Where Were You When…
Recently my travels took me to the beautiful island of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The view, just outside the hotel patio, reminded me of one of my favorite Bible passages, found in Job 38. We know Job’s story. God, in conversation with Satan, paid Job the highest compliment about his character, and then allowed Satan to take everything from Job, but only spare his life. If you are familiar with the story, you know Job not only wished his life would have been taken, but also mourned he had ever been born. Have you been there? Obviously many have, reading the suicide statistics bear out that tragedy. Or maybe you haven’t been that low, but you have pondered the same things Job pondered…why did I have to experience that loss, or those losses? Loss of a loved one, job, home, health, income, safety, status, friendships…. Maybe like Job, the losses have come so fast and furious they take your breath away, and you are paralyzed when the phone rings, or in Jobs case, the only messenger left alive comes to bring more devastating news. Like Job, our earthly vision does not allow us to see into the heavenly places to know when something is coming or why it may come. But, even though we cannot know the mind of God, or see what our lives will hold, we can trust that He is good and works all things for the good of those who love Him. To ensure this, He left us with examples, glimpses, messages, instructions all wrapped up in a timeless, sixty six book letter, that opens our eyes to new things each and every time we open the pages. The Bible is an amazing book. No matter how long we live, or how much we study, we will never run out of treasures to strengthen, comfort and guide us. Take comfort in the fact that your story isn’t finished. For many years I skipped over reading Jobs story. I knew about it, but frankly it frightened me. The pain, loss, the know it all high and mighty friends, Jobs wife who wanted him to chuck it all and give up, made me uncomfortable. Then I read the story, still felt those uncomfortable feelings, but made it through to when God speaks. My favorite part…..the end of the story. After all of the friends and his wife had spoken, God speaks and this is where we see just a minuscule glance at the majesty and glory of God. “Where were you when….I shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed….”. Chapters 38 and 39 are chock-full of majestic powers of our God. Too awesome to comprehend. Maybe God is paying you a compliment today, maybe He is saying….have you seen my child______? (Put your name here). God is timeless and never changing. If He talked about Job, He could also talk about you, about me. And I’m sure like you and me, Job would have loved to know when someone was paying him a compliment, especially if that someone was God. Don’t give up. The same God who told the waves where to stop, created a store house for hail, tells the sun when to rise and the moon when to shine, is telling us, I love you, I’m in control of your story and you are safe with me.
The Ultimate Baggage Handler
Recently, I wrote about how our Heavenly Father gives his children sleep…rest. Along with giving us sleep, He also speaks to us in the night. When we were living in Munster, Indiana, this was an occasional occurrence, but has become a more frequent event over the last few months. Last night was one of those times, but last night I felt the Holy Spirit had something that was just out of my reach, just behind the veil of my sight. Most times, like the Moody Radio Program “Songs in the Night”, He gives a song, or a scripture. Sometimes I just call His name…Jesus! Or recite my beliefs. I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, I believe in the Holy Sprit, the Lord is my Shepard, in the beginning GOD!, and so many more. But, last night, I wanted to know, see or hear, but it was just out of reach, just out of earshot and sight. However, when the time is right, it will come. There is something liberating that happens when you learn to dump baggage at the same time you are learning to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit. Don’t get me wrong, I have not arrived and until I reach home, there is more to ditch and more to learn. Ditching and learning are both scary, but in Luke 4, Jesus told those in the synagogue that He was the fulfillment of the passage He read to them from the scroll. “The Sprit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” A fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus came to proclaim we don’t have to carry our baggage. He is the ultimate baggage handler….strong……capable…..efficient….trustworthy.
Cross the Road
Several years ago my husband and I drove through Yellowstone National Park. The majesty and beauty was breathtaking. And yet, as we drove through the park, it was evident that this beautiful, tranquil place had also suffered pain, destruction and heartache. My camera clicked and clicked as my mind tried to accept such a harsh contradiction displayed on the winding road we were traveling. This picture is a beautiful representation of life. So often, life shows us the beautiful next to the ugly, wealth and poverty in the same grocery checkout line, health and illness living together under the same roof, celebration of birth and grieving death within the same family unit, joy and sorrow, and the list goes on and on. We ask ourselves how this can be and yet we know it is because we live in a fallen world. Centuries ago, in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon told us “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven- A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.” But, when we experience such stark opposites in the same season of life it takes our breath away and we feel the power of the devastating contradictions. How do we celebrate when we’re grieving, laugh when we want to crawl in a hole and cry? How do we celebrate health when our loved ones health is gone? How does a young mother celebrate giving birth to her first child as she grieves for her mother who is being laid to rest just miles from her hospital room? We cross the road. The bare trees don’t vanish when we cross over to view the lush trees, nor do the lush trees wither when we cross to contemplate what damage the fire has done. It’s all still there, so by faith, knowing we are only pilgrims walking home, sometimes we just have to cross the road.
Same Boat, Different River
You are with a friend, when you are asked “Have you heard about Jane”? “No”, you reply, “What happened”? The friend replies, “Her husband has been in a coma for the last few days and the doctors aren’t sure he’s going to live.” “Oh my, how awful, where did you hear that”, you ask. Well, it was on Facebook, you know where I get all my news. Just look, you’ll be able to read all about what’s happened. So you look, and sure enough, there are the posts, so many of them. And unless you take a sabbatical, there isn’t enough time to read all of the post responses. But, like watching a train wreck, we are glued to the posts, the updates and the responses. I have often wondered why this happens. We may not have even known the person, maybe only read their books, heard their songs, or know someone, who knows someone, who knows them…and we are hooked. Pregnancy and childbirth stories rank at the top of stories we love to follow and talk about. I dare say there isn’t a mother around who didn’t hear childbirth stories while she was pregnant, and especially with her first child. Some of them so scary they should be outlawed, if you know what I mean. Daily we are bombarded with stories evoking a multitude of responses from us. Laughter, tears, curiosity, awe, shock, anger, despair, jealousy, love, etc., etc. What causes this? A belief, a sense, a memory that we, or someone we love has “been in the same boat”. Just listen in a funeral home as caring mourners pass by the family and you will hear someone say “I’m so sorry…I know exactly how you feel, I’ve been in the same boat”. Maybe you just lost a child, and they lost a sister, you are burying your spouse, and they buried a child, you have a chronic illness and they know someone who had cancer and the list goes on and on. We all have abilities to empathize and sympathize with others, but sometimes we must go beyond the evoked response that comes from our experiences and realize that although we are in the same boat, we are on a different river, some smooth, some choppy, some raging rapids, but we are all trying to navigate the waters of life. When the doctor pronounces diagnoses of cancer, heart disease or diabetes, chances are there will be a pattern to the illness. Stages, processes, pamphlets and so on. We frequently ask “what stage is your cancer?” That answer helps us understand where a person is headed and what they will encounter. However, when the doctor pronounces the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), you have a whole new ball game. Jim has more lesions than John, but Jim is still walking while John is wheelchair confined. or Mary looks perfectly normal in her appearance and no one understands why she doesn’t accomplish more than she does. After all, what did she do all day? I am in the boat of chronic illness, MS to be exact, and the river I am navigating is the role of spouse and care giver. Countless people are looking for someone in “their boat”, on “their river”. I’m sure Google could confirm this daily, hourly even. My hope is that this journey will help and encourage you. So come along with me, and together we can help each other paddle along, as we navigate the waters of life.
Through the Eyes of a Child
There is something about spending time with grandchildren that seems like a master class in wonder and awe. Raising children had those same courses available, and I still wonder at some of the experiences I experienced with my children, but I must admit that in the busyness of raising them, there was some wonder I missed. But, oh how I’m loving this stage. The wonder in a child’s eye, their imagination, spirit and unencumbered freedom. Thursday afternoon our son dropped off his two girls to spend some time with us. The weather was gorgeous, so it was medicine for the soul to spend some time outside. Louisa, who is two, loves to go “side” and five month old Eleanor was just along for the ride, but loves to watch her sister, so, we headed to the backyard where it was safe to just explore. Louisa spotted a Holly Bush with bright red berries that she just had to pick. I don’t think she even noticed that the sharp edges of the leaves and I didn’t want to squash her curiosity, so instead of telling her not to pick the berries, I told her she couldn’t eat them because they were food for the birds. She got so excited, picked a couple of berries, and ran to the back part of the yard. When she arrived at her spot, she looked up, spotted the birds flying overhead, and jumped as fast and high as she could to give them her berries. For quite some time, she held on to the berries and with each passing flock of birds, she would holler “birds” and try again. Eventually, she gave up, dropped the berries, and headed down the path to gather sticks and pick flowers. We continued this fun trek until dark when she cried about going back in the house. Life gets so busy. We have our plans, calendars, to do lists and although nothing is wrong with these, at times we don’t leave space to stop and look in awe and look in wonder at what God has created for our enjoyment. My encouragement to us all is to stop, walk outside, listen for the birds, imagine the possibilities we can see if we allow our minds and eyes to see as a child sees.