A Heart for Home

The idea of home is one that has captivated humanity for ages and not surprisingly, since a heart that longs for home is a feature of the design God created in us. We’ve reflected this longing by writing songs and stories, developing clichés, creating décor, all dedicated to this idea of belonging, of attachment to a place. The idea is so ingrained in us that one of the first things we typically ask when getting to know someone is, “Where are you from?” which is another way of saying, “Where is your home?”

For those of us who have moved around a lot, that can be a confusing question. Is home where I was born? Is it where I grew up? Is it where I currently live? Is it where my family lives? Is it where my family roots are? Is it the place to which I feel most attached? For many, myself included, those can all be different places. So which one is home? I recently went “home” (to the United States) to visit my “home” (my parents’ house where I used to live) and my other “home” (the town and house where I grew up) before returning “home” to the Middle East where my husband and I currently live.

In the weeks leading up to and during that trip, my thoughts were often turned to the idea of home, and I realized that the answer to all those questions above is “yes.” All of those places are home, because all of those places are part of me, and I was part of them. The saying “Home is where the heart is” is more than just a cliché. It’s reflective of the truth that our home is the place where we make memories and/or where our affection lies and/or where we find belonging. It is possible, then, to have many homes. And because we are finite creatures who are only able to physically be in one place at a time, that multi-home reality means that we are destined for a life of being home while simultaneously missing home.

In some ways, I think I expected that with each passing move my earlier places of residence would lose some of their hold on me, but that has not been the case. The only thing that has changed each time is that I then have more places to miss. It turns out the heart is not some box that only fits so many things inside. It keeps growing to hold all the people and places that one finds dear, and while that is a beautiful thing, in some ways the thought of it can be exhausting. It means that in all likelihood my husband and I will always live in a different country than at least one set of our parents. It means that the longing I have for all my homes will never go away, and I’ll only get more longings for more places the more I move around. It means the longing I have for face-to-face time with all my friends from all those homes will never go away, and I’ll only have more friends to miss the more I leave one home for the next.

To be clear, I’m not complaining. Having many homes and many friends is a blessing beyond measure. To put a spin on Tennyson, ‘tis better to have family and friends far away than never to have had family or friends at all. What I am doing, though, is acknowledging that sometimes being far away from home just plain hurts. But as I was thinking about this perpetual longing the other day, the Lord reminded me that these longings are reflective of a greater longing. They are echoes meant to point me to something else, to another home, the ultimate Home that I have waiting for me thanks to Jesus.

As C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “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.” The desire for home is one such unsatiable, otherworldly desire. Even if you’re enjoying being in one home, you’re always missing the others. Even in moments of happiness, there is often still the sense that something or someone is missing. But the prospect of a persistent ache from being absent from loved ones and dear places is not something to be overwhelmed by. Instead, it is a gift, because it reminds me that one day I will be fully Home and missing and longing and aching will be no more. And it’s a gift because in reminding me of these things it points me to Jesus.

While I was home in the States with all these things in the back of my mind, I had one of those moments where I was reading a familiar passage of Scripture only to have the Holy Spirit emphasize verses I hadn’t usually focused on before. The passage was Hebrews 11, and I was struck by the ways the chapter speaks to this idea of leaving home to go to a new home while simultaneously longing for our ultimate home.

In verse 8 we read, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (ESV). Abraham is called by God to leave his home, to leave the place where he grew up, the place where his family lived, and go to a new home. And he goes. “By faith he went to live in the land of promise,” (v. 9). But interestingly it doesn’t say that he made it his new home, even though it’s where he lived out the rest of his life. Verse 9 continues, saying he went to live “as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.”  Why? “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (v. 10). God had promised him a new earthly home, yet his eyes weren’t focused on that new home; they were focused on his eternal home.

No doubt, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob wanted to settle down in their new home and have the longing of the promise fulfilled in their lifetimes, but instead, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” (vv. 13-14). As these verses point out, if we saw someone neglecting to put down roots in a new place, we might assume that they intended to return home.

But Abraham and Sarah weren’t focused on their former earthly home any more than they were focused on their new one (which, as we’ve seen, wasn’t a lot). “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return” (v. 15). Instead, their longing for home was pointed elsewhere. “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (v. 16). No doubt, they missed their family and the familiarity of their earlier home; no doubt they would have liked to feel completely settled and at home in their new land, but their desire for their future home, their heavenly home, was greater.

While we may have many earthly homes, the truth is that none of them are truly our home. None of them are where we truly belong. None of them are where our greatest affection lies. None of them are the place where we can most completely be ourselves. None of them are where we were designed and created to live for eternity. So while we absolutely can and should love where we live and have lived and recognize them all as gifts that God has sovereignly used as parts of our story, and while we certainly can feel the pain of missing people and places that comes from being absent from those things that we love, we should also recognize, as Abraham and Sarah and C. S. Lewis did, that our homeland is in another world.  And we can let that truth wash over us with all of its refreshing, hopeful promise whenever the longing for our other homes presses heavily on our hearts.

Because one day all our other homes will pass away and our new home will arrive, “coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” and we will know not only intellectually but experientially with every fiber of our being that “‘the dwelling place of God is with man,’” because “‘He will dwell with [us], and [we] will be his people, and God himself will be with [us] as [our] God.’” And “‘He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:1-6, ESV).  

PC: Penny Eanes. Used with permission.

P.S. As often happens, when there is a theme of thought during a particular period of my life, references to that theme will pop up from seemingly random places. Several days ago, as the beginnings of this blog post were rolling around in my head, The Foreign Landers (a band I follow made up of a fellow alum of my college and his wife) released a new song partially inspired by the very C.S. Lewis quote I mentioned above. It speaks of the longing that serves as a reflection of our ultimate home. Please take a moment to listen and be encouraged: https://fb.watch/eF_VaLtUMx/ (no Facebook account needed to view). I’d recommend listening twice so you can most fully grasp the meaning of all the lyrics.

Rethinking the Right to Life: 2022 Edition

I honestly never thought I would see the day when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. O me of little faith. But even though the country of the United States now officially affirms that there is no constitutional right to abort a pregnancy, the population still remains very polarized when it comes to the issue of abortion. Those in favor of abortion ironically see it as an issue of human dignity, despite the fact that it dehumanizes the unborn, while those opposed to abortion often cite the “right to life” as the main reason that abortion is wrong. In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling this past weekend, I thought it would be a good time to reshare an updated version of a post I initially published back in 2019.

Abortion has been in the national limelight more than usual lately [in 2019] with New York’s passage of the Reproductive Health Act, which legalized “abortions after 24 weeks in cases where there is an ‘absence of foetal [sic] viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.’”[1] This legislative action came right on the heels of the annual March for Life and Sanctity of Human Life Day in January and in the midst of other abortion-related legislation being proposed or adjudicated in other states such as Vermont, Virginia, and Iowa.

Heightening the emotional impact of the New York law, is a particularly strong irony that came in the governor’s celebratory act of lighting One World Trade Center in pink. While the new World Trade Center was lit in celebration of the potential for ending unborn lives, the memorial at the old World Trade Center site lists the unborn among those killed in 2001. The contrast is beyond chilling. Also chilling is a contemporaneous video showing a Virginia state representative blank-facedly admitting that her proposed bill would allow abortions to take place even up to the moment of birth. Thankfully, that bill was defeated.

This issue raises incredibly strong feelings on all sides. However, my intent with this post is not to go into the medical arguments against the presuppositions in these laws; others have shared their expertise to show that while delivery might be necessary to save a mother’s life, abortion is not. Neither is my intent to answer the myriad of arguments that self-proclaimed “pro-choice” individuals offer up to rationalize abortion, nor to delve into the scientific and technological advancements that increasingly support the claim that life begins at conception. Instead, my purpose is to share how I have come to rethink what is referred to as the “right to life” and to call us all to expand our view of what we are truly dealing with when we make the case for the protection of the unborn.

Oftentimes in the Right to Life movement, the persuasive arguments center around the unborn themselves: babies (fetuses) are alive, and they have the right to live; extinguishing their lives before they are born robs them of the opportunity to live, to love, and to experience love outside the womb; taking their lives removes their choice for what they want to do with their lives. All of these statements are true, but are they really the fundamental reason why abortion is wrong? In other words, is killing others wrong because they deserve the chance to live and thrive?

Our Declaration of Independence asserts that all of humanity has a right to life. But where does this right come from? Is it a right we give to ourselves? Is it something our Founding Fathers just came up with? As the Declaration acknowledges, the right to life comes from our Creator, i.e. the God of the Bible. There is nothing we bring to the table in and of ourselves that makes us deserving of life. What makes us deserving is not who we are but Who our Creator is. He has made us and, in doing so, has imparted His image to us. That’s what makes us valuable, i.e. worthy of living. So because He is the One who gives us life and who imputes value to us, He is the only One who has the right to take our lives away. Let that sink in for a moment. God is the only One who has the legitimate authority to end a human life.[2]

So when it comes to abortion, while it can be emotionally persuasive to talk about the unborn, to make us feel empathy for their utterly defenseless condition, to horrify us at the callousness it takes to cause a defenseless person pain and then to extinguish their life, I have come to see that these are not the most important reasons we should stand against it.

What is? Just this: to end the life of an unborn human is fundamentally about usurping the power and authority of the almighty God of the universe. And that is a profoundly dangerous thing to do. Look at the consequences of those who tried to become like God—Satan, who incurred eternal damnation, and Adam and Eve, who ensured that they and the entirety of their descendants would be unable to have a relationship with God were it not for God’s intervention through Jesus, are the ones that immediately come to mind. Bottom-line: trying to be like God is not something to mess around with. God is the only all-powerful being and the only all-wise being, so to attempt to assert our own “power” and “wisdom” over His is incredibly foolish. The point, when it comes to abortion, is not so much that the unborn have a right to live as it is that we do not have the right to kill them.

Of course, this is a less palatable point to raise because it heightens the onus placed on those consenting to and performing the abortion. If we’re not careful, making such a point can be interpreted as heaping guilt on an already struggling individual. And in a pro-life culture that has (sometimes justifiably) been accused of doing a less-than-stellar job of showing compassionate care and real tangible and emotional support to mothers and families contemplating abortion, it can be scary to argue for life from this perspective because it increases the risk of coming across as heartless and judgmental.

That is why we must learn how to simultaneously hold onto the appropriately big view of God, including the thoroughly inherent rights He has by nature of Who He is, and to practically demonstrate His love for women who are carrying the lives He has created. We don’t have the right to take a human life, because that right only belongs to God, but we also don’t have the right to devalue those whom He has created in His image, which includes not only the unborn but also the teens and adults connected to them.

Thankfully, many in the Church have already been stepping up to tangibly love and support the unborn, the born, and the mothers of both. Whether through financial giving to pregnancy centers that provide free counseling, ultrasounds, clothing, diapers, etc. to families in need or through personal care for families and children via foster care and adoption, followers of Christ have been demonstrating His compassion to mothers, fathers, babies, and children alike. I personally know at least twenty families who have fostered and/or adopted over forty children (not counting those who have helped raise family members), and many more who have been part of their support network. But there is always more to be done. And in a post-Roe America, the Church has a remarkable opportunity to expand their efforts to actionably demonstrate the love and hope of Christ to women who, for whatever reason, do not want to give birth to their babies.

So as we think about the issue of abortion in the coming days and years, let us consider the greatness of God and our own smallness in comparison. Let us acknowledge that we cannot rightfully end another human’s life, because that right only belongs to Him. He is the one who numbers our days and who allots our time in His perfect design (see Psalm 139:16). Let us not presume to know better than He. And in contemplating His greatness, may we also be overcome by His goodness such that we are filled with compassion for those who are hurting and scared, for those who are conflicted, and for those who are convinced. At the end of our earthly lives, when we stand before God to give an account, may we be able to say, “I stood for preserving your gift of life, and I showed your love to all.”

PC: Rose Creger Tankard. Used with permission.

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[1] Pierpont, George, BBC News, “New York abortion law: Why are so many people talking about it?” accessed 29 January 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46994583

[2]  In some cases, e.g. in punishing a human who has killed another human in cold blood, God has delegated this authority, but in the case of the unborn, He has not done so.

On Living for God’s Glory: A Conversation with Kim S. Kinney

I first met Kim Kinney through my church in North Carolina and have been blessed by her kindness, encouragement, hospitality, and wisdom as she reflects those aspects of Christ. Her heart of ministry has enriched the lives of many, and she seeks the glory of God above all else. It is only fitting, then, that her first book, just released last month, is titled Living for His Glory. I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of the book and trust that God will use its message to point people to Himself and to challenge and encourage followers of Jesus to stand firm in their faith and be ever mindful of glorifying God in all they do.

 

Recently, I asked Kim to share about her experience and the story behind Living for His Glory. I’m excited to share our conversation with you.  

 

Olivia: First, can you share a little about your spiritual background?

 

Kim: Born in South Dakota and mostly raised in Wisconsin, I grew up in a family of faith. I was always in church and it became the fabric of my life. I began teaching Sunday School at age 15 for a large and rowdy group of second grade boys that no one wanted. They even locked me out of the classroom on the first day! But I ended up loving it. Somehow, perhaps because of my own youth at the time, we connected. And they responded in a positive way. I taught many different ages over the years, but especially thrived with the high school and college classes.

 

In my 40’s, I started and ran an online ministry for years called The Edge. Targeting young adults and professionals roughly ages 18-25, its mission was to keep these young people grounded in their faith despite what professors taught them and influences they encountered during these impressionable years. It quickly grew to include young people in 8 countries. It was during these years that the Lord birthed in me the desire and ability to write.

 

I have been in Bible studies for decades and started to lead Bible studies for women’s ministries after my mom died in 2010. I loved it, but my teaching ministry came to a screeching halt with the onset of Covid. It was during this time—when my calendar was miraculously cleared—that the Lord impressed upon me His desire that I write books. And so my writing journey began.

 

Olivia: What prompted you to write a book, and what led you to focus on the topic of God’s glory?

 

Kim: Fifteen years ago or so, a friend asked me, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” I immediately knew my answer, “I would write a book.” It was not feasibly possible at that time. But years later, God made a way. God often speaks to me in the wee hours of the morning, and He clearly told me I was to write about His glory and it would be a three part series called The Glory Series. He even gave me the titles of each book. Writing came easily and words often spilled across the canvas of my paper faster than I could type or think. God often awakened me in the middle of the night and brought clarity of thought; many times, I couldn’t keep up with my fingers as they flew across the keyboard. And remarkably, when I later returned to proofread and edit my writing, I found I couldn’t remember what I had written. I am certain the Holy Spirit guided my writing.

 

Olivia: How does being a Christian inform the way you view the act of writing?

 

Kim: Being a Christian undergirds everything I do. It’s like the foundation of a home. No matter what room you’re in, you function on top of the foundation that holds it all together. My faith in Jesus Christ undergirds and impacts everything I do, including my writing. It is interwoven throughout every aspect of my writing and colors my perspective of every topic. There is nowhere I can go outside of His presence and influence, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. My Christian worldview acts as a filter through which I see the world and process everything I see, experience, and put to paper.

 

Olivia: What is your hope for those who read Living for His Glory? 

Kim: My hope and prayer are threefold:
-that it will guide many to faith.
-that it will ignite a passion for many to reconnect with their faith and begin to take it seriously, realizing that time is short and God has a very real purpose for their lives that they can no longer ignore.
-that it will strengthen and encourage the seasoned Christian to focus on the eternal and explore what it means to live in victory for the resplendent glory of God as the greatest priority of their lives.

Let’s face it; life is just plain hard many days. We all struggle; no one is immune. That’s because we live in a world controlled by the evil one. Navigating through life can be daunting. But when we realize that we are created to live in a way that glorifies God, no matter what our life looks like, it changes absolutely everything!

 

Whether we are in a normal season of living life or a challenging season of chaos and suffering, God is ever present and has a purpose through the mundane as well as the extraordinary which impacts everything we do.

 

When we submit to the will of God and live a life intertwined with His, trusting in His purposes and provision, our lives take on divine and eternal significance. We don’t worry like the world does. Everything we do holds spiritual significance and showcases His glory as He transforms us in a multitude of ways for our good and His splendor. None of our suffering or challenges are wasted. Everything we do holds spiritual significance and reverberates for eternity. And He rewards us with His peace and greatest blessings as we walk in glorious victory too magnificent for words. The last thing we want is to simply drift through the daily motions of life, only to realize one day that we wasted it all.

 

We simply cannot get this wrong! Living for the glory of God is our greatest privilege.

 

I hope you have enjoyed hearing from Kim and have been reminded of the goodness of God in giving us the privilege of glorifying Him with our lives. If you’d like to read her book, you can find it on Amazon. You can also follow Kim’s author page on Facebook and Instagram @kimskinneyauthor and visit her website here.

 

Prosperity in Context: A Closer Look at Jeremiah 29:11

So far in the Verses in Context miniseries, we’ve taken a look at three verses from the New Testament (Philippians 4:13, Romans 8:28, and 2 Timothy1:7). Today, we’re turning to the Old Testament to examine another verse that is frequently claimed as a “life verse,” printed on journals, or hung on walls in isolation with no regard to the context in which it was written. Probably the most well-known translation for this verse is the New International Version, which reads:

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11

Many people have leaned on this verse for comfort and encouragement that God has a plan for their lives, and not just any plan, but a plan that will bring them general prosperity and safety. But is that what this verse is saying? Who is the “you” to whom God is speaking?

When we look at this verse in its context, we see that it is actually part of a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah to a specific group of people at a specific point in time. By Jeremiah 29, the Babylonians have invaded the kingdom of Judah (made up of the two southern tribes of Israel), captured the people, and taken many of them to Babylon, leaving only the poorest in the land. The first verse of the chapter tells us who the audience of this letter is:

“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar [the Babylonian king] had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon” Jeremiah 29:1 (ESV).

So basically, everyone who had been exiled was the intended recipient of Jeremiah’s letter. Verse 2 tells us when the letter was sent, and verse 3 tells us by whom it was sent. The letter begins in verse 4: “‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:’” (ESV) Notice that God is the one who has sent the people into exile. Even though the Babylonians were the ones who invaded, this verse tells us that they did so at God’s allowance. God used them to punish the southern Israelites for their disobedience, as He had warned again and again that He would do.

In verses 5-7, God, speaking through Jeremiah, tells the people to put down roots in Babylon—to build houses, start families, “seek the welfare of the city,” (ESV) and pray for it. Apparently, the people had been hesitant to do this because they had been listening to false prophets (as described in verses 8-9) who made them think they wouldn’t be in Babylon for very long. In the preceding chapter, Jeremiah 28, we see that one of these false prophets, Hananiah, told the people that God would destroy Babylon within two years and the people would be free from their exile. God made it clear, though, that Hananiah was not speaking on His behalf, both through the words of Jeremiah and through Hananiah’s death (see Jeremiah 28:12-17).

So after God warns the people to stop listening to these false prophets in verses 8-9, He tells them the true length of their exile in verse 10—they would be in Babylon for seven decades: “‘For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place’” (ESV). And this is when we get to verse 11, which you may have noticed starts with our connecting-word friend “for”: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile” (vv.11-14, ESV).

God was essentially telling the people, “These ‘prophets’ think they know what my plans are, but they’re lying. I know what my plans are for you. You will be in exile for much longer than they’re telling you, but you won’t be in exile forever. I have promised to bring you home, and I keep my promises. My justice is not without mercy. When the time of your consequences is completed, I will bring you home, and when you truly seek me with your whole heart, you will find me, and I will bring you back.”

So that is the context of Jeremiah 29:11. The prosperity/welfare that God was promising was that of delivering the people from the poverty of exile and returning them to their homes. The absence of harm/evil was a promise that they would not be captives forever; God had not abandoned them to their enemies. The future and the hope that was in store for them was that of restoration of their land and of restoration of their relationship with God. And we see in other parts of the Bible (Ezra 1:1, etc.) that God fulfilled that promise. The Babylonian Empire fell to the Medo-Persian one, and, as the Persians had a different policy of dealing with captives and occupied lands than the Babylonians did, they eventually sent the Jewish people home (70 years after they had been taken to Babylon, just as God had said).

But does it follow, then, that there is nothing in this verse that is applicable for us today? Just because this verse has a specific meaning for a specific people at a specific point in history and the promises it made were fulfilled, does that mean we can’t claim its promises now for our lives? Does God not know the plans He has for us in the 21^st-century? Has He not given us “a future and a hope” too?

For those of us who have turned from our sin, trusted in Jesus and what He did on our behalf, and thus become adopted children of God, we are His people. Just as the ancient Israelites were chosen by God as a picture of what it meant to be God’s people and were given promises as part of that special relationship, so too, followers of Jesus, i.e. “the Israel of God” (see Galatians 6:16), those who are “a people for his own possession,” who “were not a people, but now […] are God’s people” (see 1 Peter 2:9-10), have been given promises as well.

Throughout the New Testament there are many references to the plans God has for us, to the future and the hope that we have in Him. In Philippians 1:6, we see that God will finish “the good work He began” in us (think that sounds like He has a plan for us?). In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples (including His future ones), that He is preparing a place for us and will come back to take us to that place to be with Him (see the echoes of Jeremiah 29:10-14? “I will bring you back to the place”). As we saw in Romans 8:28, followers of Jesus have the promise that even suffering and hardship are redeemed by God and used for our good (remind of you Jeremiah 29:11? “plans for welfare and not for evil”). Colossians 1:5 speaks of the “hope laid up for [us] in heaven” (see the future and the hope there?).

And Ephesians 1:3-14 speaks to all of these things:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (ESV, emphasis added).

Do you see how much that passage speaks to the plans of God, to the prosperity/welfare that is ours both now (spiritual blessings) and in the future (an inheritance), to the lack of harm/evil in store for us because of the gracious redemption and forgiveness God offers, to the hope that we have in Jesus and the future that is stored up for us, as guaranteed by the Holy Spirit?

So if we as Christians want to claim, ponder, or cling to verses that remind us that God has a good plan for our lives, we have a wealth of ones to choose from without needing to use Jeremiah 29:11 outside its context. But that doesn’t mean Jeremiah 29:11 is left with no encouragement for us. The way in which God dealt with the ancient Israelites shows us His character—both His justice and His mercy, His sovereignty and His love, His wisdom and His kindness. Just as the Israelites’ rebellion was not strong enough to overpower the love of God or to keep Him from fulfilling His promises, so too His love for us overcame our rebellion, and His promises to those in Christ stand secure. Just as He kindly and graciously returned them to their home, He will one day kindly and graciously bring us to our ultimate home. Just as their relationship with Him was restored, so we can enjoy a restored relationship with Him because of Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:11, as it fits in the context of the history of the Israelites, reminds us that God is a loving, merciful God who never changes and who does what He says He will do—God, who is the same One to whom we belong. And that, my friends, is something worth holding onto.

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

.لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا

PC: Teresa Cantrell. Used with permission.

The Perfect Translator

On Sunday afternoons, I typically meet with my tutor to study the Arabic language. She assigns homework for me to complete each week, and not too long ago my assignment was to write a paragraph in Arabic using my vocabulary words for the week, which happened to be present-tense verbs. That got us into a discussion about verb tenses, of which there are only three in Arabic (past, present, and imperative). English has twelve (sixteen if you count the conditional tenses).[i]

You can imagine my frustration as I was trying to express specific ideas related to time that were natural to my native way of thinking only to discover that there is generally no frame of reference for such conceptions of time in the Arabic-speaking mind. The sentence هي تكتب )heeya taktabu( can be translated “She writes” or “She is writing.” There is no difference between those two concepts in Arabic that can be expressed by simply changing the verb. Extra words would have to be added to indicate that “she is writing now” or “she writes all the time,” for instance.

Conversely, there are concepts that come naturally to the Arabic mind that are difficult for the English mind to grasp, e.g. making adjectives plural. For example, in English whether we’re talking about one person or multiple people, we refer to them as “happy,” but in Arabic there is a plural form of “happy” that has to be used when talking about more than two people (there’s a dual form used when only two people are referenced). My English brain can’t comprehend how it’s possible for an adjective (a non-thing) to be plural, but to Arabic brains it makes perfect sense, perhaps because adjectives are considered nouns (another mind-boggling fact for my English brain).

All of this got me thinking about how language is more than just a way to communicate ideas. It can shape the very way in which we think about the world, the capacity we have to understand certain concepts. (To see what I mean, check out this short but fascinating TED talk that my tutor sent me on the topic.) Our native language equips us to evaluate the world in a certain way, and when we encounter a new language, we aren’t just hearing a new grouping of sounds to communicate meaning; we’re confronted with fundamentally different ways of evaluating the world.

That’s why I have found it so important, when learning a new language, to have a teacher who understands both the language I’m trying to learn and my native language, because she can help point out the differences in the way I think now when I speak English and the way I need to think when I speak Arabic. So too, the best translators are those who are intimately familiar with both languages and can translate whole concepts from one to the other instead of just words.

As human beings, we are in need of such a translator when it comes to the things of God. Our natural way of viewing the world is fundamentally different from the way in which God views it. There are concepts of a God-honoring life that are foreign to our native understanding (forgiving those who have wronged us, thinking of others before ourselves, seeing suffering as a means of good, using difficult circumstances to bring praise to God, etc.). And without a teacher and translator, we have no way of recognizing that there is a different way of thinking from our own, no way of internalizing this foreign language of the spiritual life.

But thanks be to God, He has given us the best and most equipped translator—the Holy Spirit Himself. This is exactly what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 2:

“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 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’—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts 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 understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (vv. 6-14, ESV)

I had read this passage countless times, but it wasn’t until I started learning Arabic and recognized the things I discussed above that I realized the profound significance of its truth and the depth of our need for the Holy Spirit. Look at how many times the idea of understanding/comprehending is mentioned in these few verses. They tell us that the things of God are so foreign to us that we are not able to understand them without being taught, but that the Holy Spirit understands them perfectly because He is God.

He understands the thoughts and ways of God because they are His native language. But He also understands our native language because He is our Creator, and being all-knowing, He understands how the Fall has affected our way of thinking. So He is fluent in the language we need to learn, and He understands our native language well enough to be able to point out the differences between the way we think when we live outside of Christ and the way we need to think when we are in Christ. And it is this Holy Spirit whom God has given to us as our teacher and translator.

What a joy to know that God has made it possible for us to understand spiritual truths! What a comfort to know that He has not thrown us into a foreign world without a translator but instead has given us His very Spirit. What an encouragement to know that He has not left us to learn a completely new way of life and new way of comprehending the world on our own but instead has given us a teacher who is Wisdom itself. Living the Christian life is a lot like learning a new language, but thanks to God, we have a Native Speaker inside us to help us every step of the way, and He’s the most perfect translator of all.

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

لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا.

PC: Betsy Traylor. Used with permission.

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[i] Past, Present, Future, Past Perfect, Present Perfect, Future Perfect, Past Progressive, Present Progressive, Future Progressive, Past Perfect Progressive, Present Perfect Progressive, and Future Perfect Progressive [Conditional, Conditional Perfect, Conditional Progressive, Conditional Perfect Progressive]. Bonus points if you can count how many tenses were used in this blog post! :D And if you’d like to learn more about English verb tenses, you can watch a fun video here.

Fearlessness in Context: A Closer Look at 2 Timothy 1:7

In this third installment of the “in Context” miniseries, we’re diving into another of Paul’s letters, but this time, instead of a letter to a whole church as we saw with Philippians and Romans, we’re dealing with a letter to an individual—Paul’s mentee Timothy. In the first chapter of 2 Timothy, we find a verse that is often plucked from its context and used in isolation. You’ll likely recognize it:

“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV).

Or perhaps you’re more familiar with another translation:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (NKJV).

This verse has been used as a pep talk for people facing situations that make them afraid, whether that fear falls on the mild or the paralyzing end of the spectrum or anywhere in between. But while the statement “God has not given us a spirit of fear” is true for believers across the board, Paul’s intent, as we will see from the context, was not to make a blanket statement about Christians never being afraid of anything.

To use an extreme example, I think we could all agree that quoting this verse to ourselves as we jump out of an airplane to convince ourselves that we shouldn’t be afraid is a questionable application. Some types of fear are healthy and prompt us to take wise, precautionary steps—like putting on a parachute and making sure we know how to use it before we jump out of the airplane. Using the verse “God has not given us a spirit of fear” to rationalize reckless behavior does a disservice to Scripture.

But even less dramatic examples of applying this verse stretch it to cover situations that are not implied in Paul’s letter. We have a big exam coming up, and we’re nervous about how we’ll do. We’re about to give a speech, and the butterflies are having a heyday in our stomach. We try to talk ourselves out of the nerves by telling ourselves, “God has not given us a spirit of fear,” or the derivative paraphrase, “Fear is not from God,” but we forget that nerves are not always equivalent to fear. Certainly they can be rooted in fear and at other times can turn into fear, but nerves in and of themselves are not always a bad thing. Sometimes they can be a gift, because they show us what we find important and can be harnessed into helpful energy.

There is ample evidence in Scripture to support the statement that “fear is not from God” (aside from the type of reverent fear that we should have of God Himself, of course). Time and time again, in the Old Testament and the New, God tells people, “Do not be afraid.” David talks about trusting in God when fear assails him (Psalm 56:3), and Jesus tells His disciples not to be afraid or troubled because He gives peace (John 14:27). So it’s not wrong to lean on the peace and strength of God in times when we are fearful, but pulling out 2 Timothy 1:7 for any and every situation in which we find ourselves uneasy does miss the very specific point that Paul was trying to make.

As we saw with Romans 8:28, 2 Timothy 1:7 is not written in isolation. The biggest clue that this verse is part of a larger whole is the very first word. “For” is a conjunction, a joining word, that usually connects one idea to another by using the second idea to provide a reason for the first. So to get the full idea that Paul is expressing, we have to go back to verse 3: “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:3-7, ESV).

Timothy, who was discipled by Paul, now serves as pastor over a local church, and Paul is writing to remind him “to fan into flame the gift of God.” Why? Because “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” But what is this “gift of God” and why does it require fearlessness to be cultivated? The answer to those questions lies in what follows verse 7.

Paul continues the chain of thought with another link: “Therefore.” Because we have a spirit of power and love and self-control rather than one of fear (v. 7), we should be bold in proclaiming the gospel and experiencing the suffering that doing so inevitably brings (v. 8). “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,” (2 Timothy 1:8, ESV). Paul was encouraging Timothy not to be timid in sharing the good news of Jesus.

In fact, the word for “fear” in verse 7 is only used this one time in the whole Bible, and it means cowardice.[i] Paul isn’t telling Timothy that God won’t give us feelings of uneasiness; he’s telling him that God hasn’t made us cowards. And more specifically, he’s telling Timothy not to be cowardly when it comes to telling other people about Jesus, even if it leads to hardship.

The concept of hardship doesn’t only appear once in this letter, though. Instead, it’s a bit of a theme, popping up again and again throughout the entire book. Paul’s mention of suffering in verse 8 is the first of thirteen such references in the four chapters of 2 Timothy:

        “I suffer” (1:12)

        “Share in suffering” (2:3)

        “I am suffering” (2:9)

        “I endure everything” (2:10)

        “if we endure” (2:12)

        “patiently enduring evil” (2:24)

        “there will come times of difficulty” (3:1)

        “my persecutions and sufferings” (3:11a)

        “which persecutions I endured” (3:11b)

        “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (3:12)

        “endure suffering” (4:5)

        “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed” (4:18)

So we see that Paul was seeking to strengthen Timothy, to remind him of the power of God that dwelt within him that would enable him to step out in boldness for the cause of the gospel rather than shrink back in timidity. And that same power that God gave to Paul and to Timothy, He has given to followers of Jesus today, through the Holy Spirit.

How often we are quick to claim 2 Timothy 1:7 to help us overcome difficult or intimidating tasks, and yet when it comes to doing what the verse actually references—telling others about the good news of Jesus—we leave it behind and let fear rule the day. May God help us remember, just as Paul reminded Timothy, “to fan into flame” the light within us that is “the gift of God,” and to do so with boldness and confidence, with power and love and a sound mind, because that is the type of spirit God has given us. May we “not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord” and “share in suffering” with Him, doing so with the spirit of fearlessness that only He can provide.

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

لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا.

PC: Rose Creger Tankard. Used with permission.

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[i] Greek: deilia. See https://biblehub.com/greek/1167.htm

Life after Easter

This post was originally written and shared on the blog in 2020.

Have you ever thought about what the day after Easter was like for the disciples? Scripture doesn’t tell us, but we can use some informed imagination to surmise. To say the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion was a full day would be an understatement. It started early in the morning with a few women discovering an empty tomb and being told by an angel that Jesus was alive (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-7). The women quickly told the disciples, but not quite believing them, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves, and sure enough, it was empty (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:11-12; John 20:3-10). Then Jesus met Mary in the garden, and she saw Him with her own eyes (John 20:11-17). Later in the day two others were met by Jesus as they were walking along the road, and once they realized who they were talking to and he had left them, they hurried back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples (Luke 24:13-34). In the evening, Jesus came to where the disciples were huddled together and told them to be ready—more things were going to happen (Luke 24:36-48). Now that’s a day.

If you’ve ever lived through a major event, negatively traumatic or positively momentous, you’ve likely experienced that it wasn’t until after some time had passed, perhaps until the next day after a night’s sleep, that the significance of the event began to sink in. Especially in the case of the disciples, who had gone through arguably the most traumatic day of their lives on Friday, likely their most depressing day on Saturday, and then probably their most exhilarating day on Sunday, the day after Easter would have found them experiencing a great deal of emotional whiplash.

I can only imagine their thoughts and feelings as it began to sink in that Jesus was alive. Everything they had hoped, that then for a while had seemed in vain (Luke 24:21), now would have come roaring back with all the force of the supernatural resurrecting power of God. Add onto that the self-realization that they had been completely obtuse when it came to discerning what Jesus had told them about his death and resurrection (John 20:9), and they surely felt a powerful comingling of elation and embarrassment. But as they recovered from the reeling about-face that they had just taken, the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and what that consequently meant for their own lives must have begun to sink deeply into their beings. If Friday’s cry was “Why?”, Saturday’s rumbling was “What now?”, and Sunday’s refrain was “He is risen!” then Monday’s rumination was a hopeful “So now what now?”

  

In the days that followed, more would be revealed. Jesus would meet with the disciples again to remove Thomas’s doubts (John 20:24-29); He would commission them to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15); they would witness Him ascend into heaven (Acts 1:6-11); and they would receive the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-3). But that first Monday, none of that had happened yet. They were left to sit and ponder what they had just witnessed, with a new understanding of Scripture that Jesus had imparted to them.

Now, 2000 years later, we have just finished a day of rejoicing that Jesus rose from the dead, displaying victory over sin and death. We have the benefit of knowing Sunday was coming and knowing what happened next, but I’d like to challenge us to spend a moment in the disciples’ shoes and really ponder, with fresh attentiveness to Scripture, the thrilling weight of what Sunday meant—and continues to mean.

For just a few moments, marvel at the perfect plan of God and at the intentional revelation of it to the world throughout all of human history, from the first promise of the Savior to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) to the angels’ proclamation to the shepherds near Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-14). Then revel in the fact that the realization of this God-written, true story from past to present brings with it the fact that the story extends from present to future. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was not the end of the story; it was the great turning point of human history, and God is continuing to write His story and reveal Himself to us through His Word and His Spirit as He brings all things toward the time of completion.

So today, the day after Easter, as we have come through the grief, come through the silence, and come through the rejoicing, let us settle into reflection that leads to action—reflection on the overarching narrative of God’s universe that we are privileged to be a part of, reflection on the truth that Jesus is ALIVE right at this very moment, reflection on the implications of this truth for our lives, and action to live accordingly.

How should we live in light of the resurrection? I could answer that question, but I’d rather leave it open for you to wrestle with yourself. To help you get started though, here are just a few areas to think about. How does Jesus’ resurrection affect your relationship with God? How does it affect your relationship with other people? How does it affect your communication with God? What does it mean for fear? For grief? For perseverance?  For confidence? For boldness? For compassion? For joy? As you think on these things, feel free to leave a comment below regarding your ruminations, whether they are fresh realizations or helpful reminders.

Jesus is risen. He is not a person in the past tense. He is presently living and calling you to live as well for His glory. I pray you will step into that life and really internalize all of the implications of Jesus’ resurrection, because as it turns out, life after Easter is the best life of all.

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

لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا.

PC: Pamela Hollis. Used with permission.