Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” – John 6:67-69
I love the pink glow of the sky at sunrise…for me, it’s the reward of the early morning wake-up. Getting up before the birds begin their singing, and it’s still dark. That quiet, with my first cup of coffee, and only God and my thoughts. This morning it gave me pause to remember last night’s late conversation with a friend.
We were lamenting, brooding even, about the larger-than-life influence of college professors (on our children) and the sometimes narrow arrogance of higher education. How extraordinary that in a liberal arts education supposedly training the thinkers of the next tomorrow, the example of the life and leadership of Jesus is so often minimized, as to not even exist in history.
There was a time earlier in my life, during college actually, that I stepped away from my faith. If you knew me then, you might not have noticed. I was involved in church, more or less, and the goodness of God was still imprinted on many of my life choices…but not all, for sure. I stepped away…desiring the approval of my intellectual agnostic classmates (and colleagues, later) and the acceptance of my Friday night Happy Hour crowd. That was the peer group that drew me in like a child gazing up at a department store window filled with Christmas toys.
The problem with that is the toys break and they’re never quite enough fun. The search for more toys always follows. We are never satisfied.
During an amazing time in the life of Jesus, after He demonstrated Himself to have such power that He could only be God, even then, He had disciples to walk away from him…never to return. It was at that time He asked one of His closest disciples, Peter, if he would leave. Peter answered in a way that I would now, having regained my senses after my post-college wanderings.
“To whom would [I] go?” There is “none but Jesus.”
I have my own advanced degree, and decades of keeping company with highly educated, extraordinarily competent and accomplished people. We talk about all sorts of issues and we work to make a better world. When all is said and done, if I bring anything at all to the table, it’s because of knowing Jesus. He has changed me, my thinking and way of living, in profound and deeply satisfying ways.
What a great deceit and injustice to society that our culture has been swayed to disregard the wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and love of God as displayed through His Son. May we see the day that this turns…may we be part of the turning.
A good friend told me this weekend that I think too much. She may be right, and it set me to thinking….what else? I was reading this article by Ed Stetzer about trends in Christianity and the collapse of nominalism (i.e., being culturally Christian, or Christian “in name only”). This is not just an issue for Christianity but for many ideologies and organizations in today’s world. How we invest our time, money, influence, and social capital, in general, is very telling of who we are and what we value.
Stetzer points out that more and more people who may have previously considered themselves nominal in their beliefs are more straightforward in where they stand on faith. This is evident in the decline in church involvement among “nominal” Christians. This got me thinking about how we make decisions and what affects our choices in terms of “showing up for stuff”.
When we roll out of bed on a weekend morning (or any day, really), what motivates our choices? On a workday, you might be tempted to say, “Well, I have no choice.” Truth is, we choose all the time…sometimes, wisely, sometimes, not so much. What reasons most compel us?
Entertainment/Freebies/Perks – Adventure and travel are included in here, as well. So much to do….so little time. And the free stuff? We all know that “what’s in it for me?” voice in our heads. Nothing innately wrong with any of this, unless it becomes the driving force of our choices.
Food/Fitness/Rest – Church potluck dinners are the best – like eating Sunday dinner at our grandmother’s (if she’s a great cook, that is). No food? Hmmmm…not as interesting. Same goes for sporting or other physical activities, for many of us. We thrive on stuff going on all the time. Rest can also be a draw, especially when we get to take a break from usual responsibilities (having access to a great children’s program, for instance).
Good Cause/Purpose/Fulfilment/Right Thing to Do – We all show up sometimes for a good cause or because it’s the right thing to do (whether it’s working on a disaster relief team or going to see your folks at Christmas). For Christians, obedience to God’s Word comes in here.
Learning, Training, Equipping – There are times, we don’t necessarily choose this (as in a job situation when we need a new skill whether it interests us or not). In a church setting, this is a draw if it’s meaningful for our particular life situation. This is also a choice out of our love for God and wanting to be equipped for His purposes.
Inspired/To Be Inspired/To Be Inspiring – I love to worship God in the company of others who love to worship God. The sense of His presence and His pleasure during sincere, unified corporate worship is one of the dearest experiences of my life. Then there are the stories of God’s activity in people’s lives. This is definitely a reason that I choose to show up when the church gathers.
Belonging – We all want to belong. Belonging is deeper and grander than community (although some may argue that they are one and the same). Belonging is knowing you have a place, that people receive you in with whatever quirkiness or imperfections you have. Belonging is being valued for the person you are without any frills and not needing to try to fit in. I choose belonging whenever I get the opportunity.
Community – Community is a gathering of people who share similar loves or competencies or goals. Community is something we all need, as well, and we’re willing sometimes to do what we have to do to “fit in”. Community does not necessarily mean belonging in the deepest sense of that experience, but it’s a start in that direction.
Desperation/Need – Sometimes we show up somewhere (church or wherever else) because we need what we hope to find there. Church should definitely be a gathering of people who are willing to be arms around the needy and kind hearts/clear heads for the sake of those in dire straits. We have all been there.
Should Go/Show or Mandatory/Obligatory – Here’s a reason to show up that none of us want to acknowledge, and yet, it could be true. Can it be that there are days that the only reason we show for church is that icky feeling of “well, I guess I should go, since there’s nothing else really happening.”? Or, think of situations outside of church. Have you ever had a work retreat with “forced fun” built in? None of us really want to HAVE to choose an affiliation or activity out of guilt, shame, or obligation.
Checklist/Approval/”Get Out of Hell Free” Card – and last is the grand experience of “checking it off my list”. Eat healthy – check. Pay the bills – check. Go to the gym – check. Call your grandmother – check. Some sort of religious activity? Check. Oh…there is no “Get Out of Hell Free” card, but you already knew that. Enough said here.
You hear it all the time about how short life is…if you have even read this far, you may very well forget the message by the time you next check your current social media. What I wish I could communicate better is that our lives matter – our choices matter – and where and how we show up matters.
[Joshua speaking] “If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods… We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” – Joshua 24:15-16, 18b
: something which shows that something else is true or correct
: an act or process of showing that something is true
“Believe what you want to believe.” “That’s fine for you.” “I’m not convinced.” “You can’t really prove it.” “Whatever.”
What if our lives were the proof of God’s love? What if the existence…no, the very presence of God…could be shown irrefutably through our lives…by our love for God and for others?
I am so weary of the cultural call to tolerance and acceptance. It’s as if that is as high as we can aim in society. Even in the church, we can be lulled to sleep…groveling at the altar of “Live and let live.” May it not be so…never be so. The truth is that in the adage of “Live and let live”, in real life, some actually die. Unloved. Without a thought.
Living a smaller life is so attractive – taking care of my own, having plenty of time for me, preparing for my retirement…and so it goes. Being responsible in these ways is a good thing, of course, yet God calls us to a larger life…of true, and genuine, life-giving and life-saving love.
If we are true followers of Jesus, God transforms us into a people who can express His unwavering love to each other and each other and each other…not in our own strength, but His, as we daily give ourselves to His love and His purposes.
What a wonder if those around us see us not just as nice or moral but as proof of God’s love…that our very lives resonate with something altogether different…something so winsome that we are seen in shadow, and God is manifested in all His glory!
Oh to love like that….may it be so, God.
[Jesus taught them, saying] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:43-44
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. – John 15:13
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8
This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. – Philippians 1:9-11
We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: as He is, so are we in this world. – 1 John 4:16-17
If I sing but don’t have love
I waste my breathe with every song
I bring, an empty voice
A hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don’t have love
I leave a bitter taste
With every word I say
(Chorus)
So let my life be the proof
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You
And what You’re made of
How you lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof
The proof of Your love
If I give to a needy soul
But don’t have love then who is poor
It seems all the poverty
Is found in me
Chorus
Ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
When it’s all said and done
Ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, The Message)
Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. – Isaiah 1:17
Neglect – the word makes us cringe. If not, then it might do us well to examine our lives once again in the reflection of God’s Word. He is so clear in His teaching of how we are to live. I am so thankful for that because my tendency is to be fuzzy-boundaried – spreading myself too thin, giving precious little to anyone, and then retreating exhausted into the comfy fortress of my home sweet home.
Would you walk with me through this quick journey of sorting out what it is to NOT be neglectful? The one area I don’t intend to focus on is neglect of self – either body or soul. My sense is that when we lean into the urging of God’s Spirit in ministering to others, our own lives are so altered that we are the ones most benefitted by Him (Luke 6:38).
To not be neglectful is to incline ourselves, to lean in, to carry through, to attend, to be intentional, to purpose to:
1) Love* the Lord our God with all our heart. – The Great Commandment
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”– Matthew 22:36-38
When our lives are infused by our love for God, we begin our day with Him and end our day with Him. As He speaks to us through His Word, the Spirit, the church, and our circumstances, we become more and more in tune with Who He is and how He is working in us and around us. It’s not ordering our lives as “God, then, family, then job” – it is all God – at the center and permeating all of life. Let’s savor that a moment…all God.
2) Love* your neighbor as yourself. – 2nd Part of the Great Commandment
“And the second [great commandment] is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:39-40
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” “Who is my brother?” “Who is my neighbor?” – these questions take us to the heart of NOT being neglectful. We want to choose who this neighbor is. We want to be done when we’ve taken care of “our responsibilities” – our family, our school debt, our house payment. How does that make a Christ-follower any different than a decent law-abiding atheist? God doesn’t define “neighbor” for us because He holds onto the right (as righteous, holy, loving God ) of directing our attention to those for whom He will intervene through us…through us. It could be our own parents or children or it could be that friend who continues to struggle with addiction. Or it could be Bonno, the soon-to-be-orphan son of a beautiful South African mother dying of AIDS.
We, as God’s children, are to give God the freedom to love our neighbors through us, in whatever way He chooses… Why this is uncomfortable and convicting is a testament to our journey of being transformed into the image of Christ. What joy He means us to have in being His instruments of peace and redemption. [I am all kinds of prickly over this, myself. Praying for my own undoneness in this.]
3) Love* the Church
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:23-25
The church is flawed because it’s peopled by folks like us. Does it mean we get to desert it? Don’t need an answer for what the Word already states definitively. We’ve all heard the lament “I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.” What better place for us (hypocrites) to be?! It saddens my heart at how people have been hurt by “church folks”. I have had that experience myself. Church folks do not a church make. Church is the Body of Christ – the people of God – we’re His and on His mission until He takes us Home. If we are followers of Christ we don’t get to step away from His church. We need each other in very real, concrete, daily ways. There are no spectators in the Body of Christ, no second-string Christians, no one on the bench. God means us to be all-in, not just on Sunday, but every day – life on life, living Christ with each other and in our circles of influence. It’s messy, and uncomfortable, and other-worldly beautiful…when we wholly follow Christ together.
4) Love* the Nations – Fulfilling the Great Commission
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. – Matthew 28:16-20
The nations have come to us. Still, there are peoples who will never be near enough to the Gospel message unless someone takes it to them. Through both demonstration and proclamation. We can’t leave this only to some elite group of trained vocational Christians. We are all called to fulfill the Great Commission. Every one of us is commanded to go to our neighbors and to the nations. How does that work? By a daily personal surrender and a Holy Spirit-driven intentionality believing that He will open doors as we step up and grip the handles. By truly loving – in word and deed – neighbors and nations. Here in this post-Christian era we find ourselves, more and more of the church are taking seriously our role in fulfilling the vision Christ gave us in His command: “a multitude from every language, people, tribe and nation worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ” (Revelation 7:9). The Great Commission is not just for pastors or overseas Christian workers – it’s meant for all of us – health care workers, engineers, teachers, stay-at-home moms, store clerks, technicians, students, and retirees…in the marketplace, wherever we are.
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” – Matthew 9:35-38
Jesus doesn’t call us to save the world…He calls us to respond to Him in obedience, one moment at a time, one life at a time…as we take Him at His word, He saves a world.
*Love – used in the fullest sense of that word – the Jesus sense of that word – not in the colloquial sense of that word – “Of course, I love my church, addict brother-in-law, controlling boss, lazy co-worker, Muslim neighbor…but…”
Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” – Mark 9:23
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31
It’s not my usual practice in prayer to call on Jesus. I usually address my prayers to the Father, because that’s how Jesus taught us to pray…and it seems fitting. However, because of the magnificent Oneness of God, we pray to/through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many times (if not all the time), the Holy Spirit moves us to pray. How thankful I am for that. When my fretful thoughts are corralled into prayer, my heart settles and my mind’s quiet is restored. Thanks be to God. Then there is the huge confidence that comes, knowing that Jesus is somehow One with the Father and His Spirit, and somehow also seated at His right hand, interceding for us. Always interceding for us…having walked this earth, filling his lungs with this air, seeing up-close the brokenness of humanity, and feeling the urge to act selfishly, sinfully…and yet didn’t. Knowing what it’s like to be us, and still wholly GOD. Holy GOD. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Perspective.
Thank You, God, for Your view. Sometimes, when I look at our world, I am overwhelmed. Then, as the Spirit moves in my heart and lifts my head, my vision clears, as You loom large. You care more about what’s happening around us than we ever could. Your arm is not too short to save (Isaiah 59:1). Nothing is too hard for You (Jeremiah 32:17). Your love endures forever, Lord (Psalm 136:12). Thank You, God, that You hear us when we call on You (Psalm 145:18; 1 Corinthians 1:2)…and that You never, ever leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8). Father, You are so good to Your children, calling us to Yourself in prayer, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Call on Jesus (from the album Talk About It)
I’m so very ordinary
Nothing special on my own
I have never walked on water
I have never calmed a storm
Sometimes I’m hiding away from the madness around me
Like a child who’s afraid of the dark
But when I call on Jesus
All things are possible
I can mount on wings like eagles and soar
When I call on Jesus
Mountains are gonna fall
‘Cause He’ll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call
Weary brother
Broken daughter
Little, widowed mother
You’re not alone
If you’re tired and scared of the madness around you
If you can’t find the strength to carry on
repeat chorus
Call Him in the mornin’
In the afternoon time
Late in the evenin’
He’ll be there
When your heart is broken
And you feel discouraged
You can just remember that He said
He’ll be there
Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” – Genesis 4:9
We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?…Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted. – Hebrews 2:1-3, 17-18
Neglect/Neglectful – to leave behind, to omit by carelessness or design, to slight, to omit to receive/embrace, to disregard, to be inattentive, to become accustomed to omit what may or ought to be done.
I don’t want a life riddled with gaping holes of neglectfulness. Nor do I want to leave a heritage of neglect. Who does? Yet it can happen ever so subtly in our pursuit of safety and security, circling our wagons tightly around what personally matters most to us. And the rest of the world?
Not My Business
Not My Problem
Not My Family
Not My Job
Not My Call
Not My Responsibility
Not My Fault
Not My Gift
Not My Calling
Not Worth My Time/Money
Not Worth Saving
The most winsome thing I know of God is that He loves the whole world (John 3:16). I don’t want to line out my life…set boundaries… such that some around me are more deserving of grace than others…that some are worthy of aid or intervention but others are not…that some are outside of the Gospel and others, by “accident” of geography or opportunity, are not. As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we have been given a great salvation – “so great a salvation” that we cannot neglect His intent of it, for our sakes, and for those around us. There is no such thing as benign neglect.*
We, individually and corporately, can’t save the world, as much as we would like. However, our humanity, with whatever perceived limited capacity we have, was meant to glorify God by our nature and pursuits. We can determine to live lives faithful and pleasing to God – “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8).
If you look at the list of “not’s” above, you may, like I do, see phrases we’ve used before for decisions made and actions not taken. Look now at some of the antonyms for neglect – what it is to not yield to being neglectful – intentional, diligent, constant, loving, inclined, conscious, determined, caring, keeping, dedicated, patient, carrying through, preserving, mindful, attending, cherishing, conserving, celebrating, listening, nourishing, obedient, inspiring, giving, remembering, redeeming, watchful, purposeful.
With so great a salvation that we have received, how could we choose to be any other way toward others?
“To fail to exhibit that we take truth seriously at those points where there is a cost in our doing so, is to push the next generation in the relative, dialectical millstream that surrounds us. ” Francis A. Schaeffer
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” – Exodus 3:14
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. – Isaiah 41:10
The I AM declarations of God have captivated humankind through the ages. We are dumbfounded to think of God as I AM – fully present in the forever past, and the forever future, and with us in this very moment as well. We are dumbfounded and awestruck…at the I AM nature of God.
For Jesus to speak of himself in this same way is both fantastic and preposterous, if it were not true. Many in the world think of Jesus as a mere man, or prophet at best, on this earth for only a little more than 3 decades. Yet, his life and his influence are completely in tune with God the Father, such that how One is described resonates with the Other. Not multiple gods, but One – fully God, and, for a brief moment in eternity, fully man. One. I AM.
So many discourses in God’s Word draw us into the moment when human reason collides with the Divine. Here is one:
Then the Jews said to Him…”Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. – John 8:52a, 53-59
Another time, I personally was faced with what Jesus said about himself which conflicted with what I wanted to be true at that time of my life. I was in my 20s, deeply in love with a man of a different religion and path in life. An older friend (for whom I’m grateful forever) reasoned lovingly and courageously with me over my relationships with God and this young man. As much as my emotions wanted something to be so that could not be, her words bringing me back to an I AM passage (John 14:6, below) restored my sight and cleared my vision of what is true.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6
If I counted on this Jesus for myself, for my very life, and, at the same time, magically wished that another way would work for someone I loved, how can both be true? That night, on the floor of that older friend’s house, with the Bible open before us, my heart was filled anew with a fullness of love for the God I AM. [By the way, in that situation, that young man and I parted ways; he who had no use for Jesus married someone of his religion, and I eventually and joyfully married a Jesus-follower.]
In these days when having “no absolutes” is fashionable and logical to some, I am, more than ever, struck with the all-present Creator Redeemer God and our desperate need for Him. Not as a crutch…seriously? A crutch is not what we need…we need Him. As our very breath…our light for the next step…our strong arm in troubled times…our love forever.
Consider God’s declarations of I AM in His Word and those words in Mark Schultz’s song. Worship with me.
I Amby Mark Schultz*
I am the maker of the Heavens
I am the bright and morning star
I am the breath of all Creation
Who always was
And is to come
I am the One who walked on water
I am the One who calmed the seas
I am the miracles and wonders
So come and see
And follow me
You will know
Chorus:
I am the fount of living water
The risen Son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am
I am the spirit deep inside you
I am the word upon your heart
I am the One who even knew you
Before your birth
Before you were
Chorus:
Before the Earth (I am)
The universe (I am)
In every heart (I am)
Oh, where you are (I am)
The Lord of love (I am)
The King of Kings (I am)
The Holy lamb (I am)
Above all things
Chorus:
Yes, I am almighty God your father
The risen son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17
What a weekend we’ve had…whew! Over the course of a few days, we’ve seen God answer prayers that have been daily raised to Him for several months. His timing is perfect and I’m reminded of that every time His answers come at what seems, for us, the eleventh hour.
Above my kitchen sink is this small pile of stones. I’ve loved rocks since my childhood trailing around behind a mom who loved rocks. She has moved stones in and around our yard for years, making rock walls and garden paths. We’ve collected stones from around the world, weighing down our bags with precious finds from ocean beaches, mountain trails, forest streams, and rocky deserts. These became stones of remembrance from those trips.
My little pile of rocks has no particular answered prayers attached to the stones. They just remind me, every time I look at them, of the faithfulness of God. It’s not like I always need visual reminders of God because we are surrounded by them. These windowsill sitters do help me to remember His constancy in my life and His care of His people throughout history.
Here…above my kitchen sink…”I raise my Ebenezer*” (from 1 Samuel 7:12) – my stones of remembrance that say, to my heart, “thus far the Lord has helped us.”
You may be waiting for Him to answer a prayer of your own. Don’t let your circumstances blur your vision of God; keep your eyes and heart fixed on Him. Sometime in the days ahead, you will add a “stone” to your heap of gratefulness, as you see Him move…either in the situation, or in you, or both…most probably both.
I leave you with an old hymn written by Robert Robinson who, as a young man, would have destroyed his life, but God had a different plan for him. Robinson wrote beautifully of this faithful, loving God who does not let us go.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing**
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer*;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
Today marks the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 bombings in the US, and we all have our stories of where we were when we heard that terrible news. I heard the news as an elevator door opened in a hospital emergency room in Cairo, Egypt. The surgeon watching for us to deliver the patient walking into the elevator, saying, “I am so, so sorry.” I thought he was referring to the precious one on the stretcher beside me, so small and injured from a terrible bus accident the day before. It turns out he was talking about the news that traveled instantly from the States about the bombings. I’d like to go back to the day before. For us, it would help to go there, before I can ever process the grief of this day that we all share.
It was like any other Monday, that bright, warm September 10th in Cairo, Egypt…until the phone call. Janna was on the other end of the call, telling me that Genessa and April had been in a bus accident on the Sinai. April had called her and relayed their location, at a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh. These were girls in our Middle Eastern Studies Program, and they were finishing their time with us, taking a vacation together. They would re-trace some of their experiences in Bedouin villages across the Sinai and then enjoy a few days on the Red Sea. They were to return that Monday, traveling in on one of the over-night buses across the desert.
Details will have to wait for another time, but with this information, my husband, Dave, left immediately with Janna and a local Egyptian friend who was also one of our language coaches. He took these two women because of their relationship with each other and with all of us. He also understood that there were two injured friends hours away in a hospital who would need women to minister to their needs. I would be praying and on the phone the rest of the day with families, other friends, US Embassy people, and our other young people in the program. I can’t begin to describe the emotional nature of that day…not knowing, hoping, praying.
When Dave and our friends arrived at the hospital, he was directed to April. She had painful, serious injuries, but none life-threatening, praise God. Then he was escorted into the critical care area to see Genessa. To his horror, it wasn’t Genessa. It was another young woman, unconscious – an Italian tourist, who rode in the same ambulance with April. April, lucid and still able to communicate, had tried to comfort her on that long dark ride to the hospital. Personal belongings were all scrambled at the wreck site, and the authorities made the mistakened decision that because April was speaking to her, she was Genessa.
Then Dave went on the search for our dear one…somewhere else in the Sinai. He back-tracked toward the site of the accident, checking other hospitals where other injured were taken. At this point, he was also talking to US Embassy staff, as he drove through the desert. Just shortly before he arrived at the hospital where he would find Genessa, the staff person told him they confirmed her identification from a credit card she had in her pocket…in the morgue of that small village hospital.
Dave and Janna, that friend who received the first phone call, stood beside this precious girl’s body, to make the formal identification…to know for sure that this was Genessa. And it was…and yet not. She, the luminous, laughing, loving girl we knew, was gone. It was more than any of us who loved her could take in on that Monday evening in Cairo, Egypt…the day before 9/11.
As they left the hospital to return to April, two more friends joined them from Cairo to help. For any of you who have been completely spent in every way by such a day, you can understand what it was for them to look up and see Matt and Richard getting out of a car. God in His great goodness alerted them, stirred their hearts to drive all those hours…and then to arrive…just when they were most needed. So many arrangements had to be made…and most importantly, at that moment, to get April back safely and quickly to Cairo for surgery.
She came into Cairo on a plane near the middle of the day of 9/11. By the time we got her from the airport in an ambulance to the specialty hospital to get the further care she needed, a series of horrific events had begun taking place in the US. We would hear of them from this caring Egyptian surgeon…who had no idea how numb we were from losing Genessa and how concerned we were that April got what she needed as soon as possible. We were already so drenched by grief, this unfathomable news about the bombings washed over us without understanding the scope of it…the pain of it…for all the rest of America.
Later in that day, with April receiving the best care possible, and me watching by her side, I could take in some of the loss coming at us on the small t.v. mounted in the hospital room. Egyptians were telling us how so, so sorry they were for us (as Americans). If they only knew, they were our mourners for our loss of Genessa, too. In the din of world-changing news, and a country brought together in grief…we grieved, too, a continent away…for the losses of 9/11 and the day before.
That was 13 years ago…April healed from her injuries (only she and God know what all that took on the inside), the other young people in our program have gone on to careers and families across the US and around the world. We have also gone on…back to the US for now, and to other work.
Two things have not changed…a beautiful girl, who fell asleep by the window of a bus in the Sinai night and woke up in Heaven…and the God who welcomed her Home. There is so much, much, more to this story, but I have to close with this. As her family back in the US were pulling the pieces of their lives back together, and going through Genessa’s things, they found a little cassette player on her bed…there left by her, two years before, as she left for Cairo. In it was a cassette where she’d made a tape of her singing one of her favorite songs, I Long for the Day, by Dennis Jernigan.
If we look at Genessa’s life through the lens of some American dream, then we would think how tragic to die so young, so full of promise. Look through the lens of how much she loved God, and knowing Him was what mattered most to her…and all who knew her knew His love through her.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28
Everything You Are strikes so many chords in my heart. It was written in 2012 by Hope Darst and Jaime Jamgochian. The story of the song speaks to a season when Jaime was disheartened by how God was answering some of her prayers, and her friend, Hope, spoke His truth into her struggle.
Thank God for friends like Hope and Jaime who love God and love each other…and then put that message into a song that encourages the Church.
I love worship songs that talk right to God…because that’s what worship is about. We are called to worship God, and to speak out His character and His promises through the words of this song ministers to my heart. I’m sure it pleases Him to hear His children agree together, in worship, that He is working everything out in us. He has our past, present, and future covered by His love and according to His purposes.
I love the friendship that speaks truth in love…and how this song sets us singing right to God. Lastly, I love how honoring it is to Jesus. It baffles me that the whole world doesn’t love Jesus…if anyone did a critical study of His life, they would see how good He is…and how GOD He is. Each of us has this life He’s given us…these moments passing through…to reflect Him to those who don’t yet know Him…and to lavish both truth and love on each other, like Hope and Jaime in the writing of Everything You Are.
You promise a hope and a future
You promise good
You’ve given life everlasting
You’ve spoken truthChorus:
Everything You are is everything I need, Jesus
Everything You are is good.
Everything You are is everything I need, Jesus
Everything You are is so good.You offer love and forgiveness
You offer peace
You’ve given strength for my weakness
You’ve rescued me
(Repeat Chorus)
(Bridge)
You’re my rock, My salvation
In You I’m not shaken
You work all things for good
There’s no shadow of doubt that can silence my shout
For I know that You are good.
Everything You are is everything I need
How I need You.
Whoa
Everything You are is everything I need Jesus
Everything You are is so good
I believe
Everything You are is everything I need Jesus
Everything You are is good
So good
I need You
