There was a baby dedication service at our church this Sunday. One of the babies in attendance was unusually alert. She had an amazed look on her face as she gazed around the room trying to take everything in. It struck me that she looked shocked by her surroundings. She had lived in comfort, safety and darkness over the last 9 months. Content because she knew nothing else. Suddenly she was in a new unfamiliar and wonderful world that was full of new sights and sounds. She knew the voice of her mother, her father. Now she could see them face to face. She could interact on a whole new level.
I wonder if that is how we will be when we get to heaven? We are comfortable where we are now and live as if there is nothing else, but one day we will wake up to a whole new and wonderful world. A world where our Savior will wipe away our tears and banish sickness, pain and trouble. His name will be written on my forehead. Proof that I belong to Him. A world where gold is used as pavers for the streets. A world where there is no longer any night. A world where there is a crystal clear river that flows from the throne of God. A world where the tree of life will grow on both sides of the river and bear 12 different kinds of fruit, one each month. The same tree will have leaves that heal the nations. But most of all, a world where I will see my Savior face to face and have the priviledge of serving Him.
I am reminded of an old Hymn – “Oh, That Will Be Glory” by Charles H. Gabriel
1.When all my labors and trials are o’er, And I am safe on that beautiful shore, Just to be near the dear Lord I adore, Will through the ages be glory for me.
Refrain: Oh, that will be glory for me, Glory for me, glory for me, When by His grace I shall look on His face, That will be glory, be glory for me.
When, by the gift of His infinite grace, I am accorded in heaven a place, Just to be there and to look on His face, Will through the ages be glory for me.
Friends will be there I have loved long ago; Joy like a river around me will flow; Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know, Will through the ages be glory for me.
…”Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. – Revelation 22:20
While reading a book about prayer I ran across the question: “What would you love to sit down and talk about with God?“
I thought about it for two days before I finally wrote down: “Why do I matter to you?”
It puzzles me. I don’t have a poor self image, but I am not extraordinary in any way, not strikingly beautiful and not a genius. Yet I matter to God. Why?
No answer was immediately forth coming. Did God hear me? Should I not have asked the Creator of the universe such a question?
A week later I remembered something that I had put away in a box in my closet years ago. It is a rag doll I made out of a sock when I was about 10 years old.
I found the instructions in my parents’ Worldbook encyclopedia. (Yes, I still have the encyclopedias.) As you can see it is not the most beautiful doll ever made, but it is one of the first things I made without any help. Over the years I have made much better ones. Why have I kept it all these years? I simply love it because I made it.
I started to think of other things I have made over the years. Quilts, paintings and other miscelaneous things. I love each one and made them with a purpose in mind.
Back to my question for God. “Why do I matter to you?” He answered me in very clear terms. He simply loves the things He makes. I matter because He made me. My value is wrapped up in who loves me. To be loved by God is extraordinary.
If I love a misshapen old doll how much more does He love me? How much more does He love you? Take heart. He is not silent. We just need ears to hear.
For Further study:
Genesis 1:31 “And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good….”
Genesis 5:1 “when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.”
Psalm 139:14 – “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.”
Isaiah 43:4 “Since you are percious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you,”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
I Corinthians 1:26-28 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. And the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,”
A few weeks ago we drew and painted disco balls in Art class. The final step was to splatter their creations with fluorescent paint. I handed them colors one by one as they requested them. All was going as planned until one student asked for green. I handed him green. He insisted it was blue. When I handed him blue he insisted it was green. I eventually had him point to the color he wanted instead of naming them. There was no reasoning with him. He was sure he was right and would not be convinced otherwise. The problem? He was color blind. He wouldn’t believe the truth I was telling him. He didn’t believe there was anything wrong with his “vision”.
Being color blind can be inconvenient. We once had a builder put two pieces of siding up that didn’t match the rest. When I asked him about it he explained he was color blind. He needed me to point out which ones were the wrong color so he could correct his mistake.
When someone has faulty vision is it kinder to keep quiet or to help them see their error? Does believing blue is green make it so?
I can be blind to the truth too. I want something and so will adjust the “rules” to justify my wrong thinking. Oh well. What is the harm? As long as I’m not hurting anyone why not bend the truth to suit my wants, even going so far as doing away with inconvenient truth.
God has lovingly laid out truth for us, not because He is a cosmic kill joy, but because He, as our creator, knows what we were made for. Just like blue was made to paint the sky…we have a choice to follow His plan or follow our own plan.
Will we say, “No” to the God who made us because we think we are wiser? Will our goal be to satisfy whatever we think will make us happy, or because we want what we want and have become our own god?
The cost to follow Christ is real. He paid the ultimate cost of our redemption. Out of love we follow Him with every fiber or our being. Willing to give up whatever He asks, willing to follow His truth instead of my own. Do we love Him enough to trust Him with the rules He has put in place?
Truth does not change. Blue will always be blue.
For Further Study: Isaiah 5:20; Luke 11:28; Philippians 2:15
As I look back on my life I wonder. There have been some crushing failures. I didn’t always make right decisions and even when I did, things didn’t always end well.
Becoming a mother was life changing. I had read many books and watched others succeed or fail. I was sure our children would be an example to all.
The reality was much harder. I didn’t have all the answers. Some days I didn’t have any answers. These children needed something I couldn’t give them. They needed the breath of the living God. So we taught and we prayed and we watched them grow and succeed and make mistakes. We made plenty of mistakes ourselves. It didn’t all turn out as we expected.
I went from thinking I was going to be a perfect mother to “why had God entrusted these children to me? I am obviously not succeeding at it.”
Then I remembered Moses. Rescued from death by Pharaoh’s daughter. Raised for a few years by his own mother. Grew up in a palace with every advantage. Murders an Egyptian when trying to stand up for his own people. Flees Egypt and lives in the wilderness until he meets God in the burning bush.
God had a job for him. Return to Egypt and get Pharoah to let my peole go. Moses was afraid. He argued with God about his abilities. God urged him on, even getting angry when Moses complained about his innability to speak well. (God gave him Aaron to be his mouth piece.)
Moses, with his brother Aaron in tow, confronted Pharaoh. He asked Pharaoh to let Israel go to worship their God. Pharaoh gets angry and takes it out on the sons of Israel. Their hard labor became impossible. The people turned on Moses and claimed Pharaoh was trying to kill them because of him.
Moses turns to God and says… “O LORD, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22)
Can you relate? I have felt that way many times. But it isn’t about me. It is about God and what He will do in impossible situations.
God purposefully, step by step drew his people out of Egypt. There would be hardship and trial, but it is better to be in the wilderness with God than enjoying the leeks and onions of Egypt while under slavery. They had the promise of Canaan. They endured much to get there…and God was with them every step of the way…
So as I look back on my failures and my inadequacies I need to remember that God is a God of miracles who chooses frail and weak people to carry out his plans. It is because of my weaknesses that God’s power can be displayed. Any good that comes is not me. All the praise and glory go to Him.
Take heart. He has not left you here alone. He is with us each step of the way. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. This trouble will pass. There will be a better day. This testing will make you like gold.
Believe it!
So what do I do in the mean time? I faithfully do what God has given me to do. The results won’t always be what I expect. The beautiful ending won’t always happen. My job is simply to obey.
My father was not a big man, although he seemed big to me. When he walked it wasn’t leisurely. It was with head and shoulders leaning forward and his feet ready to speed ahead at an ever increasing pace.
When we were in town together he would take my hand and my own feet could suddenly move farther and faster than they could on their own.
To be part of his determined, quick steps was exhilarating. He didn’t usually tell me his precise plan for the day. I would just grab his hand and follow his lead.
I miss those adventures. The power of my hand in his.
I still have a Heavenly Father who takes my hand, ready to lead me down paths I am unfamiliar with. Life is uncertain and difficult, but with my hand in His I can move forward with confidence, being sure, not of myself, but sure of Him.
“‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand…’ For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ Do not fear.”
I wrote this article over 10 years ago to honor my Father, and others like him, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The first picture is of the actual ship (LCI) he served on. If you know a veteran or an active duty soldier take time today to tell them thank you.
I had always imagined him on a huge navy ship cutting through the ocean to Europe and the War that was taking place there. My father was a radioman. He talked about being sick and doing his job in the very bottom of the boat. Most of his time was spent in Italy. I recently found records that showed what vessels he was on. They were both LCI(L) which stands for Landing Craft, Infantry. The sailors called them spitkits. I was startled when I saw pictures of them.
They were tiny. An admiral who saw them swarming around his battleship called them “Waterbugs”. They were only 158’ long and 23.3’ at their widest. They had a crew of no more than 25. Because of their flat bottom they were able to do a job the big ships couldn’t. They would make a quick beach landing. Ramps would be lowered from both sides of the bow and 200 soldiers would disembark into the shallow waters. Total time – 10 minutes. The anchor they had dropped while off shore would then pull them back out to sea.
Here is a description from someone who was there.
“…So we went to sea. The lawyers, the bankers, the garage mechanics, the farmers, the salesmen, and me. In our little spitkits, we struck out boldly if not fearfully…” On the seasickness of the sailors he simply stated “They’ve got no guts left, these kids. They’ve spilled them all. But they’ve got what it takes. Fine spirit. Game guys. Big men in little ships. American youth, learning the hardest way of all, on the high seas in a spitkit through the war zone. They take it all in stride and somehow (God only knows) they manage to smile. Somehow, also…you go below feeling that’s why we’ll win this war. No one can beat that kind of stuff!”
(From Samuel Eliot Morison Vol. II – History of United States Naval Operations in World War II – Operations in North African Waters)
Yes, there were big battleships and aircraft carriers. There were supply ships and destroyers, but I believe the war would not have been won without these little LCI’s or “waterbugs”. The LCI’s were small and vulnerable, shot up, bombed, torpedoed and struck by underwater mines. Kamikaze planes used them as targets. These sailors crossed the ocean in vessels that weren’t made for crossing the ocean. They were uncomfortable and sick while they did it. They were determined to do what they could, no matter the cost, to stem the tide of evil.
…but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, I Corinthians 1:27
I took a deep breath and asked my husband to pray. I started to climb the ladder to a second story window that needed painting. Rain was coming in a couple days and the bare wood of the newly replaced window needed to be protected. I shook as I climbed the ladder while the wind whipped around the corner.
I was feeling fragile. Two days earlier as I was driving home in the dark a deer jumped in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and waited for the thud. I must have missed it by an inch or two. I arrived home safe, but shaken.
Later in the day I pondered these two events while I drove home from the library. “Thank you, God for keeping me safe.” I see my need in crisis, but often fail to thank him for the calm, easy days when I don’t cry out in desperation. Each breath is from Him. Because of Him all things hold together. I take it for granted. Forgive me Father for my failure to look moment by moment to you.
As I drove I noticed the trees were swaying rather violently ahead. Suddenly one came crashing down as I swerved my car to miss most of it. The car behind me did the same. It was as if God was making His point again. I thought of the hymn. “I need Thee, O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee…”
We are such foolish creatures. We think we are self-sufficient and in need of nothing. It is good we are reminded of how frail we are. For, even on the good days, it is God who is by our side while we merrily and obliviously go on our way.
Thank you, Father for the not so subtle reminder of your care.
“The Lord your God is in your midst. A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” Zephaniah 3:17
Windows of His Grace 