Dear Faithful Readers and People of Christ. Due to a family emergency, there will not be any new posts until July 21st. We hope that you continue to find peace and direction through Christ and that he shines on your family. Faithfully Yours, Naomi
Sacrificial Silence
It is completely unthinkable. Who does that, anyway? Who makes someone wait until their twilight years to have a long-desired child then asks them to sacrifice him on an altar like some animal? It boggles our minds. Thousands of years later, just reading the account of God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on a rock altar up the side of a mountain when he had plenty of sheep and goats available puts our backs up on Abraham’s behalf. Even though we know the end of the story, we feel indignant. We think it unfair.
How must Abraham have felt? For years he and Sarah had prayed for a child. They’d waited. Nothing happened. Slowly but surely, they gave up hope. They were old. They were tired. Even the voice of God announcing the soon arrival of a child, failed to sway their skepticism. Sarah laughed. Abraham probably wanted to laugh too. Who has children at 90 and 100 years old? But it happened. The long desired, long-awaited, promised child with the wife he loved finally came. Isaac was born. The descendant to give them all those promised descendants had come. Things were finally coming together. (Genesis 18:1-15, Genesis 21:1-7)
Then God threw a curveball. He sent Abraham into Moriah, up on a mountain with one express purpose–sacrifice Isaac. What? God spent all this time making miracles happen to give Abraham and Sarah a son–to sacrifice? Really? Again, even knowing the outcome, we sit in astounded incredulity. Abraham must have been astounded too, yet there is no Biblical record of any words spoken to God about the command. There is only a record of obedience. Abraham is silent.
Stoically and silently, Abraham readies for the journey. A donkey. Two servants. Wood. Isaac. They travel for three days. Three days over which no words are significant enough to be recorded. Abraham is verbally silent. But he’s human. It is safe to say his internal conversation was spectacular. Why was this happening? Had he somehow disobeyed God? Had he misunderstood something? What about that nation God was going to establish through Isaac? How would that happen if Isaac was dead? What about those promises, those covenants? Would God keep them? And, most importantly, was obedience really better when it was calling him to sacrifice his beloved, long awaited, only son ?
Clearly, the only question we know Abraham answered was that obedience to God is always better. No matter the sacrifice. No matter the pain. No matter that you can’t see the next step. Remaining faithful to God is most important. That knowledge is why he’s making this trek when he wants to stay home and pretend God never invited him up this fateful mountain. Finally, Abraham leaves the servants and donkey to wait, takes Isaac, and heads up the mountain even further.
If Abraham was waiting for God to stop him, he was disappointed. It is apparently God’s turn to be silent. When he came to the place of sacrifice, Abraham built the altar. I wonder how long it took him to build it. My humanity would have made me take my time. Maybe Abraham was the same. It couldn’t take forever, though. Once the altar is built, he stacks the wood, ties up his son, and places him on top of the wood. How heart-wrenching would that be? Imagine the questions Isaac was asking. He’d already deduced there was no sacrifice. As the ropes were tied around his body, was he crying out, “Why are you doing this, Daddy? Please don’t do this! Don’t you love me?”
As the questions from his son reverberate across the mountain, echoing the questions Abraham has been asking God for the last three days, he hardens his breaking heart, allows himself one last long look at Isaac atop the altar, takes a deep breath, raises his knife high in the air…and then it comes. Thank God, it comes! The reason he’s been keeping his mouth shut and his ears open. The angel of the Lord says, “Abraham! Don’t kill your son! You have proven your faithfulness!” (Genesis 22:1-13)
As I sigh in relief at the outcome of the story, I find myself asking, what if Abraham hadn’t been listening for God to speak? What if Abraham had been weeping, wailing, cursing the circumstances, throwing a tantrum over the unfairness of the situation and making too much noise to hear God’s voice? What if Abraham had been too bogged down in anger, grief, and justifiable pain that he hadn’t been able to hear God speak? We should know the answer to these questions. We do it all the time.
The things God asks of us are not always pleasing. Some of them are just plain hard. Sometimes God asks us to leave everything we know and start out on a journey we can’t explain. It is painful. It is difficult. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in the angry self-pity we think we deserve, we’ll be so busy lashing out that we miss it when He speaks. That could be disastrous. If Abraham had been too wrapped in self-pity to hear God speak, he would have killed his son as a sacrifice. The stakes are just as great for us. Possibly greater. We could be sacrificing our souls.
Faithful obedience to God is more than grudgingly doing what God asks. It is not whining compliance. It is consistent plodding. Staying the course. Quietly seeing it through until the voice of God says otherwise. It probably won’t be easy. It will absolutely be worth it. Obedience to God always is. Ask Abraham. He’s done it before. There was a previous trek across miles of foreign country to get to a Promised Land he’d heard of only from God’s lips. No matter what else he might have thought, wanted, or hoped, Abraham packed his camels, left everything familiar and familial behind and started walking. Quietly. (Genesis 12:1-9)
In a world that encourages us to verbally express ourselves with no regard for others or God, it behooves us to take a page from Genesis–Abraham’s story–and be quiet. Obey God, even when you don’t understand, when it seems diametrically opposed to what you thought, or hoped, He was doing. And while obeying, be quiet. Listen for Him to speak, because He will speak. Words of love. (Jeremiah 31:3) Words of courage. (John 16:33) Words of direction. (Psalm 32:8) Words of rest and peace. (Psalm 37:1-7)
The Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Calm down. Stop ranting and raving. Stop whining and wailing. Take a deep breath. Be quiet, even if you don’t feel like it. Obey. And while you are obeying, listen. God may be silent, but He is still there. (Deut. 31:6) God has not gone on vacation. He has not left you alone while He walks the beaches of Tahiti. (Psalm 37:25,28) God is right beside you as you struggle to do His will, even when you don’t understand it. (I Chronicles 28:20) And He’s fixing to speak. There is nothing you are doing, wanting, or dreaming that is more important than hearing God speak. And what will you sacrifice if you fail to hear Him when He does?
Mundane Faithfulness
In my home I have a little sign that reads, “Eat, Sleep, Play, Repeat”. I bought it a couple of years ago thinking it was a cute turn of phrase. I didn’t know it would become a lifestyle. Sequestered in our homes, not allowed to socialize, no work, no school, no coffee meetups, I find myself living those exact words. Every day we wake to more of the same. More eating. More keeping the kids from maiming one another. More wondering what will happen next. More hovering over the news. More pointless television. More sleeping.
It all feels mindless. The days have run together. I have to check the calendar to be certain of the date. I’m struggling to keep the kids busy. Struggling to keep myself busy. Fighting the current of social angst and terror the media wants us to ride. I don’t like it, this helpless uselessness. I dislike days that lack purpose. I abhor the growing feeling that nothing matters, there’s nothing to do, and the bleak look at a foreseeable future that remains the same.
A couple of days ago, in the middle of my self-indulgent pity party, God reiterated to me the question Martin Luther once posed, “What will you do in the mundane days of faithfulness?” Now Martin Luther isn’t a guy that conjures up images of the mundane. Writer of the 95 Thesis giving birth to the Reformation. Bible translator. Church builder. Dean of Theology. Writer. Preacher. Inspiration. Hero. Nothing mundane there. But his well-worded question incited some questions of my own. Questions I needed to ask. Questions I needed to answer.
What am I doing with all this time I have to be quiet and still? What am I doing with the extra time I have with my children? What are we doing to minister to others when we can’t leave our home? And what should we be doing?
Just like that, I’m back to the little sign, third word…but what if it said “pray” not “play”? That is the answer! The most important thing I can do is pray more. See, prayer changes me. It changes my outlook on the situation. It encourages trust in God who already has this situation in hand. Prayer centers my soul and gives me extra strength to cope with tempers flaring because we’ve been in the same space with the same people for far too long. Prayer draws me to a place of clarity and peace. It allows me to talk to God, to bring my concerns, my complaints, my confessions to Him. It also allows God to talk to me, to point out the places I’m slipping, some changes I’ve been avoiding, some encouragement I wouldn’t have heard if I hadn’t used the quiet stillness to listen.
It also gives me time to read. Not that I don’t ordinarily read my Bible every day. I do. But having no real schedule to keep allows me time to read more casually, absorb the words, hear the promises. My children are also being more intentional about reading their Bibles and devotional books. Often we talk about what we read that day, a question they have, or some clarification of the details surrounding the Minor Prophets. We don’t always have this. School starts so early and homework ends so late. Our normal schedule often doesn’t allow for leisurely Bible chats. So while we plod along through our mundane days, we are blessed with moments together with God that we otherwise might not have gotten.
The ministry part of this leaves me frustrated. There is literally nothing I can do but pray. So I do. I pray for our leaders to be wise, but not ridiculous. I pray for our people to be strong, but not crazy. I pray for those I know who are high risk to stay safe. I pray for an end to this illness. Mostly, I pray God’s will be done. It’s the hardest prayer I have ever prayed.
Daily I long for something more exciting. I don’t want to be on lockdown for the next 6 months. I want to do something. Feed people. Offer hope. Give help. Ease loneliness. Defeat despair. I want to do something for God. I want to brighten the world, not just my house. Surely there is something I can do besides what I’m doing. Sitting at home praying feels so small. So insignificant. So…mundane.
In times like these, we need the faithfulness. The constant refusal to give up, to quit, to turn aside. The consistent pursuit of the goal. Down the same path in the same plodding manner, even when the scenery doesn’t change, when it seems no one even knows you exist, your work is pointless, your faithfulness meaningless. In the middle of your mundane, you are tempted to turn aside, let up a little, take a day off from the faithful grind.
The writer of Hebrews penned words we need to hear now more than ever before, “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1-2, NLT) It would be so easy to be lulled to sleep performing the mundane tasks of our current situation. Easy to stay up late, sleep in, lose our drive. The inability to physically attend church makes it easy to let up spiritually. Less Scripture. Less Prayer. Less Jesus. Easy drifting. Drifting into complacency. Drifting into sin. We really can’t afford that. The price is too steep. (Hebrews 4:1,11) Don’t drift. Keep Praying. (I Thessalonians 5:17) Keep the faith. (Mark 11:22)
Because God needs you. Right now all you are doing seems boring, mundane, maybe even pointless. But God needs you. Not because He is incapable of doing His work on His own, but because He chooses to delegate some of it. He tells us to be light and salt in a dark and unsavory world. (Matthew 5:13-16) He calls us to go out into the world preaching and teaching the Gospel. (Mark 16:15-16) He commissions us to be laborers together with Him. (I Corinthians 3:9) Even if we can’t truly socialize, our attitudes with the people in the grocery store, at the gas station, or the food delivery person can make an impact. We might not be able to go out preaching and teaching, but we can teach our children and study with our spouses so we don’t drift away.
Laboring together with God doesn’t always look like we think it will. God doesn’t think like we do. (Isaiah 55:8-9) I never dreamed we’d be trying to minister for Jesus from our living rooms. It doesn’t matter. Wherever you are, you are right where God placed you. (Even if it’s your living room.) Whatever your tasks, they are God-given. (Even four rounds of dishes!) Whoever you speak to and interact with throughout your day, they are your mission field. (Even if it’s only your children.) Nothing you do is mundane if you do it all to the glory of God (Ecclesiastes 9:10). No word you speak is mundane if it is spoken in love. (Ephesians 4:15, Romans 12:10) Everything you do is vitally important to God.
So “what will you do in the mundane days of faithfulness?” Will the “ sameness” of your days lull you into drifting? Or will you pray, read, and strengthen your soul? Will you be full of Jesus or full of the fear the media is peddling? The mundane is your mission. You were made for this moment. Are you being faithful?
Not Decaf
Have you noticed how obsessed our society is with dietary restrictions? The grocery shelves are lined with low fat, low carb, gluten-free, caffeine-free, sugarless, nut-free, soy-free products. Nearly every set of television commercials involves some new diet plan. While some folks choose a lifestyle including these products as healthier versions meant to achieve or maintain health goals or follow the latest diet fad, some of us choose these products because our lives literally depend on them. I’m that girl. The one whose food allergies and health concerns require extreme vigilance. For me, it’s not a diet fad, it’s my life. I’m just trying to stay alive.
This is not to say it isn’t frustrating. I wish I could walk into a chocolate shop and choose the most luscious chocolate in the case with no concern for contaminants. I want to visit a new coffee shop without asking the barista 4 times if they are sure my beverage is decaf. I’d love to visit a new restaurant without interrogating the staff before consuming the food. Truthfully, I’d be ecstatic if I could just find a package of English muffins I could safely consume!
Some days the frustration gets the best of me. During one such event, as I was bemoaning my plight and wishing I could just be “normal”, a still, quiet voice echoed in my mind, saying, “You can have all of Jesus you want.” I stopped mid-whine, instantly knowing it is true. No matter what I can’t have from the grocery store or a favorite restaurant, I can have as much of Jesus as I want. More than that, Jesus is what my soul craves most. He is my gluttonous pleasure.
I want to know Him deeply, personally, intimately. I want to know the amazing, magnanimous God of the Old Testament. The One who miraculously rescued His undeserving people over and over again. I want a deep, abiding friendship with the Jesus of the Gospels. The One who wasn’t afraid to eat with sinners like me. I want to experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit of Acts. I want it all. And I want it full caff. No Jesus light. No diet God. No sample Holy Spirit. I want it all. All day, every day.
And daily is where it’s at. Our lives are crammed full of quick service, low fat, low carb, nut-free, gluten-free, sugarless, to-go options we grab on our way to the next meeting, next game, next appointment. Our gluttonous pleasures are reduced to what fits in the only open slot on our overcrowded, overwhelmed, overworked schedule. Jesus is reduced to a half version of what we truly need Him to be because we are too busy to give Him time and space in our hearts and lives to be the full version of Himself.
This just in– Jesus doesn’t work like that. Relationship with Jesus Christ is all or nothing. Either your whole life is saturated with Him or you are starving your soul. There is no diet plan Jesus. (Matthew 6:24) You can’t opt-out of the commands you don’t like. You can’t call on Him only when you’re in crisis. You can’t fake relationship with Jesus. There is no substitute. Jesus comes only in full caff. (Revelation 3:15-16)
In a world where we are continually pressed to join some food plan, try the new fad diet, cut this, add that, the One thing you can always have is Jesus. All of Him. He calls our tired hearts and bodies to come to Him for rest and peace. (Matthew 11:28) He calls us to fill our empty souls with His Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18) And once full, He sends us out to show the world the truth about Jesus. His love. His mercy. His grace. Every single aspect of our lives should reflect His attributes. (Leviticus 20:7) If you are full of Jesus, everyone around you will know. You’ll be overflowing, because there is no reduced version.That is the purpose of this blog. To remind myself and every reader who blesses me with a moment of their time, to follow Jesus. Wholeheartedly. (Jeremiah 29:13) Incessantly. (I Chronicles 16:11) Tirelessly. (Psalm 63:1,8) Live His teachings, His commands, His heart. Show the world the boundlessness of Jesus. Love. Forgive. Obey. Help. Hope. Trust. (Ephesians 5:1-2) No matter how many low carb, fat-free, gluten-free, allergy-friendly, low sodium, sugarless packages fill your cupboards, you can still have full strength Jesus. So I invite you to join me as I open my Bible and drink in Jesus. All of Him. Every. Single. Drop. I have a lot to learn for sure, but this I know, my coffee might be decaf, but my Jesus isn’t!!