Fretting . . . Again!

I fretted again last night.  As usual, it was in the middle of the night.  Tossing and turning and trying to figure things out in the way that seemed right to me (Proverbs 14:12).  And, as usual, I tossed and turned myself right into exhaustion, finally falling asleep reading my favorite children's book, Understood Betsy, on my phone.  Did I try giving my fret-thing to the Lord?  Yes.  Did I then try to help God out by thinking things through for Him?  Yes.  Did I even quote Scripture to myself?  Yes. 

Even when we do all the right things, sometimes fretting just overtakes us and turns us into sniveling little bunnies, crouching under the teeth of the local hound (I know that of which I speak with that metaphor - see local hound below). 

 

This morning I read Psalm 32, and was encouraged in my fight against fretting.  Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.  I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight."  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. 

Love the Lord, all you his saints!  The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.  Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who wait for the Lord!

 

 

God rescues me; He shows His steadfast love to me when I am besieged by fear and trembling.  He hears my cries for mercy.  Just as He called Joshua to be strong and courageous, He calls me to it as well.  And mostly, this morning, I am to wait.  God is at work.  I need not fret.  



 



God's Chosen

 

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.  He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 

These verses from Isaiah 42 so beautifully capture the works of Christ among us.  I am meditating these days on the story of the man with the withered hand, in Mark 3.  Imagine this man among us, in our congregation; we have compassion on him whenever he walks in. 

Now imagine despising this man and his hand.  Watch as this Christ comes in, the one who has been doing all those healings.  Watch him, lest he try to pull that here, on this Sabbath day, this day holy to the Lord.  What?  How dare he do that sort of labor on the Sabbath, holy to the Lord?  Imagine hating him for his compassionate touch, his care for this suffering man.  Imagine plotting to kill him for it. 

Have they not suffered with this useless-handed man?  Have they not wondered how he gets along with only one hand to do his daily work?  Is their concern only that Jesus might heal him on the Sabbath, holy to the Lord?   

It's no wonder that Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.  Oh Father, heal us of this same hard-heartedness.  Give us Your compassionate heart; change our hearts of stone into hearts of warm, kind flesh.  You, O Christ, are God's Servant, the One in whom His soul delights.  No wonder. 

Lights in the Darkness

The United States Supreme Court yesterday handed down a sweeping decision on the status of marriage in this country.  How are we as believers to view this development?  I found this commentary to be the most encouraging and most helpful.  I strongly recommend reading it and then living the gospel more fully and honestly in your circles of influence. 

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life . . . (Philippians 2:14-16a). 

http://www.russellmoore.com/2013/06/26/how-should-same-sex-marriage-change-the-churchs-witness/

Trusting in the Darkness

 

Is trusting God hard for you?  When you lay something at His feet, do you, like me, continue to pick it up and gaze at it and try to figure it out?  Are you a fretter? 

Here is God's Word for you and me then:  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself . . . (Psalm 37)  How do we do that when the thing we are fretting about keeps presenting itself before our eyes?  How are we to be still? 

By the blood of Christ.  By His mercy.  By understanding and knowing in our very bones that God is enough for us.  God is enough.  If we have Him, we have everything.  If this thing or that never changes, God is enough.  If I have to live my entire life with this affliction or that, God is enough.  My joy is in Him, my strength to obey is from Him, He is my very life.  He is enough for me. 

My heart and my flesh may fail (in fact, WILL fail), but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26) 

Trusting is hard work.  It means picking up and setting something down again many times a day.  It means fasting sometimes.  It means praying intentionally and wholeheartedly.  It will probably mean meditating on and memorizing key passages.  It will entail fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy (!!) set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12:2). 

Set this joy before your eyes today. 

Kay Arthur Conference Summary

“Be still, my soul: your God will undertake to guide the future as he has the past.

Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.”

These words were some of those sung by the women at the “My Grace is Sufficient for You” conference this past weekend at Spring Lake Church.  The sweet sound of 500 women worshiping God with hymns and praise songs provided a high point of the conference for many.  One song rich in expressions of praise and trust flowed beautifully into the next, giving opportunity for the women, including the thirty-seven women from New Hope, to pour out their hearts to God.

Kay Arthur came from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to be the conference speaker.  In spite of her 79 years, she spoke with great energy, moving around the stage and into the crowd as she communicated truths of scripture and how God has worked in her own life.  Kay’s talks were full of scripture and serious challenges to know and trust God as well as cute, quickly-improvised visual aids!  

The conference theme was from II Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  Kay pointed out the importance of context, and that this verse comes after Paul had asked the Lord three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh.”  This affliction (or weakness) was not removed, but instead Paul was assured that God’s grace would be enough to get him through this suffering. 

What exactly is grace?  Kay reminded us that it is undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor.   The power that is “perfected in weakness” is the same power that was promised to the disciples in Acts 1:8, which would come to them as a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon them after Jesus returned to heaven.  Because we are given the Holy Spirit when we trust in Christ for forgiveness of our sins, we have the power needed to rest in God in the midst of afflictions. As the song quoted above says, we can “be still,” trusting in God through the circumstances of our lives, as His grace will be enough for us. 

“What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are, Jesus.  Indeed, it was because you embraced the weakness of the cross that I can gladly boast in the weaknesses of my life and the more-than-sufficient supply of your grace.  What a most profound, liberating, and hope-filled paradox.”   (from the blog post mentioned on June 19, Heavenward)

                                                                                                         Janet Smies

 

And I would like to thank the many women, New Hope and Spring Lake, who spent so many hours working, praying, preparing, baking, decorating, setting up, and arranging for the amazing conference.  Very well done and God-exalting, ladies!  

                                                                                                         Jean Opelt

                                                                        

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer for the Conference

Women congregating, enjoying fellowship, hearing God's Word . . . not unlike a trio of penguins, albeit a tad warmer.  As we anticipate the conference this weekend and our time with Kay Arthur, please pray:  

Father of glory, Redeemer of our souls, might we be filled this weekend with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we might walk in a manner worthy of You, fully pleasing You, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of You and Your ways. 

Might we be strengthened in our listening and fellowship with all power, according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving You thanks, You who have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 

For You have delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Enable us this weekend to listen and to hear.   (Colossians 1:9-14)

His Grace . . . Sufficient!

 

This weekend many of us are eagerly anticipating the Kay Arthur conference entitled "His Grace is Sufficient for You". 

 

Today Pastor Scotty Smith from Nashville tackles that very passage in his blog Heavenward.  Take a look:  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/  

 

Read and be challenged and encouraged. 

Nightstand Books

 

Here's what I've been reading lately just before I fall asleep: 

Timothy Keller's The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness (I haven't actually started this one yet, but I'm    convicted every time I read the title, so I'm counting it)

Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift From the Sea

Lina AbuJamra's Thrive  Delightfully written!

D. E. Stevenson's Mrs. Tim Christie, which I love!  She is an author from mid-century who 
    has put the diary she wrote during the war years into a somewhat fictional account.   
    Lovely reading . . .

I'm not even going to begin to list the books piled under and inside of my nightstand.  Fortunately I just found a nice large nightstand at the thrift store, so there's much more room for books I'm hoping to read someday. 

What's on, under, inside your nightstand? 

Set Apart Conference Praise

  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? . . . All the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.  (Isaiah 40:12, 17)

This is our God, the God who works wonders, the God who mightily and kindly answered our prayers for the Set Apart conference over the weekend.  Many came, were challenged by strong teaching, and left encouraged.  Thanks to the Lord for His amazing blessings to us.  Thanks to Anne Tess and her team for really hard work, beautiful décor and treats, and not a little blood, sweat, and tears. 

He gives power to the faint, and to him (and her!) who has no might he increases strength. (Isaiah 40:29).  Praise Him!  And thank you for your prayers. 

Prayer III

Pray once more with me for the women attending the Set Apart Girls conference today.  Pray for open hearts and good ears!

You are the inviting One, may they hearken to You;
                   the almighty Instructor, teach them to live to You;
                   the light-dweller, inaccessible to man and angels,
                   hiding Yourself behind the elements of creation, but known to us in Jesus.

Possess their minds with the grandeur of Your perfections.
Your love to us in Jesus is firm and changeless,
                   nothing can separate us from it,
                    and in the enjoyment of it, nothing can make us miserable. 

Preserve them from hypocrisy and formality in religion; enable them to remember what You are and what they are, to recall Your holiness and their unworthiness.

Help them to approach You clothed with humility, for vanity, forwardness, insensibility, disorderly affection, backwardness to duty, proneness to evil are in all of our hearts.

Let them never forget Your patience, wisdom, power, faithfulness, care, and never cease to respond to Your invitations, especially those given this weekend.

Amen.                                                 
                                                          Adapted from p. 222, The Valley of Vision

Prayer II

Pray with me this day for the Set Apart Girls conference beginning this evening. 

We need faith; You who have given it to us, maintain, strengthen, increase it,
                     center it upon the Savior's work,
                     upon the majesty of the Father,
                     upon the operations of the Spirit; 
work it in us, all of us, girls and moms alike, that we may never doubt You as the truthful, mighty faithful God.  Then we can bring our hearts to you full of love, gratitude, hope, joy. 

May the women that come  to the conference this weekend be enabled to
             lay at Your feet these fruits grown in Your garden,
             love You with a passion that can never cool,
             believe in You with a confidence that never staggers,
             hope in you with an expectation that can never be dim,
             delight in You with a rejoicing that cannot be stifled,
             glorify You with the highest of their powers,
             burning, blazing, glowing, radiating, as from Your own glory. 

Amen.

                                               Taken from p. 131, The Valley of Vision 

Prayer for Set Apart Girls Conference

Pray with me this morning for the Set Apart Girls conference coming to New Hope tomorrow night and Saturday: 

O Father of glory, Redeemer of our souls, God of our Lord Jesus Christ, give the women, young and old, who attend a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You, having the eyes of their hearts enlightened, that they may know what is the hope to which You have called them, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward those who believe, according to the working of Your great might that You worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  (Ephesians 1:17-21) 

Woe is Me . . .

"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen" goes an old spiritual, and I think many times we believe it.  I am alone in my suffering; no one has the deep troubles that I have. 

Elisabeth Elliot speaks to us this morning:  "It is a bad thing to take refuge in difficulties, thus excusing ourselves from responsibility to others because we think our situation is unique.  If we are willing to receive help, our Helper is standing by--sometimes in the form of another human being sent by Him, qualified by Him to help us.  It may be a case of our not receiving help because we were too proud to receive the kind God sent.  Sometimes we really prefer to wallow."  (p. 213, A Lamp for My Feet)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:15-16. 

Growth

Are you growing?  Is the Lord becoming more for you, and you becoming less?  As I prepare a short workshop for teen girls and their moms this weekend, Maggie and I have come up with some means that God uses to grow us.  I wonder if these ring true for you as they do for us. 

God grows us in grace through bringing hard things, even suffering, into our lives, whereby we either grow in trusting Him or in bitterness towards Him. 

We also grow in Him when we are obedient in the small things.  Can I do this one act of obedience?  Can I deny myself in this one small area of my life?  Each minute obedience grows me in Christ. 

God grows us in knowledge of Himself through time, lots of time, in His Word.  The more we read of Him and His ways, the more we know Him.  My favorite times in the Word are when I spend a week or more meditating on a single passage; each day brings fresh views of His kindness and majesty. 

We are called to grow in Him, but the growth "comes from God" (See 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7).  What ways of growing can you add to our short list? 

Drama Queen

Oh, such a baby!  Here's our little Opie about 30 pounds ago.  He's still only 9 months, and still a real cutie-pie.  I just had to show him off a bit . . .

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fairly passionate person, some would even say Drama Queen (out of respect for my husband and daughters, I won't mention names).  When it comes to sharing the latest dramas in my life, I pour it all out on whoever is willing to listen. 

And yet, when I come to the Lord Who Answers Prayer with those same concerns, I'm calm and trusting and polite.  Why is that?  Do I think God hasn't heard me sharing my heart with others?  Am I trying to prove to Him how trusting I am when I'm really not?  Do I think He shouldn't know how passionate I am about this thing that has me in turmoil? 

Listen to the psalmist in Psalm 102:  Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!  Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!  Is this pray-er holding back his passion?  Is he afraid of offending God?  NO . . . he is sharing his heart, respectfully, but in full dramatic regalia.  He is crying out in deep honesty to the God Who Hears him. 

Maybe we ought to try that when we are in deep distress.  How dare we bare our souls to others and not to the Father God who loves us more than life itself?  Indeed, that life was poured out for us in great passion. 

Trust Him today to hear your REAL requests.  And then trust Him to answer in the best way possible. 

Beholding Day 2

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights.

Isaiah 42:1

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--

all things were created through him and for him.

 

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

 

And he is the head of the body, the church. 

 

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

that in everything he might be preeminent. 

 

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace by the blood of his cross. 

Colossians 1:15-20

 

Gaze on this One this weekend.  And rejoice.

 

 

 

Behold!

 

 

 

Behold my snowball viburnum bushes!  Never before have I had blossoms.  It takes my breath away daily, and is a continual reminder of God's kindness in His creation. 

Behold: to give one's undivided attention to (according to one online commentary) 
Behold: to perceive through sight or apprehension; to gaze upon (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

And so Isaiah 42 begins:  Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.
And so John continues: Behold, the Lamb of god, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
And Revelation finishes:  Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  (22:12)

These are things, this is the One, we are to give our undivided attention to, to understand, to gaze upon.  Begin with Isaiah 42, then move into Isaiah 53.  Stay there awhile, just gazing at His glory on your behalf.  His glory, period.  And rejoice that this is our God. 

Musings from the Hermitage

Can't stop posting green pictures, after our long winter.  The world is so lush with spring right now.

 

Elisabeth Elliot speaks to my hermit heart this morning, as she writes in A Lamp Unto My Feet (pub. 1985) of our need to work out our salvation.  Being a believer is more than just hopping on the Hallelujah train to heaven.  "Gifts must be received, possessed and fostered."  She quotes 2 Peter 1:10-11, where Peter lists the character traits we need to be nurturing in Christ: virtue, knowledge (so far, I'm good), self-control (okay, not so much), fortitude, piety, brotherly kindness (alright, I'm off the train), and love.  My hermit tendencies love the part where we add knowledge (picture curling up with a good book), but not the part where I actually have to live my faith in kindness to others. 

 

She continues, "It is still true that nothing can wash away my sin but the blood of Jesus.  It is also true that God gives us responsibility--that is, the obligation to respond.  How much do we care [about the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf]?  The vigor of our response will reveal how much." 

 

Do you, like me, struggle with the living out of your faith in relationships and action?  Are you the one, like me, who loves to study about God but not put a toe out the door to help another?  Then I say to you what Peter preached to me this morning: Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:8-9). 

 

Water in the Desert

The sun setting behind Grandfather Mountain . . . in climbing to this place we were surrounded by blooming rhododendron.  Luscious!  Doesn't God's creation sometimes take your breath away?  Does it sometimes amaze you that He provides so much beauty for our pleasure? 

I think of this as I read Isaiah 41:17-20.  When the poor and needy seek water . . . I the Lord will answer them; . . . I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys.  I will make the wilderness (!!) a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.  Read on and you will see vegetation in the desert and trees in the wilderness.  Why does He answer us in this way?  That they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.   God wants us to know Him!  He desires that we understand His unfathomable love and care for us.  Even when our circumstances don't change (they were still in the wilderness), He is there with us, lavishing us with His kind love. 

This passage reminds me of Ephesians 1, where we see again His lavishness toward us:  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. . . . .

When it seems as though the desert is your home, weep and lament, then stop and listen for the sound of water.

Dismayed?

Back today to Isaiah 41:10, what I like to call my Amy-labor verse:  Do not fear, for I am with you; be 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. 

 

What makes you look anxiously about, or, as another translation has it, what dismays you?  Is it fear of a job loss looming in your future?  Is it horror over a wayward child's choices? 

Might it be the sense that you will not be able to pay your bills this month?  So often in this life we stand on the precipice looking over the edge at projected disasters.  What if . . . ?

 

Read the verse again; is it not enough that He is our God?  Read all of Isaiah 41 if you are wondering, and know that he is enough.  He, the Creator of the ends of the earth, is our God.  He can strengthen us and He will.  He can help us and He will. 

 

Our dismay and anxieties vanish as the morning fog as we gaze at this great God who has promised to be our God.  And at His right hand reigns the risen glorified victorious Christ, reminding us of the great help with which He has helped us.  You will be upheld.

The Holy One of Israel

 

"Fear not, you men of Israel," Isaiah 41:14 tells us.  Why should they not fear?  They have everything to fear: their own exile, other nations that despise them, their own wicked kings.  In fact, God calls them worms, so you could say that they should mostly fear Him who has the power of life and death in His hands.  So why should they NOT fear?  "I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."  Oh Lord, let our words be few  as we contemplate this rock-solid truth that the Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer!

 

How can we be dismayed?  Who is left to fear?  Because the Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer, we shall "thresh the mountains and crush them", and all manner of other great deeds.  And when all is said and done, we "shall rejoice in the Lord; in the Holy One of Israel we shall glory." 

When I worry about our son driving home 12 hours through storm territory, I shall crush the mountains of dread in my heart and believe that the Holy One of Israel is sovereign over his life.  When my heart fails me while I tremble in the darkness of the night, fearing anything (!!), I shall make the hills of trembling like chaff because the Holy One of Israel is my Redeemer. 

Gazing at the Lord, instead of at my fears, shall cause me to rejoice in Him, and the fears will cease.  For He is the one who helps me.