We’ll Know More Monday – Part 2
“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.” (Mark 11:24-25, NASB)
The first gift came in the initial report – while I still faced surgery, the benign biopsy elevated my hope. Second, the shortened wait relieved the part of me still vulnerable to stress and worry. Third, I am in complete awe that a “chance” encounter with my brother on a weekend led to a personal call two days prior to my follow-up appointment. The details of that chance encounter – incredible as they are – reduce to this: I received a personal call – not from my primary physician, but a specialist – on a Saturday from my brother’s phone. How does that happen except by the love of God through a caring doctor?
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We’ll Know More Monday – Part 1
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Whatever You Do, Don’t Let Go
“Whatever you do, don’t let go,” my cousin, Judy, turned and called back to me. “Grab two fists full of mane, grip hard, and hold on.”
“But I can’t swim,” I shrieked, wide eyes staring at her back.
“Don’t worry, I can. If anything happens, I’ll dive in and save you,” she said. Splashing drowned out her voice when, as she nudged her horse, the two plunged into the pond to escape the summer heat. The pair swam to the deep end with little more than heads above water.
Fearless teenagers – as least that described Judy. Me? Umm, not so much.
I hesitated in doubt as fear washed over me, even though I trusted Judy and knew she swam well. In that moment, I faced a choice – dive all in, or turn away. Should I accept her invitation while uncertain of the water, or be left behind and miss the moment?
Sometimes being faithful to the Lord can feel this way. We’re riding along comfortably in our Christian walk, and suddenly we’re facing a situation when fear and doubt wash over us.
Remember Peter? I love Peter. He climbed out of the boat and walked toward Jesus in the middle of raging winds and waves. Seeing someone walking on the water in the middle of the sea, the disciples cried out in fear assuming Jesus was a ghost. What did Jesus say? He said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV).
I love that, don’t you? Don’t be afraid.
Peter then calls to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s you…tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matt 14:28) When Jesus told Peter to come, Peter just bailed right out of the boat.
Considering his impulsive nature, I imagine Peter climbing overboard without thought or hesitation. Though his faith weakened in his doubt, he chose to leave the boat and seek Jesus. Peter didn’t miss the moment, he seized it. When his fear of the wind and waves threatened to drown him, he doubted and began to sink. Then what did he do? He called out for Jesus. Jesus reached out and grabbed Peter to keep him from drowning. (Matthew 14:23-33).
Is there any doubt Peter held firm to the saving grasp of Jesus? Wouldn’t you?
Do you?
Do you believe what you know about the Lord? Do you trust Him? Do you truly believe He will dive in and lift you out of the murky water when you slip, fall or even sink?
Will you tighten your grip and hold on or will you turn and walk away? When God extends an invitation, will you dive all in, or will you miss the moment? Will you allow logic, circumstances, or uncertainty hold you back? Or will you dive in head first, hold tight, and swim with all our might?
Don’t say it.
Don’t say, “Yeah, but…” I already hear you.
“Yeah, but you don’t know my circumstances.”
True. But I know God. I know He will never leave you nor forsake you. Nothing surprises God because He already knows. Remember the story of Job? God knew all Job would endure in advance. In fact, God allowed it and even limited Satan’s attacks on this “perfect and upright man.” (Job 1:1-12, NIV)
That day on my favorite horse, I decided to follow my cousin’s lead. Taking a deep breath, I put on a brave face, grabbed two fists full of mane, and gigged my horse in the sides. I gripped my calves tight around the girth as he swam the deep murky waters. Sweat from the saddle we removed only minutes before made gripping around the middle a challenge. I even slipped significantly as my horse lunged up the embankment.
But I made it.
More than that, the experience left me refreshed, revived, and renewed. I prepared for a repeat. No fear. I fully expected to dive back into that pond without a second thought before my uncle stopped us from repeating the pleasure.
Don’t be afraid to dive all in when God calls or extends the invitation to join Him. The experience may leave you refreshed, revived and renewed in your relationship with our Lord.
Please hear my heart. When waters are deep, waves are high, and the raging storms of life threaten to overtake you, find comfort knowing God is aware of your trials long before you face them. Call out to him. Trust him. Remain in Him. Allow Him to carry you safely to the other side. Weather the storm. Tread the water. Allow yourself to be carried into a deeper relationship with the Lord.
Whatever you do…
Don’t. Let. Go.
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Uncertain About What’s Next
Mixed emotions flooded my soul. Pride, awe, relief, joy, fear, confidence, peace, and uncertainty for what comes next.
Pride, because from the beginning of her college search, she targeted one place for one reason. She chose a specific private Christian college to equip her to serve the Lord in ministry. To be sure of her convictions and her calling, my husband and I offered options. She held firm to her decision and received the necessary scholarships to resolve any financial obstacles. What Christian parent wouldn’t be pleased with that?
Marinna felt God directed her, and she held on believing He would provide.
He did.
I stand in awe of her spiritual growth, focus, and her Christian convictions. While far from perfect, as a deacon’s kid and a pastor’s kid all her life, Marinna’s consistent exposure to the Word of God set a firm foundation for her. However, a strong-willed, openly opinionated child combined with our parenting faults and failings, created a real opportunity for quite the opposite. More so, I stand in awe of all God placed before her despite our parenting mistakes. I praise Him for giving her the wisdom to make good choices. As her parents, we hold on trusting God to finish the good works He started in her. (Phil 1:6)
As our graduate paused next to the college president, turned, and smiled at the camera, I released a long, slow sigh of relief as if letting go of the spiritual breath I held since her adolescence. The challenging seasons of preteen, teen, and college passed without irrational decisions, irresponsible behavior, or irreparable damage. The chick in the nest remained safe and ready to fly.
With college finished, for now at least, joy fills us for many reasons: her ministry focus; academic accomplishments; finishing college without debt. But what fills me most with joy is witnessing her growth in the Lord – both scholastic and spiritual.
Is she still strong willed, opinionated and stubborn? Yes! Imagine those traits, coupled with quick wit and a fearless nature all focused on the Lord and not the desires of this world. I fear for the opposition she will face, for her sake and theirs. Strong-willed individuals are famous for their relentlessness – a doubled edge sword for sure. Oh, the stories I could tell, but I won’t – not yet, anyway.
Marinna exudes confidence and self-assurance. However, my confidence in her arises not from her own, but from God. I hold on knowing God clasps my daughter in the palm of His hand. Wherever He takes her, whatever He calls her to do, whomever He calls her to be, He will equip her, supply her needs, and finish His great work in her. As long as she remains in the center of His will, peace settles in my heart.
Then, uncertainty disrupts the peace when my mind speaks louder than my heart. The mental conversation seems more like a ping pong match between the two. So many unsettled questions served up in one part of my mind end up answered by another. “What’s next? Will she be close, or far away? Will she immediately find vocational ministry, or remain in a secular job?” Then, “God knows. God’s got this. God’s got her.” Letting go proves difficult, especially for the parents of an only child.
Maybe you feel the same. Whether your child is graduating kindergarten, high school, or college, maybe you also wrestle with the uncertainty of the future even as you know, “God’s got this.” Or maybe a heavy heart weighs on you as our cunning enemy lures your child away from God. Are you burdened with guilt, questioning every parenting decision you ever made, wishing things for your child would turn out differently? Maybe even as a model parent, your child chose a path contrary to the Will of God leaving you standing by, stunned, and unsure of anything.
Maybe you are the graduate and you are fighting the fear of an uncertain future.
Read these words.
Hold on.
Do. Not. Give. Up.
Trust God no matter what. Hang on in faith and pray.
Please understand, I know those words are easier said than lived. God never promised our walk with Him would be easy. Our strength for the required endurance comes from Him.
While we are proud of our daughter, God is the hero of this story – not Marinna, and certainly not our parenting skills. [If only you knew!] Even just one wrong choice opens the door for a very different outcome. Sometimes someone else’s wrong choice impacts us and changes everything.
As parents, we desire the best for our children. We want to protect them.
We know the dangers of this world, potential pitfalls, and the active work of an enemy who wishes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). We see evidence of his destruction and evil every day. We pray – and we should, without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God holds the answers to all things, is everywhere, and can protect my daughter no matter what. Knowing this gives me peace and provides comfort when I am uncertain about what comes next.
I pray you find peace and comfort in that as well.
“For I know the plans I have for you – this is the Lord’s declaration – plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 HCSB)
(Editor’s Note: Thank you, President Terry Kimbrow, and the faculty and staff of Central Baptist College of Conway, AR, for our daughter’s quality Bible education.)
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Roots to Stand Upon
“Oh, yay! I will finally have roots,” our eight-year-old daughter squealed.
I remember well that day in 2004. My husband and I felt God calling us back to Arkansas from the Midwest, so once our direction became clear, we shared our plans. Marinna’s response to our announcement struck a chord in my heart.
Roots. That word settled deep in my soul.
Why I never thought about her absence of roots, or her need for it, I really don’t know. Preoccupied? Oblivious? Who knows? But in her excitement I realized she spent more time without extended family surrounding her than with them. When we left our home state five and a half years prior, Marinna was only two years old. Her young mind remembered very little of the years we lived near family.
Living 750 miles away, trips home were limited to once or twice per year.
She wanted roots.
Without family in the area when we moved to Nebraska, we depended upon new relationships to fill the void. (God intervened, and that’s great story for another day.) With a fourteen-hour drive one way, weekend visits were not an option. We also moved four times in five and a half years for my job.
No family ties. No roots.
Not in Nebraska.
Not in South Dakota.
Marinna attended schools with children whose families lived in the same area for generations. The towns were small so many of her friends’ classmates attended school with their cousins. She desired that familial connection. She wanted that link to her history and her heritage.
She needed roots.
No wonder the news of our return to Arkansas resulted in her spontaneous squeal of excitement.
But not just anywhere in Arkansas.
Central Arkansas.
Home.
Finally, Marinna connected with her roots. Family – not friends who became family – a blood link.
My friends, as Christians, we have a blood link through Jesus Christ. We are family, adopted heirs of the throne through our faith in Jesus, by the blood He shed for us as an atonement for our sins. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are rooted in the family of God.
When we accept Him, we have roots like no other roots.
When we accept Him, we have a home like no other home.
When we accept Him, we have family like no other family.
There is no distance too great for Him to cross every single moment of every single day.
There is no place beyond His reach; no hurt He cannot heal; no family He cannot repair; no home He cannot rebuild; no promise He will ever break.
Are we dysfunctional at times? Without a doubt. But while we are flawed human beings, we are His children. He is our Father.
Christian, trust Him with everything.
Stand firm on your Heavenly roots.
Hold tight to your Holy family tree.
Fourteen years ago, our young daughter erupted with excitement about finally being home with family, firmly planted in her roots.
God rooted deep within us a desire in our hearts for Him; the want to be near Him; to need Him.
As Christians, when we make our heavenly move home, we will no longer feel unsettled, restless, or sometimes distant from the one and only God who loves us so much, He gave us the life of His son, Jesus.
That’s some kind of deep root.
That’s some kind of blood link.
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How to Keep Your Life on Track
One week, an evil, hate-filled act claimed the lives of 17 people in a Florida school shooting. The next week, the great evangelist Rev. Billy Graham died at age 99.
One heart filled with deeds of evil.
One heart filled with goodness and love.
Such contrast prompted me to consider the hearts of those of us living somewhere between the hardened heart of someone like the school shooter and the heart of a man like Rev. Graham.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23, NIV)
Everything flows from the heart.
Words.
Attitude.
Action.
Reaction.
Ponder this. What emotion did you feel when you first learned of the Parkland, Florida shooting? Shock? Anger? Sadness? Nothing? Maybe you just shook your head and thought, “Again?”
I am not asking this of those directly impacted, or in the peripheral of such tragedies, but those of us well removed watching or reading from the safety of our homes and businesses. What did you first feel? Was it different the first time you learned of a school shooting?
I am ashamed of my answer, and disturbed that I’m not alone.
I just shook my head, and thought, “Again?”
Have I allowed my heart to become somewhat calloused from the commonplace of these events? I wasn’t glued to the television eager for the latest reports like the first time. Have I allowed myself to become desensitized and disconnected? What about you?
The thought alarms me.
Guard the heart, above all else.
“The greatest need in the world is the transformation of human nature. We need a new heart that will not have lust and greed and hate in it. We need a heart filled with love and peace and joy, and that is why Jesus came into the world.” – Rev. Billy Graham, 1918-2018
Did you know the word “heart” appears 830 times in 762 verses in the KJV Bible? God repeatedly addresses the condition of the heart.
The hatred of all that is good destroys life – physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually.
Love gives life, joy, peace, hope and so much more.
Evil takes. Goodness gives. This is not a new revelation.
The issues of life, everything regarding the issues of life, flow from the heart.
Simplified problem: Anything less than a pure heart needs healing.
Simplified answer: Jesus.
Yes, the problems and answers are more complex, but draw a straight line through it all and the attitude of the heart rests at the core. The heart drives our words, actions, and reactions. From sensitive and pliable, to hard and calloused, the heart influences our decisions. Since the only heart we can truly know is our own, it is our responsibility to guard it with all the power of Heaven.
We should not guard against feeling heartache. We must guard against losing the ability of the heart to ache. To do that, we must remember this:
“Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39, NIV)
When we love God in this way, the condition of our heart in all other areas of our lives falls into place. When we focus on our relationship with Jesus, we protect our heart’s capacity to love others the way God loves us, even when others may not be so lovable. After all, aren’t we unlovable at times, and yet God still loves us?
I think back to the contrast between those two news stories—the Parkland shooting and Rev. Graham’s death, and I believe we all should want to finish the race of life as Rev. Graham did. I know I do. One of the striking aspects of his life is how he diligently guarded his heart. Christianity Today recently wrote about “The Billy Graham Rules.” There is no coincidence that a thoroughly protected soul produced a remarkable godly life.
Maybe you’re a preacher or teacher of the gospel, but the daily tasks of ministering to those lukewarm in their faith is eroding the joy in your heart. Maybe a painful situation has left you bitter and defensive. Maybe you’ve never noticed the numbness creeping in and stealing the compassion you once felt, until now. Whatever your situation, surrender everything in your heart to the Lord. He alone heals the hurt, removes walls of bitterness, enables forgiveness, and instills the capacity to love the way He loves – even as we face the evils of this world.
They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up to your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 1:18-25, NIV)
Possessing knowledge, behaving honorably, living well, and being charitable is nothing if we do not love God first, and others second.
“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1Cor. 13:2-3, NIV)
Living in the world is painful, but without pain, we cannot know love. Without love, we are nothing and we have nothing.
Guard your heart above all else, to do so will keep your life on track, for a pure heart is everything to Christ Jesus.
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