Holy

This is a Compassion blog assignment:

Choose one word to embody 2014


Holy.


I didn't have to think too hard, because this is what has consumed me for a few weeks now. Where did I miss this? Did I really take grace so lightly that I assume it's okay to sigh away holiness?

Because this is what I see missing. We need this sense of something huge to be a part of. We need a reason to put ourselves in danger, to take risks, to fail, then learn, then repeat. Holiness means worthiness. But in order to make this statement true, we need to understand just how extreme holiness is.

We look at the world around us and see the evil. It is extreme. We wonder just how bad it must have been in Noah's day if God destroyed the world then but we are still allowed to breathe. We as a human race are still allowed to kill, destroy lives, spread diseases, enslave, torture, and treat others less than animals. We have seen genocide and persecution, slaughtered babies, dishonest gain at the cost of others, we've forgotten integrity, and we cut apart our neighbors with our tongues. It is a horrible place to live in, anyone can see that.

The part we have forgotten is the extreme holiness of God. For every evil report that reaches our eyes and ears, God's holiness is far more extreme.

The Lord of Hosts, Him shall you hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.- Isaiah 8:13

It is not that I dread the Lord. No, I cling to Him. But in contrast to the fear of anything that is a product of this world, I will fear God instead. I will fear the disrespect I will give if I pay more time and  attention to the works of my cowardly enemy than the maker of heaven and earth. He is Holy.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?

Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before Him are as nothing,
And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
.........

Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth,
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.- Isaiah 40:12-17,21-24

But it is not over yet, because upon meditating on the extreme holiness of God, despair may set in. He is too high for me. I am only a grasshopper in his sight. How can anything good come of that?

God isn't just big, but his detail goes down to the microscopic cells in every species of life, the beauty of life under the sea, unknown to us on land. He has detail in every snowflake, and numbers the hairs on our heads.

Nothing- big or small- done by the almighty is ever in vain. Every word He speaks has meaning, every creature has purpose, and every person has a plan written for them.

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty.
The Whole earth is filled with His glory. - Isaiah 6:3

In the old testament, God was in the Holy of Holies, the place where only the High Priest could enter once a year, only under specific conditions, with strict laws.

Yet God is just. and He gave His son as a sacrifice, with the sin and sickness of the world piled upon the most Holy man ever to walk the earth and allowed him to suffer the most cruel death to satisfy His wrath.

So we can walk straight into the Holiest place. We can come boldly to the throne of grace. (Hebrews 10:19)

And upon knowing this:

The severity of His Holiness
The severity of our sin
The severity of His sacrifice
The severity of His love
The severity of greatness, this gift we have.

We can begin to find the holiness at work in our very lives. We start to value that which we took for granted. We set time aside for prayer with this most Holy Being. We set aside resources for God to use to display His glory to another. We change our words, our actions, and we see meaning throughout our otherwise mundane lives. We value our natural resources, and rearrange our priorities.

It probably does not look spectacular from the outside, but it is a world of difference from within. Rediscover holy.

So though the earth quakes and mountains crumble, God is not in it. He is the still, small voice. Evil needs to appear powerful to gain strength, but God knows His strength is the smallest whisper.

In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. -Isaiah 30:15a

How does this change child sponsorship? Everything. It is no longer an act for the greater good. It is holy work. It is setting apart something to give to someone, setting apart time to write a letter, setting apart a piece of my heart for a child that was created by God and divinely connected to my family and I.  This is most assuredly changing us, but God is bigger than that. He is changing the life of this child, and teaching him. He is set apart for something great.

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability that God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever.- 1Peter 4:10-11

This coming year I resolve to rediscover holy. I wish to see the earth filled with His glory. I wish to find strength in quietness and confidence. I trust that there will be unseen returns through His grace.

Between Selfish and Vain Piety

Some people make selfishness sexy. Some have mastered the art "humbly" letting everyone know how unselfish they are. And I, in my (what I like to think) my most sincere desire to be close to God, debate within myself which is more right.

Obviously to anyone outside of myself, the answer is neither, but somehow things like this take up way too much space in my mind.

Meanwhile, Jesus waits for me to get over myself and come on over and talk to Him. But to me, Jesus is that guy that is so awesome I wonder what it would be like to be around Him all the time, to have Him look on me with affection and become my knight in shining armor.

He keeps waiting.

I keep dreaming, wondering where it is between selfish and vain piety that I will find Him.

Then He gets my attention and says, "If you really know me, you won't even notice the selfish, the vain, or even yourself. You are mine, and that is what matters."

What a thought.

1 Corinthians 3:18-23

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

¹⁸ Don’t fool yourselves. Suppose some of you think you are wise by the standards of the world. Then you should become a “fool” so that you can become wise.
¹⁹ The wisdom of this world is foolish in God’s eyes. It is written, “God catches wise people in their own tricks.” (Job 5:13) ²⁰ It is also written, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise don’t amount to anything.” (Psalm 94:11)
²¹ So no more bragging about human beings! All things are yours. ²² That means Paul or Apollos or Peter or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All are yours. ²³ You are joined to Christ and belong to him. And Christ is joined to God.

 

Sowing Tears

My latest Bible study ended today. I almost did not do this one. I missed the first, forgot about the second, and still did not have a book by the third. But I did it, God knew I needed it.

The Psalms of Ascent. Mamas, we need to know these songs.

One particular Psalm resonates in my mind today.

 

 

Psalm 126

 

When the Lord brought back the

captives to Zion,

We were like men who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

like streams in the Negev,

Those who sow in tears

He who goes out weeping,

carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with him.

 

How many tears have we sown? How many sighs and tired smiles? Searching for my coffee mug while half asleep, winces while paying bills? Aching to be with our children when we cannot, wishes for a night out, or prayers of questioning why evil can continue?

 

There are times I am so impatient with my life. I think I must be wasting away my days surrounded by clutter and piles of laundry. And God reminds me the sowing is never wasted. Every single day is not wasted when something is sown.

 

The tears we sow show us we desire more. They show us we need a rescue. They show us we are alive and believe there is something superior to attain.

 

Keep sowing, keep praying, keep persevering, keep asking. Because, this promise remains. He who goes out weeping, carrying seeds to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with Him.

 

That day will come.

 

Job said, "For I know that my Redeemer lives."(Job 19:25)

 

In Isaiah, "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD." (Isaiah 45:3)

 

Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart! I have overcome the world". (John 16:33)

 

Keep sowing. God was so good to give us and everyone else a free will. He gave us the opportunity to fight, to search, to sow. And in the end, we will be privileged to see our own redemption, which will be even sweeter when we remember our tears.

 

 



My Ten Thousand Acres

What does peace look like?

 

A clean space?

 

What does peace sound like?

 

Quiet classical music?

 

What does peace feel like?

 

Light and free?

If so, I have no peace. In addition, I have no hope of having any in the near future. I am Mom.

Mom needs peace to do her job well. She is doomed.

Unless....

Unless this definition is a lie.

My peace, should I be able to choose it, is the middle of ten thousand acres of nothing but a natural creation. A rock to turn over, a butterfly to chase, a river. Peace like a river.

No noise, no deadlines, no clutter.

Simply nature doing what it was created to do. Displaying its majestic beauty in daily routine. God shows Himself to me in nature.

But I live in suburbia. On a budget. With four children. Smack dab in the middle of life.

I yearn for it, pray for it, seek it, may even give my right arm for it. Peace is essential.

Peace is not losing it when everyone is having a bad day. Peace is smiling when the mortgage is due. Peace is sleeping at night. Peace is life.

God has given me peace. He has given me my ten thousand acres, even though I possess no title.

Today, it was park-hoping, watching the children run through falling leaves, stepping over acorns and walnuts. Spying on daddy long legs and walking sticks. A brief talk with my husband. Cheerful voices in play. It was here. It was in me as well. It is in the promises of God.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27