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Psalm 9:9-10

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The Lord also (in addition to all the other things He does)
 
Will be a refuge (a shelter, a safehouse, a stronghold)
 
For the oppressed, (the burdened, the crushed, the discouraged, the depressed)
 
A refuge in times of trouble. (heartache, frustration, uncertainty)
 
And those who know Your name (Your character, Your promises)
 
Will put their trust (their confidence, their hope)
 
In You; (The God Who Sees)
 
For You, Lord, (The Sovereign Master)
 
Have not forsaken (abandoned, turned away, disowned, ignored)
 
Those who seek (hunt, reach for, hunger for)
 
 You. (Your heart, Your healing, Your touch, Your presence)
 
Psalm 9:9-10

 

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Baggage

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suitcase handleA suitcase only has one handle.

All my baggage. Emotional. Spiritual. Whatever.

One handle.

Either I carry it-

Or Jesus does.

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What Job Taught My Characters

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Comforting touch(I'm working on the edits for Indemnity, so I really appreciate your patience and understanding as I offer a repost. Thank you!)
 
Over the course of my books, I put my characters in some difficult spots. That's good for them and good for the readers. However, then I have to come along and put some wise resolution for that character to discover, drawn on or hear from someone else. I strive for a fresh insight, for practical wisdom, something useful, not just holy-sounding. This is always when the writing gets very humbling because this is where God takes over.
 
In one situation, I had a character go back to Job. (I had just finished reading Job myself, so it was fresh in my mind.) The character said although the Lord restored all that Job had, God never took the pain of the loss away. Yesterday, it also occurred to me that the restoration took years. Job didn't wake up the next morning *poof* with his seven new sons and three new daughters.
 
So here are two things I learned-
Pain fades to the point where it doesn't consume our lives, but it doesn't necessarily ever go away. At least not in this life. Sometimes we put unrealistic expectations on ourselves or others about how and when we should be 'over' something. Each situation is unique and intensely personal. Grant yourself (or someone else) the grace to walk through it rather than adding the pressure of 'should'. Truth is, God may doing things through the loss that we are completely unaware of, as was Job's case. Job never knew the full story behind all his suffering.
 
Second, restoration takes time and it may mean traveling over some ground we've already covered. Job had already done diapers and toddlers and loose teeth and adolescence but he had to go through it all again. It's worth it. The last chapter of Job says, "The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than the beginning."
 
What have you learned from Job?
 
 

 

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Q: Where Do You Keep It?

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sunbeamsWhere have you laid him? John 11:34

Jesus asked Mary to show Him the tomb where her brother, Lazarus had been buried. He could have spoken the words and brought Lazarus back to life, from a distance, or even before He and the disciples arrived in Bethany. Instead, He gives us a quick lesson on how to deal with grief.

Show Him your grief.
Mary and her sister called for Jesus. That simple, perhaps obvious, step often goes undone. We assume Jesus already knows (and He does) so we miss the deep intimacy that comes from laying our hearts open and bare before Him.

See His heart.
By asking Mary to take Him to the tomb, Jesus showed that He is a Savior who doesn't minimize our pain, but is willing to enter into it with us. At Lazarus' tomb, Jesus is deeply touched by the loss His friends are experiencing, but His grief goes much deeper. He mourns for a people who don't yet understand who He is or why He came. He also sees with human eyes, the curse, the pain that sin brings.

What about you? What do you have locked away? Pain. Failure. Loss. A dead spot in our hearts. Jesus asks – Where is it?

Take Me there.

Show it to Me.

Let Me bring that deadness into the light and heal it.

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Q: Do You Believe?

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blindfolded man Do you believe in the Son of God? John 9:35

Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. Immediately, the man was subjected to an intense interrogation at the hands of the religious leadership. They suggested that he was an imposter, that he and the healer were rank sinners for breaking the Sabbath, and finally they kicked him out of the synagogue, thereby sealing his spiritual doom. So they thought.

Jesus found him and asked him this simple question, do you believe? Do you believe in Me, the Son of God? Do you believe that just like I gave you physical sight, I can cure your spiritual blindness? Do you believe I have the answers?

When we are misunderstood, do we believe in the Son of God?

When we are doubted, questioned and falsely accused, do we believe in the Son of God?

When we are abandoned and alone, do we believe in the Son of God?

Or do we believe we can figure something out, we can make it on our own … Are we blind also? 

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