Lord Give Me Eyes to See

19 Feb

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In life, when  looking at something from a distance we often cannot make out what we see with exact clarity.

 “Circle, hand, flag, stable, cross…” Emily stated as she labeled each picture for the nurse administering the vision screening. The stable, really a cup, was discussed more closely and even revealed to Emily, but as she covered the other eye and read the symbols from right to left this time, she continued with, “cross, stable, flag, hand, circle.”

Perhaps it is the same with us adults? We see a situation looming in our near future or planted square in front of our noses and we have this ominous presence of anxiety about that which may happen.

Uncertainty can be a ferocious devourer of peace.

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For five months we have welcomed Little E into our family and hearts. We love and understand him more and more with each passing day, as he us. Recent progress made on the part of his family lead us to believe we will have him for only two months more. Right now we have many questions and concerns for him, for our children, and for ourselves:

How will the transition back to his own home and family affect him? How will it affect our children? What amount of time will we need a break before we invite another child into our home through foster care? How do I cope with the guilt of looking forward to some relief as a parent of three back to two and yet handle my own mixed emotions about losing the little one I have come to love? What if we need several months “off” before we are ready to again become the orphan’s advocate that foster care requires?

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These questions only target this one facet of our lives…we know many more people and situations that require constant prayer.

The anxiety levels can build as we look at the mess and needs around us. Its presence can pervade our days without our expressed knowledge but rather a feeling, a heaviness, that we desire to be freed from.

Thankfully, as both the nurse and I clearly saw the stable was a cup, God sees the struggles in our view as whatever cup they may turn out to be: cups of grace and mercy, deliverance from or deliverance through, or cups of pain and purification for His glory and our ultimate good.

He who was born in the household stable came to drink the cup of God’s wrath on our sin so we wouldn’t have to. Lord, please give us eyes to see, as your Son, the cup poured before us and let us say as He did:

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.

~Matthew 26:39, 42 (emphasis mine)

As we pray the Father’s will let us also claim His promises found in Philippians 4:6-7:

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be make known to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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I Have Not Love

9 Jan

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Jesus,

Help me. I have not love. At least not love enough.

Your Daughter,

Brooke

P.S.

I only love because you first loved me. Thank you…

How numerous the opportunities to kneel or to break by 10:00 in the morning! Today, the rare occasion in which the children awake me…at 6:00 no less; I choose to kneel. Sending daddy off to work; kneel again. A visit with Little E’s case manager, I kneel as the kids either obey the first time… or not. But wait, wait for it, here it comes…I bend…then break.

Crayons are given, coloring pages laid out, one book is read, and the starting of another. It is at this point it all comes unglued. I bend something mighty and the peace breaks into the very pieces which cannot be picked up.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.~John 13:34-35

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

If I am in fellowship with Christ, then shouldn’t I demonstrate love in action? Even with the provocations of three children? Instead, I bend and so went the clanging pieces of broken people clashing loud… the absence of patient love.

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People are fond of quoting the verse, “God is love.” But, C.S. Lewis rightly questions the meaning behind these words. Are we misusing these words as mere semantics for the thought that every love people express is God? Here is what Lewis has to say in this regard:

But they seem not to notice that the words “God is love” have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love. Of course, what these people mean when they say that God is love is often something quite different: they really mean “Love is God.” They really mean that our feelings of love, however and wherever they arise, and whatever results they produce, are to  be treated with great respect. ~ Mere Christianity, p. 151

God is love expressed in his three state relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and then to His creation. To sustain my relationship with others I require the love of God as infused by daily filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling that I should seek and lean into through prayer and the reading and memorization of Scripture.

In the church, love is the most needed as the culmination of gifts that God has given His people: teaching, acts of service, giving, admonition, etc., are utilized. Whether preaching the gospel in our home,  to the body of Christ, or to a lost world, love is the essential key for others to see Christ in us; for others to know that we actually believe what we profess.  I realize this  especially when I have chosen to stomp my feet, dig in my heels, and demand the obedience that is required from our children as their mom.

Jerry Bridges perfectly illustrates the effects of the absence of love in the following story:

I remember hearing of one university student of whom it was said, “He can lead people to Christ, but no one wants to room with him.” Whether he could, given that immaturity of character, truly lead people to a saving knowledge of Christ may be questioned by some. But whether he could or not, it is true that a great big dose of love was needed to make him truly effective. ~ True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia

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After the kids had listened to the second story and sat there as quietly as possible in obedience I penned the note above. I need more of Christ because I need to love others more… I must choose to kneel.

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To Kneel or to Break

7 Jan

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On Christmas Eve, I bent over to pick up Joshua and the spasm of pain in my already troubled lower back quickly communicated a costly mistake…I had bent when I should have kneeled.

Health professionals, or anyone with back pain, confess that kneeling protects the back by transferring the stress of weight to the legs. However, most people bend at the hips the moment they drop something. Bending is the easier action. Easier isn’t always better…bending causes more strain to the spine and may result in injury. Because kneeling is not our first reaction, more discipline and resolve are needed to use this better practice.

If we do not kneel we risk brokenness of body. Similarly, if we face the mishaps, temptations, and opportunities of today with a bent on our own merit and strength mentality, we succumb to brokenness of spirit.

Why should our backs endure that which was intended for the knees to sustain?

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather healed. ~Hebrews 12:12-13

When the mess is made, the expectation unmet, the diagnosis rendered, relationships severed, or the moment of opportunity knocks, will we bend with all our might or bow our knees in humble prayer?

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit  in your inner being, so that…you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ~Ephesians 3:14-16, 19 (emphasis mine)

Kneel and be filled… bend and break. The choice is ours.

Today and everyday this week, why not kneel to retrieve and then kneel your heart in prayer? Obedience begets obedience and discipline begets discipline. May 2013 be marked by the discipline of prayer over self-powered attempts, and kneeling rather than back-breaking grasps.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. ~Luke 19:10

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. ~Mark 1:35

And going a little further, he fell on the ground and prayed…~ Mark 14:35 (emphasis mine)

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Prayers for Newtown

18 Dec


Friday afternoon, December 14th,  I sat on my bed licking envelopes with a bitter taste in my mouth and a burden on my heart. There I sat sealing Christmas cards complete with beautiful pictures of our children and healthy family. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, twenty sets of parents learned the tragic news that their precious babies ranging in age from 6 to 7, had given of their last earthly embrace. Only hours before they said goodbye to siblings and moms and dads and bounded through the front doors of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Likewise, six vibrant women showed up to work for the last time, completely unaware that they were minutes away from the threshold of eternity.

In the wake of such tragedy, I attempt to process the reality of Friday’s shooting. This horrific event is utterly unimaginable.

As we mourn with the victim’s families, I would like to offer prayer suggestions that we as believers can petition on their behalf.

You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.~John Bunyan

Prayers for the city of Newtown, Connecticut and Sandy Hook Elementary School:

  • pray for the families comfort by the Holy Spirit
  • pray for the salvation of each victim’s family
  • pray that the marriages in the families surrounding the victims would hold together under the weight of such grief
  • pray for the siblings
  • pray for the unexpected Christmas that is upon them
  • pray for the first responders who viewed the horrific scene and the examiners that autopsy the victims’ bodies- pray that God would grant them sleep and reprieve from the images that they will carry in their minds the rest of their lives
  • pray that the students, families, and first responders would get the counseling, spiritual, and medical treatment they need to deal with the post traumatic stress of this event
  • pray that out of this horrific tragedy people would become followers of Christ Jesus
  • pray for the local churches to be salt and light in this great hour of darkness
  • pray for local pastors as they prepare their sermons- may they be the very words of God speaking to a grieving and seeking people
  • pray for the local mayor, school board, and the governor of Connecticut as they make decisions moving Sandy Hook Elementary School forward
  • pray that the media would not glorify the gunman and so encourage other violent acts from mentally and emotionally unstable people
  • pray for the gunman’s brother and father whose lives have been forever altered-for their salvation and peace in the days ahead
  • pray for wisdom for parents as they try to communicate the events of last Friday to their children
  • pray for our nation as we react to these events-may we consider the real issue of the heart of sinful man and may we respond in humility and repentance as a nation
  • pray that Christians would use this as an opportunity to preach the gospel and share the comfort of the Holy Spirit

Father God,

The events of last Friday did not take you by surprise. Like us, this evil act grieves your heart. For you made man to bring you glory and we returned the gift of life with sin and evil.

Thank you Lord that you love the little children and you welcome them to come unto you. Thank you that the Bible provides hope that the children killed in Friday’s shooting have had their tears wiped away by the very hand of God. 

You are a loving and just God. We lift the above prayer requests to you and ask that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We long for the day when you will return and create a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more sin, striving, nor death. Come Lord Jesus and prepare the hearts of your people for your return.

We love you Lord and it is in Jesus name that we pray,

Amen.

 

 

Further Reading Recommendations:

1. The Gospel and Newtown by David Platt (here)

2. Newtown As I Know It by Jamie at Simple Homeschool (here)

3. Talking to Children After the Death of a Loved One (here)

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Looking for Beauty in Tough Places 2

10 Aug

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

~Galations 5:22-23

On Wednesday we ended our time saying, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We are people who seek beauty, we know that, but often times our behaviors do not exemplify the beautiful life we seek.

Asking Christ to fill us with His Holy Spirit opens the door to answers, holiness, and God-honoring power thereby unleashing beauty in the tough places.

This weekend I pray for more of the Holy Spirit to reign in our lives. Before we enter situations or conversations, let us pause to seek God’s will in all of our interactions.

Prepare us oh Lord to do thy will.

 You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.

~John Bunyan

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Looking for Beauty in Tough Places

8 Aug

The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.

~Psam 115:16

Some days it is easy to see the beauty. Other days, amidst our clinched fists or tear soaked tissues, our psyches cry out for places of quiet beauty.

 

On Ron’s journey to Paris, Normandy, Oxford, and London, man and God’s beauty were on display. Brilliant architecture, sculpture, and art captured in his lens while the sacrifices of human life one for another were caught in his heart.

Today, are you in a tough place looking for beauty? Have you, like I, failed one to many times, or so it seems, at living life in obedience to God’s commands? Or, are you face to face with tragedy and heartache asking why?

I have to tell you that in writing this blog, I aim to create scribblings of beauty to bring glory to God and edification to His Body, but often-times at the point of my sin I question my authority to even write. I long to make this a beautiful life but I know my everyday ugly. I know my failings  and my utter ineptness to live out a perfect life. Further still,to an extent, I know what reality is out there confronting mankind everyday.

We live among people in tough places. Sometimes we are them. Being in a tough place is a spectrum term, because for all purposes my points of difficulty are someone else’s points of perceived blessing.

Perhaps we who are looking for beauty in tough places should ask as the disciples did in Luke 11:1, “Lord teach us to pray.” (See Luke 11:10-13)

In certain tough places we have not beauty because we ask not. If we were to ask, the Father would give us more of the Holy Spirit who supplies love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… all of which lead to a beautiful life. Or, in the very least, a life lived beautifully.

Asking Christ opens the door to answers unleashing beauty in the tough places. Perhaps not answered in the way we imagined nor in the timing we hoped but with the One who is faithful and true.

Lord, teach us to pray…

*All photos were taken by my husband, Ron, on his journey with Student Leadership University 301.

friday favorite things | finding joy

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A Prayer Practice for the New Year?

18 Jan

Two weeks ago I was hit by a driver who fled the scene. When the police called him and he returned to the scene of the hit and run accident, the young man told me he was sorry. However, upon questioning from his father, “Did you know you hit her? You must have felt it.” The offender did not take responsibility, but said that he was not sure he had hit me.

What kind of sorrow or apology is one that does not confess guilt?

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51:17

A true spirit of humility; to be contrite is to recognize my sinful state before the Holy God in whose presence no evil can stand.

The only way that I can approach God, is to not only say that I am sorry, but also come to Him with godly repentance that leads to everlasting life.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:10

Worldy sorrow says, “I am sorry that I am caught in my sin.” Godly sorrow conveys, “Against a Holy God I have sinned and I ask you to forgive me and lead me in Your paths of righteousness.”

This year I would like to propose two new practices for us.

First let us, like the man in the video below, confess to Jesus our sins and the sins of our people and ask Christ to have mercy on us.

Secondly, would you join me in praying for the nations via Operation World? Click here to subscribe for the 60 day prayer e-mails that will be delivered to your inbox. The prayer prompts feature Prayercast videos that can guide your prayers for the nations. They also highlight unreached people groups within each country. Unreached means that less than 2% of that population has ever heard of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I hope that you will join me.

Let us all learn from the humble prayers of brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus around the globe.

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