So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
This calls to me today. Not only do I have an advocate who stands up to reject the accusations of my enemy, he understands me. And you know, I don’t even understand myself.
The most important part of this scripture isn’t that Jesus understands our weakness, it is the invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace. I can take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus gets me and yet never approach him to receive what I need most – mercy and grace.
Today I need those things in greater measure than I did yesterday. I need to experience his mercy and grace today because otherwise, I won’t make it.
What does it mean to come to the “throne of our gracious God?” Simply, it is pausing right now, wherever you are, laying open your hands and saying, “I need you, Jesus.”
There is another scripture in the writings of the minor prophets that has given me much hope today. Zechariah was a prophet to the people who returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the city and particularly, the temple. Read this from one of his visions:
Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you.”
There are times in my life when I need someone to come to my defense. As I pondered on this scripture, my heavy heart was lightened. I put my own name in this verse and imagined the Lord rebuking Satan for me, coming to my defense as his chosen daughter rejecting the accusations of the enemy. He knows and accepts only what is true!
If the accusations of the enemy resound in your ears, I invite you to do the same. Hebrews tells us we have an advocate (Hebrews 4:14-16), someone who speaks on our behalf before the Father. I believe his advocacy extends to the accuser. Don’t try to do it on your own. Be alert and then take shelter in the love of Jesus for you as his chosen one!
Obviously, I have very few in-person conversations recently. Tonight I had one at a “drive-by” birthday party and then a FaceTime convo with another friend. One aspect of both conversations stands out to me. Both expressed coming to the end of the rope, hitting a wall, being done!
Sometimes we need permission to be done with something. I give you permission to be done with isolation and social distancing. I give you permission to rant and rave, stomp around your house, throw your arms up in disgust and despair, cry and sob. It’s okay to be done. It’s okay to hit a wall.
I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help.
One characteristic I love about the psalms is the relatability of the writers. They knew what it meant to be desperate for change. They knew what it meant to be isolated and separated from the familiar – and they grieved well.
Maybe you need to take time today to grieve isolation. Go ahead, have a fit. Cry. Sob. Raise your hands to heaven and shout!
I hope you land where the writer of the psalm did long ago…
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
Last week I noticed I was plagued with this murmur of uncertainty in the background of my mind. Kind of like those programs that run on my computer without my knowledge. They tend to slow down the processor and interfere with productivity. Then suddenly a dialogue box opens, requiring me to respond in some way to this unseen program.
I’m much better now at probing around in the dark corners of my mind and drawing those uncertainties to the front. In this way, I can shut them down or put them to good purposes. On this particular day as I called the anxious thoughts to give account, I realized they centered around “not knowing.” Not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Not knowing how life will look this summer. Not knowing…
I’ve been there before. When “not knowing” took me captive for a season.
It was 1984. Nineteen eighty-four was a difficult year for me. It had nothing to do with George Orwell’s book “1984.” At the time, I lived 2000 miles from my family, friends and everything that brought me a sense of safety. Not physical safety, but rather emotional security. In this season, I experienced a panic attack that sent me into a downward spiral for many months.
There was a continous reel of ANTs (Automatic Negative Thinking) playing in my head all.day.long. I couldn’t get away from it because I couldn’t get away from myself. Without going into all the fearsome details, my ANTs centered around not knowing. Not knowing when the Cold War would become a hot mess. Not knowing if communism would soon be my reality. Not knowing if the Soviet Union was on the war path. Not knowing …
I’m going to guess that for those born after 1989, these scenarios mean nothing to you. Unless, of course, you were attentive in history class. In 1984, I don’t think I could have spoken wisely on the Cold War and what it meant. I just know that the Soviet Union was a formidable enemy in my mind. The possibility of waking up some morning to a hammer and sickle flag on every flag pole seemed very real to me. I obsessed all the ways I could lose my freedoms; terror of those eventualities filled my mind. I was barely able to function in today or imagine if tomorrow would come, let alone dream about 20, 30, or 40 years from then.
Fast forward thirty years. In 2014, my sister and I met in Munich, Germany to travel. Right out of high school, she worked as an au pair for a family in Germany. She maintained connection with the family for nearly 40 years and was returning to visit them. She wanted a companion and I gladly agreed.
Dieter, the father, assisted us with travel plans, helping to secure lodging and understand the German transportation options. We visited Munich, Hamburg, Lubbeck and Berlin. At one point, Dieter asked if we knew that we would be in Berlin at the 25th celebration of the fall of the iron curtain. We certainly didn’t, but it was a delightful surprise to us.
It was a tremendous honor to be able to share in the celebration of the fall of the wall. The entire city offered special presentations, historical sites and information about life before the Iron Curtain came down as well as a lighted display along the entire length of where the wall once stood. For three days, we toured, shopped, ate and made ourselves at home in this once forbidden city. We enjoyed it so much we actually lengthened our stay by a day or so.
The lights along the previous route of the Iron Curtain from our hotel window.
In 1984, I didn’t know what the future would hold. My mind could only imagine the worst. I do not shame myself for what I experienced, but I did learn from it. The overwhelming lesson I learned is that I won’t know and I am not in control. (Control is an illusion, anyway.) I learned to be okay with not knowing.
I learned that reality is far less scary than imagination. God’s grace is sufficient for today, but not for my imagination about tomorrow.
I learned that there is Someone who knows about tomorrow and next month and next year and twenty years from now. He sees it all in his great eternal NOW! I can rest secure and be at peace in him, because I don’t have to know. I just need to be faithful today with what I do know.
Perhaps ANTs are your reality right now. “If only I knew…” might be running through your mind on a continuous loop. If only I knew, then… Then I could trust, be at peace, take the next step. But that’s actually a myth. You can be at peace, trust, take the next step right now, today because you are in His hands. He holds tomorrow and he loves you more than you can imagine.
I have a friend who justifies worry by saying that 99% of what we worry about never happens. So the more we worry, the less we have to fear. I know he doesn’t really believe that, but many times I act like it’s true. Unfortunately, the thing I lose is my peace today. And all for something that doesn’t happen.
It took me many years to come to this place and I share my story of healing in the blog post and daily reads for 02.04.2020, 02.05.2020 and 02.06.2020. I want to encourage you today that not knowing is okay. Whatever tomorrow may bring is for tomorrow. Jesus reminded us that today has enough to worry about, don’t borrow from tomorrow.
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
To purchase this awesome sign, click on the image above. You will be redirected to Joyfully Said Signs, a local business that produces faith based home decor that will fill your space with joy and serenity!
I find that I always have just what I need for TODAY, when I stay in today. I can leave yesterday back there because it can’t be changed. I can leave tomorrow ahead of me because it isn’t here yet. TODAY is what I have and I don’t want to miss one single moment of God’s goodness right now!
Until next time…
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
The one outstanding difference between Christianity and every other religion is an empty tomb. Our Lord is not buried, his body did not decay, he is alive!
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Honestly, I can’t imagine how it would have felt to be a disciple the day after Jesus’ crucifixion. Would I have wondered what I had missed? Surely, I couldn’t have been so far off base. But Jesus was definitely dead and buried.
I imagine I would, too, have locked myself into a room with the other disciples. Who knew what the religious leaders would do to Jesus’ followers now?
Today, we wait in the tension between Good Friday and Easter morning.
Today, we have the benefit of hindsight and know how the story ends.
Today, we may not have even thought of the tomb.
But I do know that many of us have waited in the tension between what was, what is and what will be. If it isn’t the current health crisis, it might be job loss, failing marriage, infertility, adoption, financial hardship, illness, dysfunctional relationships, chronic depression or anxiety, and many other difficulties we encounter in this life.
I believe God is in the business of miracles. He is making everything new in his time and in his way. I continue to hold fast to the belief that God is moving behind the scenes. There has been a shift and it will be evident soon. And it will be the work of God on our behalf.
I am encouraged by John 10 and Jesus’ description of himself as the good shepherd. He doesn’t run away when things get tough. He isn’t in this relationship for what he can get out of it. He is here because he loves us. And he will always lay down his life for ours.
Go ahead and check it out for yourself!
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
There are certain things a person knows through senses other than sight. Things that cannot be proven empirically, but rather are known. For instance, I know my husband loves me. I could point to observable acts that he does for me. But it doesn’t prove he loves me. Simply, because he might also do those things for someone he dislikes but for whom he wishes to remain in good standing. (I’m not saying he does that, just saying he could do that.) But I know in my heart that my husband loves me.
A few times in my life I’ve had dreams that were set apart in quality from my other dreams. And I dream a lot…like every night. These were different, I knew they meant something and I needed to pay attention. So, I did.
During the night – early Thursday morning – I awoke. Certain it was nearly time to get up – my alarm was set for 6:45 – I was pleasantly surprised to see it was only 3:45 a.m. Three more hours to sleep! As I lay there, willing myself to sleep again, I had the sense that something was different. “There has been a shift” is what I heard in my spirit.
And indeed, I felt different in my spirit. It isn’t anything I can explain empirically, but I can tell you there was a shift. I was deeply settled, as one feels when completely relaxed. I wasn’t anxious when I went to sleep, but this deep sense of “okayness” surrounded me and stayed with me all day.
Thursday I kept hearing the phrase, “there has been a shift.” And in the deepest part of me, I know that all is well.
I put off writing all day, wondering if I should share this. But I just haven’t been able to shake this feeling. The words of Isaiah 43 came to me this afternoon.
“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
I believe there is a new thing happening. There has been a shift. I don’t know exactly what that means, but my response today has been one of gratitude. Today, as we remember Jesus’ crucifixion, I want to offer up a shout of praise for the new thing he is doing and ask him to open my eyes to see his wonderful works!
This might all sound quite odd to you and that’s okay. Just ignore it. But if it resonates with you, join me in thanking God for the work he is doing and the shift we are experiencing.
Today before my granddaughter’s nap, I read a book to her based on Psalm 23. The illustrations were simple and yet profound. A small lamb carefully guarded and cared for by a shepherd, wolves lurking nearby but never able to get close, provision and rest always available. As I read to her, I imagined myself the lamb.
I was reminded that “because of His goodness, He always leads me along the right path.” Trusting that I am right where God wants me isn’t always easy. Yet today as I pondered the simple illustration of two paths, one filled with danger and the other peace filled, I remembered that His goodness truly does lead me where it is the best for me.
I was reminded that “even in the darkest valley, I am not afraid. No evil can come to me. Your shepherd’s rod and staff make me feel safe.” Again the simple illustration of the lamb surrounded by the rod and staff were a visual sign that I am not alone…EVER! The evil that lurks doesn’t come near because the Shepherd is with me.
His goodness is leading me in the right path, he protects me even in the darkest valley and “gives me delicious food even when there is danger around me.” I was reminded to look for the table that he is spreading before me. Even now. Even in this time of unknown.
He is good. He is protecting. He is providing.
Perhaps you have time to read Psalm 23 and be reminded today, too!
Outcome based choices. What is that? To be honest, I easily get confused with new concepts and this is one introduced to me a couple of years ago. It was in the context of spiritual life and we were challenged to think about our daily decisions in relation to what we hoped to achieve in the future. Okay. That makes a lot of sense.
So often, it’s easy to live for today, the moment I am in right now. I consult my feelings and make decisions based on what I want right now in this moment. And then later I am disappointed because the long term outcomes aren’t what I wanted.
A few years ago, I went to Montana to visit my mom. My sisters – at least a few of them – were also there. Together we had a great visit with lots of moments making great memories. But at the end of my visit, Mom shared that she had hoped for more moments of sitting and drinking ice tea together, or having cookies and tea outside under the tree, sharing an evening chat time in the comfort of the living room. But time went so quickly and the opportunities slipped past.
Recently we experienced a tough situation in our church family. I wasn’t closely involved but as I heard about the outcome, I found myself wishing I had been more intentional about being involved. The evidence of God’s grace shone so brillantly in the lives of those gathering around this family and I wanted to be a part. But I had remained uninvolved because getting involved seemed too difficult.
I am challenged every day to think about what I hope to remember after these weeks of isolation. It is so easy to be bogged down by the heart ache of separation from friends, activities and normalcy. Financial loss distracts me, tempting me to pull away from generosity and sharing. Social media, while providing access to great content – like this blog – is also full of discouraging information and conspiracy theories.
What do I hope to be able to learn during this time? It is a question we discussed with our family recently, prompted by our daughters’ visit to buy eggs from the neighbor.
The most important concept from our discussion is this:
Don’t wait for things to get better to be joyful!
Wow! Talk about hitting the nail on the head. It’s so easy to think: I will be joyful when… or I will be positive when… or I will be happy when… this is all over!
Don’t wait for the situation to improve or for the isolation to end to find joy. Look for it as for a hidden treasure. Seek it with all your heart! Scripture says that joy is found in the presence of the Lord. It is the deep well of contentment and strength found in Him alone!
A few other concepts we agreed we wanted to learn…
Sustainability, Generosity and Simplicity
These terms are going to mean something different for everyone. Perhaps sustainability means a person plants a garden, raises chickens, or buys a goat. I suppose it depends on your living environment. It might mean supporting a local farmer’s market and learning to preserve food. Maybe it means learning a new skill like bread making or cooking meals at home. Possibly it just means living within parameters that are sustainable in a time of isolation. Whatever it might mean to you, it was interesting to hear our daughters explore what it means for them.
Generosity seems quite plain – sharing what I have with those who don’t have. It could be time, talents, resources, finances, food or toilet paper. 🙂 More than anything, it is having an outward focus on the needs around me and responding in whatever way I can to alleviate suffering for another human being.
Simplicity is interesting. We all agreed we can live with less than what we thought. Entertaining is about making connections not the food we serve. Daily meals can be simpler and more satisfying. Removing clutter, learning to enjoy empty spaces is all a part of embracing simplicity.
But the question we really asked ourselves is this: what do we want to say when this period of isolation is over? Do we want to grin and bear it, clenching our teeth and fists until we can go out again? I don’t know about you, but that isn’t what I want. I want to have an Isaiah 40 experience! Read this:
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Out of the Chaos 