Helpful Hurt?

The other day, I was riding in the car with my aunt and seven-year-old cousin. Somehow, the topic of non-poisonous snakes came up, and my cousin began to explain why they didn't scare her. Since I knew that she was terrified of snakes, I really questioned her about this line of reasoning. In the most informed seven-year-old voice that I have ever heard, she said that the difference was that non-poisonous snakes hurt you but the don't harm you.

Later, when thinking through this relatively insightful phrase, the good ole Jeremiah 29:11 popped in my head. " 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to help you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.' " Now, I know I'm really delving into semantics, here, but the difference in hurt and harm really struck me.

God has never promised that following Him will never hurt. In fact, Jesus makes it a point to pretty much guarantee that we won't be liked [John 15:18-19]. However, one theme that we do see is that the hurt we face is not purposeless. It is to make us more faithful, more loving, more enduring, more like Christ Himself. It is a fire, which refines us all in the end. As unpleasant as it may be, it would be idiotic to trade any of these times for simple comfort.

So, what God promises in Jeremiah, still holds firm for us, today. God is not vindictive nor does He lack control over our circumstances. Like any good father, he knows what is for our ultimate good, though, and will not settle for less for His children. That is so awesome! As Peter writes [2 Peter 4:12], we've got to trust that God is really good and really does know what He is doing.

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." -Romans 5:3-4

Clothed in Righteousness

Ok, so I really would like to get better at this whole "blogging" thing, but the idea is relatively new to me. I've enjoyed reading other people's stuff but it's been a while since I've actually posted. Bear with me...

If there's anything that I've learned by taking all of my French classes this semester, reading tons of literature, and writing who knows how many essays, it would be the power of reading things in a new perspective, even the Bible. The more I learned about great literary works, the more the Bible as a beautiful work of art has fascinated me. I keep seeing all these amazing parallels in things that I would have overlooked in the past. Especially in "those sections" of the Bible, where I think I would be better off skipping, there are treasures hidden. For example: clothes. Have you ever thought twice about the role that they play in the Bible and the implications and significance it has for our daily walks with Christ? Well, if you haven't, let's take a little stroll through the scriptures, and I'll show you what the Holy Spirit Has shown me.

First, one's clothing can be a marker of identity and an expression of how a person is feeling. From the beginning, we have tried our best to cover our shame, but God must provide a way to really hide our nakedness and shame (Genesis 3:21). This time it was an innocent animal. The next [and ultimate] time, it was God Himself. When later instructed to get rid of foreign gods and purify themselves, God told them to "change your clothes" [Gen 35:2].

The "holy garments," according to the Old Testament, were used for anointing, ordaining, and setting apart priests with dignity and honor for service to the Lord (Exodus 29:29, 31:10, 39:1, 28:3, 40:13; Leviticus 16:32). They were a marker of God's glory and beauty (Exodus 28:2), a reminder of one's commitment to God (Ex. 28:29-30; Numbers 15:38-40), and even a kind of protection from being killed when approaching the Lord(Exodus 28:43).

For us, the appropriate clothes of purification can only be purchased from and by Jesus [Revelation 3:18][Matthew 22:11-14]. In His true form, Jesus has new, dazzling clothes that are incomparable to what the world could offer [Mark 9:2-3]. He describes us as people who are clothed in splendor [Ps. 45:3, 104:11]

Knowing these things, I pray that righteousness really would be my clothing [Job 28:14]. Just like Lazareth, I really long to take off these stained grave garments and go freely [John 11:44]. Daily, I must remember to put on Christ [Rom 13:14], compassion [Colossians 3:12], humility [1 Peter 5:5], and His power [Luke 24:49]. Lord, may I only search to cover myself with the identity of who You say I am and who You have made me to be!

Vines and Branches

It’s funny how the Lord uses even the most basic of things to teach us. Today, He enabled me to look beyond the menial and make a life lesson of it. (I am truly a McDonald). In the process of unpacking and cleaning up my apartment, I decided to clear away some dead poison ivy creeping up onto the porch. If you know anything about me, though, you will know that my projects never end where they started. After a while, I was at a bush in the front yard. At first glance, it was a healthy, beautiful bush, complete with flowers and full of leaves. Once I looked again, however, one huge problem became apparent. The bush was not living at all. It was being completely choked out by masses of kudzu slowly strangling each branch.

My first thought was to leave the azalea alone. After all, it still looked nice on the outside. No one would really know about the dead shrub behind its charming exterior, and this hedge could simply serve as a lattice to preserve and proliferate the vines. But as I began to trim the healthier, less impressive bushes, I just couldn’t let the other one go. After a while, I started to pull off just a portion of the vines, but they were much more entwined with the bush than I had expected. As I ripped off the killer kudzu, lifeless pieces of the shrub came with it. However unfortunate to destroy it, I knew this damage was the only way the bush could have any hope of survival. The parasitic plant had to be removed, and the portions of the bush going with it were just collateral damage. What’s more, these parts would never produce life again, anyways. So, by the end of all my pulling and hacking, there remained a naked, sad excuse for a once-lively azalea. Nevertheless, this bush had to be rid of its shallow, external beauty, stripped bare of the hopeless branches, and cut back to its trunk before it could ever be what it was intended to be.

Now to the lesson learned:

It’s always been fascinating to me how Jesus so often used farming/gardening concepts to illustrate kingdom truths. In the same way, the Holy Spirit used my battle with the bush to remind me of my life as a Christian. Jesus said that He is the vine (John 15:5) or, for this illustration, the roots or the trunk. The one who penned Hebrews states that we are to throw off all the things that can entangle us (i.e. worldliness, busyness, or distractions of any kind). These are the chords of kudzu. We can be tripped up by our own actions (Proverbs 5:22), others’ influences (Proverbs 22:24-25), shear curiosity (Deut. 12:30), and just being in the everyday world (Psalms 116:3-6).

Fortunately, the Father prunes us (John 15:1-3). Because He loves His children and wants us to be entirely for Him, He will rip off the parts that aren’t pleasing to Him: the parts that are slowly killing us. Often, this process takes large, unresponsive chunks of us with it. The amount of pain and loss we experience depends on how entangled we are with our sins. If we, as Christians, continue in sin or distraction, He will eventually break us. Then, we will be left naked, exposed, and bare for a season until we muster strength to regrow from our Root. Oh! How genuinely beautiful and useful we’ll be once it is finished, though!

So, let’s not become white-washed tombs or vine-draped, lifeless bushes. Don’t let sin have any foothold in your life, or before you know it, the only way to salvage a fruitful life for Christ will be through lot of loss and pain.

In the Waiting Room

Isn’t it funny how inactivity can be the very thing that wakes us up the most? While listening to the radio a bit, I just heard a song about waiting on and serving the Lord. I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate to describe my life, currently. As a doer, however, I’m finding the idea of waiting the most difficult of all. Right now, my days are filled with very little activity, but it’s a good thing. This gives me a lot of time to listen to and simply sit in awe of the Creator of the universe. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Even so, I find myself just biding my time between the activities that I do have planned and wasting the rest of it. As a true American, I want some noise, some bustle with a touch of hustle, but that’s not where I am right now.

Contentment is something we all have to work at. It’s not as easy as it sounds, honestly, and it doesn’t just happen by default. When in class, everyone wants midterms or finals or “just this week” to be over. When that happens, it’s not long until we’re all screaming about boredom. I am just as guilty of it. “If just this project were finished, THEN I would spend time with the Lord and relax,” I say. But chaos ends, classes calm down, and I’m still just busying myself any way I know how. I find I’m so fickle.

That’s one of the many, many, many remarkable things about God, though. He is consistent and faithful. Over and over again, the Bible shows times of serious waiting. While reading, I may breeze right by a sentence that says someone prepared, prayed, and waited for several years, but even a few days of anticipation is too much for me to take. Even Christ Jesus spent 30 years preparing for His ministry of 3 years. But I want results! I want a microwave flame of purification. I pray for Jesus to make me more Christlike, and I expect an easy, quick fix to all my flesh problems.

However, microwave purification doesn’t exist. I could try to make myself better, like all the other religions, but it won’t work. It is only by the grace of Jesus that I can even approach the Father’s throne. I’m declared clean and not condemned, but I still have growing to do while I’m on the earth. I will wait on the Lord, because He’s the only thing that’s worth waiting for. He’s the only one in whom we can definitely put all our trust. Everything else is a gamble.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I will wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word, I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning . . .” (Psalm 130:5-6)

I can trust my God to follow through more than I can trust the sun to come up tomorrow. As much as I try, I cannot forge ahead of the Lord. So, as God gently puts my face between His hands and directs my gaze to Him by removing everything else, I will finally close my mouth, listen, and actively wait. I’ll use this time to prepare my soul for whatever He has in store.

“Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts” (Isaiah 26: 8)