How Do We See It?

If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look 'little' or 'big'. 

–Elisabeth Elliot

Image via Pixabay

 

 

Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise

When men worship Jesus Christ, 

they do not fall at his feet in broken submission but in wondering love. 

A man does not say, 'I cannot resist a might like that.' 

He says, 'Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.' 

A man does not say, 'I am battered into surrender.' 

He says, 'I am lost in wonder, love, and praise.'

- William Barclay

Thinking back to our study this morning in the book of Esther. King Xerxes was a man with insatiable desire for power and honor and rule. He was approached in fear.

Such a contrast to our relationship with King Jesus. He is all-powerful, deserving of all honor, ruler of all. Yet we need not approach Him in fear, for He bids us, "Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Image~Saint Coloman's Church

Pixabay, CC0 Creative Commons

Even When I Can't See His Hand

We've been discussing in our Sunday School class how to read the Bible in its historical context and how we are to relate to it in our present setting. We were asked today about some of our favorite Old Testament narratives and why we are drawn to them.

One of mine is the book of Esther that I'm currently studying. It's a reminder that God works out his purposes and promises even when we might not see his hand or we think he is afar off. I'm still learning that even when I can't see his hand, to trust his heart.

Sharing a thought with you today from my reading as I continue my study.

Even though we cannot see God acting, it does not follow that he is not doing anything. God's work is not all slam-bang action; sometimes it is a quiet faithfulness to his promises in the seemingly ordinary providences of life, bringing about in the hearts of his people what he has purposed.

~ Iain Duguid, in Esther & Ruth Reformed Expository Commentary

Image ~ Reading

Ivan Kramskoy 1837-1887

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

He Wasn't In Control After All

Sharing a thought as I study the book of Esther, the story that's about God without mentioning him. There are many personal insights to be gained through the characters involved as the story unfolds. Each has his or her own weaknesses, yet God works in and through them all. His purposes are always fulfilled, never thwarted, in spite of who may seem not to be on board with the plan.

This evening I'm thinking about Persia's King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes as we remember him in history. He had several bad characteristics, and one of the most glaring was his issue of controlling power--both as a ruler and as a husband. He ruled his queen as he did his kingdom. Or, rather, he tried to rule her as he did his kingdom.

We know that marriages in those days tended to be more political than personal, a way to keep the peace between nations. That it may do, but it won't keep the peace between marriage partners. Any relationship based on control is out of control.

Control doesn't rear its ugly head just with those who have political positions. There are too few among us who don't struggle to control or feel a need to do so. It's often a source of security to those who seek to control another person, yet a source of slavery to those who are.

Our security is not found in control. Control is borne out of fear, that if we do not control then we will lose something or someone, that we will be hurt by something or someone, that we will not gain something or someone, that we will fail without something or someone. We become dependent on our fear and eventually squeeze the very life out of what or whom we hold so tightly.

Security is found only in Jesus Christ and God's Word where we see "that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence" (2 Peter 1:3). There is no need to fear any loss.

King Xerxes wanted kingdom control. He lost much more than his queen. A few years later his own advisors murdered him in his bedchamber. He wasn't the one in control after all.

And neither are we.

Image ~ Lady Rachel Russell in a Green Dress

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, 1802-1873

public domain, via pinterest

Through Gates of Splendor

I had read the book many years ago and grew up hearing the account many, many times. Recently, we watched Through Gates of Splendor as a 35-minute documentary which told of the events leading up to the death of the five missionaries who were trying to bring the gospel to the Aucas in 1956 and how the Aucas were initially reached. The documentary was particularly interesting because it was narrated by Elisabeth Elliot herself as a young mother, based mostly on home-movie film footage and Life magazine photos.

I found the account of Elisabeth's and Rachel Saint's return to the Aucas to be a bit different than what I had understood it to be. My own misunderstanding, to be sure, but I had always envisioned these women tenaciously heading right back into the jungle, determined to do what their husbands had been thwarted in doing. Not exactly. The desire to reach the Aucas with the gospel message was, of course, their heartbeat, but how they ended up living in the village was more of God's direct intervention than that of their own sheer determination.

Once again I was reminded that it's all about God, not about us. It's not even about Elisabeth Elliott, as much as I am grateful for her life and writing. Neither is it about Rachel Saint, who lived with the Aucas until her death, translating the gospel into the Aucan language. Nor is it about Dayuma, the young Aucan woman who played a key role in bringing the gospel to her people.

God's purpose was to reach the Aucas, and Elisabeth, Rachel and Dayuma were simply willing instruments in the hands of the Redeemer. Dayuma's role in spreading the gospel among her own people was part of the story that I had somehow missed down through the years.

I do recommend the documentary, but you'll want to use discretion in its viewing. The Aucas are shown in their natural attire at that time, so there's nudity throughout. 

We Do Not Lose Heart

Reflecting on the discussion in our small group last evening. The passage was relevant to how distraught some have shown themselves to be these past several weeks. Those with faith in that which is temporal have plunged into hysteria. Faith and hope have been misplaced, and they are frantic and distressed.

Yet God is raining on the just and the unjust, as He is righting some of the wrongs that have taken root in our national soil. And He seems to be using a Motley crew to do it. His ways, indeed, are not our ways.

Verses 15-17 of 2 Corinthians 4 caught my attention in our discussion:

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you see it?  

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. 

God is always working for our good and for His glory.

And look again...

so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

For it is only God who can make a change for the good of America. His grace is spreading to more and more people. Thanks be to God. To Him be the glory!

Therefore, we do not lose heart.

Painting ~ Woman in the Open Air 1853, Alajos Gyorgyi Giergl 1821-1863

 

Thankful for the Reprieve

Thankful for the change in administration today. 

Hope rises as we cling to freedom of religion and freedom from oppression. 

Freedom of speech breathes in fresh air.

Relief from political correctness.

Thankful for the reprieve. 

Thankful for those of His children who have prayed. 

Who have asked God for His mercy and grace.

And for those who now have positions of influence.

Praying for their wisdom and actions that spring from its waters.

Praying for our President.

And for all....

Wisdom, stamina, safety.

May God's grace and mercy rest upon them.

To God be the glory! Great things He has done!

Wait and Do Not Fear

When I taught high school writing and speech skills, one of the areas we discussed was the use of fear to influence and persuade the reader or audience. It's an unethical tactic that involves exaggeration and/or lying. It's called fear mongering. We seem to be in a new era of media reporting--both media news and social media--that has embraced this form of "reporting." It's effective--people today are living in fear of "the other side." It's also wrong.

How do we respond in times like these? Shut down our news feed? I've found that it's good not to look as often, but I do want to be informed. Get angry? Okay, if it's righteous anger because of the wrongfulness of it and the damage it does. But I've learned that whatever is being reported may not be the way it really is, so I hold off awhile. I'm sure you've learned that also these past several months, particularly. It appears to be the purpose of the media to turn us against one another.

What we're seeing is an effort to save what is valued in life--on both sides. We also are seeing extreme fear coupled with extreme self-focus. Many people are afraid because what they want out of life may be altered or denied them. Many other people are afraid of what these people may do to them if they get it.

In my lifetime, there have been presidents whose programs, personalities, or perverted views I have disdained. But I have not lived in fear or reacted as many are doing today. I think that probably some of you who read this may feel the same way. God calls me to not be fearful because He gives peace.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; 

not as the world gives do I give to you. 

Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

John 14:27

My faith is in God, not in man. God is sovereign and will have His purposes fulfilled. I eagerly anticipate what He may be doing in America in spite of all the raucous and cacophonous chaos.

And so I watch and expectantly wait. I do hope you know Him, and are watching and waiting as well.

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

Psalm 37:7-8