When God Does Something Good

“How kind the Lord is!” [Elizabeth] exclaimed. “He has taken away my disgrace of having no children.”
Luke 1:25, NLT*

North American culture today doesn’t equate a woman’s worth with her fertility, but for women in Bible times, failure to produce a child – especially a male heir – was a source of shame.

What strikes me here is Elizabeth’s response. She’s old by this point, well past natural childbearing age. God surprises her with a miracle pregnancy as announced by an angel to her husband, Zechariah. (Luke 1:5-25)

Elizabeth is purely grateful. She alludes to the long disappointment in her life, but she’s not bitter. She sees how God’s gift is meeting that hurt.

She sees the power of God. And she accepts His timing. There’s no hint of asking why He took so long, let her be barren for so many years, waited until she’s old and feeble and has no stamina to chase a toddler all day.

“How kind the Lord is!”

If God chooses to meet our unmet longings – or if He chooses not to – He is still kind and good. He is still enough. He still does good things for us.

How do we respond?

First of all, let’s keep our eyes and hearts open to notice what He does. Let’s respond like Elizabeth, with gratitude and trust. Not with “well, it took You long enough!” Not with complaints to taint the thanks. Neither with mindless acceptance or casual indifference – nor a sense of entitlement.

Let’s respond with mindful worship and gratitude, acknowledging God’s goodness and mercy, and knowing that while He doesn’t owe us anything, He loves us enough to give His own Son to rescue and redeem us.

Our Father God, how good You are! How kind indeed. Grow in us an awareness of Your care and a humble gratitude for Your many gifts. Teach us, like Elizabeth, to respond with praise, adoration and trust.

I don’t have an “Elizabeth” song, but here’s Christy Nockels singing a “Mary” song of praise: “Magnificat” (from one of my favourite Christmas albums, Do You See What I See? by Todd Agnew & Friends).

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: Less than Dead, by Tim Downs

Less than Dead, by Tim DownsLess than Dead, by Tim Downs (Thomas Nelson, 2008)

A multi-million-dollar building project is stalled when excavators clearing the forest discover an old graveyard… and some of the graves have a second body buried on top of the casket. What better place for a murderer to dispose of a body than in a graveyard?

Nick Polchak is a forensic entomologist – meaning he studies the insects on and around a corpse to determine time of death and if the place of death is the same as where the body was found. He’s brilliant, but short on social skills, which makes him a funny man to read about.

Nick is called to the excavation site to help determine how long the victims’ skeletons have been in the ground. It looks like a serial killer’s work, but is this someone from the past, or someone who’s still around?

Problem is, he can’t do his job until the other graves are identified and marked – or so insists the expert whose cadaver dog seems unable to find anything it can’t see. In desperation, Nick enlists a local woman whose uncanny, three-legged dog really does seem able to find the dead.

Alena Savard is a reclusive young woman living on the mountain above the Virginia town of Endor – feared by the people as a witch, but really a gifted dog trainer who’s been hurt and shunned by the townsfolk since her childhood.

Nick’s investigation puts Alena in danger, and her dogs may not be enough to save her – although they do a good job of protecting her from Nick’s initial attempts to meet her.

Less than Dead is a fun suspense novel with clever descriptions and plenty of funny lines. Most of these are too long to quote, but here’s one of my favourites describing “Marge,” the expert dog handler who so annoys Nick:

[Her face] was long and thin with high cheekbones that ran down into sinewy sunken hollows like wax dripping over a ledge. [Kindle page 25]

I’m not reading this series in order, but I really enjoy both the stories and the characters. Less than Dead is the fourth in the Bug Man series. Currently there are six, the last of which, Nick of Time, released in 2011. I hope we’ll see a new one soon. As well as writing Christian fiction, Tim Downs is the co-author with his wife, Joy, of non-fiction books on relationships.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Patrick’s Territorial Cat

Where do writers get their ideas? If you’ve read Secrets and Lies, you met Patrick’s cat. (Although, as he says, it’s hard to think of something that independent as his.)

The cat appears in chapter 6. Carol and Patrick are in his living room. It’s her first time there, and she chose to sit in the rocking chair:

As Patrick pulled his cell from his pocket, a slender Siamese cat paraded into the room and positioned itself in front of the rocking chair like a guard. Its stare turned Carol’s admiration to unease.

“Patrick?”

He looked up, and the question on his face turned to resignation as he saw the cat. He set the phone on the table in front of him. “I know, Isis. It’s all right. Go find something else to do.”

Carol risked another glance. The cat’s blue eyes glowed, irises narrowed in the equivalent of a scowl. A low rumble vibrated its throat. Carol shivered. “Patrick?”

Muttering a curse, he pushed up from his chair. The cat swivelled one ear in his direction and crouched to spring. The unblinking blue eyes targeted Carol’s face. The rumbling growl deepened to a snarl.

Carol bolted from the rocker. She caught at the door frame to steady herself, her feet sliding on the hardwood floor. She checked for pursuit, but the cat was sitting straight and tall in the rocking chair, staring at her.

[Later, in the safety of another room, Patrick explains:]

“Isis considers humans to be lower life forms, with the exception of my wife. She and Rita had a special bond, and she is somewhat… protective. That rocker was Rita’s favourite chair. I usually put it away before I have guests.” [Excerpt from chapter 6 of Secrets and Lies, by Janet Sketchley]

I’ve been accused of being a “dog person” because of this cat, and let me say I love cats and I don’t intend this one to represent the greater feline population. On the other hand, I have a hearty respect for the attitude with which a self-respecting and indignant cat can fill a room…

Why would I name the cat Isis? That’s an Egyptian goddess, as well as a violent Islamic organization. I knew the cat’s name before I knew about the terrorists, and although they made me think a bit, I decided to keep it.

Patrick’s wife, Rita, likely named the cat after the Egyptian goddess, but for me the name was prompted by an episode of the original Star Trek series. “Assignment, Earth” featured a human raised on another planet, and a beautiful alien woman who shape-shifted into a black cat (named Isis). Attitude and territory were two traits she radiated.

My fictional Isis is Siamese, because of the elegance and nobility they possess. (In fairness, the only two Siamese cats I’ve met have been very affectionate.)

Her territorial aggression? It’s a nod to my childhood pet, a black cat named Willie, who was nowhere that hostile — but he did claim ownership of one of the living room chairs, and if a visitor sat in it, Willie would sit in the middle of the room and stare hard enough to make the visitor uncomfortable.

Photo of a black cat

Willie (Yes, we lived in black and white in those days)

Why Jesus is Relevant

Our Saviour Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.
Titus 3:5a-7, MSG*

When I was a child, our church encouraged us to invite our friends to Sunday School, and to let them know that Jesus loved them.

I never knew what to say to them about Jesus. That lasted into early adulthood. All I had was, “You need to believe in Him so you’ll go to Heaven when you die.”

Eternity is important, but to the invincible hearts of youth, it’s not imminent. I used to pray, “How do I show them that Jesus is relevant now? In their choices and struggles today?”

He’s relevant in my life, and others will see it when I live authentically. Part of it is that I’m secure in my hope of Heaven because of His promises, but mostly it’s a growing assurance of His presence and His care.

The longer I live in faith, the more my experience proves God’s faithfulness. That doesn’t mean I always trust Him right away or never worry or get discouraged, but we have a history. A track record that reinforces my faith as I look back.

Nothing has been too much for Him yet, and I have His promise that He never changes. Or sleeps, for that matter! He won’t run out of energy or mercy or power.

Restored relationship with God – and our lives, given back to us. Life with a fullness we didn’t have before. God with us, to save, sustain and strengthen. We don’t have to be alone anymore.

That’s the Good News. It’s relevant. And it won’t end with death, although the pain will.

Why do we need Jesus? For the here and now… and for eternity.

Eternal Father, strong and compassionate to save, when we didn’t even see our need, You paid everything to rescue us. You promise to never leave or forsake us, and You keep Your word. Open our eyes to how deeply You want to be involved in our lives. Help us live in faith. Help us to share the truth and the relevance of the Gospel with those around us. Open their hearts to receive You.

Let Matt Maher‘s song, “Lord I Need You,” be our prayer today.

*The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Review: When God Interrupts, by M. Craig Barnes

When God Interrupts, by M. Craig BarnesWhen God Interrupts, by M. Craig Barnes (InterVarsity Press, 1996)

“Finding new life through unwanted change.” The book’s subtitle promises hope, and the notion of God interrupting isn’t meant as blaming Him for the pain we experience. I think the idea is that God interrupts the pain and disappointment.

The introduction begins this way: “We just keep losing things: wives, husbands, friends, health, the dreams and security of the past.” (p. 9) When God Interrupts calls these losses abandonment, and challenges readers to accept them as “the opportunity to discover a new life.” (p. 10)

The premise is that if we’ll allow it, Jesus will fill the empty places and our end, while not what we had hoped or planned, will be richer. The author calls these choices conversion – the same word we use for our initial turning to Christ.

When God Interrupts draws examples from the Bible and from the author’s experiences as a pastor counselling his people. It looks at different forms of abandonment: death, disappointment, infertility, discovering our head-based religion isn’t enough, business failure, illness, divorce/family rejection, and even the sense of being abandoned by God.

In each case the message is to let go of our expectations, hopes, dreams… our perceived rights. And to ask God what He wants to do with the pieces.

This is one of those books filled with quotable lines. Here are a few of my favourites:

Nothing makes it harder to see God than our expectations of him. (p. 30)

The challenge to people of faith is to learn how to follow. Central to that task is giving up the expectation of knowing where we are going. (p. 53)

Walk as one who walks with a Saviour. (p. 90)

I’m not reviewing a lot of non-fiction books anymore, but this one bears sharing. It’s an encouraging book filled with examples of ordinary people who have chosen to grow closer to God when life falls apart. It’s one of those “keeper” books to read again throughout one’s life. A book to buy for a friend.

M. Craig Barnes is a pastor and author and was appointed President of Princeton Theological Seminary in 2013. You can find his “Faith Matters” columns at The Christian Century.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

En-joying Advent

I hope last week’s post, On Joy and Interruptions, wasn’t a downer. The intent was to acknowledge and work through some of the feelings common to the season, but maybe the positives didn’t come through clearly enough.

Everyone finds their own way, and different circumstances impact our situations, but whether life in general is happy or sad, Christmas comes just the same. Not everyone was happy and peaceful in Bethlehem when God broke into human history.

Now that I’ve embraced the Christmas season, the joy is coming in. I still don’t like the commercialism and a lot of what North American culture adds and subtracts from the observance of my Saviour’s birth, but I don’t have to beat them or join them. I can be myself, present with the Lord, and enjoying His presence with me.

I encourage you to take a few quiet minutes each day — hard to carve out of the whirlwind, perhaps, but of great restorative value. Read the Christmas narratives. Or some of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. Listen to — truly hear — a Christmas carol. Sit with God and ask for His peace.

No, I’m not “ready for Christmas” in the sense of hatches battened down, presents bought and wrapped, cards mailed, freezer stocked with goodies. But I’m contented in Advent. And the other things will come in due time. My responsibility today is to not accept the anxiety, but to abide with God and to be alert to the gift ideas and other nudges that He will give in His own good time.

One of my top 5 Christmas albums is A Day of Glory, from The Austin Stone Church. Five and a half minutes of stillness to hear the words of this song will bless you. It might even set your spirit dancing: Hallelujah, What a Saviour.

Bring Out the Best

Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
1Thessalonians 5:15b, MSG*

Most translations render this verse as “always do good to one another” or “always follow after the good for one another.” I’m not entirely sure looking for and bringing out the best in one another is the same thing, but it’s definitely one way of doing good to another or working for his or her good.

Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

This begins with a Christian’s responsibility to pray for open eyes and ears to see and hear what God wants to reveal.

Look for the best… for God-given potential, even if faintly visible. For spiritual gifts and natural talents. For signs of Jesus living inside.

Bringing it out in the best way starts with prayer: asking God what to say (or what to pray without even approaching the person). Asking God what He wants to do, and waiting for His timing.

Then, maybe pointing out the ability or potential we see, and encouraging the person to volunteer at the level of his or her ability. Maybe introducing a beginner to someone experienced in that area.

Beginner or seasoned worker, everyone is still a work in progress. How do we bring out the best? We celebrate the good, we are careful in correction, we encourage growth.

“The best” here doesn’t mean perfection in performance; God is more interested in the heart. Quality of work matters, but a genuine and God-serving heart is an essential part of “the best”. So let’s encourage one another’s hearts, spiritual lives and attitudes as well as the outward working of one another’s potential.

Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

In our relationships with non-Christians, this would also include being alert to signs of spiritual seeking or longing for truth. The best way to bring it out will be by living our own faith authentically and sharing a word or two as God makes a way.

Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

What better way to follow Jesus in our daily lives?

God who formed each one of us and who planned a good purpose for us, who gives talents and gifts according to Your own wisdom and for Your glory in building up of the body of believers, thank You for what You want to do in and through each of Your children. Open us to recognize the best in one another, and show us how to best bring that out. Forgive us for the times we look at one another through human eyes, short-sighted and biased – and sometimes grumpy. Help us to see what You see, and to desire what You desire.

Russ Taff‘s song, “We Will Stand,” celebrates the unity of believers working together.

*The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Review: Snowflake Tiara, by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer

Snowflake Tiara, by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie ComerSnowflake Tiara, by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer (Gems of Wisdom, 2014)

Two heart-warming novellas, linked through time: one historical, one contemporary. In 1889, Montana is granted statehood, and debutante Calista Blythe enters the inaugural Snowflake Pageant because the prize money ($100) would allow her to buy the freedom of a 6-year-old indentured servant she’s rescued from an abusive situation. But what if the handsome event organizer discovers Calista is illegally harbouring a runaway?

In 2014, Montana celebrates its 125th anniversary, and the Snowflake Pageant is revived. Calista Blythe’s descendant, Marisa Hiller, is a former model who works for a community-supported agriculture group. Winning the tiara would give her a platform to speak about the importance of healthy, natural foods—but the pageant throws her into company with the photographer who broke her heart.

I knew nothing about pageants except the stereotyped label of “beauty contest.” It was interesting to learn a bit about what these events really entail in terms of activities, motivation and purpose.  Author Angela Breidenbach is a former Mrs. Montana, so I trust the details to be accurate.

Naturally, contests of any sort are rife with competition, and in romantic novellas that includes vying for the heart of the handsome lead character. The historical novella is rich with gorgeous gowns and the burden of street children (Helena, Montana, is the final stop on the Orphan Train).

The present-day story has a more immediate feel and the world is much smaller. The plight of hungry children is still close to the 2014 pageant contestant’s heart. Now those children are both local and the ones she’s met through mission work in Kenya. Marisa is passionate about local, organic food—and about making it available to low-income families.

I enjoyed both stories. Favourite line:

Seeing him again created a pothole in her road, but she’d get back up to speed in a minute. (Marisa’s thoughts about Jase) [Page 184, Kindle version]

In each case, the Snowflake Pageant begins in December and winners are announced on Christmas Eve. Snowflake Tiara is a good read any time, but would make an ideal respite from the busyness leading up to Christmas. The reminder to care for others less fortunate than ourselves might prompt us to reach out in our own communities over the holiday season.

Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer make a good writing team. I’ll be interested to see if they follow this with other collaborative projects.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

On Joy and Interruptions

How did I lose the joy of Christmas?

It would be easy to blame the commercialism and hype. The music that starts too early in the stores. The trees that pop up, fully decorated, after Halloween – not even pausing for Remembrance Day.

Or the details, oh, the details. What to buy? Make a list. Be sure everyone gets enough – enough stuff they don’t have room or need for. Cringe when the bills come in.

Beneath it all, the dread – what if I can’t find the perfect gift for each loved one? They like money, but it always feels like I’ve failed to come up with anything better. The giving, after all, is to please them – not just a hollow ritual.

Pull out the same old decorations. Hang them in the same places. Bake. At least the baking’s fun – and the eating, if not the weight gain.

Cram an already-full schedule even fuller with extra events and gatherings – and with the unstated pressure to do it all, “because it’s Christmas.”

Jesus didn’t come to bring expectations and guilt – just the opposite. He didn’t come to drive us into debt or anxiety, but to set us free, enrich our spirits, and pour His peace into troubled hearts.

He came to interrupt our mundane lives and give us new life – abundant life. How often do I cling to the mundane instead?

I think that’s where the joy went – brushed aside because my agenda is as full as the Bethlehem inn.

This year, instead of carrying the weight of the doing, I want to cultivate the being. Being still with God, daily exploring the message of Advent. Being open to the interruptions that December brings to my plans. Not resisting the decorations as one more clutter-filled chore, but embracing the chance to love my family by creating a festive environment.

Choosing to enjoy the opportunities to spend time with friends and family. Hearing and celebrating the music of the season. Being with God, even in a crowded store, and listening for His nudges in what gifts to buy for whom.

I don’t want to miss the joy of Christmas by clinging to the mundane. I’d rather be a shepherd than a sleeping (or grumpy) citizen of Bethlehem.

Writing this post on Sunday helped me articulate the issue and put me on a better track. There’s something about identifying the problem that lets us begin to fix it.

This may be too early in the season for me to experience Christmas joy, but I’m finding meaning in deliberate, daily Advent readings, and once I stopped avoiding the Christmas activities, I’ve even begun to enjoy those. We have no decorations up yet – my husband and I are both sick. But we did a bit of shopping Wednesday night, and in God’s sense of humour, He helped us find a surprising amount of gifts (including one for us).

If you’re experiencing Christmas angst, you might check out Janice Dick’s post, “Christmas Stress.”

I encourage you to pop over to Carolyn Arends’ website and click on her song list to play “Vacancy.” It’ll bless you 🙂

Devoted to Prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2, NLT*

If we devote ourselves to prayer, it will become an essential part of our daily lives. We’ll find a quiet time to be alone with the Lord to worship, to listen and to speak. We’ll also carry the attitude of prayer with us through the day.

With a mindset of prayer, trouble won’t be something to fight, to complain or fret about. We can lift every struggle to God, as often as needed. Good things won’t be sources of pride or security – or possessiveness. We can thank the Giver and listen for how He might want to use them for His greater good.

Thankfulness in everything doesn’t mean we’re happy about the bad things. It means we’re thankful for a God who invites us to bring Him every need, who has a good plan and the power to complete it, and who loves and never leaves us.

What do you think? Looking at this from a human perspective, I could dismiss it as impossible. Ridiculous. A fantasy.

But on the other hand, wouldn’t you love to be able to live that way? Think of the deep-down sense of peace and security, no matter what life might throw at us.

We can’t just say “yes, God, I’ll live like this, and be suddenly changed – although He may make a dramatic shift that gets us well on the way.

This is a lifetime’s learning, a maturing into life with Jesus. It will take practice, and there’ll be setbacks, but the Holy Spirit within us can change us – if we’ll cooperate.

Father God, You know how many times prayer is not my first response. Or when I give you a problem and then take it back to carry on my own. This isn’t the life of glad, dependent obedience that You want to grow in me. Please help me learn to bring everything to You and to listen to You. Teach me to devote myself to prayer – to communicate with You – and to be alert and thankful. Thank You that You never leave us alone.

Steve Green‘s song, “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting,” captures this idea of prayerful devotion.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.