Weeping and Wailing

Fussin'Nobody can holler like a newborn. They make an abrasive noise-pollution sort of sound much like a crow cawing or a cat in fight-mode. Pegging it perfectly is difficult, but new babies all seem to agree on how it should sound.

Parents agree on something, too: that it should stop a.s.a.p.

Baby Isaac celebrates his one week birthday tomorrow, and like all babies, he has his moments of wailing. Diaper changes are his least favorite activity, during which he voices his opinion at full volume. When that happens, even grandmas are distressed by the crying.

It’s not that the noise level is intolerable. Isaac’s three older siblings contribute plenty of that, but it never reaches the fever-pitch of a newborn’s cry. When Isaac is wailing, we wonder if he’s in some serious pain or is in another kind of desperate need.

But we have to continually remind ourselves that newborns don’t have much to offer between silence and full-on screaming. They haven’t learned anything about that middle ground, whining, and certainly can’t use words. Hard-core hollering is the best they can do, and it’s usually overkill in comparison to their needs, i.e. major outbursts over minor problems.

Sometimes I wonder if God views our flare-ups against him the same way. Of course we don’t see it as “screaming” directly at him and might even say, “Heaven forbid I should do such a thing!” But when we loudly object to the circumstances he puts us in (or allows us to be in), he’s probably thinking, “Major outbursts over minor problems.”

Although baby Isaac has nature on his side when he’s hollering over every need, we don’t. As adults, especially Christian adults, we ought to know better than to rail against situations just because they’re not ideal. When frustrations and annoyances come, God is hoping we’ll resist the temptation to object and will square off with our needs responsibly, improving what we can, and accepting what we can’t.

It’s good to know, though, that God doesn’t put a complete ban on crying. He knows we’re emotional beings that need to show our feelings. If we look to Scripture for guidance, we see all kinds of godly people in tears: widows, mothers, fathers, oppressed people, Jeremiah, Job, Mary, Hezekiah, Peter, Esau, David, Paul, and Jesus himself, to name a few. The difference between weeping that’s welcomed by God and wailing that’s not, is the condition of the heart behind it.

???????????????????????????????God’s heart is always tuned in to what’s going on in the hearts of people… all people. Nothing slips past him, and everything matters. That’s why a bout of crying that emanates from a sincere, unselfish heart is a call for help he will always answer.

As for little Isaac, he’s still under the lovely protection of God’s Grace for Newborns and can wail all he wants.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears.” (Hebrews 5:7)

Getting Into It

Living in southwest Michigan as we do, we’re often the benefactors of “lake-effect storms.” Weather systems rolling across the country from west to east fly over Lake Michigan, picking up water as they go and then dropping it when they hit land on our side of the lake.

The creekToday is one of those days. We all thought January wouldn’t be snowy, since December had more than its fair share. But after 11” of accumulation in 5 days, we’re in the process of receiving 12 more. This time, though, it’s impossible to measure, since wild winds are swirling it like cake batter in a Kitchen Aid mixer.

I walked Jack to the lake today, hoping for a few dramatic pictures. But powerful winds swept me into a snow drift before I even got there, camera and old lady going down together. Though a foot of snow makes a soft landing, the eye-sting of high speed snowflakes made us turn back.

???????????????????????????????This was a crushing disap- pointment to Jack, who lives for winter weather. He does his happy dance in the middle of  snowy roads and snoofs his whole face into drifts looking for interesting scents. Bounding over snow banks like a young pup, he behaves nothing like the 77 year old guy he really is, and heading home today was his last choice.

But back we went, with me trying to stay upright and him racing around me in circles. Once back inside the house, I had to agree with Jack that the storm was beautiful. But looking at it through a window and walking outside in it were two vastly different experiences. One was just observing; the other was being engulfed by it.

A spiritual parallel might be to intellectually know about God’s love without actually experiencing it. To know the facts is to observe from a distance; to experience it is to be fully surrounded.

I know several people who’ve read the Bible repeatedly and can recite chapter and verse better than I can, but who’ve never embraced Jesus personally. That’s like standing at the window and commenting on how gorgeous the snow is without experiencing it firsthand.

Yes, there’s risk in going outside on a day like today, just like we sometimes view following Christ as a risk. We say, “What if he asks me to do what I can’t? Like reconcile with that person I don’t like? Or love someone who’s completely unlovable? Or give away money I can’t afford? Or take precious time to do things I’d rather not?”

Linda makes a snow angelHe might.

But if we’re willing to “get into it” with him the way Jack gets into snowy weather, we’ll find the risk is worth it…. much like my friend Linda learned that being in the snow is way better than just looking at it through a window.

All done!“The Lord alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” (Psalm 91:2)

 

Linda's snow angel

Glory Be!

Jesus is, of course, THE reason for the season of Christmas. He’s front and center, the main event, and we ought never to lose sight of that. But it’s also meaningful to examine what was happening around him as he arrived into our world.

ShepherdsHis birth announcement, for example, was created by those living in his heavenly neighborhood and was a unique and powerful proclamation. God chose to publicize his Son’s arrival by dispatching a special angel to a few unsuspecting shepherds outside the little town of Bethlehem.

I can’t wait to ask God why those particular men were his first choice to learn of the birth. And though an angelic encounter would have been spectacular by itself, Scripture tells us God also enveloped these men in his own glory on that ordinary hill. Along with the angel, they stood inside that glowing circle of God’s presence, probably doing their best just to stay conscious. Imagine! The glory God! What must that have been like?

It reminds me of another glory-episode, the one on Mt. Sinai where Moses begged God to show him that same glory. The reason God said yes was because Moses had found favor with him (Exodus 33). The experience was so unusual, it caused his skin to glow supernaturally for weeks afterward.

Birth announcementBut the angelic announcement and the glory event weren’t the only Christmas gifts those shepherds received. Suddenly the night skies grew bright with “a vast host of heaven’s armies,” angels as far as the eye could see. And they all had the same message: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

The men were told that the glory surrounding them belonged to God himself, with the hint that they were experiencing it/him because they’d found favor with God (echoing the Moses incident).

As a child I was taught the heavenly hosts were singing their message, but Scripture says they were actually saying it, most likely shouting it. Maybe they spoke in unison or maybe it was a chorus-like speech the likes of which we’ve never heard, but surely it was ear-pleasing and beautiful. As the angels finished, I’ll bet those shepherds glowed.

In a mangerIt didn’t take but a few seconds to mobilize a run into town, doing manger checks till they found one with a baby in it. Mary and Joseph must have said, “How did you know?” and oh the story they had to tell!  If these new parents had harbored any doubts about who that baby was, the shepherds’ report surely quelled them.

Today we again celebrate Jesus’ astonishing arrival. And though we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, through Jesus we can find favor with him. That’s why I believe we, too, will one day get to see the glory of God!

“The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)