Faith – Page 4

When Burdens are Too Much to Bear

Faith / By teri / September 20, 2022 July 2, 2022

It hurts!

My face ached. It felt crushed under my heavy spirit. War, death, illness, and more death crammed the margins of my prayer journal. People I cared about, people I loved were suffering. Scattered out of my reach across the globe, the only way I could serve them was through prayer. Praying without ceasing, empathizing with their pain, and wrestling with God to somehow lift them out had left me buried under their burdens. I wept.

I unloaded all my burdens in a Facebook post. Notifications started rolling in. At this point, I still felt the weight, but I also felt thankful that others were praying with me for those I loved and for my spirit to be lifted.

Then I heard His Spirit prompting me to make a trade.

“To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:3

I looked up Isaiah 61 and meditated there as a notification from Messenger came up on my phone; a sweet sister had sent me this same verse.

God calls us to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). And many bore mine that day. Many commented they, too, felt spiritual oppression. I began praying for them also. The Prince of the Power of the Air was busy. Our battles were fierce. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Was I wrestling satan? God? Both? Was I wresting with God against the devil, or had I taken God on like Jacob refusing to let go until God blessed me? I think I did the latter, and that’s why I ached.

My heart and stomach craved comfort. I bought a loaf of fresh French bread to find relief. I gobbled down two thick slices slathered with butter so thick I left teeth marks in it. Yes, I sought the comfort of comfort food. It tasted marvelous. Was it God’s provision for my needs? I needed to taste and see the Lord was good in this time when He seemed so absent. Was it idolatry? Maybe. A day or two later, I confessed it as such.

Wrestling with God and demanding a blessing He’s already promised has consequences. Yes, Jacob prevailed, but he limped for the rest of his life. Maybe God wanted Him to slow down and remember His promises.

The physical pain I felt slowed me down that day. I was demanding God to fulfill His promises now. I wanted miracles! The only time such imploring succeeds is when we’re working on God’s timetable, like when Danial prayed for God to restore Israel after seventy years in exile. Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy and asked God to keep His promise. We can and should pray according to God’s Word, but if He hasn’t established the timing, we pray presumptuously to demand Him to do anything“now.”

As El Olim (the Everlasting God), He has all of time to complete His work and keep His word. As Adonai, He alone is Lord. Who am I to dictate to the great I AM when He should do anything? No wonder I hurt. By wrestling the All-Mighty for miraculous responses, I wore myself out. I took a nap, wondering why these trials felt so heavy when these bad things were not happening to my kids or me.

As I lay exhausted in bed, my face still throbbing, I thought of Jesus calling out to those who would follow Him, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). So, why did it feel so hard?

Jesus doesn’t want us buried and paralyzed with pain. He wants to bear the weight (the heavy side of that training yoke in Matthew 11); the responsibility to save, heal, and bring peace is His, not ours. I begged for miracles when I needed to pace myself with prayer and waiting—trusting His will, not demanding mine—trusting Him as their Savior instead of trying to fill shoes far too big for me.

I confessed my entitlement attitude—my desire for miracles more than God’s will.

I laid down in bed that night as I had many before, praying for those going through fiery trials, but I no longer wrestled to twist God’s arm for my desired results. I felt peace, not pain. My spirit of heaviness lifted as He covered me and tucked me in with His garment of praise to trust Him with the outcomes.

Choose to Smile at Your Future

Faith, Maturity / By teri / September 6, 2022 July 6, 2022 / aging, birthdays, good choices, growing

In Honor of my grandma, Irène Kay

b. September 7, 1914 – d. April 11, 2015

I remember standing naked in front of my full-length mirror about six months after my second child was born. The reflection of a saggy, baggy abdomen startled me. It’s not how I remembered my figure looking. A decade or so later, the reflection staring back at me would rattle me again but not with stretch marks. This time I noticed a road map had started to form on my face, lines indicating the most common expressions I made. I want to say these revelations of aging don’t bother me anymore, but that’s not entirely true.

While I’m far more comfortable in my skin than ever before, it still surprises me to witness my future self overshadowing my past visage. I’m sure you can relate to some extent because I’ve heard even eighteen-year-olds remark, “I’m getting old!” We’re acutely aware that the future invades our present all too quickly.

The future evokes many different emotions for different people. Some may feel apprehensive, even fearful, at the mystery of what’s to come. They cling to the past and fight the effects of aging. Others look forward to new seasons of opportunity and choose to make peace with the older stranger staring back at them from the mirror. This latter choice is the one wise women make. Our ultimate future should inform our present circumstances. “Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future” (Proverbs 31:25).

My grandma, Irène, displayed this strength and dignity. At ninety-nine years old, her rectum collapsed. For a younger person, simple surgery could correct this body failure, but surgery was not an option for my grandmother because of her weak heart. Her response to this humiliating consequence of aging was, “Ces’t la via!” Life in a fallen world will ravage our health over time. When it does, will we choose to smile? Irène did.

For those of us who God gives long life, we should not be surprised that our futures include trial, pain, and loss. Scripture makes this very clear. How will we walk through those wildernesses? Will we smile and trust God for a good ending or complain like the children of Israel? Choosing contentment and joy don’t come naturally. Positive attitudes take life-long cultivation. It takes determination to look beyond our circumstances and trust the Lord to use trials for our good.

“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm” (Psalm 37:8). This is my go-to verse when I feel my knickers in a knot. I don’t want to be an angry, fretful woman. At sixty-one, I’m already feeling a loss of strength and vitality, but I cling to this reality: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

My friend Betty and I share the same birthday, although she’s a few years older than me. When I told her happy birthday, she said, “I quit celebrating those.”

“Why?!” I asked. “Every year is another year closer to going home to Heaven, another year closer to being with the Lord forever, another year closer to having every tear wiped away! Birthdays are always worth celebrating.”

“Well, when you put it like that, you’re right. Let the party begin!”

I’ve been to four 100^th birthday parties and watched many news clips of individuals celebrating their centenarian birthday. No one partied as hearty as my grandma Irène did at her party. She had a live band and danced in her walker. She grinned as the band ended with her favorite song, Good Night, Irène.

God granted me the privilege of knowing many women in their eighties and nineties. I watched as some grumbled through their last years; others flourished and made the most of the time they had left, like Irène. They enjoyed frequent visits from friends and family, continued attending and serving in church, and found ways to use their time well. They finished life grand. I want to finish the way these women did. So, I choose my habits and responses to difficulties with care. This is how they grew grand, and I want to grow grand, too. Do you?

Let’s choose to keep smiling at our futures. When life throws eggs at us, let’s bake a soufflé and say, “Ces’t la via!”

It’s hard to find women in their eighties and nineties that will serve as role models and mentors. So, God put it on my heart to share the treasury of older women He’s put in my life. My book, Choose Now to Grow Grand, Not Old, will be released in October 2022. In this book, I share the characteristics I’ve observed that make these women grand and the choices they made to finish life well. It will be available for pre-order soon. Please check it out by clicking the link below.

5 Rules of Listening for When We Don’t Like What We Hear

1 Comment / forbearance, grandparenting, Maturity, Trials / By teri / August 23, 2022 June 4, 2022 / gracious listener, listening, receiving critisism, taking advice

What?!

My daughter’s new boyfriend decided to T.P. our house. We chuckled at his display of affection, but my teenage daughter’s amusement turned to groans as I delegated the clean-up to her. I suggested she recruit the culprit for help.

It helps to think of unwanted advice and criticism as verbal toilet papering. Well-meaning people toss these words our way to show they care. Unfortunately, we’re more inclined to dodge their comments as if they were sticks and stones. While pranksters squander yards of toilet paper, words are only wasted when they fall on deaf ears.

“The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.” Proverbs 15:31 – 32. Intelligent people consider even unsolicited advice and warnings.

Rule 1. Listen! Instead of deflecting and rejecting unpleasant counsel, let’s hear and understand. Invite the person into the conversation, like I told my daughter to ask her boyfriend to help her clean up. Take time to understand what the other person meant. Sometimes we misinterpret things. What we heard may not be what they said. Even if we find someone’s advice not applicable to our present situation, we may find it helpful in the future. Listening and learning are marks of wisdom.

Rule 2. Listen in Love! “Owe no one anything except to love one another,” Romans 13:8. When someone comes to us with unwanted words (notice I said when not if because it will happen), we owe it to them to treat them in love. “Love is patient, kind, …is not provoked, thinks no evil,…bears all things” (1Corinthians 13:4,5,7), such as hurtful words and annoying advice. How do we want to be received when we share our thoughts with another? Jesus expects us to receive comments from others the way we want our words received.

Rule 3. Listen with Gratitude! “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend,” Proverbs 27: 5, 6. With friends like that, who needs enemies, right? Wrong! Enemies don’t care. Enemies won’t bother with you. They want to see us fail. The rest of Proverbs 27:6 says, “But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” People who tell us we’re fine when we’re not or have an idea how to remedy our problem but don’t tell us are not helpful. Wouldn’t you rather have someone try to help and fail than fail even to try? Be thankful for people who care enough to say something, even if it is the wrong thing.

Rule 4. Listen in Humility! I touched on this in the first rule, but it bears deeper consideration. “Hurt does not equal harm” (source unknown). As we read in Proverb 27, wounds from a friend are faithful, not fatal. I know that when my feelings are hurt, it’s usually because my pride is injured. When my feathers get ruffled, I need to pluck them off.

The adage “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” was taught to children so that they would learn that being hurt by words is a choice. We can choose not to take offense. We can choose to disregard insults. We can choose to overlook a person’s clumsy attempts to be helpful. But these choices require humility.

Truth spoken in love can hurt. Being told we’re wrong hurts, but pain that prompts us to repent promotes healing. “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God… gives grace to the humble.” 1Peter 5:5

Rule 5. Listen as a Steward! What do we do with these unpleasant words? We own them for God’s glory. Let’s pray through unwanted words and ask God to show us if there’s any truth in them. Digesting unwanted words in prayer is a lot like eating chicken. Thank God for His provision, then chew the meat and spit out the bones. Like poultry feeds our bodies, listening prayerfully to unwanted counsel will nourish our souls. It may be that the person who spoke to us is God’s messenger, after all.

The Testimony of Sacred Similarities and Divine Differences

celebrations, Community, Faith, Family Life, Knowing God, Maturity / By teri / August 9, 2022 April 21, 2022 / antiracism, Beautiful Community, Junetheenth, sinful white supremacy, superiority sins

Aspiring to Beautiful Community

Happy Juneteenth!

Comparisons spill out when we welcome a new family member. “Look, she has her mama’s eyes.” “I see her daddy’s dimpled cheeks.” “She has Aunt Jenny’s red hair.” We search those precious newborns for family resemblance. We. Just. Do.

Last year my oldest daughter gave birth to her fifth; my youngest daughter welcomed her first. Yeah! Two new grandbabies for me! The babies were born three weeks apart. Both baby girls weighed the same. Dark hair covered both heads, and both babies have a raspberry birthmark on their backsides (not the same spot but the same size). I call them identical cousins, but they aren’t.

They differ in several ways: eye color, activity level, even their reaction to a dirty diaper. God wove these similarities and differences into my granddaughters just as He does the whole human family.

Back in the ‘90s, I watched Arsenio Hall’s T.V. show. His facial expressions and jawline mesmerized me because these features reminded me of a friend from high school. Yet, Arsenio is African-American, and my friend descended from Irish stock. Despite their contrasting hair and skin tones, their similar facial features reveal their connection. Physical similarities that ignore geopolitical boundaries confirm our sacred union as one human family. We all bleed red. We all need love. We all descended from Adam.

God creates each of us in His image. Reflecting His multi-faceted majesty requires infinite diversity; hence, human diversity is divine. God diversified languages to force people to populate the whole world.

God’s judgment at Babel drove people to migrate across the globe (Genesis 11). Different weather conditions and food supplies began to shape different cultures. Adaptation transformed the physical features of people in varying regions. Unfortunately, humanity is a sinful race.

We constructed class and racial systems to claim superiority and oppress other people groups. We deny the truth with these false contrivances; God created all people in His image. The grievous sins of classism, racism and ethnic supremacy grieve God. Jesus calls us out of that darkness.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:38

In the proceeding passage, Paul acknowledges our differences and establishes our value. No one is less than human in Jesus’s eyes.

As followers of Christ, we witness God drawing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. But do we embrace the diversity of those cultures? Pastor Irwyn L. Ince Jr. shows us how it’s done in his brilliant book The Beautiful Community.

I traveled through Ethiopia, visiting churches. A remarkable transformation in their worship occurred when a Marxist regime expelled foreign missionaries in the ‘70s. Without the influence of westerners, the Ethiopian churches cultivated their own style of worship.

I enjoyed listening to drums and the lilting of women praising God. The women often keep time with the music by stomping their feet and rocking their hands back and forth as though they held precious truths. I felt compelled with joy to join in the lilting during one service. Dark, smiling faces turned toward me. They had never heard a white woman lilt, but they seemed pleased that I did. By embracing their form of worship, I embraced them. With their smiles, they welcomed me.

“In order to be in community, we have to experience belonging, a sense of being at home.” Irwyn L. Ince Jr. The beautiful Community (page 84). My Ethiopian brothers and sisters made me feel at home.

How well do we welcome minorities in our local churches? “It is the church’s job to find ways to affirm the full humanity–the royal dignity–of all people, especially those others are inclined to despise.” (Irwyn L. Ince Jr.). Let’s be mindful to include, rather than ignore, minorities in our midst. We need to be mindful of what Pastor Ince calls “minority fatigue.” Let’s love minorities by extending hospitality; let’s show interest in them by asking about their culture. By reaching out, we set the stage for a beautiful community—a foretaste of Christ’s coming Kingdom.

Learning ConTENTment

contentment, Faith, Maturity, Trials, wonder of creation / By teri / July 12, 2022 June 27, 2022 / camping, covetousness, heaven, missions, repentance

gongga snow mountain, cloud, on foot-2411069.jpg

This isn’t home!

Every follower of Jesus ought to spend at least one night in a tent because tent camping illustrates lessons we too easily forget, like how to be content in all our circumstances.

When Bill and I moved to Iowa after he graduated from seminary, we settled into a daylight basement apartment. I use the term daylight loosely as the only full windows happened to be in the bedrooms, where it’s nice to have darkness. Two narrow window wells allowed little light into our living room. This dwelling challenged my sanctification because I’m a woman who loves living in the light. I’m not too fond of dimly lit rooms. That apartment provoked a complaining spirit in my soul. I was not content until the Lord reminded me of tents.

I enjoyed camping trips as a child, many under a tent. I remember playing card games through rain storms in a tent. The dim flame of a lantern provided just enough light to see the cards and enjoy the smiling faces of my family. The raindrops tapped on the canvas like unseen fingers striking piano keys to serenade us. And when the rain relented, we’d exit our weekend dwelling and return to enjoy God’s great outdoors, refreshed and glistening with His goodness.

That day in my Iowa dungeon (as I often called it), as I was reading my Bible and praying, the Lord reminded me that tents have no windows, and as a follower of Jesus, this world is not my home.

Dear Sisters, every roof we live under while we are on terra firma is a temporary dwelling, a tent. Understanding the apartment in Iowa was just a temporary dwelling helped me choose contentment. Remembering my happy childhood days surrounded by a canvas draped over poles helped improve my attitude as I traded my dungeon perspective for a tent mentality. But oh, how quickly I would forget.

Two years later, after living in a bright, second-story apartment in Madison, Wisconsin, my husband and I bought our first house. I forgot it was only a tent. I painted and wallpapered and spent countless hours perusing catalogs (much like browsing online)—in reality, covetlogs—dreaming of the day I could afford new furniture and the perfect home décor accessories. Soon a burglar broke in and stole my contentment. His name is Covetousness. Have you met him?

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I had acted like a dim wit trying to turn a tent into a place. I had to confess my sin and be reminded again that I am a pilgrim just passing through. My dream home is Heaven; no store sells furnishings as fine as those in my Father’s house.

I remember Dr. Dobson saying on one of his radio shows that women married for a few years often become discontent with their homes. It’s true. We get bored of the décor, feel finical limits that keep us from the house we really want, and often the messes left by the messy people living in our tent messes with our attitudes. Yet, God expects us to learn contentment no matter what our tent looks like (Philippians 4:11).

After twelve years in Madison, we moved to Oregon and bought our second house. We traded up from three bedrooms to five. The difficult trade-off was losing my huge kitchen in Wisconsin and settling into a tiny galley kitchen in the new house. Apparently, I didn’t settle well. My eighteen-year-old daughter took a summer mission trip to Uganda six years after our move. When she returned, she showed me a picture of a lovely woman named Grace.

“Mom, look at Grace’s kitchen,” it was a simple wood-burning stove in a tiny cement block house. “She cooks for almost a hundred orphans in that kitchen every day. Look at her smile. Mom, please, don’t ever complain about our kitchen again.”

Ouch! Faithful are the wounds of a daughter growing into a loving friend. I needed that tent lesson. I began thanking the Lord for my kitchen, Grace’s example, and a daughter who loved me enough to admonish me when I needed it.

Bill and I now reside in our third tent together. My oldest granddaughter describes it as a palace, but I remind her it’s only a tent. I remind myself and others often it’s all junk until Jesus comes. At sixty-one, I’m still learning new tent lessons. And I promise to share a few more with you as we steep in God’s truth and camp out together (ahh, another joy of camping hot wets in the morning from water boiled over a campfire). Let’s help our hearts learn to be content by humming an old familiar tune (or looking it up on YouTube if it’s new to you),

“This world is not my home. I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me to Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!”

R.E.S.T.: Four Life-saving Letters

1 Comment / Faith, Knowing God / By teri / June 28, 2022 March 17, 2022 / refreshed, rest, restored, Sabbath, sabbatical

Hush, sweet child!

Have you ever tried soothing an overtired infant? The baby struggles to keep her eyes open for fear she’ll miss some new delight. Big yawns interrupt her fussing, but she refuses to rest her head on your shoulder—experienced moms know when children reach an overtired state. Ironically, we often fail to spot the clues in ourselves.

Realize the need.

Everyone needs rest, not just children. How I wish someone would make me take a nap when I get cranky. But when we’ve reached a grumpy state, it’s because we failed to sufficiently ahead of time.

God knew the people He made in His image were prone to God-complexes. We insist that we don’t need breaks. We’re so proud at times, thinking our families and jobs won’t function without us. Tired people inflict more damage than good to themselves and those they serve. So, God wove rest into the rhythm of time from the first word He spoke, “Let there be light.”

Embrace God’s rhythms.

Creation commenced from the rhythm of light and darkness—a time to rest and work. While the Bible is silent in recommended hours of sleep, the design of days beginning with night indicates a good day starts with good sleep.

“It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.” Psalm 127:2

Sound sleep is a gift from God (I hear the chorus of moms with newborns shouting, “Amen!”). But how often do we sacrifice sleep for entertainment or stay up way too late or rise excessively early to squeeze in more work—work that exceeds the blessed boundary of a healthy bedtime. We feel guilty about what we don’t get done and covet more hours in a day than God appointed. After all, we should not be lazy. Yet, isn’t a lack of submission to our God-ordained limitations similar? Both emanate from a lack of self-control. God requires diligence in work and rest.

Not only did God inject rest as a daily routine, but He also instituted a weekly day of rest. He calls it Sabbath—a time to cease usual chores and reflect on the One Who made us. A weekly Sabbath sustains good living. Whether it’s Saturday or Sunday isn’t the point. The point is one day a week of rest refreshes people. And one day of worship puts God on the throne and us in our proper place.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Set time apart.

A day set aside to rest in the Lord reminds us to abide, live, in His power.

God even designated seasons of rest in Israel’s annual feast calendar: extra sabbath days as part of the feasts, the seventh month, the seventh year, and the Jubilee. Israel ignored these blessed seasons of rest, and the Lord sent them into exile for their disobedience.

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. But you would not,” Isaiah 30:15

Trust God for extended breaks.

Taking extended breaks helps everyone. We need vacations and holidays off. We might even need an extended leave of absence to rest and recuperate. Illness and demanding jobs suck the life out of us. Resting restores us.

Photo by **Rachel Claire** from **Pexels**

I’m grateful for churches we’ve served that saw the value of allowing my husband (the pastor) to have sabbaticals, seasons of rest from the daily harness of pastoral ministry. We just came off a three-month sabbatical (It ended January 31). This break allowed my husband to convert his doctoral dissertation into a book. It also freed us to settle his parent’s estate and enjoy extended family visits over the holidays. We were able to see both of our new granddaughters. Our sabbatical was busy and full but full of different responsibilities. It allowed us to return to church ministry restored by the change of pace.

In the busy years of childrearing, my sweet husband saw the toll this work took on me. Once or twice a year, he made sure I got away alone for refreshment. At this point, I know some of you are thinking, “that’s nice for you, but I can’t do that.”

Really?! If God wants you to have rest, He will supply it. When God is willing, He makes a way. Trust Him to provide the rest you need. Israel failed to enjoy God’s sabbaths and their disobedience lead not only to exhaustion but defeat, and exile. Let’s not make the same mistake.

As God’s daughters, let’s learn to work from overflow not overwhelmed. Let’s learn to rest.

Whekl-come to God’s Word

Faith, Knowing God, the Bible God's Word, wonder of creation / By teri / June 14, 2022 April 22, 2022 / beach treasure, beach-combing, collecting shells, listening to creation, summer vacation, treasuring God's Word, we are God's treasure, whelk shells

Do you see what I see?

Strolling through warm sand, I hear the lull of waves splashing against the shore and the trilling of gulls as they scavenge for food. But I fix my eyes on the sand as I scan the beach for treasure—clamshells, limpets, sand dollars, any lovely shell I might collect. The best souvenirs from the beach are free, as our salvation in Christ.

Then I see it, a crown of whelk spikes partially exposed. I prize such a find. The intricate spiral twists up its slender stem. Beautiful. Perfect. Yet, more extraordinary are the truths this sea creature displays.

Whelks hatch from their eggs already wrapped in a shell. Their shells start as a thin, flimsy covering. The babies must eat to grow and build sturdier covers. As Christ-followers, we are born again by the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). We continue to grow strong on the calcium of Scripture. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,” 1 Peter 2:2. Wrapped in the continuing calcification of God’s Word, He protects and shelters us. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock,” Matthew 7:24.

The more we study the Bible, we appreciate the intricate story of redemption. Truth upon truth twists into a wonderous spiral.

As our understanding of how each story echoes the same truth, we hear the voice of God Himself, like hearing the ocean as we hold a shell to our ear. At each twist and turn in life’s trials, we grow. We gain a more significant appreciation for His faithfulness. Our shelter through the storms grows. And a crown forms.

A crown of life (James 1:12 )—all for the King of Kings—crowns to cast at His feet (Revelation 4:10), as whelk shells scattered on the shore. He finds His treasure in us.

God creates many beautiful trinkets for beach-combers to gather. Blessed is the beach bum who grasps the great truths demonstrated by these tiny delights.

“I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” Psalm 119:162

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Father, as we wander in Your world this summer, please, open our eyes to the beautiful lessons all around us. Amen

Three questions to ask when you’re drowning in responsibilities

Faith, Knowing God, prayer, Trials / By teri / May 3, 2022 March 17, 2022 / busy, overwhelmed, stressed, too busy, work well done

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

Two days ago, we flipped a page on the calendar. The ancients celebrated May first, or May Day, as the first day of summer. Today, May Day, signals the start of graduation and wedding season. School will soon be out. We plan vacations and other ways to keep children occupied. Yard work is in full swing. The spring we longed for now slips through our grasp. Soon, the summer heat will beat down, and there is so much left to do. It’s a busy time of year. Sometimes too busy.

When a springtime celebration sinks into overwhelming responsibilities how do we get everything done? Like a sea captain whose boat is taking on water, it’s time to issue a distress call, “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice,” Psalm 18:6a

As a young woman, the fatigue of pregnancy took me by surprise. I’d sleep ten hours and still feel the need for a two-hour nap. Suddenly my regular commitments swamped me. I couldn’t keep up with everything. “Help, Lord,” I cried, and He did.

He counseled me from Titus 2:4-5 “that they (older women) admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” God’s priorities for young women became a filter for my activities. If I was not taking care of these things, nothing else I did was His will for me. God showed me what He wanted me to be doing in that phase of my life. But seasons change so it’s important to keep asking.

Question #1: What does God want me to do?

Now well beyond my childbearing years, I’ve walked through many busy seasons. I’ve discovered sometimes God does put more on our plates than we can handle. He’s waiting for us to ask for His help. The Apostle Paul shares a brilliant insight in the book of Ephesians. “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

God planned our perfect to-do lists, and He’s glad to direct our steps. Are we taking the time to ask Him each day what work He wants us to do? As the director of women’s ministries in my church, I often recruit women for various tasks. Whenever I approach someone about a ministry opportunity, I ask them to pray before committing. I may think they’re a perfect fit for a job, but I’m not the Holy Spirit. I want God to direct His daughters to do His will, not mine. If you’re sinking under too many to-dos, ask God what He wants to cross off your list. If His answer is nothing, then the next question becomes vital.

Question #2: How does He want me to do it all?

When poor Martha felt overwhelmed, Jesus taught her the secret of simplicity. “And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’” (Luke 10:41-42). First, do not, I repeat, do not worry. Anxiety robs us of the peace and rest God intends for us. We need to learn the gentle rhythms of grace. God wants us to depend on His grace and embrace His peace (2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:7-8).

Next, we need the power of Mary’s one thing—time spent with Jesus. Nothing simplifies my workload more than bringing my to-do list before God each day. As more tasks come to mind and distract me from the Word, I jot them down. When my time with Jesus comes to a close, I lift my list in prayer and ask, “What do You want me to do today, Lord?” Sometimes He adds things. Sometimes He crosses them off. When I start my day with His input, things go much smoother. I know this sounds like I’m repeating question one, but we discover the how in this repetition. How does He want me to work? With Him, in His power, under His leadership. His lordship simplifies life.

Question 3: Who gets the credit for the completed work?

Accomplishment feels great. I love crossing things off my list and changing the “To-Do” to “Ta-da!” When we serve well and accolades come our way, it’s easy to forget Who accomplished what. Jesus reminds us in no uncertain terms, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Failing to give God credit for how He chooses to use us robs Him of glory. It’s a violation of the eighth commandment, “You shall not steal.” Let’s give God credit when He turns our impossible tasks into beautiful realities.

Easter Every Day?

2 Comments / celebrations, Community, Faith / By teri / April 19, 2022 February 28, 2022 / Holy Spirit filled, It's still Easter!, resurrection

We’ve got the power!

The children’s story, Christmas Every Day, chronicles the saga of a little girl who asked Santa to make every day Christmas for a whole year. Santa Claus indulges her by making her dream of 365 days of candy and presents come true. Within a week, the little girl regrets her greed as her family and most others are impoverished by gift-giving and feel ill from gluttony. Everyone ends up cranky. Finally, the year ends, and so do the celebrations. Everyone dances with joy. Then the girl sticks her foot in the other ditch asking Santa to never, ever have another Christmas. This time the jolly old elf does not indulge her, and everyone lives happily ever after with an annual celebration.

I love holidays and traditions. Easter is my favorite for many reasons; warmer weather, spring flowers popping up, cheery pastel decorations, cute, cuddly animal decorations, and most of all, Christ’s victory over the grave. Now, I must wait again for the year to pass for Easter to come again. Or do I?

As a follower of Jesus, I can celebrate the resurrection every day. I don’t need egg decorating and hunts, sunrise services, or chocolate bunnies to appreciate Easter. Who needs a bunny when we have Jesus? Christ lives! And He lives in us.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

The verse above implies we should remember Good Friday daily; the following passage encourages us to make every day a step-by-step resurrection celebration.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4

If we mindfully walked in the power of the Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead, imagine the positive impact on the world around us.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus told His disciples to let their light shine among men. He’s calling us to live out the Sonrise life with Holy Spirit power. Jesus invites us to Easter every day. And I don’t think He’d mind if we ate a chocolate egg or two. Better yet, sharing those leftover sweets wrapped in shiny, pastel foil may be enough to brighten up someone’s day.

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Happy Easter, again! He has risen!

(If you know the traditional response, leave it in a comment.)

Four Main Functions of Blood and How these Point to Good Friday

Faith, Knowing God, wonder of creation / By teri / April 5, 2022 February 28, 2022 / blood, Good Friday, science and faith

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Good Friday?!

Blood splattered across the screen; I cringed at the gratuitous violence. Then I clicked the remote and turned the television off. Unfortunately, many react similarly to Christianity, calling it “a bloody religion.” And it is.

Recently, I finished reading the bloodiest book of the Bible, Leviticus. The sixty-six books of the Bible contain 357 verses that speak of blood. Sixty-six of those (almost one-fifth) are in Leviticus. What about blood makes it a central theme of both the Old and New Testaments?

We find the answer smack dab in the middle of the Pentateuch, the first five books known as the Law of Moses.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls,” Leviticus 17:11a

Did the ancient patriarchs understand the biological functions of blood? It’s hard to know. Blood sacrifices began at the first incident of disobedience when God Himself slaughtered an animal to cover the shame of Adam and Eve. We see these animal sacrifices continue through Abel and Noah. Even Job, who was not a son of Abraham, offered atoning sacrifices for his children.

My friend, John Olson (PhD in biochemistry), reminds me, “Science is just discovering how God does stuff.” Scientific research provides us with an understanding of blood’s functions in the body. Within this life-giving elixir, God painted pictures of atonement’s mysteries.

Four significant blood functions and what each reveals about atonement

Supplying oxygen to cells and tissues

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

God breathed into man the first breath; Adam’s blood carried that sacred air to every cell in his body. The name of God, translated in the Old Testament as Lord (Adonai), is how the Jewish scribes honored His most holy name YHWH (the breath). He created blood to carry His life into ours; He is indeed the Lord of Life. And the life is in the blood.

Providing essential nutrients to cells, such as amino acids, fatty acids, and glucose

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6

Adam and Eve bit off more than their blood could chew. They ate the one fruit in the garden that could not nourish them. They ingested the poison of disobedience. The forbidden fruit introduced the fatal awareness of evil to their minds and the toxin of death into their circulatory system.

Removing waste materials, such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid

“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22

Tainted blood travels through veins to organs that filter out the waste. Inside our lungs, an exchange occurs; unclean carbon dioxide is replaced with clean oxygen. But these purifying organs cannot extract sin. The removal of sin’s penalty requires another exchange; the life of a clean animal poured out to amend for the debt incurred by the guilty. Atonement became a necessary reparation for wrongdoing.

Protecting the body from diseases, infections, and foreign bodies through the action of white blood cells

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

The white blood cells that fight disease illustrate the Lamb of God. White blood cells attack disease, so Messiah slew sin and the death it brings. He is Adonai Rapha—the Lord Who Heals.

Our blood testifies God is life, forbidden fruit poisoned us, an exchange is necessary, and healing is made possible. As Michael Card puts it, “By His blood, He bought a violent grace.”

In ten days, we will commemorate the blood sacrifice of Jesus. We call it Good Friday. I’m mindful of the words Jesus spoke to a rich, young ruler, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” Yes, God is good. He was good to provide a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in his son Isaac’s place. What God asked Abraham to do, God, in His goodness, has done. He offered His only Son. Let’s reflect on the miracle of blood—His blood—for His life is in His blood!