Where are you?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Margaret

Although traveling has its perks, arriving home is best of all. But there’s one thing that trumps even that: greeting those we love when they’re coming home to us.

Recently I’ve had the joy of making several trips to the airport to collect Birgitta, Emerald, Nelson, Linnea, and baby Nelson (5 months) as they arrived from a variety of places on different days.

Each time while waiting, I scanned the mob of unfamiliar faces, squinting to find those special ones I knew and loved.

And each time, suddenly there they were, emerging from the crowd – my people.

I wonder if that’s how it’ll be when we travel from earth to heaven. None of us knows exactly what that will be like, but leaving familiarity and entering this new realm surely must include at least one nano-second of searching for the face of Jesus.

Scripture tells us that as soon as our souls leave our bodies, those of us who believe in him will be with him. But how will we know which one is him?

Long ago when I was 8 or 9 years old, I remember asking Mom that very question. It was bedtime, and she was kneeling next to me after having prayed. “What does Jesus look like?” I said, having tried to envision him as we talked to him.

“Well,” she said, “he was Jewish, and the Bible says he didn’t have any special look that made him stand out from the crowd. My guess is he had dark hair, brown eyes, and a beard as most men did then. And that’s about all I know.”

Later she read a verse to me from Isaiah: “He… had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” (53:2)

As a child I found that fascinating, because others in the Bible had been given good looks. For instance, King Saul was “as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel.” (1 Samuel 9:2) But Jesus, who could have created his own body and face to be exceptional in every way, chose instead to make himself plain – nothing special to look at in either form or beauty. So, I wondered, how would I recognize him among the heavenly crowd?

Today I’m still wondering. The marks of crucifixion won’t identify him, because many others died that way and will have similar scars.

So I thought of all my recent trips to the airport. Maybe recognizing Jesus will be much like recognizing my loved ones in a crowd. I know them well enough to identify them anywhere. Maybe as I continue to know Jesus better, I’ll recognize him easily when the time comes.

But even if that doesn’t happen, 1 John 3:2 says, “We know that when Christ appears… we shall see him as he is.” So, just as when I spot my people at the airport, seeing them as they are, I might recognize Jesus the same way.

And if all else fails, I’m confident he knows what I look like, so maybe if he notices my confusion, he’ll simply call out my name and wave me over.

“I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

I stand amazed.

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Margaret

Emerald still has a fascination with bubbles. Every day she asks if we can blow them, and each time it’s as if she’s never seen them before. She “stands amazed,” which for her means an open mouth and a wildly-waving right hand. As bubbles swirl around her, joy bubbles out of her.

Once in a while, though, a stray bubble pops in the wrong place – not on her nose or forehead (which she loves) but in her eye. She crumples to the ground in tears, rubbing her face and hollering at high decibel. “The bubble hurt Emerald! The bubble hurt Emerald!”

Might there be a spiritual parallel to this soap-in-the-eye dilemma? We all say we love the Lord. We trust he’s telling the truth when he says he’s always working for our good.

So we pray and ask for things he’s encouraged us to ask for – protection from evil, strength to endure temptation, life-guidance through prayer. We have confidence in his amazing power and expect him to act on our behalf. Then suddenly a situation arises that makes us raise our eyebrows at him. We might be left unprotected and become injured; maybe we fail at resisting temptation and give in; or he might seem silent when we desperately need his help making a decision.

And suddenly our bubble of amazement pops – bringing a hurtful sting. Our faith crumples, and we cry, “Lord, you hurt me! You hurt me!” Who would stand in awe of that?

There’s a wonderful old hymn that includes these lyrics: “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean.”

It continues: “How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior’s love for me!”

It’s easy to smile as we sing those words, nodding affirmation and feeling his love. But when life goes awry or gets really hard, our raised eyebrows quickly form a frown, and we feel like wagging a finger at God. Instead of amazement, we want to lay blame.

The truth is, we don’t understand why the Lord does what he does any more than Emerald understands why soapy water creates her beloved bubbles.

And maybe that’s exactly what’s at the heart of her amazement. Because she doesn’t understand it, she’s in awe of it. And though a bubble in the eye is a set-back, her fascination doesn’t diminish, and the expectancy of joy quickly returns.

Even as the sting lingers, she jumps to her feet. “More bubbles? More?” Her mouth drops open, her right hand starts waving, and once again she stands amazed.

Can we say the same about God?

They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything [Jesus] does is wonderful.” (Mark 7:37)

It’s in my head.

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Margaret

Every Tuesday morning a small group of women gathers in our church library to pray. We try to take God at his word: that he hears us, acts on our requests, and has the power to change the lives and circumstances we pray about.

As we sit around an oval table each week, I sometimes think about God’s perspective. Though we believe he’s near, we also know he’s watching from his high position in the heavenlies. He sees us spreading out our prayer lists and knows we’re hoping he’ll do spectacular things in the lives of those we’re about to pray for.

But he sees something else, too: the blessings he has prepared for those of us who assemble to pray.

We don’t ask for them, but our generous God has them wrapped and ready for our little group every single week. It might be an unusual prayer spoken over someone who is particularly precious to one of us. Or one of our Scripture cards might do something powerful as it’s read aloud.* Or it might be a direct word from him plunked into the heart of one of us during moments of silence between requests. Or, like today, it might be an insight shared from one woman to the rest of us.

The requests that come to us include people who desire reconciliation with someone else. This morning as we talked about forgiveness, we chose verses to pray over those people. And then we spent a few minutes talking about sins of the mind and how insidious they are, how difficult to route out.

That’s when God’s gift of new understanding came in a statement made by one of the ladies: “Why do you think Jesus died on a hill that looked like a skull?”

I’d never given much thought to the name of the place where Jesus died and what it meant: Golgotha (“place of the skull,” John 19:17). Though it’s named for its resemblance to a skull, might it include a warning to be especially vigilant to guard our minds against sin? After all, the grey matter inside our skulls is where sin-battles rage. Whether we’re making a yes-or-no decision to do something we know is wrong, or are wrestling with sins already committed that need forgiving, it’s all mental torment.

If we learn to attack evil at its starting point, in our heads, we have a much better chance of living victorious Christian lives. And today, as I understood the dramatic picture-link between “Golgotha” and the sins inside my skull (for which Christ died), I knew our generous God had given us yet another gift during our prayer time, this one an intensely practical one.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2)

*(God’s Wish List)