Category Archives: God’s character

High Above

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Flying home toward Chicago is always a special treat, especially if the plane is routed over Lake Michigan on its way to O’Hare Airport. Night time is especially dramatic with the city looking like an endless sea of twinkling lights.

SkyscrapersLoop skyscrapers resemble Lego buildings, except that their silhouettes are all wonderfully familiar. Banking over them in an airplane is better entertainment than flying around Disneyland’s Matterhorn.

Being so far above all the action on the street gives the sensation of being removed from regular life, even though everyone on the plane is still part of it. I often think about God’s perspective from his heavenly throne room, and the Bible tells us exactly what that is. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool’.”

He also says, “God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! All the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.”

In these word pictures God is trying to teach us that he is larger than life, and we are minuscule by comparison. But it’s not necessarily physical size he’s referring to. Instead he’s describing his superiority, power, and sovereignty.

Flying over Chicago, I marveled that I could see the entire city all at one time, but God can see all the cities, villages, and rural areas at once. Not only that, he can observe each person, each face, while I can’t even see one through my plane window. He knows each name and is able to see what each is doing. That even includes those hidden from view in the subway or in the deep sub-basements of Chicago’s skyscrapers.

Chicago

But there’s more. Scripture says God can also look inside each person from his high throne room, right into their minds. He can see their thoughts. This sounds intimidating until we learn of his intentions:

“No one can measure the depths of [the Lord’s] understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless… Don’t be afraid, for [he is] with you. Don’t be discouraged, for [he is] your God… [He is] the Lord, your Redeemer.”

Though God is far above us, he wants to be intimately near to us, close enough to “hold us up with his righteous right hand.” He wants to “…feed his flock like a shepherd.” He wants to “…carry the lambs in his arms.”  And those are just a few of the wonderful reasons why he’s watching us so carefully.

The LoopHe is very great, and I am exceedingly small. But because of his loving care, that’s just fine by me.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Scriptures from: Isaiah 40, 41, 66 and Luke 5

Seat 19B

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Though I’m not a frequent flyer, I do find myself on airplanes a handful of times each year. Always hoping for a nap, I prefer the window seat with a wall to lean on. Sleeping isn’t guaranteed, though, since most planes are over-sold, giving every passenger a seatmate. Anything can happen.

Last week, sitting on a 747 and eyeing the travelers coming down the aisle, I caught a young man smiling broadly at me. When he stopped at row 19, I knew I’d met my seatmate. “Hi!” he said, sticking his hand out to shake mine. “My name’s Hunter. What’s yours?”

WheatonI had no choice but to talk with him, though I wondered about my nap. But I quickly learned he was a sophomore at Wheaton, my alma mater, majoring in literature, my major. We had fun swapping Wheaton stories, favorite professors, and best books. Then he told me that after graduation he hoped to work in an inner-city with underprivileged kids, bringing practical help and the Gospel along with him.

Hunter and I chatted for 20 minutes, after which he buried his nose in a philosophy book, and I got my nap. My last thought before drifting away was how delightful it had been meeting this godly young student who wasn’t even 21 yet. He’d already committed to going wherever God would take him and felt strongly the two of them would be working with the poor.

Hunter radiated joy in the Lord. Though he had already worked in cities and was acquainted with the severity of problems, he wanted to bring hope and help anyway. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to solve every dilemma hadn’t diminished his enthusiasm because, as he said, his confidence was in God, not himself.

I’ve thought a great deal about Hunter’s words that day and about his bright, joyful delivery. His exuberance was contagious. Nothing discouraged him, not the pressure of academics or his youthfulness or even the gloomy news of global chaos. That’s because his confidence was in God alone.

We can volunteer in aid organizations and give money to Christian causes, but personal grounding in a tumultuous world can only come when our optimism is linked to the Lord. And if we believe he is who he says he is, we can smile as broadly as Hunter.

airplane seatsAs our plane made its way to the gate that day, Hunter re-opened our conversation. “Miss Margaret, may I pray for you?”

This conversation with God lasted till we had pulled into gate C3, till the seat belt sign had been turned off, till people were standing in the aisles, and till the plane doors had been opened. He requested God’s blessing on me, my family, my writing, my future, and my witness for Christ, claiming half a dozen Scripture passages in the process.

I was stunned and delighted by this gift — and challenged to always make sure my hope is in God alone.

“The fruit of the Spirit is…. joy.” (Galatians 5:22)

Adventureland

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A year ago when I was visiting my Florida family, the grandchildren and I went on several little-kid adventures. Two blocks from their home was a multiple-acre property with a dilapidated old barn on it, along with scattered debris that all belonged in the trash but fascinated the children: a discarded tire, a deflated Mylar balloon and it’s dirty ribbon, a cracked bowl, a broken brick, etc.

We fantasized about each item and about the barn. We named the terrain as we walked along: Midgee Mountain (small hill), Skylar Pathway, Micah Rock Pit – our own Adventureland. It was the kind of fun kids hope goes on forever, a simple activity they wanted to repeat again and again.

Open field

But between then and now, the landscape has changed. Giant trees have been removed, the barn bulldozed away, and the land leveled. All the “treasures” are gone, making it just an empty, open field with no personality at all. But we went to Adventureland anyway.

This time, though, the kids did spot one exciting find: a yellow road sign that said, DEAD END. I told them that if I’d have come across it when I was young, I’d have taken it home and hung it on my bedroom wall. Linnea quickly discouraged such a possibility, but I had a twinge of wishing it would fit into my suitcase.

Dead EndIt’s funny how the passing of time brings new trends and fads. During my college years, I had a number of road signs in my room, each with its own unique story of acquisition. All my friends admired them. But these days, that kind of thing seems silly. Times have changed.

Thankfully, some things never change — like the things God puts into place. Take character qualities, for example: being kind, loyal, gentle, fair, and so many others. These never go out of style. That’s because they’re God’s ideas for how we should behave. He’s programmed all of us to be capable of them and to respond positively to others who demonstrate them toward us.

Jesus modeled every positive character trait known to man as he dealt with the people of his day. And when we’re willing to try, it brings satisfaction to him and to those around us, and even to ourselves. It’s not always easy to be cheerful, honest, grateful, dutiful, polite, and lots more, but even a little can mean a lot. Best of all, Scripture says that if we practice even one good character trait, it’ll lead to another… and another.

As for the road sign, maybe it’ll come into a new life with the owners of our old Adventureland.

“Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Praising with Mary

Blood work done on March 10th brought the good news that my cancer is growing only slowly. The bottom line remains the same, but this report was the best we could hope for. And your prayers have a lot to do with it! Thank you!