A Most Wonderful Imagining…

Yesterday I noticed this verse: “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:25) and commented to hubby that it looks like there will be animals in the hereafter.

Children want their pets to be there. I hope for color and creativity. We all look forward to seeing those who have gone before us. This morning I read Phil Callaway’s devotional and he wondered if there would be golf courses there. Maybe every shot a hole-in-one?

The apostle Paul said, “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Philippians 1:23) He knew that God “has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and that, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Yet there are clues, like the verses about lions and lambs and the promise of being with Jesus forever. And at times the longing for such perfections is great. Callaway rightly says that only Jesus Christ can truly satisfy our thirst. He quotes C.S. Lewis: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Along with these writers, I also wonder how God feels when He sees us hanging on so tightly to this life with its short-lived pleasures. Callaway calls them “a gopher-infested golf course with sand greens like the ones I played on as a kid” and how some seem to dread the home Jesus  has been creating and how it is “a little like trying to explain the pleasures of driving a Ferrari to a two-year-old who would rather play with a cardboard box.”

I don’t care much if there is golf in heaven. I know there is food and likely that includes chocolate? Maybe pizza? Maybe colors I’ve never seen yet? Will I quilt or draw there? I don’t know. 

But I do know this: all that I’ve enjoyed here will not be on my mind when I see Jesus with His arms outstretched to welcome me home. Life with Him will satisfy every desire — forever.

PRAY: Thoughts of heaven are like mental trips to the mountains, or the seashore, or watching a stupendous sunset, or riding an Arab stallion, or painting a masterpiece, or winning a Pulitzer, or watching children at play, or seeing my entire family worshiping You — and You tell me that my heart has not imagined what You have prepared for me. Life here is often an incredible lovely surprise. Heaven will be better? You said it and the joy of knowing that holds me until that day. . . .  Amen.

Mind on Jesus

Our church picnic was yesterday. The weather was cool and windy. The races were fun to watch, as were the children racing around trying to catch the “candyman” with a pail of goodies and chocolate bars stuck to his coveralls. The food was cold and the bathroom a good five-minute walk from our site. Today’s Scripture was a chuckle:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1–2)

It was not difficult to set my mind on things above yesterday. I wanted to go home and read my Bible — or was that setting my mind on getting warmed up? Piper’s devotional says this about summer: “flight from (Jesus) into Christ-less leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word, but then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.”

I didn’t want to flee Jesus and enjoy summer yesterday but a warning is good. Summer holds much that we miss in the dead of winter. I planted garden seeds last week and bedding plants, visited my next-door neighbor for two hours, and loafed more than usual. However, God has a way of reminding me of important things. One of our friends is having serious surgery today. His wife is worried sick. I’d prayed a bit, but when opening a search engine this morning, the photo on it was a place where these two had lived most of their early lives. God reminded me to pray fervently because our friend is in surgery right now.

Not only that, Piper reminds me that seeking things above means equating the delights of summer with the age to come. While God says, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9) He wants me to focus on what I do know. We have perfections here, some days, yet not one “sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening” day of summer can compare with being with Jesus in a perfect environment with: 

“. . . .  the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1–5)

The short descriptions of that eternal place describe no more sorrow or tears. If our friend survives this surgery, he will be glad, yet if Jesus takes him home, his joy and delight cannot be described — only that one day we will be together in that indescribable place. In the meantime, we are to focus on the One who is there, and who takes care of all things here. Summer is a small glimpse, no doubt totally inadequate to show us our future hope. 

Even so, the tall trees, the thick undergrowth, blue sky and especially the camaraderie of our Christian family make it easier to think of the perfection that is promised. 

PRAY: Thank You Jesus for reminding me to pray for our friend and for many things that cry for Your attention in this world. It is not heaven here, nor heaven yet, but You do hear and answer prayer. You make thoughts of things above easier and far more important than taking a ‘time out’ from eternal matters. For that, I am grateful.  

Love the puzzles. . . .

Yesterday I was driving home from meeting with my prayer partner. As I came near to a pharmacy, I knew I was supposed to go there. The Holy Spirit insisted, but I didn’t know why. Once inside, I reviewed the aisles where I might need something, but nothing popped to mind. Then I found it, something important I needed but had totally forgotten until I saw it on the shelf. Praising God, I paid at the till and went home.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1–6)

Too wonderful indeed! The Lord remembered what had slipped my mind, but instead of putting that in my head, He urged me to stop at the only place on my way home that had it.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

Why did He do that? To show me that He knows my needs even if I cannot remember them, and supplies my needs even when they slip my mind? If I worry about dementia, there is no need. If I get too busy to think straight, He will think for me.

While the word ‘higher’ can be translated ‘arrogant’ not so with God and His ways. Rather, they are beyond my imagination. This gives me reason to worship. It also gives me confidence to pray and ask Him to surprise me.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Sometimes I’ve told God what I want done, but never have I been able to guess what He will do. His ways are higher, but not only that, I am not God and the Holy Spirit who lives in me does not let me in on everything about His creativity. He only tells me what I need to know so I will obey Him and so He will be glorified rather than me gaining any credit or praise.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21)

PRAY: Jesus, You show me how to live in a kingdom filled with surprises and instead of getting upset that I don’t know how or when, You enable me to trust You to answer prayers Your way and be content to wait with great expectation of what will happen next. I’m so blessed and so glad to enjoy the puzzle rather than chaff because I’m not able to guess Your mysteries. Bless You.

No more tears…

God amazes me with His timing. Yesterday, I slept almost all day, dizzy, no fever just a weird set of symptoms. Add to that items in the news, a sad e-mail from a friend, and I felt like crying. So what does the Lord say this morning?

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

I weep here because of my sin, bereavements and afflictions, but also the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain of others. I know that this is our lot in life, but on the other side of the grave, we shall weep no more!

Think of it — He will remove us from all sin and remove all sin from us. I will cease to weep when I have ceased to sin and because He will bless me beyond my wildest imagination.

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him/— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I can imagine no sickness for I’ve not been ill more than half a dozen times in thirty years, but I cannot imagine no more tears, no more sin, no more sorrow. This world is filled with it, with poverty, illness, fires, floods, and wars, death and loss. However, as the reading for today says, Jesus will give us all that our hearts desire. There will be no weeping over lost reward in that land to which we are going. Our reward will be full, perfect and satisfying. We shall see Christ and be like Him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
What could be better than that!

PRAY: Today is a slight improvement over yesterday, made so by Your precious promises that perfection lies ahead. I tend to ‘live in the now’ rather than the past or the future, but this glimpse of Your plans for eternity make the present day sorrows a lot more bearable.

Wait — there is more to the story

Being unwell gives me time to think. These devotions also prod thoughts. Yesterday I wondered about the promises of God’s goodness and blessing in contrast to this instruction from the NT:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

In most minds, trials and joy do not mix. Theologically they do. It makes sense that we learn most when most pressed to trust God, most pushed by difficulties that we no longer have any answers or ways to bring life back to normal or forward to better than it is with the trial. In other words, it is preferable to be comfortable rather than stressed, and when stressed it seems that our loving Father should remove the problem.

But what if He does not? Think of believers in places of persecution. Think of those whose children have incurable disease. Think of those who have lost everything. Even the Bible stories speak of unrelenting trials, like Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers and Job who lost his children and possessions as well as his health. In reading the total story, the good will of God shows up. Joseph seemed to wait for it. Job complained and questioned. Others suffered in silence.

Yesterday I thought about my lack of knowing what my suffering means, but one thing came out of the pondering; I may not know what God is doing with me or with my friends who are suffering, but I do know that He wants all of His children to be filled with His Spirit. This is where our joy comes from, not from the comforts of life. Today’s devotional says this:

The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ was meant to be full of comfort. Every newly converted soul, in the first joy of conversion, fully expects it. And yet it seems as if for a great number of Christians, their religious lives are the most uncomfortable part of their existence. Does the fault of this state of things lie with the Lord? Has He promised more than He is able to supply?

It goes on to say that we suffer from a great deal of over-advertisement and this tends to give many of God’s people the sense that Christ offered more in His gospel than He has to give. Why this? Has the kingdom of God been over-advertised, or is it only that it has been under-believed? Is part of our problem the fact that we have not arrived at the last chapter of our story and we are simply impatient? The Bible does say:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

God took Joseph into slavery and eventually into leadership in Egypt where he was able to save his people during a famine. As he told his brothers, they meant it for evil but God used it for good.

God never did tell Job about the challenge of Satan and the proof that the faith He gave Job would hold firm, yet at the end of his story, Job humbly admitted his failures, prayed for his accusing friends, and was given back more than had been taken away.

God keeps His promises. My problem is impatience and often the failure to remember that joy is not about circumstances but the fruit of the Spirit who will fill me with Himself no matter what is going on in my world. Yielding to Him and asking for that fullness is always the right choice. With Him in charge, the situation may not change, but I will stop feeling sorry for myself and experience His love and concern for others, expressed by: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22–24)

PRAY: Jesus, You used a dream last night to show me how to stop those coughing attacks. What a lovely surprise, totally unexpected even though I’d asked for sound sleep. While I still don’t know the purpose of this trial, I do know that You are enough to bring good out of it. Help me be content with the fruit of the Spirit and not try to figure out anything other than just trusting You to take care of me and those I’m concerned for as You work in our lives.

What about the last straw?

Sometimes we hear Christians in great trouble say, “There is nothing left for me now but to trust the Lord.” Others might respond with, “Oh dear, has come to that?”

Likely every believer has had moments like that, as if God is much less able to deliver us from trials than His promises would lead us to expect. It might even seems as if trusting Him means totally giving in to whatever has us in despair and never experiencing a return to ‘normal’ or seeing a change for the better.

To be honest, having this case of bacterial pneumonia sometimes has me feeling I will never get better and that trusting the Lord means living with fatigue and a continual cough for the rest of my life. Even verses like this one seem to add to my concerns at times, rather than encourage me:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us… (Ephesians 3:20)

I tend to think that instead of giving me a return to health, the “abundantly” of this verse means the ability to live with the problem. That means sleep much and not being able to spend much time with others. The Bible also reminds me:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

However, that is not a promise that He will do what I want. It is a revelation that He is able to do what He wants for me without me being able to figure it out beforehand.

This should not bother me. I read fiction by Deborah Crombie, love being totally mystified, and feel great satisfaction when the end of the story comes and it makes complete sense. The trouble is, life is not like fiction and all trials do not end with “reader satisfaction” or happily ever after. I’ve a friend whose husband is dying of cancer, and another whose husband committed suicide. Certainly heaven will take away all pain, but right now, the only hope for inner peace is trusting the Lord — and for the two of them, that is one huge challenge.

It is for me too as I experience pain for them, a deep sorrow that makes my own situation seem small. Their struggles add to the helplessness of not being confident that God will ‘fix’ any of it. As already said this week, sometimes God doesn’t give us what we can handle, but helps us handle what we are given. Can I do that? Not without the Lord’s help.
 

PRAY: Jesus, again I think of what You said in the garden: “Not my will but thine be done” and while my situation is not even a tiny bit as horrid as what You faced, I understand the great challenge of yielding — no matter what. Grant me the ability to handle whatever You decide and do it with grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit — that You might be glorified.

Stuck in a run? Or open to change?

“This is the way we have always done it . . .”

Is any thinking more stifling to creativity? To progress? To learning and growing and moving forward? It happens in business, community groups, and even in churches. It also happened to the religious Pharisees when Jesus appeared on the scene.

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)

They were stuck on the old ways and their accepted forms of faith. Had they got it right, those ways might have been okay, but they didn’t work, and God through His prophets had been warning them for years. They were under the covenant of law, failed to keep the law, and despite years of warnings, they clung to the familiar “rules” and missed such things as love from the heart and social justice.

When Jesus came, these highly religious people had no expectation of any further instructions or changes from God. When they heard Jesus, their immediate response was to discredit Him and His teaching. They thought their conceptions reflected God’s thoughts. Moses said this! Moses did that! And for them, that was final. This is the way we have always done it.

Yet they had not done it. Listening to Moses and the law did not change their lives. They appeared highly religious but Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs” and hypocrites. He pointed out the error of their ways to His disciples and to them . . .

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others . . . . But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:2–15)

The Pharisees decided that Jesus was appalling and must be removed. They decided that if His ideas were allowed to spread, this would mean the end of their religion. They didn’t realize what a good idea that was!

For them, and often for me, I get an ideal set in my mind based on prior experience and think that this is all there is, that what I had was all that I can ever have. That puts me in stagnant mode and unless I let go of that way of thinking, there I will stay.

The Bible says, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). We generally think this verse is about heaven, but I’m learning it is about life here too. I cannot imagine the good things God wants for me. However, if I get stuck in the old ways, even my imagination gets stuck. I must let go of the “old ways” and be willing to trust Him to show me a change, a new way. When I do, He expands my world with amazing surprises.

I love the surprises of God. They are, “exceedingly abundantly more than all I can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20), but they do require trust, and they also require letting go of the old and being open to change.

Today’s devotional says at the root of the crucifixion was not so much a hideous or violent sin, but just a “narrowness of mind, an unwillingness to credit or even consider what was new and unaccustomed, a dislike of being jostled out of their settled lines of thought.” They looked at Jesus, heard His Word and decided that this was not the way they always did it, so they killed Him.

To Live is Christ — one moment at a time

Sometimes the truth of Scripture is experienced like a range of mountains, or an unfolding rose. It can apply to the whole of life, but also the details. I’m not sure I can explain this macro-micro thing. Maybe it can be illustrated.

One example is the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. Read without knowledge of the future, the first coming and the second coming of Christ are not distinct and appears as one event. This is part of the reason that the Jews expected a conquering Savior, not One who would die for their sin, but One who would establish political freedom. As the truth unfolded, it was like the plot of a mystery where the pieces of the story gradually come together at the end, but are a puzzle at first, each clue necessary to the whole thing.

This is the way with spiritual experience also. The truth of God is always there, always true. However, my experience is that He reveals a little at a time, mostly because I cannot bear to know all things at once, or that I am not open to it, or that I simply cannot grasp it.

As it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

If God gave me everything I know now back when I first believed, my mind would not and could not grasp most of it. Its importance would be lost to me too, because He generally reveals truth as it is needed. I am most receptive when in a pickle and needing answers. Bible college is great, yet the school of life creates lessons that have greater impact.

Another aspect of this macro-micro concept is that the verse for today has this overall lifelong application described above, but it is also true in each instance of my daily walk. God impressed this on my heart yesterday. I’d prepared a lesson for my Sunday Bible class. Although I’d prayed and agonized over it, I didn’t feel that it was a good lesson. Various stresses throughout the week had taken a toll too. As we drove to the church yesterday morning, I’d never felt so weak, not physically but spiritually. I told my husband this was awful. I could not see how this class would be a blessing to anyone, nor could I teach it. He prayed for me, but the immediate future seemed dark and not very inviting.

When the class started, I told them it had been a tough lesson to prepare and I needed their help. The next hour was astounding. God gave insights to the ladies that blessed all of us. By the end of it, one lady told me that was a marvelous class and she was so glad to be there. As I taught and listened to the women discuss the Scriptures, God also revealed some rich and deep truth that I must take time to explore. Given my earlier sense of weakness, this totally amazed me.

This also illustrates this principle of unfolding, although that is not the right word. The truth of 1 Corinthians 2:9 is for the big picture and the whole of our spiritual experience, but it is also true for the micro-picture of daily life. My eyes cannot see what the future holds, not ten years ahead, not even an hour from now. My ears cannot hear, even if someone says, “God will bless you.” Unless God opens my eyes and ears and puts reality into my heart, I am clueless about the future. Assurance is of God. Lack of it is scary.

My heart is prone to forget the blessings of the past, to forget the faithfulness of God. When I feel as if I am weak, I forget that His power is perfected in weakness. I know that it true, yet when my heart has its door shut, all of this cannot enter.

Yet God enters. He brings in truth, reveals it to me, opens my eyes, gives me understanding. Sometimes He does it with His Word or with insights. Yesterday He did it with the happenings of my life. Again, I am humbled by His grace and in awe of His power. This reality makes me realize once again how much I need Him. He prepares for me a place in heaven that I cannot see or grasp, but He also prepares for me each day blessings that I cannot predict. How marvelous, how wonderful, is the amazing grace and power of God.

To Live is Christ — one day at a time

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in her mid-seventies. The symptoms showed a few years earlier. She was a Christian, and I’m certain that her attitude toward her decline had its origins in the Holy Spirit. She was upset at the diagnosis, but after a day of wrestling with it, she said, “I suppose a lot worse could happen to me than losing my memory.”

She retained her sense of humor and her ability to accept the challenges of her life right to the end. I’ve often said that I want to be like her when I grow up, yet in saying that, I wonder if the same dementia will be my fate.

As it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

When I read this verse with that in mind, and with all that I’ve been writing about the past few days concerning this verse, I understand even more why God should be in charge of what I know about the future. Otherwise, knowing what will happen could be a burden as well as a delight.

The delight is that He does reveal good things. I know I will spend eternity with Him. I know that the struggle with sin and with the challenges of life will end. Revelation 21:3-4 says, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

A little further on in Revelation, God promises a river of life, healing of the nations, and no more curse. I will see the face of Jesus, and I will be like Him. What could be more wonderful!

The burden is the time between now and then. Aging is not for sissies. Getting old brings with it physical and mental challenges. Some go into their later years with good health in general, yet aches and pains because their bodies are wearing out. Others have memory challenges. My father had TIA’s or a type of stroke that took little chunks of both physical and mental strength.

My eye cannot see, nor does my mind know what lies ahead for me. Looking back, I’m glad that I didn’t know ahead of time what difficulties I have faced already. That would have been too much to carry. Getting out of bed in the morning would have been a challenge, never mind living in worried anticipation.

Yet I wonder. Will I go the same route as my mother? Or my father? Will my aging bring loss of memory and the inability to do anything that I now enjoy? I do not want to live now in anxiety about the future. However, that anxiety creeps in now and then. I’ll do the sensible thing and have my doctor test for various things. Medical science is constantly developing new ways to lessen the impact of the ailments of aging. Yet at the same time, the rest of that verse in 1 Corinthians is my anchor. It says that although I cannot see the future, it has been prepared for me by God. It speaks of my love for Him, but I know that all His plans are rooted in His love for me.

What then shall I say to these things? If God is for me, who can be against me? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for me, how shall He not with Him also freely give me all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for me. Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31–39, personalized)

To Live is Christ — totally trusting, even without seeing

Faith in Jesus Christ is sometimes ridiculed as “blind” and “pie in the sky.” While this is not entirely true, faith has elements of both thoughts. The ridicule happens because those who do not believe only see a small part of what it means to trust God. They cannot see what I see.

“Blind” faith is thrown around because Christians believe in Someone that is invisible. Perhaps the scoffers think God is like the invisible friend invented by a child to be with them in their play or in troubled times.

While God does that for me, I didn’t invent Him — because I don’t have that capacity. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10–12)

How could I make up God when my sinful heart isn’t interested in seeking Him or doing what He says?

Instead, God is real and Jesus, God the Son, came to earth to make visible the glory of God, to show blind eyes what He is like. The strange thing is that although He did miracles and rose from the dead, people still refused to seek God. They didn’t want to be saved from sin, so they crucified Jesus, not realizing that by doing so, God could offer them eternal life. Yet apart from “blind” faith, the offer is rejected. The only reason anyone believes in Christ is that God draws us to Him, opens our eyes, gives us faith, and convicts us of our sin.

Even after understanding who Jesus is and that God loves me, forgives me, and draws me into a personal relationship with Him, I still need His revealing power to see and understand the spiritual realm. Scripture affirms this repeatedly.

As it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Even the redeemed are blind. God says I need to walk by faith, not by sight, yet I still want to see, to walk by sight. He gives me understanding of Himself, yet so easily I go my own way and do my own thing. Is it because I am in constant need of this revelation of what God is doing in my life? I know that is true.

Every day I am drawn to Scripture. I’ve no idea what the day will hold and have learned how easily my plans can fall by the wayside. Life is uncertain, and even the little things are unpredictable. If this were not true, worry would never be a problem. In fact, those most keenly aware of this unpredictability are most inclined to struggle with worry.

Yet God affirms. My faith is not in what I know, or the clarity of my future. It is in Him, the One who is sovereign. I can walk with my hand in His — even with my eyes shut — and still be confident. I can walk in faith along the darkest path and through the darkest night, through deep and horrible trials, not because I can see, but because He has shown me that He is faithful.

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)

Faith is not about seeing what’s coming, but about trusting the One who controls what is coming. I am blind as far as the future, but clear as crystal regarding faith’s true object, the God of the Universe, who is also my Friend.

Faith is also about “pie in the sky” — which is a skeptic’s description of my heavenly destination. Faith assures me of it, not because I can see it but because God has said it is waiting for me. He has revealed to my heart and mind that He is who He claims to be, that His glory is seen in His Son. I know that I can trust Him.

People can mock blind faith, but I know that the One who I cannot see exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. This is far better than trusting anything that I can see. No matter what that might be, all things other than God have too many strikes against them. Nothing but God is eternal. No one but God can deliver on every promise. I cannot trust myself; I’ve already realized the folly of that. I must trust Him who is invisible. He is unseen, yet He also reveals Himself and His faithfulness to those who humbly put their hand in His.

To Live is Christ — waiting without procrastinating

Each week brings new surprises. My intention Monday was to get through my to-do list. It keeps growing and had become burdensome. However, the list is almost the same today as five days ago.

Part of it is my own fault. I am distracted by an email from a realtor whose list I’ve been on since we looked at vacation properties three years ago. Instead of lopping an item off my list, I waste precious minutes looking at his latest listings.

Part of it I can blame on Microsoft. Those endless Vista updates put computer work on hold until the downloads are installed. Of course I could jump up and put effort into some non-computer item, but I don’t.

The bigger problem is those unexpected interruptions. The hot water tank starts leaking so a plumber comes to give an estimate. A project I think is finished needs more revisions. A new package of crackers is stale upon opening and must be returned. Then there are those inevitable telemarketers who get a polite, “Will you please remove our number from your list” yet I’m sure they simply sell it to another of their ilk to steal more of my time.

This morning God challenges me to take another look at the unexpected interruptions of life. Yesterday, He showed me that the following verse is not about heaven, but the unseen mysteries of God’s plan for me, mysteries that I will not and cannot see — unless He reveals them. 

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Because God is sovereign, then all that comes my way is by His design or at least by His permission. When the phone rings, God is ultimately behind the call. When the neighbors needs help, God put me on their mind. When the email piles up, at the very least, God is testing my resolve. Will I be prompt and courteous? Will I focus only on what is important? Will I maximize computer down time by doing something else that needs to be done?

That word “waiting” brings to mind one of God’s promises. In the pressure of several deadlines and twice as many interruptions, I’ve felt my blood pressure go up and my energy levels go down. For this, God says to me . . . 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 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 40:28–31)

God will get me through, yet His ways are not my ways. I assume that if I work harder and stay focused, then the job will get done. Others tell me to take naps to avoid being overtired, or to dump the list and forget the deadlines. Yet God promises me all the resources I need — if I wait on Him. He may govern the unexpected interruptions, but He also governs insight, imagination, creative ideas, and anything else I might need to deal with every responsibility in my life.

I can see a big picture. God controls what comes at me and wants me to bring it all back to Him, in faith, trusting Him for all necessary resources. When I do that, He renews me. When I don’t, I forget that He is in charge and I get stressed and even annoyed at trivia, try to handle everything by myself, and wind up worn out and ready to throw in the towel.

My eyes cannot see what is coming. My mind cannot make sense of “waiting” to gain strength. These realities are part of the mystery of faith. God reveals what He has prepared for me — but I need to be obedient, do what He says, and trust Him. In His realm, waiting does not slow His people down, nor is it another interruption.

To Live is Christ — totally dependent

Today’s devotional verse is one that I’ve wrongly interpreted in the past. I thought that it was talking about the mysteries of heaven, but to get that interpretation, I pulled it out of context and failed to look closely enough.

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

While this may be true about heaven that is not the intended focus. I realized this when I looked at the source of this quote. It apparently came from Isaiah 64:4, but when I read that verse carefully, there are some differences. 

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Did Paul misquote Isaiah? What is going on here? As I began looking into this, I found this in a commentary . . .  

Men might hear with the outward ear, but they could only by the Spirit “perceive” with the “heart” the spiritual significancy of God’s acts, both those in relation to Israel, primarily referred to (in Isaiah) and those relating to the Gospel secondarily, which Paul refers to (in 1 Corinthians).

This tells me that Paul’s “quote” was not intended to be verbatim. He was quoting an Old Testament truth, not the exact words. He was rephrasing what Isaiah said just as I sometimes say, “In other words. . . .”

With that, I see that both verses are about the inability of the human mind to discern what God is doing unless the Holy Spirit reveals it. My eyes are not good enough to see God in action. My ears are not keen enough to hear His voice. My heart cannot discern what He is doing in my life. For this, the context says,

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:10–12)

Just as I cannot know what someone else is thinking unless they tell me, I also cannot know what God is doing unless He tells me. Today, He is telling me that today’s devotional verse is not about heaven; it is about right now. It is about seeing the work of God in my life and the mystery and purpose He has for me. Paul and Isaiah both affirm that apart from the Spirit showing me, I cannot see God at all.

This is a wonderful reality. It is also humbling. I tend to think of myself as reasonably smart and discerning, but He says that without His Spirit, I am blind and ignorant of God and His ways. This means that I not only am unable to see what He is doing in the lives of others and in the rest of the world, but I cannot discern His dealings with me either. I cannot “get it” apart from the Holy Spirit revealing it to me.

When Paul wrote these verses in 1 Corinthians, he was operating under a similar reality concerning revelation from God. The Holy Spirit showed him the significance of this Old Testament truth from Isaiah 64:4 in two ways. It spoke to the blindness of God’s people then, and the blindness of the human heart now.

The difference between what I glean from Scripture and what Paul saw in Isaiah is that Paul was using what the Holy Spirit gave him to write Scripture. (Note that in the following verses, prophecy is not about telling the future. This word simply means telling forth the Word of God.)

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19–21)

The Spirit gave Paul the truth from Isaiah that he might share it with others, writing it for generations to come. My role in receiving revelation is to realize that all truth is from God, and I am supposed to heed it — pay attention to it — do what it says. I may not see the results of my obedience, but I am to obey anyway.

In the days ahead, I am certain God will show me more about this verse. Right now, I need to humbly thank Him for freely revealing truth to me. I also must also continue to love and wait on Him.