Suffering

 

I found this nail while sweeping and it made me think of the woman sweeping who found her lost coin and rejoiced. 

We tend to avoid, hide, or run away from suffering and those are all natural feelings, but rejoicing in the midst of suffering is our supernatural response that only comes from knowing the One who is familiar with sorrows and acquainted with grief. Suffering always leads us closer to Jesus if we do not lose our focus. I could have just scooped up that nail and put it my pocket and continued sweeping, but I knew the Lord wanted me to pause and ponder upon His love and suffering. The cross, the nails, the beatings, the rejection and mocking. If we ever doubt His love for us, may we set our eyes on the cross and the nails and those doubts will vanish away. 

Often times joy and compassion come in the strange, yet beautiful package of suffering. Suffering is not pleasant, but when we dwell in Christ, we experience measures of His comfort and love that really cannot be experienced outside of suffering. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and I testify that even in that dark place, He is very present and forever faithful. He is the fourth man in the fire, the One unafraid to touch the leper, He is the Father running TO the prodigal to embrace and welcome him back home. There is a beautiful exchange of His compassion when others go through trials and we can comfort them with that same comfort we have experienced. What a beautiful mystery that this world will never understand, we can rejoice in our sufferings as we become more and more like Him through the sufferings. 

In God’s kingdom, suffering and pain are never wasted. He brings beauty from ashes, makes crooked places straight, and turns things for good that the enemy intended for evil. That’s our God! We can trust Him! 

In the middle of suffering, the enemy will often attack with the lie that God does not see us or care about us. We rebuke and kill those lies with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God

and the truth of who our God is... He is Immanuel, God with us and He is El Roi, the God who sees us. He tells us to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us! When afflictions, trials, and sufferings come, we refuse the lies, bitterness, and self pity as we cling to Jesus and His goodness and faithfulness. We can certainly trust the One with nail scarred hands and feet in our times of suffering. He sees, He hears, He cares, He knows. 

Oh Jesus, teach us not only to suffer well, but to rejoice in the midst of suffering. You are always worthy of our praise, no matter what circumstance is thrown at us in this life. We will not lose our joy in the midst of our suffering because we will keep our eyes on You and Your joy is our strength! Like the woman who rejoiced over finding her lost coin, may we also rejoice as we remember Your sufferings and love for us. For the joy set before You, You endured the cross! Thank you Jesus, there’s no need to fear or be discouraged because You walk with us, whether through fields of joy or the dark valleys of suffering, You are faithful and we will rejoice! 

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.”

1 Peter 4:12-16

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Romans 5:1-5

Bold like Bartimaeus

 As we sang these words “no mountain you won’t climb up, coming after me...” the Lord spoke to my heart, “yes, I pursue and come for you, but would you be bold and come after me?” 

“Would you be bold like Bartimaeus?” 

Bartimaeus heard Jesus was near and began crying out to Him. Those around Bartimaeus tried to silence him, but he cried out all the more! I love that about him! He didn’t bow to the pressures and criticism of man. His desire for Jesus was far greater than the voices and opinions of the crowd.

Jesus stopped and called for him and Bartimaeus instantly threw aside his garment before he came to Jesus. 

Bartimaeus’ garment was that of a beggar’s garment. He was known as the blind beggar who sat by the road begging. By faith, he threw that garment aside believing He was going to be healed, delivered, and transformed.

Our King of kings, Creator of the universe, Lord of lords looked at this blind beggar and asked “What do you want me to do for you?” 

Bartimaeus quickly responded, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Bartimaeus did receive his physical eyesight as well as spiritual vision. That’s our Jesus! We come to Him asking for a specific need and He not only meets that need, but continues to do more than we could ever imagine or even think to ask. Can you imagine what that must have been like for Bartimaeus? The supernatural healing of his eyesight paled in comparison to being face to face with the Savior of the world! 

Bartimaeus was bold, persistent, and full of faith. He left the garment of his old identity behind to embrace his new identity in Christ. He said goodbye to sitting on the side of the road to following Jesus, his Healer, his Savior, his Everything. 

How beautiful, our God dwells in unapproachable light, yet calls us to come boldly to His throne. He delights in His children seeking His face and coming after Him. 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Insulate

 

While praying for my children and their hearts, I heard the word “insulate” which means to protect something by interposing material that prevents the loss of heat or the intrusion of sound. Insulate means to cover and surround.

Thank you Jesus that their hearts are insulated with the Word of God. They know You and will keep on learning and knowing and loving You. They know who they are, their identities are safe and secure in You!

Your Word will insulate their hearts keeping the fire and passion of the Holy Spirit from losing heat in their lives. Your Word will insulate their hearts keeping out the voice of the enemy that would intrude with lies. The enemy has lost his voice and influence in our children’s lives. They know Your voice, Jesus, their Good Shepherd and they follow You while they flee from the strangers voice and his lies. 

Thank you Jesus for insulating our children’s hearts with Your Word!! We will keep pouring Your Word into them teaching them how to hide it in their hearts and declare it with their mouths! 

They are strong, the Word of God abides in them and they have overcome the wicked one. 

1 John 2:14

All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. 

Isaiah 54:13

Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me. For he alone is my safe place. His wraparound presence always protects me as my champion defender. There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? God’s glory is all around me! His wraparound presence is all I need, for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength. Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you—he will help you! 

Psalm 62:6-8

Fervent Passion

The Lord highlighted the word “fervent” to me as I was reading Luke 22:15 recently where Jesus says to His disciples, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

Fervent means: displaying a passionate intensity. Jesus intensely desired to commune with them. 

With fervent desire He longs to spend time with us in the secret place of His presence. 

James 5:16 declares that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” 

According to Zephaniah 3:17, the Lord rejoices over us, that word rejoice gives the picture of circling around with violent emotion. It’s hard for me to picture what that looks like, but it sounds like passion and zeal. He is filled with passion and zeal for us!

We are devoted to what we are passionate about. I think of the quote from the movie, National Treasure “one step short of crazy, what do you get? Passionate.” 

When you’re passionate about something, you can’t help but speak about it. Your passion is what’s on your mind when you wake up. It’s what drives you, what your life is centered around. 

Passion for Christ looks strange to this world while passion for sports, work, or hobbies is totally acceptable and even applauded. Passion makes religion uncomfortable and passion for Jesus points people to Jesus. 

On the day we see Jesus face to face I do not believe any of us will say “I should have been less fervent in prayer, less vocal about God’s goodness, less passionate about Christ.” No, we will wonder why He wasn’t our one desire, our one passion. We will wonder why lesser things sat upon the thrones of our hearts instead of the King of kings. Why we didn’t see that He is worthy of any and all cost. He is worthy of any sacrifice, He is worthy of all our praise and worship. He is worthy of earnest and fervent time in prayer. He is worthy of our passion.

Father, forgive us for our misplaced passions, for allowing other and lesser things to take Your place. Bind our hearts to Your heart and fill us with Your passion. The cross is a picture of your passion for us. Break us away from everything that has distracted us hindering our walk with You. Thank you for Your endless mercy and compassion. May our passion for You drive us to be who You created us to be and to fulfill the callings You have placed on our lives. You will forever be our first Love. 

Amen.

On They Walked

As the sun arose to welcome a new day

The women wondered as they walked
Who would roll the stone away?

They knew Pilate’s soldiers would be there
On they walked, determined to anoint their Lord
Nothing would stop their devotion and care

Perplexed, they could not understand
How their Savior and King dying
Could be God’s master plan 

How could death have stolen their King?
They cringed remembering how He was treated
There was no longer a reason to sing 

How were they to live without Him?
Life Himself had embraced death
Even creation seemed dark and dim

Undaunted by all the obstacles in their way
The guards, the stone, and even death
From their mission of love they would not stray

What would they find? Was this really the end?
They walked on in sorrow mixed with hope
Determined to honor their Lord and friend

Their hearts shattered and broken
Onward they walked 
Remembering the words He had spoken

One whispered, “remember what He said?
Could it be possible
That He has risen from the dead?”

Another said, “we all watched Him suffer and die
Don’t stir up false hope
We should accept and say goodbye”

“I know we watched Him breathe His last
But, would you dare to believe with me?
To His Words let us hold fast!”

“Remember He called Lazarus from the grave 
And what about the widow’s son from Nain?
He is the Christ, strong and mighty to save!”

Just then, they looked up in disbelief 
The place of death was now empty
Joy quickly replaced their grief 

Where is He? What could this mean?
In confusion and excitement they ran
To tell the others what they had seen

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice 
Right before their eyes He stood! 
smiling, laughing, declaring “Rejoice!”

At His feet they joyfully fell
Jesus is alive! He is risen!
He said “Rejoice! Go and tell!”

Trying to catch their breath
their hearts racing and feet pounding 
They shouted “He’s alive! He defeated death!”

Oh what victory! Oh what power!
Our Friend, our Lord, our King, our Savior
Come and believe this very hour!

He came to seek and to save the lost
If you ever doubt His great love for you
Just look to the nails and to the cross

Look to His scars that remain
If you feel alone and hopeless
He sees and knows your pain 

You were bought with a price
His precious blood shed for you
He sees you worthy of His sacrifice

Over you He sings
How greatly He delights in you
You are safe in the shelter of His wings

Oh, like a child we eagerly receive
His love and salvation
He is Savior and Lord, in Him we believe!

Rejoice everyone! Salvation has a name!
King Jesus reigns and lives forever!
Hallelujah! Sin and death He overcame!

She Plants

My friend and I sat together with our Bibles opened to Proverbs 31 and two words from verse 16 caught my attention like never before. She plants. I thought about those words again as I was planting some seeds today. The virtuous woman plants more than vineyards and vegetables. She plants seeds of blessings, life, and the Word of God. She plants hope in her home. She plants encouragement in the child that is having a bad day. She plants words of affirmation into her husband. She plants peace, wisdom, kindness, faith, and laughter. She plants love and patience. She plants prayers and miracles. She doesn’t become discouraged when she doesn’t see any fruit for she knows what she has planted and she believes she will see the harvest in due time. She works, she plays, she cries, she laughs, she prays, and she plants.

One Thing

One thing...

I’ve been hearing the Lord whisper those two words to my spirit a lot lately. Mary of Bethany knew that one thing and it was not taken from her. Mary was helping her sister prepare for guests, but when Jesus stepped inside the home, she left an important thing for the most important thing. The one thing. When Martha brought up her concern that Mary had left her to work alone, Jesus said:

“One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

One thing is needed. 

Another version says:

“Only one thing is necessary.”

Martha did well to welcome Jesus into her home, but even though the Messiah was in her presence, she wasn’t enjoying His presence because of the distractions around her. 

Martha was distracted with good and important work, but those things kept her from the most important thing. Mary knew how to drop important things for the most important one thing. She knew the importance of sitting at her Master’s feet. When Jesus entered the room, everything else could wait. 

Mary understood that time with Jesus is never wasted. It’s an eternal work and it will never be taken away from us. More can be accomplished in a few moments in His presence than days of our own striving. 

David, too knew that one thing and cried out for it in Psalm 27:4

“One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.”

All the other things in our lives will fall in their right place and space when we go after the one thing. Time in the presence of Jesus sitting at His feet is that most important one thing. David desired the Lord more than anything and he was determined to seek His presence and behold His beauty above all else. 

In Psalm 63:1, David again speaks about his one desire:

“O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.”

I love how David always writes about God in a personal way... “You are my God, The Lord is my Shepherd, The Lord is my light and my salvation, The Lord is my rock and my fortress...” 

I believe it is wise to seek God first thing in the morning every day. He knows what our day holds and He is the One who orders our steps, so let’s seek His face first before the distractions have a chance to steal away our attention. 

Matthew 6:33 echoes what was in the hearts of David and Mary:  “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

All other things must bow to the one thing. 

Jesus was once confronted by a man known as the rich young ruler. 

“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

The rich young ruler walked away sorrowful upon hearing Jesus’ words for he had great possessions. The thought of trading in his earthly riches for a cross was not appealing to him. He missed the point, it wasn’t about what he was giving up, but about what he was gaining. When Jesus becomes our one thing, our all in all, we see everything else as we should in comparison with Him. When we allow ourselves to gaze into His eyes of fire, that fire will consume away everything that doesn’t belong. 

Wealth and possessions distracted the young ruler from seeing the greatest Treasure standing right in front of him, but Jesus looked at this wealthy young man with deep love and compassion. 

Jesus knew the one thing that was keeping the young ruler from the most important One Thing. Jesus looked at Martha and this young man with love and desire to persuade them to choose Him over earthly things. Only He could satisfy their longing souls. 

He knows what keeps us from seeking and following Him too. He will reveal whatever hinders our relationship with Him in order to draw us closer to Him. He knows that He is our greatest need. May we desire and seek Him first, May all the distractions fade away as we gaze into His beautiful eyes of fire. May time in His presence be the most important one thing in our lives. 

Willing Hands

While reading about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, I noticed the word “hands” is mentioned at least five times. The virtuous woman willingly works with her hands, she reaches out to the needy with her hands. She plants and receives the fruit of her hands.  

It matters what we do with our hands whether it’s lifting the head of an upset child or washing dishes for the third time in a single day or lifting them up to worship the Lord. The Lord sees it all and delights in every detail of our lives. He sees all and He establishes the work of our hands. 

Last year I had the privilege of sitting with my grandmother during her last days on earth and I enjoyed listening to my mother and great aunt as they shared stories of my grandmother’s life. I tried to soak up every word they spoke and every memory they shared as we sat by her bedside. My great aunt told me how their grandmother would hold and look at their hands and say “child, what will these little hands have to go through in this life?” I watched my wonderful and faithful mother honor and take care of her mother day and night. With her hands my mom fed her, clothed her and comforted her as she caressed her head and held her hand. During my grandmother’s life, those small yet strong hands of hers hugged and comforted, held and rocked grandchildren and great grandchildren, wiped away tears, prepared meals, made the most beautiful bows for wreaths and presents, planted all kinds of flowers, blew kisses, clapped and rejoiced, and much more. My mother held her hand until she reached for the hand of Jesus. How precious, my grandmother was there for my mother’s first breath and my mother was there for her last breath on this earth. 

My grandmother is no longer on this earth, but the flowers she planted continue to bloom, the notes and letters she wrote continue to inspire. The bird houses that filled her yard continue to provide shelter for birds. The work of my grandmother’s hands are still evident today. Our prayers, our love and the work of our hands are never in vain.

Proverbs 31 tells us that the virtuous woman has willing hands. Willing hands that put down the less important for the most important. Willing hands that pick up her Bible for direction and peace instead of her phone. Willing to do the hard work that rewards her whole family. Willing to hold the hand of a dying loved one because she knows death is never final, it’s only the beginning of eternal life. Willing to serve her family and strangers alike. Willing to worship the Lord with her whole heart. Willing to unclench and empty her hands of worries and fears because she safely trusts in the One who holds her in His hands. 

She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands. 

Proverbs 31:13

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:17

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17