The one Yahweh loves rests between his shoulders! Here I am, God, loved by you! I too often forget that you came to us as Jesus— you two are one!—who died on the cross, for everyone— yes, for the whole world but for me too! Insignificant me!
You love me! It sinks in, softly. I rest on your chest, quiet, content, held so close. I don’t want to forget that I, too, am chosen, set apart. You have guided me constantly through a life of joys and grief, and yes, times of stumbling, but held close to your heart.
I am yours, now and forever! You are mine, the Mighty One, the only true God, Rescuer, our Maker, King of the Universe: loving Father, loving Son, Holy Spirit, three in one! You are my precious resting place, my source of grace in your embrace. You love me, God, and I love you!
I was reading the blessings on the twelve tribes of Israel, in Deuteronomy 33, when the one given to Benjamin grabbed my heart:
About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” (Deut. 33:12 NIV)
Who could want more than that? Then my soul was flooded with the realization that I, too, am loved by God. I am his beloved! So are you! It is easy to remember that he “loved the world” (John 3:16); that is why he sent Jesus to die and provide rescue. But sometimes that generalization can be sweepingly applied to all people without remembering that his great love has been poured out even on little me, one person among billions. Ephesians is rich in contemplation of our need to delve into understanding this:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph. 3:16-19 NIV)
The Spirit is who empowers us to grasp this truth that we are loved!
Yes, that blessing in Deuteronomy was given to Benjamin, but we are also among the “chosen people” now, and loved by God:
For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you (1 Thess. 1:4 NIV)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Pet. 2:9 NIV)
We who have accepted Jesus’ loving sacrifice now belong to the LORD God, Yahweh! And there is purpose underlined for us: to praise the One who cares enough for us that he calls us out of the dark world to walk with him, and he is the light.
So rest in the wonder of this peace we have in our very unique privilege of being personally loved by God! Let him hold you “between his shoulders”, which can also be understood as “against his chest.” That is truly the position of Father and beloved child. Relish it, and praise his love to those around you!
The river ahead is at flood stage, water spilling over the edges and onto the shore sand all around, no way to cross, full of sledge. The other side is out of sight. We’ve been stranded three days, waiting for word: what’s next? Now Joshua tells us to break camp. We priests must carry the ark ahead and go stand in the Jordan! We’re told that God says, “Trust me! Step into flood waters and you’ll see what I will do!”
So those of us who carry the ark (it holds our holy covenant, precious legal agreement made with our God Yahweh), we move ahead with caution, stepping into rushing waters just as Joshua told us to. The waters begin to recede, the flow from the source upriver turning into a tall wall! It stalled! Our feet are standing on dry ground! How can this be? But yes: it is! So we stay there in the middle as the people swarm on past us, tribe by tribe, eyeing the wall, thousands reaching the other side carrying baggage and children. Even the flocks make it across!
We see the last ones climb ashore and think that now it’s time to move, but no! Twelve men come hurrying back to the middle where we wait, still holding the ark of the covenant. They each pick up a special rock, carefully choosing a lovely one to serve as a stone of remembrance— monuments to the powerful truth that the Living God is among us, active! He transformed a raging river into a highway for his people.
We make our way to the other side, the ark lifted up on acacia rods, high and triumphant! Yes! Oh wow! As we step onto footprinted sand we hear the roar of the water wall falling, spilling down from the north, filling the river behind us. We have all crossed over! We are safe! Yes, once again the Mighty One has parted waters! What our parents told us about how they crossed the Red Sea, fleeing from the enemy army, that has now happened to us. We are now marching ahead into enemy territory. Scary, true! A walk of faith indeed! But we ourselves have seen his hand at work, his Presence making a way again where, indeed, there was no way!
We’ve heard the stories: God parted the Red Sea so that Israel could cross before Pharaoh’s army could kill them, he fought the battle of Jericho through the faith of his people circling the city—and more! Maybe your parents or pastor told you about times when they could not explain a certain answer to prayer, something that happened in their own lives. Then you face a tough situation and you know only God could make a way through this one.
What do you—what do I—do next?
It’s easy to just pray and hope, or take action. But God’s Word is also clear that we must ask him about what to do before leaping in!
After the Israelites saw God part the Jordan River (Joshua 3), then bring down Jericho’s walls, then direct them in an ambush strategy that allowed them to conquer the major city of Ai, they thought they were set. They were a conquerers and could figure things out on their own. So when men came to them dressed in ragged clothes and with personal food supplies of moldy bread, they convinced them that they were from far away and wanted to make a treaty with this powerful invading nation. The Israelites checked the stale bread, decided these strangers really were from a distant country, and swore a treaty of peace with them. But they “did not inquire of Yahweh” (Joshua 9:14). So those people, from the key city of Gibeon, were never conquered. They did become servants of Israel. But when they were attacked, Joshua and his army had to defend them. This time they acted with Yahweh’s word of approval. It was a learning curve for them: ask God before deciding what to do!
This warning stuck out to me in the ongoing stories of warfare in the book of Joshua. Not asking Yahweh for direction meant that Joshua and his people were relying on their own discernment. And as a result they were deceived.
We each need to remember to ask for guidance when we are confronted with a problem rather than rushing ahead to do whatever comes to mind. It requires listening for that inner voice of the Spirit that lives in us. He may speak through a Scripture verse, via a palpable prompting or the words of a godly partner. But waiting for him to answer is always the right thing to do!
As we keep on stepping into this new year, let’s learn to ask AND listen for our God’s guidance! He is the living God, and he is with us.
When I saw the old man pass us to climb the slope, I shivered as wind blew through our dense grove. He had passed this way not long ago, then spent forty days on the summit before angrily stumbling back down. We wondered what was up, and why he’d thrown away two stone tablets filled with divine fingerprints of light. Something really wasn’t right!
He climbed the mount again, tearful, then came back with two stone tablets like before. But this time he stopped, measured our trunks by his arm, then raised his arm, axe in hand, and chopped me, a simple acacia, down! I was sliced in pieces, carefully sanded, spliced together, the shape of a box, made lovely in a way I never imagined. True, my life was gone. I was no longer a tall acacia with roots deep in soil, I was remade. But I wondered: for what?
The next time that man came to me he carried those new stone tablets shimmering again with divine words. He placed them inside me! Oh, the wonder of this role: I am a treasure chest made special, the shelter for Yahweh’s words! The chosen men lift me with reverence and carry me carefully on rods whenever the people move ahead, this homeless crowd of wanderers looking for their promised land. I carry the Law and the promises, the covenant between God and them. I, the acacia, was chosen, made for this!
Thank you for following the ruminations of a very special acacia tree with me!
As another year begins, are you still wondering what purpose God has for you in this year, or even for your life path? What are you made for? It is normal for us to think about possibilities. Or maybe certain doors have closed and you are in a waiting mode.
This is an ongoing theme. So when I was reading Deuteronomy 10 it occurred to me that a holy, crucial part of what God was preparing for his people’s entry into their Promised Land was a small box: the ark of the covenant. It contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments and symbolized God’s presence—this made it holy, truly set apart in a way that had to be revered.
What made the ark, the container, so important? It carried what represented the Israelite’s unique relationship to Yahweh. Here is a general definition of the weight of the word “covenant” in the Bible:
“A solemn agreement or promise, sometimes confirmed by sacrifice or by sharing in a meal, by which two or more parties commit themselves to the rights and responsibilities demanded by their relationship and their agreed course of action, and accept the serious consequences of breaking faith.[1]”
I imagined an acacia tree near the slope of Mt. Sinai where the covenant was written, then broken by worship of an idol, then written again. It was a simple tree, but God designated it as the chosen wood for many parts of the tabernacle—and in particular the ark of the covenant. Even the poles that were for carrying it were acacia wood (Exodus 25:10-13; Deuteronomy 10:3). That tree had no idea what lay in store for it while it was growing up! It would become a “holy” instrument for God’s purpose!
We are simple human beings, often without knowledge of what God has in store for us. But those of us who are true followers of Jesus are definitely chosen for a purpose:
He has saved us and called us to a holy life– not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. (2 Tim. 1:9a NIV)
A “holy life” is one that is set apart for God’s purposes. We are now in the new covenant, sealed by Jesus’ blood, set apart to serve Yahweh who has brought us into his kingdom. He lives in us, so we are truly holy. And we are members of the community he has chosen:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Pet. 2:9 NIV)
We all are to spread the Good News, the praise of the one who has rescued us. We all are to live as citizens of his “holy nation”. We belong to God, and that truly sets us apart!
So whether we know the exact nature of the life ahead of us, when we follow him with all our hearts he will fulfill his purposes in us. He has purpose for each one of us—he will make it clear, step by step, because he promises to guide us.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. (Ps. 32:8 NIV)
Just pray this way, like the psalmist:
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (Ps. 143:8 NIV)
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Ps. 25:5 NIV)
minutes tick away turn into hours then days and silently within the forward push of time blossoms become tiny bulbs hidden baby mangoes soak in sun and sap swelling as the weeks slip by
even without rain
strips of clouds float northward while we wait for dark ones to splash respite someday they will come someday our Lord is healing his parched land that burns and yearns for rain and fruit that time will come
even when we fail to see it coming
What are you hoping for as a new year pushes its way into place? I wrote “Within the Forward Push of Time” in a bleak “winter,” a “dry season” actually, when we still lived in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. We were used to brown Christmases there, because the rains would have already stopped and most trees would have lost their leaves. The harvest was over and we were now waiting eagerly for March when rains would begin again and the first mangoes would ripen, bringing what we had been longing for. It was always like a miracle: the trees would become richly ornamented with dark orange blossoms in starry fans, tiny green buds would appear and slowly grow into those longed-for mangoes before the rains arrived! The trees’ root systems were able to find water we could not see.
Here in southern Michigan, we might have wished for a “white Christmas” that didn’t come, but now we are getting snow! All we had to do was wait.
Waiting is often yearning, a deep desire for change, for an answer to prayer, for healing to come. With so much chaos and distress going on in our world, we know we cannot count on human leaders to resolve all the problems. Loved ones drift away from following the Lord, and our only hope is for the Lord to break through barriers and draw them back to himself. The job market dwindles and we wait for the right opening to come—how long will that take? Or it could be time to choose a new path forward; which direction is the right one? Maybe physical pain or debilitating disease is crunching hope for relief.
But if all is well and you have special plans for the new year, you still want the Father to hold you and guide you step by step.
Whatever your situation, wait on him. There may be tiny buds growing almost out of sight, fruit on its way. As time moves on ahead we will see what he has planned. We need to trust him like the psalmist did:
There was one night when the division of dimensions was ripped open and the unthinkable happened. God, the Spirit, the Word, took his first breath as a tiny fragile human, having spent nine months in utero, being enfleshed, now emerging as the maiden’s painful contractions pushed him out into the material world he had spoken into being.
Incredible! All because of love for scandalous, rebellious people, all because justice must be served! Yes, the heavens ripped open as the heavenly beings saw this amazing joining of God to humanity! One was sent to reveal the news, then, for a moment, those exulting crowds of angels (overwhelmed by the miracle) were suddenly visible and audible— so while the villagers slept or huddled indoors, it was the shepherds in the fields, on guard, who saw the messenger, gasped in wonder at the sight and the song of the massive choir and their message of hope.
This chorus had never been heard before by human ears, no one had seen such a mass of watchers, of singers from that other dimension. And then the opening closed. The world was still, waiting.
But the shepherds had to find this newborn savior, whatever that might mean— who could understand? who could unravel this mystery? And they did find him just as they’d been told, and were gripped with wonder. How could they be silent? Wonder overflowed and so they told any who would listen.
Did those who heard believe? Did they think the shepherds mad, these unimportant workers who said they’d heard heaven’s angels sing and had seen the baby whose birth tore the screen apart? Do we believe? Do we comprehend the true significance of that bonding so momentous: heaven and earth, God and humankind?
I doubt that most of us truly comprehend the deep meaning of God becoming human, but we try and try, and each effort takes us to a place of greater inner tingling and emotional gratitude. First of all, we usually don’t really get the crucial necessity of a perfect sacrifice in order for us to be completely forgiven and made new. God tried to explain this through the detailed laws regarding sacrifice in the Old Testament, and he underlined the necessity of punishment for wrongdoing and his willingness to forgive truly repentant people through the prophets and the way that he dealt with the wicked kings.
We sing “Mary, did you know . . .” to underline our own lack of understanding—we know that she could not comprehend all that was involved with Jesus’s birth. She did not know that he would save her, and all who believed in him, from their sins, that he would be murdered then raised to life to accomplish that. She did know that he would be the powerful loving God-sent one that would bring justice to earth, pulling down the rich, proud rulers and lifting the poor to their rightful place. His attention to her, using her, was a sign of that change that would eventually turn the world upside down. We are still waiting for that to be completed. But Jesus, God the incarnate, is indeed our Rescuer, our Way to being reborn and inheriting eternal life! Her prayer, written in Luke 1, moves me deeply; I can relate to her joyful hope. He is still at work here on this waiting earth:
And Mary said,
“My soul exalts the Lord,
1:47 and my spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior,
1:48 because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant.
For from now on all generations will call me blessed,
1:49 because he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name;
1:50 from generation to generation he is merciful to those who fear him.
1:51 He has demonstrated power with his arm; he has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts.
1:52 He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position;
1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and has sent the rich away empty.
1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,
1:55 as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”[1]
God, who fills the universe, who made it all, the stars and space, did choose to put mankind on earth and focus on this tiny place.
The perfect world he made for us was broken by our parents' sin, and nothing we try is enough to heal it, make it whole again.
Our God, whose heart is endless love, could never leave his children lost. He left his palace up above to be a man, at a huge cost.
Scrunched into human form, Jesus would usher in God's Kingdom come, to put an end to what kills us, for he would die, God's holy Son.
This baby was no accident, born in a stable, far from home; Messiah, chosen one, God-sent, his death killed death, made us his own.
Alleluia! We sing God's praise! He offers us his warm embrace, If we accept, we have our place In his Kingdom come -- amazing grace!
Just think about it: God wants to hug us and bring us into his Family! And to make it possible, he came in human form to live in troubled times with minimal resources that most of us now consider essentials: furnaces, electricity, cars, computers, the Internet. He chose that time for his own reasons and showed us the fervor of his love—the extent he would go to in order to give us an open door to his Kingdom.
Do we shrug and turn away, choosing to live our lives our own way in the limited time span we have? Or do we jump into his arms and live a life covered with his love and the promise of forever with him?
When I grew up enough to realize what it mean to actually take that plunge with wholehearted commitment, I began to experience the difference it makes to walk in the Light:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:7 NIV)
We not only can see where we are going and who is with us, but we are freed from the weight of sin, guilt carried hidden within. Jesus’ blood makes us clean and makes it possible for us to live a life characterized by his love, which offers welcome space to others and substitutes peace for conflict.
Someday we will actually see him as he is, in all his glorious absolute light! For now, we have the privilege of belonging to him and absorbing the richness of his goodness. Or, as some do, we could choose to avoid the risk of the leap, and keep on trying to find our way in the dark. If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to take the leap. I am witness to the benefits and the joy of walking life with him, the one who is pure light.
He made a world from love of life and beauty, work and rest. For rest he made the night. For work, the day, and governing them both he made the light: a sun to silt the day with gold, s a moon to silver through the lovely dark.
His hands plunged deep into moist earth, newly made and healthy, rich with promise. With tender care and staggering intelligence he blended atoms into cells, a body-- Adam, Earth-one, firstborn human. His Spirit, hovering, whispered love and filled the body with a soul from his own breath of life.
Then from that same flesh, kindly put to sleep, he levered out a rib and gently, with delight, he made the woman, counterpart. And Adam knew he was a man and she his mate, his love.
They ruled. They basked in light, laughing in sunshine and moonbeam alike. They talked with God. They fingered stars. The earth responded gladly to their touch, grew green. They rested by clear water, picked fruit from bush and tree . . .
until they reached too far.
They fell, and stumbled into death. Now daylight heat grew out of bounds, the sun’s rays sucking beads of sweat or hiding, letting in the cold. And night became a flickering menace, sometimes silken with slivered shafts of light, or sinister, sheltering snakes in the grass.
But, loathing the deceit that threw his humans into hell, the Father crafted a way out. It would take Light, real light, to cut through glitter and mirage, hallucination, solutions leading nowhere. It needed Truth, to show up deceit as sham. The lie had birthed a wretched race that lived to die. His Word of Truth would be the Breath of Life and Love sent to recreate creation.
And so the Spirit blew, winds shifted, a child was born. This new Earth-one came to life to live among the darkened ones, a flame they either loved, and huddled close to know, or hated for its piercing heat— so snuffed it out, not knowing this was Light, unchanging, source of every other light, the very Glory. Snuffing backfired. It burned anew, and flamed, and Life and Light broke through and there was nowhere left to hide.
Be shown up for what you are, Adam, Eve! And either choose to see this Truth or turn your backs! And then your shifting shadow is the shape of all your instability, false starts and stumbling, and leaps that land on nothing. You embrace the Fall in all your falls, tumbling helpless as water, slave to gravity. Down. Lost. To the grave.
But if you breathe in Word of Truth, you breathe in Life and are restored— to grow in health and wholeness, to belong to a new humanity that walks in glowing sunlight daily but is never burned. You see the Way. Through nights of patient waiting, the path stays lit before you. Snakes in the grass slip aside.
You watch in hope for your beloved Earth-One, invisible, yet bright in every sudden flash of insight, whose quiet passing is marked by the wind breathing Life. He will return in person. And you will come to rest in a world of peace made new, where Light and Truth are loved and snakes no longer threaten.
Right now I live the story every day. Tempted, choosing “just this once,” I fall. Each fall births wretched death; peace is perturbed, life sickens. Turning to the Light, healed by flaming purifying rays, I find fertility: life birthing life, growth to green the world, healing for me and for the nations. This is the answer: choose Life!
Advent is a time of reflection for those who have chosen to live in the Light. Let’s set these weeks aside to express deep gratitude for that breakthrough moment in earth history when the Word, who was and is the Light, was born to rescue us from the dark!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. . . .10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-4,10-14 CSB)
When our hands are empty, fill them up, we pray— not too much, not too hearty a ration, or we may topple and then fall.
You set the table in desert lands as well as on mountaintops. We need you! When poverty strips away our access to food it’s you we call!
And you come, Father, to your kids and feed them with just what they need. You said you would! You do provide in your time what is good.
When your loved ones lose their way you pursue with mercy. You find us, fill our cups to the brim just like you said you would.
We set our hope on your manna, what you provide every day, sustaining us. We pray that our siblings will have it too, as they should.
Reading through Numbers lately has underlined again for me how prone we all are to complaining. What we get may be adequate, but just not what we really think we deserve. They had daily manna, which evidently had a sweet delicious taste, but they got tired of it. “Why don’t we have all the variety we used to have in Egypt?” they grumbled. Each time there were consequences to their ungrateful attitude. God was saving them from slavery, bringing them to the land he had promised them, but the journey was long and tiring. They let their yearnings overwhelm gratitude for this rescue.
When we have too much good stuff, we may stop realizing that all of it is a gracious gift from God. We may stop depending on him and think that our own efforts have brought us prosperity. When we have just barely what we need, or not what we think we need, we may get surly and complain. But if we are walking close to our Provider, we turn to God and beg for his help. It does remind us that we are dependent on him. And we learn to be grateful for all the “small” ways he is showing us that he is paying attention to our predicament. He knows and he cares. Like the sauce that is being poured onto rice in the photo from a church feast in Tiepogovogo, he knows what blessing to pour onto us and how much would be the right amount at that moment.
One day in October as my sister-in-law and I walked along the gravel road surrounding Piatt Lake, in the forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, suddenly a doe leaped out of a driveway on the left and kept loping into the woods on the right. She was out of sight, but what an unexpected gift she was for us! Her calm swift response and grace as she lifted her body into the air gave us joy. Then I wondered: what was she looking for down by that cabin? Was she hungry? desperate?
Autumn is indeed the season when the animals and birds prepare for winter. It is amazing how what they find now can sustain them. Squirrels are running all over the city here in Detroit, grabbing bits of this and that and scurrying away.
So it is with us, too, as we serve our Master wherever he has placed us. There are times when we can keep on keeping on, day by day, receiving just what is needed to maintain our productivity. But sometimes we see a winter coming as resources peter out and the scenery looks bleak.
It has been this way during the past few months for the Bible translation project that I’m involved in. Our Father has kept us forging ahead through thick and thin since 1998! We suffered several bleak seasons (war, cancer, back issues, fire) but each time the Lord pulled us through. The Nyarafolo people are a small ethnic group in Africa that few people in the United States have ever heard of, but the prayers and ongoing gifts of certain friends and churches who have never even met them provided the sustenance that allowed us to give the Nyarafolo two-thirds of the Word in their language: the Pentateuch, Psalms and New Testament iin 2021. The translation team did not want to leave it at that; they have a passion to complete the Old Testament too!
So we began pressing forward, applying for long-term support and extremely encouraged by the way so many donors kept on giving. Then we recently discovered that a source of major funding for this project, one that had brought us to that major finish line, was not going to be able to help us as planned.
Here we are, translating key books right now (Proverbs, Isaiah and Jeremiah), and hanging on a thread which is the hope that somehow the Lord will find a way to send us the sustenance needed for this critical season of searching. And we just heard that yes! He is sending what can take us through this “winter”—we will wait on him for ongoing provision after that! Even this much, all coming from individuals, is an amazing answer to prayer.
Are you needing some kind of sustenance right now? Maybe it is financial, maybe it is encouragement or healing . . . the list of needs we humans may face is long. We need to remember that our Father is our provider, the one who will accomplish his purposes. His love for us shows up in many ways we don’t even notice—rippling lake waters, bird calls, a doe’s graceful leap into the woods or a stunning sunset. Noticing them lifts our hearts and turns our eyes to the Creator and Sustainer of everything.
Practicing gratitude is also what should accompany our petitions (what we are begging God to do). So just as we are pleading with God to keep this translation project on the move, we are thanking God with all that is in us for his provision of just what is currently needed! Times may be hard, but each day is another gift that comes with his blessing. We really do need to focus on what truly matters, being grateful for our Lord’s gracious attention to his loved ones. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, a great reminder that comes every year. May every day also become a day of thanking God for everything!
15 Be very careful, then, how you live– not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:15-20 NIV)
In the middle of this whirlwind may gentleness become the strong, long root that fixes me to what is true, that calls to others to come to you to find that inner confidence, that deep ironic peace, that stands against the gale.
Only you, living in me, can take my frail impotency and empower it to heal when all around injustice rules and wipes out hope in every innocent. Lord Jesus, keep me rooted in you, inside the storm!
I was praying, feeling desperate. Once again I was truly in the middle of a storm in Côte d’Ivoire, back eleven years ago! The country was in political and social disarray, and we were tying to continue the work our Lord had given us in the community when, inside, our hearts were fractured.
Been there? Does this resonate now?
When fierce winds whip through the land, only the trees with roots stretched deep into firm soil stay standing. We, too, only find stability when our hearts are firmly rooted in Jesus, our Rescuer, Rock, Refuge, and source of peace. He is still the Prince of Peace!
To be firmly “rooted” we need to live our lives in a way completely devoted to him:
6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6-7 NET)
Gratitude comes from experiencing his reliability and goodness. We are serving the One in charge of our lives and the world. But in addition to living our lives for him, we experience his work in us, changing us so that our faith is constantly strengthened. We know he is really right with us. We know he is reliable in every situation. Being rooted, we are drinking in his sustaining grace and power, that “living water” that never runs dry. Gale-force winds cannot uproot us. And being “built up in him,” we are being formed into the structure he desires. Like a house on firm foundations, we cannot be swept away like a house that is built on sand. As Jesus said:
“Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice– I will show you what he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. (Lk. 6:47 NET)
There is key information there: we need to be solidly built up in Christ, our firm foundation. Firm in our faith, we must listen to his words and actually do what they say: “put them into practice.” The more we digest his teachings, and listen to his daily messages and promptings, we are collecting the building blocks we need to become strong. When chaos hits, we won’t just tumble.
Yes, he is our safe place, our place of rest. I am sustained by the imagery of him directing our lives in such a way that we find release from carrying our loads of worry, or of resentment and anger, when we take them to him:
28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” (Matt. 11:28-30 NET)
We should not come to him with trepidation: he is gentle, completely approachable, inviting us into his company. His “yoke” refers to his instructions—a yoke directs the animal wearing it. Christ promises to guide us, and his guidance is not a whip but gentle pressure that shows us how to live. He is also humble, not vaunting himself like the religious rulers of his day but inviting his followers to join him in being submissive.
If we are walking with him, letting him guide us with his instruction, then we are to be like him! Paul was learning this and shared it with churches he was teaching:
I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3 NET)
Our “calling” is to do what we are instructed to do with humility and gentleness—not by domineering or using harsh words. That does not keep unity or peace. When are practicing gentleness we not only spread peace but experience it:
Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:5 NET)
Gentleness is not what comes to mind as a first reaction when we find ourselves in the middle of some kind of storm. Anxiety or aggressive push-back are two natural responses. Instead we are to live our lives in prayer in every single situation! Thanksgiving accompanies prayer for protection and peace, because God answers. He gives us that inner shield from the chaos in a way that cannot be explained. It only comes from deep attachment to him, living life in his “yoke,” living out our calling “with all humility and gentleness.”
So let’s not let the chaos rule our lives, our thinking! Let’s make sure our heart roots are firmly embedded in the rich and strengthening sustenance that comes from walking life in submission to the Prince of Peace, responding with gentleness and humility to the harsh stabs that may come through words or actions. This is a lesson Christ has been impressing on me recently, constantly reminding me to respond gently because that is being like him, and actually can calm anger that is aimed at me. This does not say one must not respond at all, just that we are to respond with humility, gently. Jesus did that over and over while being attacked by the religious leaders. The Old Testament underlined this too:
A gentle response turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. (Prov. 15:1 NET)
Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, for anger resides in the lap of fools. (Eccl. 7:9 NET)
So this is my prayer:
In the middle of this whirlwind may gentleness become the strong, long root that fixes me to what is true, that calls to others to come to you to find that inner confidence, that deep ironic peace, that stands against the gale.
Linnea's Lines 