God

Glimpses of Spring

Blog_FlowersInSnowIf you live in the Midwest, it’s not a good idea to pack away your thermals for the summer or to box up your t-shirts for the winter. Weather-wise, you never know what you’ll get out here. You could be wearing flip-flops in February and long johns in July. It wasn’t long ago that Snowmageddon hit and we were snowed in for a good chunk of winter. This year, it seems everyone’s been outside jogging in their shorts since the end of January.

In my perfect world, winter would last from Thanksgiving to a few days after New Years. We’d have five months of spring, a few weeks of summer, and five months of fall. It’s not that I don’t like winter or summer, just not the extreme temperatures that come with them.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in my perfect world. Winter typically comes a little too early and stays way too late. Summer gets impatient and takes over before spring has a chance to say goodbye. And fall’s colors never stick around long enough. But, like I said, there are always surprises.

This has been a winter of surprises, with a relatively mild January, and February racking in a record number of above average temperatures. Still, we all know it’s not over yet. Though in a few short weeks the calendar will tell us it’s officially spring, we can’t get too confident. Winter might decide it’s hungry for a few flowers.

Despite the inconsistencies of Midwestern weather systems, I refuse to complain. Spring has fought a good fight already, breaking through into winter…giving glimpses of things to come.

Life has it’s own seasons. Too often we linger in frigid cold. Yet in the midst, God intervenes, bringing glimpses of spring as a reminder that winter will come to an end. Spring is like hope. It’s heaven breaking through, reminding us that there is a glory that far outweighs our light and momentary trials here on this earth.

When the Lights go Out

Blog_CandlesI spent the night in the neonatal intensive-care unit once with my son. It was enough to know I’d never want to be there during a power outage. My cousin in-law, a director of the NICU at a local hospital, woke up early one January morning to that very crisis. Severe winter weather resulted in a power outage, and the back-up generator lost connection with the fuel supply.

She was responsible to oversee the safe transport of several critical-condition babies by teams of professionals through darkened hallways and stairwells. With only flashlights to guide them, the teams effectively intervened. Once power was restored, the babies were safely, miraculously returned to the hospital unharmed.

When she shared the story with me, I was amazed how she could have remained so clear-minded in the midst of such chaos. She said when she arrived at the hospital, she stood in the pitch-dark stairwell of her unit thinking of all the lives that were at stake. And she prayed.

Her story reminds me of how Captain Rostron of the Carpathia responded upon hearing the distress signal from the sinking Titanic. Before taking action, shipmates observed him praying. Once they moved forward, they were able to successfully navigate the same sea of icebergs that destroyed the Titanic.

Prayer may seem to some an afterthought or a crutch. But for the person of faith, prayer is the very lifeboat that draws us to the presence of a limitless God. For my cousin as for Captain Rostron, God responded to their prayers by bringing peace and clarity of mind to navigate through an otherwise catastrophic situation.

When the lights go out in our lives, there is one who supplies greater power. He may not make the difficulties go away. He may not make them easier. But He will give us the wisdom we need to make our way, and even lead others, safely through the darkness. He will give peace that passes all understanding, when there is no other source for such peace to flow.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

All Things New

Blog_ChristmasUnwrappedIt’s over. The gifts are unwrapped. Toys are scattered across the floor. The cookie plates are empty of everything but crumbs. And we’re passed out in bed, exhausted from the whole ordeal.

In a few minutes the kids will wake up to play with their new toys. In a few hours, they’ll be bored. In a few days, at least one of those toys will be broken. The rest will be lost, worn down, or missing parts. In a few week, they’ll be forgotten; in a few months they’ll be in the garbage. In a year, the kids will be asking for new toys all over again.

It’s the circle of life, Christmas style. Have you noticed the theme? Nothing new stays new. No matter how we take care of our things, they’ll all waste away.

Yet written on our hearts is a longing for permanence. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything stayed new all the time? Instead, we watch our treasured possessions slowly disintegrate before our eyes.

The message of Christmas breathes life into the surrounding decay. It’s a reversal of things—the old made new, the dying made alive. The hopeless infused with hope. Everything of worth will last.

God has promised to make all things new. Because of Christmas, broken hearts can be restored, lives can be renewed. When all is lost, everything is gained. It’s then that we find life that is truly life—a hope that can never fade away.

So it’s not really over. Christmas is the beginning of all things new.

Where to Go When You Just Can’t Stop

Blog_HelpAfter multiple times telling my daughter to shut down her video game, I was beyond exasperated. “If you don’t shut it down, I’ll do it for you,” I warned, hand poised to take control of the computer mouse.

“Would you please, Mommy?” She pleaded, hand glued to the mouse. “‘Cause I can’t STOOOOOOOP!”

The scene reminds me of all the times I’ve felt powerless to change apart from divine intervention. My attention is so easily divided, my affections so quickly diverted. It’s like the Apostle Paul said of his struggles, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

The good news is that change is possible. With Paul, we may cry, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” But God has promised to rescue us from the hand of those stronger than we are. In other words, those habits we hate yet can’t escape—God is able to set us free.

Just as my daughter recognized her inability to let go of that which so gripped her attention, and just as she asked me for help—we have a God who sympathizes with our every weakness, and gives us power to change. If we need help, all we have to do is ask.

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ my Lord.” (Romans 7:25)

Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead?

Empty Tomb from CrossCardsWhen hope dies, it’s hard to believe life can prevail.  We remain at the burial site—gazing upon what we’ve lost, unaware that something greater is destined to arise from the ashes.  Helen Keller once said, “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”  When Jesus died on the cross, those who had followed him closely were unaware that His death was only the opening of a greater door in which God was about to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that [they could] ask or think” (Eph 3:20).

The women who witnessed the miraculous were met with the question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). They earnestly came to Jesus’ disciples with news of the empty tomb, only to be met with disbelief.  It was as if they had come to a tomb of another kind—where hope itself was permanently laid to rest.  The disciples who’d walked with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry had mistakenly believed He’d come to set up an earthly kingdom.  He had been their hope of liberation from oppressive governmental and religious systems—a political Messiah.

When He died on the cross, their dreams died with Him; when they buried Him in the tomb, they buried their aspirations as well.  They did not understand Jesus’ destiny of suffering, predictions of death or promises of resurrection. They didn’t understand He had far greater things for them, an everlasting hope.

Many times we find ourselves in what appears to be a hopeless situation—a graveyard of disenchantment, surrounded by death.  Life has disappointed us; we have disappointed ourselves.  It seems that God has abandoned us to the grave.  We cry out for hope, but Heaven is as brass.  Alone in a graveyard of doubt and defeat, it seems that the promise of resurrection was nothing more than an illusion.

Yet it is when we have come to the end of ourselves that we are on the verge of finding true life.  When things seem most hopeless, we are closer to a breakthrough than ever before.  Why?  Because we finally come to realize that the things we were hoping in were not worthy of our trust to begin with.  They were incapable of sustaining us or providing the life we were looking for.  We finally seal false hope in a tomb—never to be revisited.  This is the beginning of resurrection.

When find ourselves at the entrance to life’s tombs, we have not come to a place of death:  we have instead arrived at the door that leads to everlasting life and hope.  Jesus’ death on the cross is an invitation to die to all our unworthy expectations.  His resurrection is an invitation to find hope that will never die.

(Originally posted by Jen on the Tears of Joy Blog)

To Infinity and Beyond

Blast Off from Google ImagesI thought I was finished. Actually, I never expected to even start. My initial plan was to post random quotes and verses on love for fifty days. That’s it. Nothing profound—just simple, everyday reminders of what true love is all about.

My journey took me further than expected. I originally thought I’d glean most of love’s definition from the most quoted passage on love—1 Corinthians 13. But the list of love’s qualities kept growing and wouldn’t stop.

My conclusion?

True love…is infinite.

It can’t be contained, confined, or defined. It’s greater than we can imagine, stronger than we can hope, and more powerful than we dare to dream. It’s safe, yet dangerous. Simple, yet profound. Beautiful, yet messy. Impossible…yet supernatural.

Love is so misunderstood, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a wonder we expect a small kitchen appliance to come with instructions, but we think such significant things as life and love come random and undefined. How do we expect to survive this planet if we don’t know what’s asked of us in the realm of love? It bears repeating that the extensive accomplishments of humankind are rendered meaningless if we fail in the mission of loving one another.

Do we really believe we’re stranded on this earth without purpose? Have we so suppressed the obvious order and design of our universe—all because we want selfishly to chase after fleeting satisfactions? Creation speaks loud and clear. We’re here for something greater. And we’re not gonna find it if we’re bent on selfish endeavors.

Love is the only worthy endeavor.

True love comes from an infinite God…who loves all he’s created without measure. He sacrificed so we can know and live in this love, for now and for eternity. So we can experience the infinite.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
 
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:15)
 
“We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
 
 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.” (Romans 5:6-10)
 
True Love…is INFINITE (Day 51, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)

Love for the Rhythm-impaired

Music Notes from Google ImagesLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pitch-perfect and tone deaf…welcome to today’s edition of Name that Tune…Without the Tune. You will be now presented with a series of clues by which you must guess the song title without having heard one single note. Ready? Here we go.

A top 40’s hit from the 1960’s about conditional love. Got it?

Not a 60’s child? Me neither. But no matter how old you are, you’ve probably heard it on the radio or at a wedding at some point in life. Need a memory jogger? It starts with “You broke my heart, ’cause I couldn’t dance…you didn’t even want me around,” and continues, “But now I’m back to let you know, I can really shake ‘em down.” Now do you remember?

The song is all about the question, “Do you love me now that I can dance?” Apparently the guy really wants to know, ‘cause he keeps asking though he could have easily guessed the answer after the first line. If someone don’t love you ‘cause you can’t dance, they won’t love you when you can.

True love is without restrictions. It doesn’t say, “So you think you can dance? Prove it, and I’ll love you.” It loves despite your deficient dance moves. It sees beyond any flaws in your features. It persists whatever your weaknesses and failings.

One look at the infinite characteristics of true love bears evidence we all fall short. The good news is, God loves us even when we can’t love him. He loves even when we’re powerless to love our enemies, and even when we struggle to love our friends. And by his love, he enables us to love with sincere, supernatural, unfailing, and unconditional…love.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

True Love…is UNCONDITIONAL (Day 48, #50ShadesOfTrueLove)