Category Archives: God’s plans for us

Winter in July

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When I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs, my home church was Moody Church (45 minutes away). Christmas in JulyOne of the many good memories I have of those years is “Christmas in July” when we would bring Christmas cards and gifts for the many missionaries the church supported all over the world. The Missions Committee informed us it would take every bit of 5 months for our packages to reach their destinations abroad by December, which was why we had to pack them up in July.

As a child I didn’t really believe such long-range planning was necessary, and even now I struggle to plan and prepare far enough ahead. Certain people come equipped with a clock-consciousness that serves them well through life. When deadlines arrive, they’re always ready. Nate had that time-management ability and was never late to a meeting or unprepared when he got there. I’ve seen the same thing in Birgitta, watching her successfully juggle motherhood, full time college, and a job.

And I can get jealous noting how easy it is for these types to be prepared. But of course it really isn’t that easy; they just faithfully work at it.

Jesus will returnAs I read God’s Word, every so often I bump into a passage that challenges me to work at being prepared. It’s usually couched in a warning: “If you’re not, you’ll regret it for these reasons.” For example, God writes about Christ’s second coming in that way (multiple times), because he wants all of us to be ready when he appears.

He also warns us that death comes to everyone, and before its unpredictable arrival, we should ponder the bottom lines of our lives. He wants us to be sure we’ve made the main thing the main thing so there are no negative surprises after-the-fact. In other words, we’re to thoughtfully prepare.

God instructs us on the importance of being ready for other things, too. We’re to be prepared to have good answers for anyone who asks why we believe what we do. Also, he encourages us to prepare for difficult times by working as diligently as little ants do. And another example is his challenge to be prepared when Satan tempts us with his evil schemes.

We have a lot to work on, and some of us find it easier said than done. Regardless, all of us are to keep at it.

HelpingA while ago while babysitting Emerald, I opened her bottom dresser drawer in search of a sun hat, and she was eager to “help”  find it. I sat her down in front of the drawer where she ended up playing happily for 15 minutes. In the process we came across her furry winter hat. Despite the hot weather, she wanted to put it on immediately and wear it around the house.

Maybe she was just following her mommy’s example of preparedness, showing me she too could prepare… for winter… in July.

Bunny hat“Abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” (1 John 2:28)

Longing to Belong

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When I was 3, my family moved from a close-knit Chicago neighborhood to “the country.” Today that “country” is just one of many Chicago area suburbs (Wilmette), but in 1948 it was still the wide open spaces.

Highcrest SchoolI wasn’t of school age yet, but my sister Mary was marched off to kindergarten at the small-ish country school a stone’s throw from our house. She was quiet and shy, not especially happy about being away from home, but Mom quickly became involved as the official Room Mother of her class, which helped. Mom was in and out of school on a regular basis (with me in tow), and I thought school was absolutely magical.

The kindergarten room fascinated me with its boxes of fat colored crayons, giant jars of sweet-smelling white paste, and wooden chairs that were just my size. Each student had use of a tiny square of carpet to sit on, and by secretly investigating the white chalk (crunch), I learned it was delicious.

Not ready for schoolWhen I pleaded with Mom to let me be a school-kid too, she always had the same frustrating answer. “When you’re ready.”

A year passed, and the next fall Mary went into 1st grade, but Mom still wouldn’t let me go. I thought I was more than ready, and since we lived just across a field from the school, it wasn’t long before I snuck over there on my own.

When I got to the kindergarten room, Mary’s former teacher recognized me and kindly asked if I wanted to sit on one of the carpet squares with the other children “before I went back home.” My dream had come true, though it was short-lived. In just a few minutes Mom was at the door.

All of us long to belong: to a classroom, a club, a family, a neighborhood, or any number of other groups. This longing is, I believe, put into us by God, since he values community and is an advocate of togetherness. So there’s nothing wrong with it.

At 3But longing to belong has its risks, too. It’s important to seek entrance into the right groups at the right time, letting God be the one to show us the which, the where, and especially the when. That includes everything from starting kindergarten to moving into a retirement home. It’s best if we wait till he has us ready.

There were many reasons why I couldn’t be a kindergartener at the age of 3, but eventually my time did come, and it happened just as Mom said: when I was ready.

Kindergarten(Front row, 4th from right)

Life will go much smoother if we wait for God’s readiness rather than push ahead of him on our own. It should always be his call, and in the mean time we should simply say, “I’m ready, Lord…. whenever you are.”

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” (Matthew 6:33  The Message)

Face to Face

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Yesterday Birgitta and Emerald shared some giggle-time watching YouTube videos of laughing babies. Emerald responded with delight, as if each face was part of her inner circle of friends.

I see you!What is it about a picture of a baby that delights another baby? Even when she looks at herself in a mirror and smiles, she might not know it’s her, but she knows it’s another baby-face and laughs in response.

Not so with adult faces. Most little ones stare with skepticism at pictures of adults unless they know them personally. In some mysterious way a baby knows that another baby is “somebody like me.”

After reading the Bible, I’ve gotten the impression God looks at people much the same way, smiling at us with pleasure. Scripture says, “He delights in his people.” (Psalm 149:4) This is illogical and mysterious, since he’s perfect and we’re far from it. So why does he delight in us?

Could it be because he made us “in his image?” In what sense, though, are we the image of him? The only thing I can think of is that he and we are all eternal. Or maybe he enjoys us just because he made us. Even in our human world, when we make something we get attached to it, whether it’s a story we’ve written, a picture we’ve painted, or a room we’ve designed.

Despite those possibilities of why God takes pleasure in us, the most probable reason is that we’ve made the righteous choice to choose him, enjoying him personally, directly, one-on-one. When I think of him delighting in us because we’re delighting in him, it begins to make sense.

Still, there are verses that step outside of us focusing on him, passages that flat-out say how much he enjoys us. For example, Psalm 18:19: “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” And another one: “The Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” (Psalm 149:4)

Even in these, though, we see how “rescuing us” and “crowning us” has been accomplished only through his Son. So he can delight in us because he delights first in Jesus and then sees us through the lens of that perfection.

But if we want to work on being more Jesus-like ourselves, he tells us how:

  • take time to read and study the Bible (Psalm 112:1)
  • do our best to obey his commands (Psalm 119:47)
  • fear him and put our hope in his love (Psalm 147:11)
  • speak words of praise to and about him (Psalm 70:4)
  • daily listen for his wisdom (Proverbs 8:34)
  • strive to live blamelessly (Proverbs 11:20)
  • recognize that only he can save us (Isaiah 61:10)

And then, just as Emerald smiles when she sees another baby, God will smile on us.

“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.” (Psalm 37:23)