Finding Christ in Christmas—Literally

As our society has become increasingly intolerant of any reminders of the reason Christmas is even a holiday (all in the name of tolerance, mind you), a counter-movement so-to-speak has emerged with t-shirts and bumper stickers urging us to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” But more than a statement of social activism, this phrase also serves to remind those of us who do know why Christmas exists not to forget Him in the midst of the hectic happiness or lingering loss of the season.

So, much like we did a few weeks ago with our Thanksgiving exercise, let’s use another acrostic to help us focus our minds for a moment on who exactly Jesus is.

Let’s find Christ in “CHRISTMAS.”

C: Christ - “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” ~ Luke 2:11*

“Christ” is the Greek word for the title “Messiah,” meaning “Anointed One.” Essentially, in recognizing that Jesus is the Christ, we understand that He is the one promised throughout all of the Old Testament, even from as early as Genesis 3:15, the one who was God’s appointed way of breaking the curse we are born into.

H: High Priest - “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” ~ Hebrews 4:14

The significance of Jesus’ being the High Priest is perhaps not as poignant for us as it would have been for the Jews of His day, but it should be. Because Jesus is fully human, because He lived a perfect life, because He rose from the dead, and because He ascended back to God the Father’s right hand, He is able to be the mediator between us and God. No longer do we have to go through priests who are merely human to talk to or hear from God; we can come straight into God’s presence ourselves because the ultimate Human (who is also fully God) is interceding on our behalf.

R: Redeemer - “‘And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,’ declares the Lord.” ~ Isaiah 59:20

According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary[i], a redeemer is “one charged with the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs.” Jesus avenged the wrongs we have committed against God and restored God’s creation (including us) to Him. He has paid our debt by taking our punishment upon Himself, allowing us to be free from bondage to sin, Satan, and self and making a way for us to be restored into fellowship with our Creator.

I: Immanuel - “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’” ~ Matthew 1:23 quoting Isaiah 7:14

The meaning of “Immanuel” is linguistically simple but packs a mighty punch: “God with us.” By calling Jesus Immanuel, we are acknowledging that He is God and that He came to be with us, both of which are incredibly profound and important. Jesus isn’t just a good example, a good teacher, or a moralist. He is God. That’s why his sacrifice on the cross can be enduringly efficient for us. And He is the means by which God actually entered into His creation instead of merely abiding over it. Instead of making us come to Him, He came to us.    

S: Shepherd - “'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” ~ John 10:11

Jesus Himself identified himself as a shepherd—and not just a shepherd but the shepherd, and the good shepherd on top of that. As the good shepherd, He cares tenderly for His sheep (those people who believe in Him), providing for their needs, pursuing them when they wander, and protecting them from destruction. His care extended even to the point of giving up His own life. We can find peace and comfort in the thoroughly good care our Shepherd gives us.

T: Teacher - "‘You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.’” ~ John 13:13

I mentioned earlier that Jesus isn’t just a good teacher, but that doesn’t mean He isn’t a teacher at all. Yes, He is much more than a teacher, but He’s still a teacher. And what better teacher could there be than one who has infinite knowledge and wisdom, one whose mind conceived every single design we see in flora and fauna, every law of science, every standard of morality. He authored and spoke life-giving words, and we—if we can humble ourselves enough to realize that we don’t know even close to everything—have the opportunity to learn from Him in His creation and through His Word by His Spirit.

M: Master - “And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.” ~ Luke 8:24

We like to think of Jesus as our Shepherd, as our Redeemer, as God with us, but we are often quick to skim over the fact that He is our Master as well. He is the ultimate authority in our lives, the one to whom we must give an account for every word, thought, and deed. Our very existence is meant to bring Him glory, and our lives are best lived in service to Him.

He is not a cruel master, though, for everything we’ve already seen about Him is concurrently true. Just as He is the best Teacher because He is all-knowing, He is the best Master because He is all-powerful. He has the power to command even the wind and the waves, yet He does not force us into His service. He lovingly draws us and gives us a light and easy yoke to wear (Matthew 11:30).

A: Alpha and Omega - “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” ~ Revelation 22:13

Alpha is the first character of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last, so by calling Himself “the Alpha and the Omega,” Jesus is saying that He is both the dawn and the fulfillment of creation. From the beginning of time to its end, Jesus is there and is holding it all together. He is the reason our universe exists and the one who will bring everything to its completion. And because He was there at the beginning and will be there at the end, we can find comfort and stability from His never-changing presence in our ever-changing world. He is the constant amid chaos. In short, everything is about Him, and that’s a good thing.

S: Savior - “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” ~ 1 John 4:14

In case you haven’t noticed, this world needs saving. Famine, natural disasters, disease, wars--all of these are symptoms of creation’s brokenness. Plus, at a more granular level, each of us need saving. We are desperately lost and without hope, even if we are happy and think everything is totally fine—unless, that is, someone saves us. How can that be? Because we’re selfish, prideful, and rebellious. Basically, we’ve tried to make ourselves God instead of worshiping the God who made us, and for that we deserve death. That’s how holy God is. Our lives aren’t about us, but we think they are. We live for ourselves and ignore God. That’s simply not acceptable in light of an all-powerful, perfectly righteous Sovereign.

But the good news—and indeed, the whole reason Christmas is something to celebrate—is that our need has been met. We have a Savior. And His name is Jesus. For ages, humanity has loved stories of heroes who sweep in to save the day, and I’m convinced that our affinity for such tales is because of our own deep need to be saved. And the best part is that there is a true story of a true Hero who swept in, not as a handsome conqueror but as a humble infant, and who would grow up to sacrifice His life to save the world.  

I hope these last few minutes discovering the treasures in the letters of “Christmas” have reminded you of the truth of who Christ is. And if you don’t know Him personally, I pray that these truths have given you a taste of His goodness and have whetted your appetite to seek after Him until you come to know Him for yourself. For when you do, the merriness of Christmas is so much richer and lasts all year long.  

*All Scripture quoted is taken from the English Standard Version

[i] https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/eastons-bible-dictionary/redeemer.html

Major Truths from a Minor Prophet

Micah, one of the minor prophets (so-called because of the book’s short length), is best known for two of its verses, Micah 6:8 and Micah 5:2. The first is the oft-quoted rhetorical question telling us that the Lord desires us to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with Him. The second is the prophecy that specifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of the coming Savior. But as I was reading through Micah recently, another verse jumped off the page—Micah 7:9. And it’s this verse I’d like to dig into today.

In the beginning of chapter 7 Micah is lamenting the fact that “there is no one upright among mankind” (verse 2). He is overwhelmed with the weight of the world’s depravity where even the most stellar example of humanity has become so warped as to be a tangled, twisted mass (verse 4). No one within can be trusted (verses 5-6), and the enemies without sit ready to delight in Israel’s demise.

Micah is understandably distraught, but he makes a conscious choice to lift his eyes from the chaos of his environment to the One who sits enthroned over it all. He writes, “But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (7:7). He then reminds his enemies that although Israel’s situation might seem dismal, they will not have the satisfaction of seeing it defeated for long. He says in faith, “When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness the LORD will be a light to me” (7:8). And then he continues in verse 9:

                I will bear the indignation of the LORD

                                because I have sinned against him,

                until he pleads my cause

                                and executes judgment for me.

                He will bring me out to the light;

                                I shall look upon his vindication.

This passage is packed full of profound truth. While its immediate application was for the people of Israel and Judah who would soon be taken into captivity, as prophecy it speaks to larger realities as well. Let’s dissect it to get a closer look…

“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him,”

First, we see that sin incurs the wrath of God. God, the perfect, holy, supreme Being, is righteously angry with us because we have wronged him, and we live under that indignation . . . period? Praise God, no! The period of finality is absent, and instead we have the promise of a comma and the little word “until.” But how will that promising comma be followed? Will it be “until we are utterly destroyed”? Again, praise God, no!

“until he pleads my cause”

Take a moment to think about how unexpected that ending to the sentence is. The perfectly righteous and just God, instead of taking out His justified anger by requiring the punishment of death from each of us, doesn’t simply decline to punish us but actually speaks out on our behalf. Say what? How is that possible? Crimes have to be punished, don’t they? Indeed, and let’s look at the rest of the sentence. God pleads our cause…

“and executes judgment for me.”

So He does execute judgment, which should be no surprise given the fact that He is a just God. But again, we’re met with a surprise. Micah just finished saying he/Israel has sinned against God, so we should expect God to execute judgment against him/them. Instead, Micah says that God executes judgment for him/them. So who does God execute judgment against, then?

In the immediate context, He judged the nations who were Israel’s enemies. In the bigger picture, though, the answer to this question is given in glimpses throughout the entire Old Testament but comes into focus hundreds of years after Micah writes these words in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man. He, an innocent, takes the punishment for all the guilty by dying on the Cross.

In short, God executed judgment against Himself. And He did it for us, the ones who owe our very existence to God yet spit in His face every day through our pride and self-centeredness. That’s how merciful and loving of a God He is. But He doesn’t merely absolve us from having to pay what we owe (our lives). Let’s keep reading…

“He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.”

God doesn’t just save us from something. He saves us for something. He brings us out of darkness, yes. But in bringing us out of darkness, He brings us into the light. From the very moment we turn from our sin and believe in what God has done for us, we are in the beautiful, glorious, peaceful light of a right relationship with God.

Does this mean that everything will be smooth sailing the rest of our days or that we’ll never dabble in darkness again? Not hardly. We still live in a fallen world, after all, and our growth in holiness will not be complete before Jesus returns. We will still stumble in sin and suffer the fracturing of fellowship with God that results. But the light is still there, and it’s still our home. The fellowship can be restored because the darkness no longer has a legitimate claim on our lives.

And one day, we will have the surpassing blessing of watching as God’s final vindication is carried out and we can behold Him in His righteousness. In that day, as we witness the judgment of God against the Enemy and stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, I imagine we will praise Him as Micah does in closing his book (7:18-19):

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity

and passing over transgression

for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in steadfast love.

He will again have compassion on us;

he will tread our iniquities underfoot .

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

But instead of future tense, we’ll be using past. No longer will we be fighting to keep the faith, to choose to look upward instead of around at our circumstances. We’ll be literally looking at Jesus. Our faith will have become sight. Our lives will be forever and only filled with light and love. 

What a beautiful day that will be.

An Exercise of Thanks

Thanksgiving is upon us, so what better time to remind ourselves of the plethora of things we have to be thankful for.

Have you noticed, though, that oftentimes when we start to “count our blessings,” we get stuck in the “usual”—clothes, shelter, food, running water, etc.—and certainly those are all things worth being grateful for.  But there are so many other blessings in our lives that we often overlook, so sometimes we need prompts to help us think creatively and discover those hidden-in-plain-sight blessings that we so often take for granted.

I decided to challenge myself with one such prompt today—using the letters of THANKSGIVING to identify things I’m thankful for. Here’s what I came up with…

T: Theatre – Over the past two years, I’ve had the immense privilege of working with The Light Theater Company, a local non-profit that was begun a decade ago for the purpose of giving homeschoolers a comprehensive theater experience and of opening doors for gospel conversations through the arts. The Light Theater has given me the opportunity to use my passion for historic dance in a new outlet, to learn a new form of creative expression, to make encouraging new friendships, and to just plain have fun. And for all of that, I am thankful.

H: Holy Spirit – Where would I be without the Holy Spirit? Nowhere good, that’s for sure. He is God’s gift of Himself to me; His indwelling presence that makes His promise to never leave me or forsake me beautifully fulfilled. He is my Helper (Jn. 14:16), the deposit to guarantee God’s promise of an eternity with Him (2 Tim. 1:14), and the One who prays for me when I don’t know what to pray (Rom. 8:26-27). He bears witness that I am God’s child (Rom 8:16). For Him I am eternally thankful.

A: Animals  - Animals just make life happy. Especially dogs. Especially mine. Who can help but smile when you come in the door and this little four-legged fur ball greets you with the wagging tail and whimpers of pure delight? Or when he senses you’re having a bad day and gets as close to you as he possibly can, falling back against your chest and nuzzling you with that cute little wet nose? In these ways and so many others, animals are God’s gift to man, and for them I am thankful.

N: Norwex - I was introduced to Norwex through my mom, who was introduced to it through her sister, and it has lived up to its mission statement in my life—“Improving quality of life by radically reducing chemicals in our homes.” It’s a company that not only has amazing products that save me time and money and help me live a healthier life but also has given me the chance to see my mom thrive at something she never thought she would do and use her gifts and talents to help families improve the quality of their lives. Not to mention that the generosity of the company and their commitment to being good stewards of our earth and good employers to those who work in their factories around the world are fantastic. (Shameless plug if you want to learn more: www.pennyeanes.norwex.biz) Norwex has been a blessing in our family’s life, and for it I am thankful.

K: Kindred - Whenever I make lists of things I’m thankful for, family is usually at the top of the list. In my immediate family, that means my parents. I would most assuredly not be the woman I am today without their love, grace, and instruction in my life. And through all of life’s changes, they are my constant friends. And then there’s my extended family—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins—each of whom enrich my life in unique ways and remind me often of God’s sovereignty and sense of humor. For each of them, I am abundantly thankful.

S: Songs - Songs are marvelous things. The combination of words and music, of melodies and harmonies, each beautiful on their own but enrapturing when combined. They can express intense emotion in ways that mere words cannot. They can lift our spirits, carry our imaginations to countless realms, and calm our souls. For music in general, and songs in particular, I am thankful.

G: Grapes – Grapes are little bundles of goodness, taut skin just waiting to be broken to release a pop of liquid sweetness. They are reminders of the amazing creativity of our God in that they are just one of the myriad of fruits in existence for us to enjoy. For delicious treats of nature, like grapes, I am thankful.

I: Individuality – Just like there are so many different fruits, there are even more different people, each with a unique story despite commonalities with the rest of humanity. Fundamentally, we are all the same, but God has dressed up our cores with individuality, with unique combinations of talents and experiences. Because of that, we have infinite things to appreciate about each other and ways to learn from one another. And for that beautiful, intriguing variety in humanity, I am thankful.

V: Victory – “Oh, Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!” Because of Jesus, I have victory over sin and over death, because He has defeated them, and I am in Him. Do I always live in that victory? No, to my shame. But it is has been won nonetheless, and it makes it possible for me to put to death “the sin that clings so closely” (Heb. 12:1) through the power of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Jesus. For that possibility and the promise of coming completion, I am thankful.   

I: Inside Jokes – Admittedly, it’s not very fun to be on the outside of an inside joke, but I’ve come to appreciate even those inside jokes that I’m on the outside of. They provide a sense of connection, a bond, a certain level of intimacy that brings joy and laughter to what might otherwise be a humdrum day. And they have incredible longevity, possessing the power to reignite the flame of friendship after years of separation. They encapsulate love and laughter, and for them I am thankful.

N: Novels - Like songs, novels have an uncanny ability to express truth in ways exponentially more potent than prose. Well-written novels provide a sense of escape but still pack a punch with the truth they reveal. They lower our defenses with story, then hit us again and again with arrows of reality about our world, ourselves, and our God. They simultaneously provide fuel for the imagination, cultivation for the mind, and inspiration for the soul. For the pleasure and instruction of novels, I am thankful.

G: Grace – All of the aforementioned blessings could really be summed up in this one, for none of them are in any way deserved. That’s what grace is, after all—being given something good that you don’t deserve. And what better thing to bring us to our knees in humility and gratitude than grace? Grace is the ultimate example of the supreme goodness and kindness of God. And for it, I am immeasurably thankful.

I hope giving you a glimpse into my own exercise of thanks has prompted you to think of things that you are thankful for. I’d like to close in challenging you to make a list like this one. Use this word or another word, but do something that will make you pause and think of things that you usually take for granted. You might be surprised at what you find.

The Greatest Blessing That We’ll Never Know

When you sing a song, do you pay attention to what you are actually singing? In church, as you worship God through song, do you think about the meaning behind the words you utter? If you don’t, you should. Lyrics are powerful things—words set to music that emblazon themselves in our minds and resonate in our hearts. It would do us well to consider them carefully.

Hopefully, the music leader at your church chooses songs whose lyrics proclaim truth and reflect an accurate understanding of God and man. Even in such songs, though, sometimes there can be lines that are puzzling and require us to think a little deeper to fully understand their meaning. I touched on one of these lines from the hymn “Jesus Paid It All” a few weeks ago, and today I’d like to look at a more modern song, “Here I Am to Worship.”

There’s a line in the bridge that reads, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” One day several years ago, as I sang this song with the congregation at church, I suddenly realized that these lyrics didn’t seem to make much sense at face value. I had sung that line countless times before but was just then truly thinking about what it said.

Why was I singing I would never know how much it cost for my sin to be placed on Jesus at the cross? I knew exactly what it cost. It cost Jesus His life. It cost Him His fellowship with the Father. Scripture shows us this. So what could that lyric be talking about?

I kept thinking.

I knew cognitively what the price of my sin is—“the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23)—and that Jesus paid that price for me so that I don’t have to. Ah, wait.

He paid it so that I don’t have to.

Maybe that was the key. Yes, cognitively I knew how much it cost for my sin to be placed on Jesus at the cross, but experientially I’ll never know how much it cost—because He took my punishment.

In ruminating on that simple line, I came to have a much deeper realization of and appreciation for Jesus’s work on the cross. While it’s true that His death was about much more than simply saving individual souls (it was about restoring all of the broken relationships that resulted from the Fall—those between God and man, between man and creation, between man and man, and between man and himself), it’s not untrue that it does have profound, eternal implications for individual souls.

Not the least of these is the possibility His death creates for us to escape the wrath of God, because it involved the pouring out of God’s wrath on His own Son, who had taken on the sin of the entire world across all time. 

So now, when we repent from our sin and believe in Jesus’s perfect life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection, not only are we are free to live an abundant life honoring to Christ, having been released from the bondage to sin in which we are born, but also we can say with confidence that we will never have to know the full extent of the punishment we deserve.

What a blessing—one whose magnitude, by the grace of God, we will never fully comprehend. 

Year Two in Review

Time has been passing so quickly, I nearly forgot the second anniversary of “An Iris Awaits”! It’s been another full year of learning, wrestling, and growing, of seeking to encourage and challenge readers to think deeply, love strongly, and praise abundantly. So this week, we’re taking a pause to look back at snippets from each post over the last year. (The title at the end of each excerpt links to the full post.) After all, it’s always good to remember where we’ve been before we take more steps forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like a road that splits into two forks, [nostalgia] can lead us either to humble praise or prideful demanding, to contentment or complaining. ~ "The Mixed Blessing of Nostalgia"

Remember that Christ did not save us in a vacuum. And He did not whisk us straight to heaven when He saved us. He left us here in our specific context to live out our salvation (not to earn it, but to demonstrate it). God does not negate our earthly life when He brings us into His kingdom; He redeems it. ~ "Christians and the Vote"

Have you ever stopped to consider the immense creativity God has displayed in the way He has designed each of us, how He has instilled in different people different talents for different purposes? ~ "Creatively Designed"

What kind of followers of Jesus are we if we fail to care for those who are hurting? Do we recognize that we are accountable to God for how we treat others? May He help us to show His compassion to everyone—especially to those with whom we disagree. ~ "Empathy and Love in the Face of Fear and Hatred: The Aftermath of Election 2016"

As Christians, we are called to be thankful in all things, which involves more than just saying “thank you.” We are to be characterized by a mindset of gratitude, not just during one week of the year, but day in and day out. ~ "Keeping an Attitude of Gratitude Alive Year-Round"

Instead of getting bogged down with an overwhelming sense of failure each time we encounter the realization of yet another unholy facet of our lives, we can be deeply encouraged that God Himself is working in us according to His perfect timing to gradually, patiently, steadily grow and shape us to be less like our former master and more like Him. And in realizing this, we can endure the painful pruning and chiseling of sanctification and know through it all a deep, enduring joy. ~ "A Painful Joy: The Process of Sanctification"

In addition to the wise men’s gifts revealing truths about Jesus’s identity and life, their journey reminds us of the beauty of God’s sovereign rule, for in their story, we see how He used the practices of multiple world powers over hundreds of years to orchestrate the circumstances which would bring about the birth of His Son and the message brought by men from the east, the message that Jesus is the promised one, who is the Hope of the world. ~ "Wonder of the Wise Men"

Let’s not think God is too small or too unconcerned with healing our physical bodies or protecting us while we are on the road or in the air. Let’s also not think ourselves invincible to illness or accidents. Instead, let us cast all our cares on Him, knowing that He does care for us and that He will answer “according to the counsel of His will” (1 Peter 5:7; Ephesians 1:11, ESV). ~ "God of the Body, King of the Highway, Lord of All"

So in the spirit of celebrating our rich tradition of peaceful transitions and the dignity, elegance, and ceremony of an inaugural weekend, here are a few tidbits of trivia about Presidents and First Families past and present. ~ "Of Pranksters, Pets, and Peaceful Transitions: Presidential Tidbits of Trivia"

When we pray, we are communing with the exact same person our ancestors in the faith did. And by His grace, He has given us a Book full of context to draw upon. We will never be able to comprehend the complete fullness of the mysteries of God or plumb the depths of His character, but He has given us thousands of dots in the pages of His Word and has designed our minds to have the capacity to connect them. ~ "Connecting the Dots"

Yes, every good thing we have is from God (see James 1:17), including physical comforts, but the blessings that are far more consequential and enduring are those of a spiritual nature such as conviction, forgiveness, love, mercy, peace, satisfaction, joy, and comfort, not to mention the ability to enter into the presence of God and to do so without shame. ~ "Beautiful Blessings: A Closer Look at the Beatitudes"

Even during the height of the Victorian era, Alcott’s readers no doubt would have appreciated a more detailed accounting, but she decides to step back and give her characters some privacy instead. In other words, she recognized that not everything in life had to be published. ~ "Lessons from Literature: Sending or Savoring (An Old-Fashioned Girl)"

We should fight against [anger’s] chains with every ounce of our weakness and His abundant strength, because this is the fight we were purchased for. Make no mistake, it will be painful. It will involve relinquishing perceived rights. It will require letting go. But, oh friend, the prize to be gained is worth so much more than whatever you are holding onto. The joy and peace to be found in Jesus is indescribably good. The freedom to be found in handing over those burdens and chains to our resurrected Savior is matchless. ~ "Be Slow as Molasses . . . to Anger"

The question, “Who is Jesus/God?” is so significant because it has both immediate implications for our daily lives and eternal implications for our souls. Our answers determine who and what we live for, what we value most, how we make each decision in our lives, and what our fate will be when we die. ~ "One All-Important Question, Two Life-Changing Responses"

Let’s decide to praise Him for being infinitely more wise than we will ever be. And instead of complaining about what He hasn’t revealed to us, why don’t we choose to marvel at what He has? ~ "The Revealer"

You see, the genealogies in the Bible might seem like dull lists of unpronounceable names, but in reality they contain so many clues to God’s character. ~ "Family History and Faith"

And when we are confronted with the magnitude of His power and the unfathomableness of His wisdom, we can’t help but stand in humility and awe. When we reach that point, we are able to embody the complexity of a faith fully convinced that God is able, even when He doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we were hoping. We can be confident that just because He doesn’t, doesn’t mean He can’t, and we can trust that if and when He doesn’t, it’s for a good and perfect reason—one that might involve pain and suffering but one that fits perfectly into His sovereign will. ~ "But If Not"

Sometimes I write what my head knows because my heart needs reminding. ~ "Just Keep Writing (or Faith over Feelings)"

The very fact that the same division and viciousness among fellow humans exists today as it did in each previous decade, century, and millennium shows that no amount of education or legislation can root out the evil seed in our hearts. The only solution is for us to get new hearts, for our souls to be made alive, and this can only happen “by grace, through faith” in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for us (see Ephesians 2:8-9). ~ "When Hindsight Is Blind Sight . . . History to the Rescue!"

He draws near, enters into the mess of our bloody wounds, and with abundant care holds us through the excruciating pain, cleans away the blood, and bandages us. But he doesn’t only do that. He actually heals us. He takes us from open wounds, to scars, to complete restoration. There is His transcendence. [...] He is so beyond us that He decides how many stars will be in existence at any given moment. That means not only can He create them and sustain them, but He can count them too. Yet he doesn’t just manage star production and lifespans. He gives each star a name. There is His imminence. ~ "Scars and Stars"

Let’s fix our eyes on the only One who is truly and thoroughly Good and ask Him for the grace to treat others equitably and to discern what to hold onto as truth and what to discard as falsehood. Let’s be quick to repent when we either idolize or demonize mere men. And in all of this, let’s ask God to help us remember that, while people come in all different pigments, none of us are black-and-white. ~ "A Lion’s Lesson: People Are Not Black and White"

In all things, remember that God is the one who is the possessor of perfect wisdom, not us. This gives us cause both for great comfort and for humble reverence. And, thank God, He--the only Just Judge--is patient with us and will be faithful to vindicate His Name. ~ "A Lion’s Lesson: The Just Judge"

I think it is vital that we try to maintain (or regain) that ability to take an issue, recognize its messiness and complexity, lift it up and turn it around and examine it from every angle, find the nuggets of truth and goodness that should be embraced and the lumps of falsehood and evil that should be rejected, and act accordingly. ~ "Unraveling the Current Cultural Crisis, Part I"

We must avoid condemning an entire era or group of people for one vice instead of condemning the vice. We need to be precise in identifying and targeting the evil. Broad generalizations are counterproductive. ~ "Unraveling the Current Cultural Crisis, Part II"

If we are duty-bound to repay Jesus once we receive the gift of a clean slate that His life, death, and resurrection purchased for us, then we are not truly out of debt. But Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient. His forgiveness is complete (Psalm 103:12). ~ "Owing All"

It’s in times of drought and darkness, in times of silence and seeking, in times of quaking and questioning that our souls are in greatest need of help and hope. And what is available to us then is not an impotent pep talk or a cheery pick-me-up; it’s a cord, an anchor, holding us fast to the truth of the promises of God. ~ "A Heavy Hope"

Oftentimes we don’t realize when we’re walking through something that God is actually giving us gifts during that time that we will use in future circumstances. ~ "From Geometry to Genealogy: A Life Lesson"

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I hope you've been encouraged through this walk down memory lane. Thank you, readers, for sticking with me another year. I look forward to what we’ll learn together in the year to come.

From Geometry to Genealogy: A Life Lesson

“I don’t know why I have to learn this; it’s not like I’m ever going to use it.”

Sound familiar? More than likely, we’ve all thought something similar at some point in our education. For me, it was with geometry. At the time the subject was among my coursework, I was planning on majoring in history or maybe English in college before going on to library school. When would I ever need to prove the degrees in a certain angle or the congruence of two shapes?

Fast forward a decade or so, and you’ll find me sitting at a restaurant table, history and archival science degrees under my belt, not having thought of geometry since high school, telling my mother everything I had learned that day at the National Genealogical Society’s annual Family History Conference. I was learning about the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) and what was involved in formulating proof statements, proof summaries, and proof arguments in researching someone’s family history.

“So, kind of like geometry, huh?” my mother asked.

That blew through some walls in my brain. “ . . . Yeah. Exactly like geometry.”

The similarities were uncanny. Both involved stringing together statements of proof based on known facts to arrive at conclusions that were reached by amalgamating the evidence from those statements. Both could involve proofs from positive or negative evidence (i.e. something that is there or something that isn’t there). Both involved analyzing what was known to discover something unknown. Both involved spelling out the steps of the proof in writing.

And here I thought I’d never use geometry again.

On one level, this anecdote serves as a reminder to us that when it comes to school, we should learn all we can because we truly never know how or when we might be able to use what we’ve learned. We never know what foundation we are laying that we will need to fall back on years down the road—even if that foundation is simply learning how to learn.

But on another level, my mom’s light-bulb connection between geometry and genealogy provides a perfect illustration of this truth on a much deeper level. If we step outside the sphere of institutional education and into the realm of life-as-education, we’ll see that we can have the same approach to lessons that come our way in every-day life.

How many times do we experience things—often difficult things—that seem to serve no purpose? Or maybe we sense that God is teaching us a lesson through a particular circumstance but for the life of us we can’t figure out why.

Sometimes years later something else will happen, and we’ll see that perhaps God had allowed the first event in our lives to prepare us for the present one. I certainly think that is often the case. He has a way of knowing what’s coming, after all.

And just like I didn’t realize when I was struggling through geometric proofs in high school that the process would give me a mental framework to understand and achieve genealogical proofs one day, oftentimes we don’t realize when we’re walking through something that God is actually giving us gifts during that time that we will use in future circumstances.

But it doesn’t stop there. Sometimes those gifts are for ourselves, but sometimes they’re for other people. Yes, my learning how to formulate genealogical proofs helps me with researching and documenting my own family’s story, but it will also help my clients and those to whom I can teach what I have learned. Similarly, sometimes the trials we endure in life are not merely for our own benefit but instead are for the benefit of others.

One of my favorite Scripture passages speaks to this very idea. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”  I firmly believe that God does not teach us lessons for us to keep them to ourselves. Nor does He comfort us for us to hoard His blessing.

So the morals of my story today?

Take every opportunity to learn that is presented to you, even if it doesn’t seem like something worth learning.

Whether in school or in life-at-large, embrace the lessons thrust upon you; you never know how God will bring them to bear down the road.

And if you’re wondering why on earth God would be trying to teach you a particular lesson, take an honest look at your own life, yes, but turn your eyes outward too. It just might be that the benefit of what He’s teaching you isn’t as much for you as it is for someone else.

And, finally, be thankful for the capacity to learn, for a brain that can store information and recall it years later not having thought about it since, for the ability to make connections and to understand things, and most of all for the God who created us, who gave us these gifts, and who cares enough about us to comfort us and to graciously supply all our needs.

He is God, but He is also Good.

Praise be to Him.

A Heavy Hope

Ever since naming my character “Hope” in the novel my cousin and I co-authored years ago, the word has had a special place in my heart. At the time, there was no particular significance to my choosing that name other than simply liking it. In any case, ever since, I have been gifted numerous items with “Hope” painted, printed, or otherwise displayed on them, with the result that my thoughts are frequently turned to the word and all that it signifies.

Perhaps it’s just me, but when I think about hope, I usually think of something uplifting --something light and airy, like a balloon rising from the earth or a bird soaring heavenward. Definitions of the term include words like “anticipation,” “expectation,” and “confidence,” and lend themselves to those kinds of cheerful images.[i]

But lately, I’ve been rethinking my understanding of hope. Is it really a giddy, excited, buoyant trait? While it is certainly uplifting, is it really as simple as that? Somehow, I don’t think so.

The phrase that I keep coming back to is this, taken from Scripture in Hebrews 6:19 (NIV):

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Did you catch that? Hope is described not as a lifeboat but as an anchor. A hard, pointed, sharp, heavy anchor. Wow. Interestingly the word “hope” is not in the original Greek in this verse, but the concept definitely is, being explicitly mentioned in the verse prior.[ii] Here’s the immediate context:

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:17-20, NIV). 

"Hope” here is used as a noun and could be read “the confidence” set before us, or “the expectation” set before us.[iii] And yet this expectation is likened to something that sinks deeply instead of something that rises up.

A similarly weighty description of hope can be found in Psalm 62:5-7 (ESV):

            For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

                        for my hope is from him.

            He only is my rock and my salvation,

                        my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

            On God rests my salvation and my glory;

                        my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

The imagery here from the words “rock,” “fortress,” and “refuge” is one of groundedness and security. What we don’t see in this passage is “He lifts me up” language. Rather, we get the picture of hunkering down in a shelter of immense strength, an action that implies a pressing need for such protection.

The Hebrew word translated “hope” here literally means “a cord” or figuratively “expectancy.”[iv] So again, we have the idea of being tied to something. Like an anchor is tied to a ship and keeps it from drifting, so our hope is the cord that ties us to our Rock--God Himself.

This intense view of hope is so encouraging precisely because of the times in which we need hope the most. It’s in times of drought and darkness, in times of silence and seeking, in times of quaking and questioning that our souls are in greatest need of help and hope.

And what is available to us then is not an impotent pep talk or a cheery pick-me-up; it’s a cord, an anchor, holding us fast to the truth of the promises of God--that He loves us (1 Jn. 4:10, 19), He died for us (Rom. 5:8), He is with us (Matt. 28:20). He saved us from the penalty of sin (Rom. 6:23), is saving us from the power of sin (1 Cor. 10:13; Jn. 16:13), and will save us from the presence of sin (Rev. 22:1-5). We are not alone. We are not forsaken. We have an infinite well of Strength at our disposal.

The knowledge of those truths is encouraging yes, but it’s deeply encouraging. It’s uplifting, yes, but in a grounded sort of way. It burrows deep into our soul, and while we might feel blown by the wind and waves, it ensures that we are not swept away by them. While we are exhausted from the never-ending battle of spiritual warfare, it ties us to our Protector and Defender. As the author of Hebrews says, it’s “firm and secure.”

It’s a gift, but it’s a weighty one. It’s expectant, but it’s absolutely sure.

It’s strong.

It's heavy.

It’s hope.

To read the Arabic translation of this post, click here.

.لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا

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[i] Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Hope.” See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hope

[ii] Strong, James, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 649.

[iii] Strong, Greek 1680--elpis. For online version see: http://biblehub.com/greek/1680.htm

[iv] Strong, Hebrew 8615--tiqvah. For online version see: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/8615.htm