A Desperate Prayer

A friend hurts and I've prayed. My prayer partners, they've prayed. The hurt goes so deep and things look so hopeless and the peace of God in her agnostic heart, it isn't showing up.

"Show up, Lord! Show up for my friend, knock on the door of her heart and be large...so large you can't be mistaken as anything but the Almighty God."  I shout it in my mind as I hear how discouraged she is, how maybe she should get some antidepressant.

And my day rolls on and I hurt too. I can't believe God isn't showing up. One of the biggest prayers of my life...and no end to the pain yet. God, birth one of your wine-from-water miracles. Let it be now.

I hang clothes and wash dishes and dictate sentences and give out M&M's for proper punctuation. I help with kindergarten journal sentences. I produce sandwiches and fake smiles and all the while, I wonder what He has planned? How long will the intensity last and will it get any worse?

All the Scriptures I know, they are for Believers. How do I comfort a non-Believer when she wants to tune out the slightest of spiritual sentiment? How do I penetrate her heart at all?

And the water bill and the insurance bill, they are late and the math doesn't work out and the kids want to go to the township carnival and I think how, without God, it would all break me. Daily life is so hard but I don't break. I wake up and He carries me and He helps me count blessings. He makes my children hug me at just the right times. He offers grace and love and truth, all for the taking.

And I take it. I open my arms wide and I take the Grace and I cherish the wonder of it.

And my heart aches that my friend, she doesn't have this. She doesn't know that God will provide and His math is a foreign kind...an eternal kind. She doesn't know that grace will rain like it's forever spring, and your bra wire could be sticking into you the bra is so old, but it won't matter. Because in Him, the temporal remains temporal.

She doesn't know any of this. And please God, tell her? Penetrate her heart with Truth as only you can. Show her that life can be hard, really hard, but in You, there is Peace. 

Two of my prayer partners, they are sure You are working. Their confidence astounds me and maybe I'm too close to it? Give me the same confidence, Lord? Make me so exude this confidence that my belief is contagious?

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Multitude Monday: Ten Lepers

 

Luke 17:11-13 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Lepers were outcasts, not allowed to approach others because they were considered unclean. Thus in this passage the lepers called out in a loud voice from a distance. "Have pity on us (mercy)." Their faith was great, for they believed that even from a distance, Jesus could clean them.

Their very condition was thought to be a result of sin--a sign of displeasure from God. When people got close to them the lepers were required to call out and warn of their unclean condition. Moreover, they had to live outside the city in leper camps. Because leprosy was thought to be a mark of sin--and Jesus came to save sinners--Jesus took the time to heal all the lepers he encountered.

Luke 17:14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

Their healing then was not direct, but a reward for their faith and obedience. If they refused to go to the priests until after they were healed, or if they refused to go at all, they wouldn't have experienced this miraculous cleansing. The Scripture says, "and as they went, they were cleansed."

They all noticed the miraculous change in their condition, and nine of them went directly to the priests to be pronounced clean and be on their way to a changed life. Think of it. They were considered not only unclean, but offensive to God. Think of how transforming their healing was. They could live a whole new life--as though they'd passed from darkness to light in an instant.

Luke 17:15-16 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

At first glance this passage appears to be a simple healing passage. But other miracles emphasize the healing itself, rather than the reaction to it.  This passage is included in the Bible, and Jesus, in fact, went this way so as to encounter a Samaritan, to make this lesson all the more notable. God wants us to pay attention here. Jesus is passing between Samaria and Galilee, moving east to west, near where Samaritans would reside. Samaritans not being Jews, they wouldn't be expected to have faith in a Jewish healer, much less to give thanks in such a lavish way.

Luke 17:17-19 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Of the ten lepers, only the Samaritan is rewarded with: "Your faith has made you well." His gratitude revealed his faith. He was not only healed of leprosy, but gained salvation as well.

Let's look at the numbers here. Jesus is saying that 90% of us fail to praise God. He's also saying that the least likely to give thanks and praise, are the very ones who do. Is it the poor and needy who remember...who rely on God for everything and intrinsically understand from Whom all things come? But those doing well on Wall Street or Main Street, their tendency is not only to forget their thank yous, but also to regard their success as self-made. 

What comes to mind is this then: What is a true blessing? Is it a fine job, a fancy home, well-dressed children in private schools, the latest gadgets and money in a savings account? Is it excellent health and money for the best gyms and organic foods? Or is blessing that which continually draws us close to God--cements us to Him, even?

We are all Lepers before God. Our need is great. And Jesus' blood and suffering? It gave us a whole new life...as though we passed from darkness to light in an instant. Jesus died, the curtain tore, the earth shook--and suddenly, we are allowed in the presence of God. We are acceptable, made clean by the blood of Jesus...receivers of the New Covenant. 

Wow! Just wow. Let us not be one of the 90% who fail to understand the magnitude of the cross...the magnitude of our healing. 

Instead, let us be like this Samaritan leper, and like King David, who were both lavish in their praise and thanksgiving:

1 Chronicles 29:10-13 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.

Giving thanks today:

~ For God's deliverance (Ps 35:18)

~ That He is loving and faithful (Ps 52:9; 107:8)

~ That he hears my cry (Ps 118:21)

~ For other believers and for the testimony of their faith (Rom 1:8)

~ For the gift of salvation that enables me to avoid sin (Rom 6:17)

~ For delivering me from my tendency to sin (Rom 7:25)

~ For the spiritual gift of being able to address God (1 Cor 14:18)

~ For resurrection hope (1 Cor 15:57)

~ For testimony, deliverance and victory in the midst of persecution (2 Cor 2:14)

~ For other believers (Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3; Philem 4)

~ For those who respond to God's Word (1 Thess 2:13)

~ For being able to serve others for God (1 Tim 1:12) 

~ For God's attributes (Rev 4:9).

~ For IVP New Testament Commentary, for the reference verses above

~ My Peter suffered a scary bicycle accident at an abandoned tennis court (ran into a taut rope at good speed and fell backwards off his bike). I'm repeatedly dressing several abrasions and his abdomen is quite sore, but he had no internal injuries and he was wearing his helmet!

~ Though it looks like Beth will need the cancer drug methotrexate to stop the damage in her JRA-ravaged joints (swelling level is unacceptable on just the naproxen), I know God will be with us every moment of the ordeal. 

~ mashed sweet potatoes

~ homemade pumpkin bread

~ decadent fudge tracks ice cream (the perfect thing when you're 10 years old and sore and stiff from a bike accident--an accident in which you failed to see a taut rope until it was too late because you wouldn't listen to Mommy about wearing the glasses you need for distance.)

~ God continually reinforces to Peter that things won't go well for him if he doesn't obey his parents in the Lord. These lessons are far less painful now than they will be as an adult, when the stakes are higher and he must obey God to stay out of trouble, not his parents. 

Now, giving thanks for the "blessings" that keep me cemented to God:

~ chronic migraines

~ two in the home with ADHD

~ one with a chronic disease

~ being low income

~ few Christian relatives

~ no respite from work, other than my worship and my writing, which certainly save me and bring me joy, along with that handsome, sweet husband and my handful of sweet, rambunctious blessings.

Friends, what are you thankful for today?

Linking with Ann today and other thankful ladies.

Saturday Devotions: Your Legacy

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How does your house look this very second? Be honest, now. Does everyone have clean underwear and socks in their drawers and a clean towel for bathing tonight? Is dinner planned and you have meat thawing?

Now I have an important question for you. Your answer to this one reveals more about you than whether your children dig their socks out of a huge pile of clean clothes, or retrieve them from a drawer.

Have you opened your Bible since last Sunday's church service?

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Paul’s Charge to Timothy

2 Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. source

Friend, I know the draw of a clean, orderly house...the draw of free time and a good book. The constant pressures of motherhood overwhelm the best of us.

But think of your last day on this earth. You, at your deathbed, surrounded by your loved ones. It could be next year or after your eightieth birthday. We never know. At that point it's too late to alter your legacy--to reshape it to leave a more pleasing taste in their mouths. Sure, you can apologize for this or that transgression, but the habits and values your lifestyle highlighted, they will shape your children and their children--they will define your legacy--forever.

Make a list of your habits and values. Do your habits line up with your values? If not, what kind of legacy are you forging? One that will give you peace on your deathbed?

The Lord can redeem so much. He makes beauty from ashes. But once you've reached your deathbed, he can't alter your legacy.

Start today with daily habits that will forge a priceless legacy: daily prayer and Bible reading. They will transform you first and then each family member. For your changed heart, your gentleness and self-control, will shine so brightly everyone around you will want what you have. This isn't an ideal, but truth. The Word remakes us. If you read it daily, and pray, you will not be the same person even 30 days from now.

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The Holy Spirit will be your constant companion and you will want to listen to Him. You will have the courage to live contrary to culture.

Nothing will impact you and your family's lives more than a daily chasing after God. Nothing will make you what you want to be--not a diet, an outfit, a title, a bank account balance--nothing. Your heart and soul were created to worship the One, True, Living God. Live out your true destiny.

Forsake that Bible, that prayer, and you'll worship everything but Him. Satan promises.

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Solve Our Children's Book Mystery?

Our local library is having a contest to see who can guess all the featured storybook characters. The tracings are not colored--just the basic shapes traced on black construction paper. All are very popular characters, such as Curious George, Olivia, Paddington Bear, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Little Engine That Could, etc.

We are really stumped on one of them. It features two characters together: one that is either a small cat or possibly a mouse with ears on top of the head, shaped more like a cat's ears than mouse ears (triangles on top of the head, close together), and another character, much taller and rounder, who has a weird, large hair-curl or other outgrowth thing sticking out the front of the head--about at forehead level I think? Can you guess which storybook these two characters might be from? Most of the books seem to be preschool or lower elementary age.

Thank you!

Elijah Speaks to Me; Thankful Thursday

I have occasion to preach to myself today over something God requires concerning our neighbors. I thought you might glean something as well....so maybe come along for the ride?

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Elijah and the woman with the oil and flour; 1 Kings 17:7-16

On the way to AWANA I pray for him. And the issues, they're so complicated I don't know where to begin.

I've written of the family before. There are four children ranging in age from 4 to 12 and during the summer they were all babysat by the12-year-old sister.

Recently their van broke down, leaving one economy car for six people and Mom and Dad work in opposite sides of town. Their funds can't cover repairs right now and in our rural area there are no buses. Suddenly, one parent is out of work and possibly both and the mother is sick and had to spend one night in the hospital. It's hard to know the details without being nosy. I ask very little and wait for God to reveal the needs.

The tax levy for the local school district, it didn't pass and no school bus runs through the neighborhood this year. How do you work a job or two on one car, and manage the pick-up and drop-off times for three different schools?

I could get on a soapbox about the well over $9000 a year this district spends per student and how could they have no money for buses? And why are all the school buildings new, when bus money was in jeopardy?

And so I pray for Aidan who shares the back seat of our van. He asks us to keep his AWANA materials at our house because at his house they would get lost or the "babies" (his 4- and 5-year-old siblings) would ruin them. And I think about all the families who are so stressed by their poverty, they can't maintain a modicum of organization. Could there really be no place at all to put important papers and does homework ever get done in that house and why are the kids sick (or truant) so often?

And why should I even ask that, when gas money itself is an obstacle? An important bit of information, this, straight out of Aidan's mouth.

And I wonder if I should give them a ten dollar bill for gas money? And should I offer to take the kindergartner and fourth grader to the elementary school every day, even though by 8:25 I rarely have my shower and breakfast is only in the works, not consumed, by then?

Our own van at over 230,000 miles could stop at any moment...and our 25-year-old car, it could as well. And gas money isn't plentiful here either. If we only had more to give! The less I have, the more I see physical need all around me.

Before, I just didn't see.

As I wonder if I should pay for Aidan's AWANA book when our own AWANA books are stretching us, and should I hand over gas money--all the while wondering if it might be used for cigarettes, do you know the story the Holy Spirit puts in my head just then? The woman with the little bit of flour and oil.

1 Kings 17:7-24

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Scripture seems to say, yes, I should give gas money and offer rides and buy an AWANA book, not concerning myself with whether I have enough for my family. What does obedience and charity require, when you don't live in abundance yourself? 

Just this: Faith

And what is faith, exactly? Have I not seen what God does to provide? Have we not been helped ourselves just in the nick of time? Have we not experienced the despair and hopelessness poverty brings? Do we not understand the layers and layers of issues complicating that all encompassing word:  poverty? 

The good news is that God doesn't squeeze faith out of dry raisins. He builds our faith, plumping us up with provision and sustenance, grace and love. 

This I have learned: Everything he requires from us, he puts into us. He only asks that we let it flow out generously, as he let it flow in. 

And don't ask questions. Did the woman ask Elijah questions?  No. "She went away and did as Elijah told her."

What is God asking you to give today? If you see a need around you--and you will if you look--remember this: We're not parched as raisins. He has filled us and if we abide in Him, he'll fill us some more.

For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Feeling thankful on Thursday.

Dear Lord, thank you for these gifts:

~ I know where the AWANA books are in this house and we open them and our Bibles, and we value scripture...all by His grace alone is this true. 

~ Beautiful fall days with sunny skies.

~ For the first time ever, we invited someone to church and they said yes!

~ When Mary woke up from a dream...thinking there were ants all over her bed, I was able to comfort her. What a privilege to love.

~ His kisses and hard work.

~ Hearing 13 preschoolers whisper it at AWANA Cubbies: "God loved us and sent His Son."

~ Zinnias still blooming beauty

~ The eyes to see.

~ Having just enough. That's more blessing than any of us realize.

~ Prayer

~ Stories that teach

~ Reading Sid Fleischman's Gold Rush adventure alongside the boys: By the Great Horn Spoon