Wonder knows that while you cannot look at the light, you cannot look at anything else without it. It is not exhausted by childhood, but finds its key there. It is a journey like a walk through the woods over the usual obstacles and around the common distractions while the voice of direction leads, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’
-Ravi Zacharias
I have not stopped thanking God for you.
I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.
God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
(Ephesians 1: 16-23 NLT)
Sometimes if we take what we think we think about God and what we actually feel about God and put them in a room together we are surprised that they don’t look the same. Sometimes they don’t even look remotely related. When we don’t have unity within ourselves? Well, that’s just crazy-making.
Both can be right and both can be wrong. When they are not aligned with who God really is both can string a barb wire fence between us and seeing the majesty of God. Both can place barriers in the way of stepping into a greater understanding of the incredible greatness of God’s power for those who believe in him. Both can restrain us from attaining everything he has for us.
“But I was always taught…”
“That reminds me of a painful time…”
His light soothes and comforts the downtrodden, the tired, and the despairing because it floods our hearts and replaces false ideas and bad memories with the trustworthiness of his splendour, his glory, his infinite grace.
He longs to give us spiritual wisdom and insight so that we might grow in increasing knowledge of God.
There is a reason why Jesus is called the Wonderful Counselor. He came to gently expose the lies we have absorbed and show us what his Father is really like. That knowledge is the foundation for confident hope.
Jesus is the light of the world.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
’til he appeared and the soul felt it’s worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…
(From Oh Holy Night by Adolphe Adams, English lyrics by John Sullivan Dwight)
There is more.
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
(From Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley)
My husband told me he had sung Christmas carols for years, but he never heard the words until he met the risen king. Then all the songs came alive.
Our sense of wonder is a blessing from God, given so that we would be continually amazed at His beauty and creation.
– Ravi Zacharias
Our daughter needed to study calculus as part of her bachelor degree requirements. She liked math and was good at it so she happily signed up for the course. The problem was that the only class that fit into her timetable was the class her father taught. She had hoped to avoid that scenario, still being a teen and all.
One day she needed to ask a question about something she didn’t understand. Her father carefully explained the concept covering two blackboards with figures and diagrams, then turned and asked her if she understood.
“What? Oh…” she said looking up from the page she had been doodling on. “Um, sorry. I heard you go into your lecturing voice and I tuned you out.”
The students who didn’t know about their relationship gasped in shock. Those that knew the prof was her dad laughed.
This story came back to me today as I was thinking about relating to the many facets of God. Our daughter was relating to the man at the front of the class as the dad who had been responsible for setting limits through some chaotic years. In that moment she wasn’t relating to him as a valuable teacher and missed what he had to offer. (All was not lost. That was the year she gained respect for his skills and actually changed direction to become a math education major herself.)
Many metaphors describe the way God wants to relate to us; He presents himself as creator, king, father, bridegroom, shepherd, healer, provider, lamb, mother, brother, law-giver, judge, protector and many more. Someone once asked me, “Who does God want to be for you now?”
I didn’t understand the question at the time. God is God. Holy Other. Unchanging. There is no one like him. What do you mean?
Since then I have come to know God as my loving heavenly father, Jesus as a brother and the Holy Spirit as a comforter. I’ve known him as a teacher and healer and encourager and even as an intimate friend who shares confidences. What I am still learning is how to be flexible when he wants to show me another aspect of himself.
Lately I have been spending time praying about some heavy matters brought to my attention. I feel privileged to be trusted, and I do remember praying “break my heart with what breaks yours,” but I’ve been feeling the weight of it lately. I know the joy of the Lord is my strength but I must have set it down somewhere and I’m having trouble remembering where I put it. Before I fell asleep I asked for an understanding of joy, because I don’t know how to make myself feel something I don’t feel.
It snowed last night. When I looked out my window this morning I saw the berries on the mountain ash tree covered with little tipped white piles of snow that looked like gnome hats. I ran out in my robe and slippers and took a photo, not caring what the neighbours digging out their vehicles thought. The mountain ash hats just looked silly. They reminded me of little red Smurfs. I smiled.
“There it is,” he said.
“There is what?”
“Joy. My joy. It’s been here all along. You just weren’t expecting it or looking for it.”
I need to shift my thinking and learn to relate to God as someone who has tremendous joy in spite of seeing selfish people misuse their authority and abuse the vulnerable. He knows how all this ends, and it ends well.
I remembered a passage of scripture that talks about Jesus being exuberant and full of joy because of his Father’s plans. This scene happened after he commissioned 70 people to go out ahead of him and declare the kingdom of God by healing the sick and casting out demons.
The seventy came back triumphant. “Master, even the demons danced to your tune!”
Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”
At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. “I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
“I’ve been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone he wants to.”
(Luke 10 :17-22 The Message)
I put on my warm clothes and high boots and went out into the dazzling light of the day, plowing through white powder nearly up to my knees. I listened to the distant birds, and the babbling brook. I stood under showers of tiny diamonds as the snow crystals fell from high branches in the sunlight. Today I am learning who God wants to be for me now. Jesus is introducing me to a happy Creator – my strength and my joy.
Keep trusting in the Lord
and do what is right in his eyes.
Fix your heart on the promises of God
and you will be secure,
feasting on his faithfulness.
Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life
and he will provide you
what you desire the most.
(Psalm 37:2,4 The Passion Translation)
Anxiety occurs when the things we worry about become more important than the things we are grateful for.
– John Paul Jackson
In his shelter in the day of trouble,
That’s where you’ll find me,
For he hides me there in his holiness.
He has smuggled me into his secret place
Where I’m kept safe and secure–
Out of reach from all my enemies.
Triumphant now I’ll bring him my offerings of praise,
Singing and shouting with ecstatic joy!
(Psalm 27: 5,6 The Passion Translation)
Sometimes we can see the answers to our prayers in the secret place with God before we see the answers show up in the place where everyone else can see them. Faith means having the freedom to praise God for evidence conceived in hope but not yet birthed.
But I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Micah 7:7
The older I get the faster it seems the seasons change. Perhaps this is what is meant by acceleration. Time doesn’t slow down as you age. It speeds up.
Didn’t I just put those Christmas decorations in storage?
What do you mean the stove is ten years old? That’s our new stove.
My baby granddaughter has a learner’s driving license? How did that happen?
So many hours have slipped by in the dailiness of life. For years on end tedious routines filled in the moments that gave us freedom to make changes. I thought I would never finish school and be out on my own.
Then I was responsible for paying my own bills and making my own decisions.
I thought the diaper-changing, toddler-chasing years were my whole world.
And then they weren’t.
I thought I would never see the end of practically living in the car, driving the kids to school and games and music lessons and church functions.
And then they got in their own cars and drove away.
I thought I would never hear the end of students singing scales as they stood beside my piano.
Now my studio piano is silent as my computer keyboard clacks away.
I thought our parents would always be around to talk to, even if they needed more help.
Now there is only one left and communication is difficult.
It’s snowing today, and even though it feels as though it has arrived too soon it is late November. It’s time for the valley to turn white. The season changes once again. At a time of life when one expects to feel more settled changes seem to happen more rapidly than ever. It’s strange, this sense of time thing.
While it seems the only consistent thing in life is change, yet I am more aware that the most consistent thing in life is the love of God, which never changes.
The words of a song came to mind this morning.
In every season, in every change
You are near
In every sorrow,
You are my strength
You are near
A peace in the storm
Your voice I will follow
In weakness I rise
Remembering You hold my world
I’m holding on to hope
I’m holding on to grace
I’m fully letting go
I’m surrendered to Your ways
The anchor for my soul
Father You will never change
I love You, I love You
(From Anchor by Kari Jobe, Brian Johnson and Cody Carnes)
Anyway, the snow reminds me that it’s time to quit procrastinating. It’s a new season. I have a new assignment. I mourn the loss of colour and the ease of walking in the forest, but winter is a time when writers and artists are less distracted and can get down to work.
It’s time.
Charis: Subject to Change 