Category Archives: God’s character

Keep Talking

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I know my prayers are often blotted with selfishness and are off the mark. God must smile at my efforts the way I smile at a child trying to write her name for the first time. The effort is sincere, but the result is skewed. But she keeps trying, and so do I.

Why? Because talking with the Almighty, the One who has power over all things and owns the Universe, is a privilege beyond price. It’s a luxury more valuable than talking with President Obama, Bill Gates or Brad Pitt. God is the only One who can affect change not only in the world but also in the human heart.

Praying handsChuck Swindoll said, “There is no more significant involvement in another’s life than prevailing, consistent prayer. It is more helpful than a gift of money, more encouraging than a strong sermon, more effective than a compliment, more reassuring than a physical embrace.”

When Nate and I were first married, we didn’t understand each other very well. I expected things from him that he couldn’t give, mostly because he didn’t know I wanted them. For example, when I got emotional about something and started to cry, I’d long for him to come and sit next to me, put his arm around me, and sympathize. Instead he came with a list of ways to fix the problem.

I could have told him he was missing the mark and described what I wanted from him, and he would have delivered. But I thought he should have known it already, instinctively, or should have been able to read my mind, which of course he couldn’t.

But that’s the remarkable thing about prayer. As I’m babbling away trying to find the words to express my longing, God has already got it. He knows my passions, frustrations, wants, and needs. I talk to him because I love him for that and for how many ways he’s demonstrated his love to me. Also, I know he has the ability to affect internal changes, something even a powerful world dictator can’t do.

It’s difficult talking to someone who is dear to me but who I cannot see or audibly hear. The Lord knows this is hard but doesn’t want it to become a stumbling block to our continued conversation. Jesus even mentioned this dilemma to his disciples when he said, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (John 20:29) That’s us.

And so I know he knows, which brings comfort as well as a desire for me to keep talking. It won’t always be this way, though. Some day I’ll get to see him exactly like the disciples did, as a mentor and friend, visible, audible, and talking directly to me. And I can’t wait!

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

Poor Job

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Job.A while ago, our ladies Bible study went through the book of Job. The first chapter left us breathless watching 4 of Job’s servants deliver nonstop bad news. In 7 verses we learned that this exceedingly wealthy man had lost 11,000 farm animals, all but 4 of his scores of employees, and his 10 precious children. Later in the story he also lost his health.

As the Bible study leader began, she updated the group on the health of two hospitalized men from the congregation. Both were not doing well, but that wasn’t the end of it.

Part way through our morning, the other pastor arrived to say one of these men had taken a turn for the worse, his family being summoned to say goodbye. We talked of the two wives who were suffering too, and the woman sitting behind me whispered, “It’s too much.” Suddenly the Book of Job became relevant. The same calamities he experienced 3000 years ago still happen today: losses of family, wealth, possessions, businesses, and health.

Why does God let people suffer like that? Our group talked about possible reasons in relation to Job:

  • Maybe his relationship with God was strong only because his life was bursting with blessings.
  • Maybe God wanted to increase Job’s trust in him by letting him discover that when you have nothing, you still have God.
  • Maybe he wanted to deepen Job’s faith by proving to Job he could weather any storm.
  • Maybe Job’s story is simply a teaching example for the rest of us.

Those may be valuable reasons for his suffering back then, but knowing them doesn’t lighten our loads now. When my husband got cancer and died, it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But who’s to say my suffering is over?

Our world is broken. The last time it wasn’t “out of order” was in the Garden of Eden. Although Adam and Eve were people much like us, until they sinned against God their lives were without struggle or sorrow. Their world was all “good.” God even said so.

Our world isn’t so good. Until we leave this earth as Nate did (through death’s door into a God-created “good” paradise), we’ll be challenged to live with losses.

The miracle for each of us is that we’re not suffering on a continual basis. Although God allows it, he also provides times of non-suffering, times for recuperation and strengthening before the next challenge. Job teaches us that when things are going well, life isn’t necessarily normal. Our real “normal” is to be engaged in frequent battles with adversity.

There is some good news, though: since Job made it with his faith intact, we can too.

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” (Job 13:15)

Making a Good Impression

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Wet CementBookstore shelves are loaded with parenting titles, but the one I like best is a 1979 book by Anne Ortlund: CHILDREN ARE WET CEMENT. It’s a powerful statement with accurate parenting implications.

When workers poured the concrete for our patio 28 years ago, our five children each pressed their palms into the wet cement, along with a quarter from their birth years. I pressed in a penny dated that year, 1986, next to the line-up of hands, to mark the date those childhood palms were set. As soft as the concrete was when we touched it, shortly thereafter it became rock-hard and has been that way ever since. Without the use of a jack-hammer, the hand impressions are permanent.

As children arrive into our families, they’re soft and impressionable, “wet” with potential. Parenting them is the most important assignment we’ll ever get, a serious responsibility given to us by the Person who created every baby and has specific plans for each life. The way we live in front of them leaves a permanent mark.

While spending time with my grandchildren this week, I’ve seen again how supple the mind of a child really is. Children spend the lion’s share of their waking hours imitating the rest of us. If we open a kitchen drawer, as soon as we close it, a watching child opens it again, following our example.

Little ones don’t need a reason to imitate us. They do it instinctively. We own the power to be examples for good or evil, an enormous responsibility that should cause us to keep our lives clean as we go along.

Modeling well in front of one and two year olds is easy. In front of teenagers it’s more difficult.

InfluencingBut we do our best, because we want to give our children the strongest possible springboard into adulthood. Despite multiple failures and a list of if-only’s, we keep trying. Knowing we’re being carefully watched is a strong motivator!

As a child of God, I wonder if I’m carefully watching Jesus in the same way. Do I study his life and try to emulate him? Or do I dismiss that possibility, knowing I could never match him? Jesus instructed us to watch what he did, then copy it. Do I?

Of course I’m going to fall short, just as children fail to duplicate adult behavior. But that doesn’t keep them from trying, and the same should be true for me. Although I’ll never be able to exude the fruit of the Spirit as flawlessly as Jesus did, with practice I can improve.

Watching my grandchildren try, fail, and keep trying encourages me to do the same.

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15)