Chosen

Dear Ones,

Another long time has passed between my blogs. As the days go by, I’m speechless to comment on current events and signs of the times. Yet, as I prayed, a flicker of encouragement stirred my heart from John 12:27, where Jesus says, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour.’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” Jesus stayed the course in spite of unimagined agony because He shared the Father’s heart.

Since early childhood, I have waited eagerly for Christ to return and sweep us away to live with Him in heaven forever. My enthusiasm never wains but grows stronger in these perilous times. Words from a hymn come to mind, “Where can I go, Oh where can I go, seeking a refuge for my soul? Needing a friend to help me in the end, where can I go but to the Lord?”

I remember an orphaned Jewish girl in a foreign land when the king sought to replace his former queen with a beautiful young bride. Without given a choice, she enters the palace and the king chooses her over many others. When faced with death and the possible annihilation of her people, she confides in her uncle, who tells her, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

I pray for God to deliver us from this hour of trial, but if in His love and wisdom, He should tarry, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me” (Psa 57:2). I still fervently believe our glorious rapture can happen at any moment. Yet I read, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise… Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9). In unfathomable love, the Father graciously waits before His righteous judgment falls.

While I wait with Him, I know “The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands” (Psa 138:8). He chose you and me, this very generation of Christ-followers, a royal position, for such a time as this.

Peter tells us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16).

The Apostle Paul says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do… God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (Eph 2:10; 2Thess 2:13).

Therefore, we stand firm by His mighty power during this time of political and global upheaval. Though our lives have drastically changed over the last year and into this year, we rest in God’s promise to fulfill His purpose for us. May we each hear His words one glorious day, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Mat 25:21).

Rejoice with me, dear chosen ones, for the power and purpose of God is with us and within us until the end!

New Year, Renewed Strength

Dear Ones,

IN procrastination to avoid the hard work of blogging, I pulled out my old oil paints and several canvases to try painting again. I wanted to do something abstract, easier than realism, especially with my tremors. I’m practicing on small Dollar Store canvases before I do a masterpiece over our mantle. I forgot how hard it is to do a quality painting. Without embracing the discipline to plan a pleasing composition, I end up in frustration. I didn’t want to work at it because I’m getting old and tired, especially after this last tumultuous year. To my dismay, painting wasn’t any easier than writing.

Like a painting, the Old Year skies darkened with COVID news, extended lockdowns, loss of relational time, and political wars. Cold prevailing winds of personal failures and loss smacked hard and tore away words to encourage anyone else. It was all I could do to keep my head above the ensuing flood. Although God kept me afloat, confidence to write yielded to an invisible undercurrent of weariness.

I felt tempted to give in and say, “It is what it is.” But God’s Holy Spirit reminded me of Philippians 3:14 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

So we “strain” toward what lies ahead. We “press on” toward the goal of our heavenly calling. Then I read Ann Voskamp’s email exhortation this morning to stop procrastinating and do the hard things God calls us to do. She writes, “Hard things just keep calling you because you’re meant to answer to higher and better things.”

Now the New Year awakens and stretches before me while I wait in eager anticipation for the revelation of God’s plan for His dearly-bought children. Nearly 4,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote, “I saw the hard work God has given people to do. God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what He is doing” (Ecc 3:10-11 NCV).

Yet, He asks us to live by faith, not by sight, trust Him with all our hearts, and not lean to our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6 NIV). In Isaiah, He says, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa 55:8-9 NIV).

By His grace, He gave us His living and powerful Word and His Holy Spirit to guide, convict, and comfort us. He tells us to stand strong in the spiritual armor He provided for us and do the hard things He calls us to do.

Ann continues her exhortation with, “You’re made to do hard and holy things — because there’s no other way to get to the happy and holy things… Life is Pain — and you get to choose: either the Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Disappointment.”

So here I am, doing the hard thing to seek God and His message in hard times. Perhaps He is redeeming my procrastination by a living example of Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

No promises exist that 2021 will be any easier than 2020, but until Jesus catches us away to heaven to live with Him forever, we must persevere in the race He Himself set before us to do the hard things He calls us to do. Now is not the time to give up, yield to our flesh, and procrastinate. Now is the time for God’s children to fight to win with all the energy He gives us once we take the first step of obedience. I know it’s true because you wouldn’t be reading this otherwise.

Happy New Year with love and many prayers!

THANKSGIVING 2020

Dear Ones,

This Thanksgiving, we face unprecedented challenges. I felt okay with all the COVID restrictions since last March, but I’m not as extroverted as some people who fiercely resent these social restrictions. Writing and editing do not require a lot of social interaction, so I enjoyed my quiet time alone and the increased freedom from social expectations.

Over time, I missed face-to-face fellowship with close friends, so we made careful allowances from time to time. Meeting another couple outside in the park, church attendance with social distancing, and home visits with our daughter, her husband, and eight grandchildren for meals and much-needed hugs all around.

However, when the governor made more recent and more restrictive mandates, my world crumbled, and I felt the anger of disappointment and what I held to be unjustified governmental control. My husband, always the more cautious one, ended up with intensified anxiety, which didn’t help my attitude in the least.

Of course, these emotions can either drive wedges between us or draw us closer to God, who is ultimately the Blessed Controller of all things. Many voices carry conflicting messages, which makes finding the truth like looking for that proverbial needle in a haystack. I know the enemy is out to divide and conquer. He is the author of confusion and masquerades as an angel of light to deceive the gullible and uninformed. I read a lot, search the Scriptures, and ask God for wisdom.

His Holy Spirit reminds me that vengeance belongs to the Lord, and human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1:20). He tells me that love covers a multitude of sins and fulfills the law of Christ (1Peter 4:8; Rom 13:10). Even though my husband and I see these mandates through different lenses, we also believe in the unity of the Spirit, forgiveness, and submission to one another. The enemy seeks to divide all of us and bring anger and resentment through our passionate beliefs over how we see things happening in this strange new world. We all feel so much loss and find ourselves grieving those losses.

Therefore, this Thanksgiving, it takes intentional decisiveness to take our eyes off the world around us, off our differences, and focus squarely on the Savior of our souls. In Psalm 103:1-6, David says,

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth (desires) with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.

This Thanksgiving, may our gratitude, praise, and worship drown out all other voices that come against us. May we remember, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom. 8:37 NIV), and “God Inhabits the praises of His people” (Psalm 22:3 KJV).