When life feels a little ~ off...

It is a really warm spring night – with record highs in our part of the country. The windows are wide open and it feels more like a summer night than one in the middle of March. If the temps hit what the meteorologist says it will tomorrow, the air conditioner is coming on! (You can insert a smiley face here.) It’s really just a little thing, this unusually warm weather, but it makes things feel - off.

And when things are off, even just a little, you feel like you can’t get your bearings and walk confidently. That has been a recurring theme in multiple conversations I have been part of lately. How do you keep going when something feels so not right?

A lot of times we come to a standstill because we just are not sure where to step next or if we even should take a step. I’ve come to realize that pausing or waiting isn’t a bad thing.

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy name.”

Psalm 33:20-21

The wonderful reminder here is that we are waiting in hope for the Lord, knowing that He is a help and a shield. The image that came to me this morning is this ~ God isn’t just there to pick up the pieces from whatever hits our life. He is also a shield – something that protects from the attack. We may be hurt or frustrated with the circumstances we are facing, but when we are waiting in hope, He shields us from all kinds of yuck! Yuck of bitterness or anger or feeling defeated, to name a few possibilities.

In fact, despite the stuff going on around us, our hearts can rejoice because we know we can trust in His Name. In my head I’m hearing Phillips, Craig, & Dean sing a song called “Your Name” – but no matter who sings it, the words are a fantastic reminder of Who alone can give us hope and the stamina to face life, even when it is just a little off!

Your Name is a strong and mighty tower
Your Name is a shelter like no other
Your Name, let the nations sing it louder
'Cause nothing has the power to save ~ But Your Name!

and He saved them from...

It seems this has been a tough start to the year for quite a few ladies. My heart has broken as I have listened to stories of hurt and confusion and mistrust – probably because I know firsthand all those emotions! It is times like these I am almost afraid to open my mouth because I don't want to spout "Christian-ese" or clichés. I've been there - when you desperately want to hear some words that will give you comfort and hope and all you hear is "blah, blah-blah, blah-blah". You want to scream!

The past couple of weeks have driven me to the book of the Bible most known for comfort - the Psalms. Psalm 107 talks about some of the history of Israel and tells 4 stories about people in some pretty rough situations. Some of them were brought on by their sin, but a couple just had to do with life.

In each account it says “Then they cried to the Lord in their distress.” In the most horrific, low moment of their life, they knew Who was listening and Who alone could do something about the situation. Here’s what hit me – it’s about how God answered these desperate cries for help:

~ He delivered them from their distress (vs. 6) – then He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle…He satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.

~ He saved them from their distress (vs. 13) – then He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.

~ He saved them from their distress (vs. 19) – then He sent His word and healed them.

~ He brought them out of their distress (vs. 28) – then He stilled the storm to a whisper and hushed the seas and guided them to a desired haven.

God not only delivered from… saved… and brought out from the distress, but generously did more. He provided a place of security and provision ~ He gave hope and light to dispel the darkness ~ His Word was a source of comfort and healing ~ He calmed the whirling storm and guided them to safety. All things He still does today!

“From Calvary’s cross wave upon wave of grace reaches me...”

From “Privileges” ~ Valley of Vision

Finding the balance

It is wonderful thing when God turns the light on in your brain! That happened to me just this week! I’ve been camped out in Psalm 103 for a couple of weeks now and just about the time I think I have dissected it enough, something new pops out at me. Let me tell you what I mean.

If you have read my past two blogs, you know that I’m in a couple of groups studying the topics of forgiveness and grace. Each study has taken me to a deeper understanding of the character of God and the reality of who I am. Amazing stuff and good things to ponder.

But it can also be overwhelming – because when you see who God is and who you are, it clicks in your little brain that what you really deserve is nothing but a huge bolt of lightning! And that is the exact moment when God gives you clarity in His precious Word about His character. Then He takes it one step further and just over-the-top pours His love and grace on you. That’s because, according to this psalm, He has compassion on His children and He remembers we are just frail bits of dust.

So what was my “ah ha” moment? It had to do with verse 10:

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”

It dawned on me this verse sums up these two topics in just 16 short, concise words. It is an incredible balance of God’s grace (not treating us as we deserve) and forgiveness (not repaying us according to our sin). Beautiful!

The Ping-Pong Ball Effect ~ Part 2

The Ping-Pong Ball Effect ~ Part 2

Now for the other side of the table… I must admit I like the topic of grace better – wait, I better qualify that statement. I like this topic when I apply it to how I view my life. But as we have been studying this topic, I have been squirming with what God has been revealing in my heart - about my heart.

I was blessed to learn very early in my life that I was a sinner. And because I was a sinner, I could never qualify on my own to stand before God and gain entrance into Heaven. I also learned about the One who was willing to take my place.

So at the tender age of 4, with a simple understanding of what He did for me and my Dad by my side, I knelt before God and asked Jesus to be my Savior. As I grew up, I never doubted the sincerity of my request or that Jesus stepped in that day to become my substitute and make me righteous in God’s sight.

Fast forward to the present. When I talk about my life, I feel like I could sound like the apostle Paul when he gave his credentials to the church of Philippi. I went to a Christian high school, graduated from a Bible college, married and have stayed faithful to my husband, have raised 4 children according to God’s principles, have been highly involved in many different ministries, etc.

So when I read the parable of the prodigal son, I relate to the prodigals’ brother. Or when I read about the landowner who, early in the morning, goes to hire men to work his vineyard, then goes back and hires more at the 3^rd, 6^th, and 11^th hour, I view myself with those who were hired in the first group. And that is why I relate to those had a major fit when they, the ones who worked hard throughout the long day, saw that the last group was paid the same amount they received. My reaction, like theirs, is - that is so not fair!

We discussed this parable at small group a few weeks ago – and I made the comment that I really didn’t like this parable because I just couldn’t get past the injustice of the payment. Someone gently made the comment that maybe we tend to see ourselves in the first group when we should be relating to those in the last group. That stopped me. I mean, dead in my tracks, stopped me and I’ve been thinking about this ever since.

It has been sobering to see how arrogant I have been in assuming my standing before God is like the prodigal’s brother or the first group of workers. In reality, my sin and rebellion against God actually places me as the prodigal or with the last group of workers hired. I am the one who desperately needed Someone to come to my rescue.

And that is where God’s grace comes in - sweet, amazing, undeserved grace. No wonder there are so many songs about it! For once you get just a smidge of understanding what grace is about, you can no longer keep your praise neatly and quietly contained.

The Ping-Pong Ball Effect ~ Part 1

I feel like I'm living a ping pong game these days - I'm the ping pong ball and God has a paddle in each hand. And that sounds like it needs an explanation.

We are studying the topic of grace in our small group and forgiveness in our ladies' Wednesday night Bible study. These are pretty heavy duty studies and doing both, well, let's just say there are days my head is swimming. Let me just deal with one side of the ping pong table today.

The topic of forgiveness has been revealing God's character to me in such incredible ways. The beginning of The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (a book by John MacArthur we are using as a launch pad for the Bible study) went back to the foundation of where forgiveness came from and why it is so important in our life.

I need to insert here that our ladies' Bible study has typically used studies written by women. You know - the type of book by just looking at the cover you know it is definitely for the female gender! We've used some excellent books which has made a huge impact on lives.

This book, however, is definitely something you could find on a man's study shelf. NO frills, plain cover and no cute stories or life applications... but excellent material. And with HUGE words that can be very intimidating to anyone who has not been to seminary. (Words like propitiation, righteousness, atonement, justification, etc.) And three guesses who taught that first chapter with all those mile long words? Yup, you got it on the very first guess - me. Thankfully I have a husband who was able to loan me a book that gave some very concise definitions for all those huge words.

What a blessing this study was to me. I spent a lot of time chewing over these definitions and was able to see the progression through these big words of what God did for me. This is how I summed it up:

The Bible says we all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.

We can do nothing to satisfy the demands of God’s perfect righteousness.

So God provided salvation through His Son – who lived a perfect, blameless life so He could be our perfect, blameless substitute.

God imputed (assigned) our guilt of sin to Jesus and then imputed (assigned) His righteousness to us. This means we have been justified = restored to a state of righteousness (the state of being just or morally pure) in God’s sight.

This is all done by faith – a single minded reliance on Christ alone for our salvation.

What an awesome place to be!! A place where we can celebrate the goodness of God for providing all this for us.