Category Archives: God’s character

Did you mean to be mean?

Posted on by

Every young mom worries about the safety of her newborn, especially in that first month. Will I drop him? Will I accidentally scratch her with my nail? Will he fall off my bed if I nap him there?

But what about us grandmas? We wonder if we’ll stumble or even fall while holding the baby. What if we run out of energy or doze off unknowingly while on duty?

Not so safe

In other words, what if we cause harm without meaning to? I know the answer to that, because it happened to me this weekend. I should say, more accurately, it happened to Emerald.

Our little girl has grown to be 3 months old but has never had her nails cut. Birgitta knew it was time, having been repeatedly scratched by her “caresses.” So I decided to be a good grandma and buy a special baby-sized clipper, the one that had “Safety 1st” in its name. When clipping time came, Emerald clenched her dimpled fists, making her fingertips go white (the same color as her tiny nails). Birgitta just couldn’t do it.

photo(2)

Although I have no memory of clipping baby fingernails, surely I must have, so I volunteered. The first 3 fingers went well, and we heard the snip-snip of her soft nails, but the 4th finger snip didn’t make any noise. That’s because I’d inadvertently cut the tip of her finger, missing the nail completely!

As Birgitta worked to comfort her screaming, a rush of regret poured through me. Emerald’s first bleeding episode, and it was my fault. I lost 2 hours of sleep that night berating myself, though Birgitta didn’t lay blame.

Sadly, in a few days, Emerald will be hurt again, this time with a vaccination needle. Such “harm,” though, is carefully calculated and allowed to happen for a valuable purpose. Because of that, her mommy will be in favor of her “suffering” on that day.

God uses a similar logic. If we receive a bad medical report, or if an accident occurs, a financial downturn takes place, a hope is dashed, a relationship fractured, a job lost, God is allowing it. But he never lets it happen until he’s first assessed that it has a valuable purpose, much like Birgitta assessed the vaccination.

When life hurts, we can’t imagine why God doesn’t eliminate the pain, just like Emerald will be bewildered and upset at her upcoming doctor’s appointment. But Birgitta is going to orchestrate that, whether Emerald understands or not. The same goes for us.

So, what’s our best response? We should do just what Emerald did when I clipped her finger: she looked to her parent for comfort. We should turn to God in that same way, knowing he’ll never allow pain into our lives without a valuable purpose behind it…

Thinking it over...

…something far more important than well-trimmed nails.

“I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle.” (Jeremiah 10:23-24)

Money Talk

Posted on by

This afternoon when Nelson came in, we sat in the living room chatting while twilight gradually enveloped the neighborhood. As often happens, our talk gravitated to Scripture, and he mentioned an interesting prayer he’d read this morning from Proverbs 30: “Give me neither poverty nor riches.”

Money!

Question: Who in their right mind would pray against receiving riches?

It’s easy to nod in agreement when we hear the request against poverty. But riches too? Is that necessary?

We’ve all heard that money corrupts, and as much as we fantasize about having more of it, in our hearts we know it’s true. Nelson and I talked about several people we knew, both famous and not so much, who were ruined by riches. Of course most of us haven’t had the opportunity.

“Try us,” we say to God. “We could handle it.”

But once we had it, could we say with Scripture, “I don’t have to keep it”?

If we find ourselves loving money so much we can’t happily agree to surrender it, we’re opening ourselves to all kinds of trouble. The Bible says so. Money itself isn’t evil, just loving it is, The problem is, we know what wonderful things it could do for us. That’s why it’s so difficult to pray the wisdom of Proverbs: “Don’t give me riches.”

Nelson has long admired a Christian man named George Mueller (Muller) who was wild and wicked in his youth but then changed dramatically after committing his life to Christ at the age of 23. He took the Bible literally for the next 70 years and believed God meant it when he said nothing was impossible. Mueller became a preacher, missionary, educator, and the manager of multiple orphanages throughout the 1800’s.

George Mueller

He kept detailed records of every orphan and every penny given to support them and their schools, and those accountings can still be inspected today. He cared for over 10,000 children full time and educated more than 120,000 in his lifetime. Without asking anyone but God to meet their monetary needs, the Lord sent the equivalent of 9 million dollars through his hands.

And that’s the most interesting thing about this man who kept a healthy distance between himself and any love of money. His massive ministry needs were consistently met only by his asking God to pay the bills. And when too much came in, Mueller gave it away.

God isn’t any different today than he was in Mueller’s day, and each of us can rely on him for our provision. So why don’t we?

Nelson and I agreed that although we’re reluctant to pray Proverbs 8:30, Mueller had no problem with it and actually based his life on it: “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” And it worked out great for him.

“One man considers himself rich, yet has nothing [to keep permanently]; another man considers himself poor, yet has great [and indestructible] riches.” (Proverbs 13:7, Amplified)

Trails

Posted on by

Sky writingWhen driving back to the Chicago area at dusk recently, the trail-marks of O’Hare’s jet planes made a beautiful criss-cross pattern in the sky highlighted by a gold and blue sunset. I could hardly pay attention to the road for wanting to stare at it, so I snapped a photo instead, to study later. The jets that made the trails were nowhere to be seen, but we knew they’d been there because of what they’d left behind.

Baby rattle

 

When I walk through my house and see baby items, I know a baby has been here. Of course they belong to Emerald, and she lives with us, so that makes sense. But even when she’s tucked into her bassinet, out of sight and sound, evidence of her former presence has been left behind.

Gel flower

That’s true even for my other 6 grandchildren. Today I was sweeping when I noticed something cute on one of the heating duct grills. It was a tiny window cling in the shape of a flower. I’d given all the children sheets of the clear, Jello-like decorations, and most of them lasted only long enough for a day’s play. The purple flower, however, had gone astray and became a sweet reminder of the children who had recently stood playing in that place.

God leaves reminders of where he’s been, too, hoping we’ll recognize his activity and think about the fact that he was nearby. If we take the time to notice, we can see his “trails” all around us, for example outdoors every day. They’re visible in large ways (the heavens on a clear night) and small ones (the diligence of a squirrel transporting acorns).

We can also see God’s trails in people, like the testimony of someone whose life has been changed after committing to Christ. We see it when we watch a tiny start-up church flourish and grow, when a girl forgives the one who abused her, and when a terminally ill person dies with a smile on his face. All of these things are trailer-markers letting us know God was there.

One major difference, though, between God’s trails and those of jetliners, babies, and preschoolers is that after he leaves his mark, he doesn’t leave. He stays with the new Christian, the growing church, the girl who forgives, and the dying man.

And about that dying man? When his soul flies away, it’s so quick and complete that not even a wisp of a trail will be left behind him.

[Our lives] ”pass quickly and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)