the way he knew this man truly cared for him, was that the man asked questions, and wanted to know about his life.

So, when Jesus asked a question here to a group of mourners, it communicated to them that he was genuinely concerned. They answered, and he wept with them, and joined them in their sorrow.

When have you experienced deep sorrow? Imagine yourself telling Jesus about it. What would it feel like if, instead of him responding with, “I’m sorry,” he said, “Tell me more,” “Show me,” “Let me see the source of your sorrow?” What if he leaned into your struggles, and cried with you?

That’s the Lord we serve. That’s what we need — to know that no matter what else goes on, we are never alone in our sadness. We have this perfect Savior who always truly cares, and wants to take the journey of grieving with us.

Today, if you face a “sudden disaster,” invite Jesus into your journey, and know he will be there.

And then, let’s all show others that we truly care, by leaning into their struggles, and saying, “Tell me more.”

(A picture of Ken and me going to church when we were younger.)

Finding Contentment

May I not say, “I’ll be happy when. . . “

But let me be content,

In spite of imperfect relationships,

An imperfect church,

Health challenges,

Life challenges,

Friends in tough circumstances,

Not being able to do all I want to do.

Let me remember the story of the woman who complained to the village elder about her small, crowded house.  He advised that she move the cow into the house, and then the goats, and then the chickens.  Finally, he told her to move all of the animals back out.  “It’s a miracle,” she said, afterwards.  “Now there’s so much room in my house!”

There’s so much room in my “house,” if I’ll see it. 

It reminds me of the time when I was younger, and my marriage hit a wall. I didn’t see how I could go on with the way things were.  My husband wasn’t willing to change.  It was completely and utterly miserable. 

But then, my husband did bend, and give a little.  Not as much as I wanted, but a little.  And I was so grateful, that I was able to be content in my marriage for a long time.  

May I be that way in all of life, content with what I am given, instead of wanting more.

In the Bible, Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. . . I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:11b, 13)

Lord, please give me the strength to be content today. 

May it be enough to hold your hand through the chaos. 

May I find the peace of knowing that I am blessed.

(Picture of some friends we visited this weekend.  We only got to see them for a short while, and we had to socially distance, because of health challenges.  But we love them so much, and were grateful for the time we had.)