I’ll Have What She’s Having

“Have we begun to walk the practical path in grace? Do we know anything about the practice of pain? Watch what the Bible has to say about suffering, and you will find the great characteristic of the life of a child of God is the power to suffer, and through that suffering the natural is transformed into the spiritual."  -Oswald Chambers

I cannot remember Auntie without thinking about my favorite thing at her house: her water. She would take water which was probably from a spring somewhere in her backyard, put it in old Rum bottles, and allow it to become ice cold in the door of her refrigerator. It was easily the best water I’ve ever tasted… if you don’t believe me, ask Daniel.

But even more refreshing than the water was listening to someone who had seen and experienced so much throughout her life with unwavering strength and faith. Auntie had endured so much pain, suffering, and aloe juice in her life, yet did not become calloused or ungrateful. Instead, she became kind and selfless.

By 2005, both my grandmothers had passed away. They left a void that Auntie happily filled. She provided plenty of love, wisdom, laughs, and Turkish coffee. She helped put things into perspective. Medical education is a breeding ground of selfishness and pride; we study to get better grades than our classmates in order to attain superior residencies. I was always challenged by how Auntie had time to put the needs of others before her own; it changed how I studied. It motivated me to help others learn instead of focusing only on myself. For a few hours the week before each exam, I tried to do what Auntie has done her whole life.

Because of Auntie, I have tasted the most refreshing water on earth. Yet no matter how much I drank, I was left wanting more. Jesus tells us that that “whosoever drinks of the water I give shall never thirst.” Auntie personally knew what that verse meant. She had joy and hope even in the bleakest situations. She kept her sense of humor and faced adversity with grace. She knew that in our weaknesses, He is strong. In the circus of everyday life, I find myself distracted by the wants and needs of my own selfish pursuits. My prayer is that one day I may be like Auntie—content with all things, yet only satisfied by the living water.

Note: One of my Mom's greatnephews, Souhail Karram, a med student, sent this to be read at her funeral almost a year ago.
Thank you, Souhail.
May you always be satisfied by (and offer others) that living water. 

Signature Fragrance

Paul helps us understand God's work in us through the metaphors of letter and fragrance.
     

                                                                                                                                        

Letter writing takes cooperation of mind, pen and paper. When Christ writes on our cooperative hearts, the resulting letter reflects God's character -- life-giving and fragrant.

Interestingly, Christ's fragrance on us smells like death to some, but life to others. This is not surprising because Jesus warned his disciples that his servants would experience extremes of reception and rejection (see John 15:20-21).


As we become more like our Master, when, "in Christ," the Spirit writes in our hearts, the results are distinctive: death to the old, life to the new! And joy, peace, patience ... undernotes of a great fragrance.

 "Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God" (2 Cor 3:4).


If we are cooperating with the Spirit's writing on our hearts, we read clearly and smell good. Christ's costly fragrance has the power to draw or turn people away. And in difficulties that crush our tender places, we find new undernotes of Christ's sweet fragrance.


So, no matter how things appear, we can have confidence that God is working and will use us to spread his Signature Fragrance.  Full co-operation with God's Spirit is critical. That's how we discard cheap imitations  and wear the real thing.


Oh! I found its name in 2 Corinthians 2:14. 



Triomphe!



FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Read 2 Corinthians 2:14 - 3:4

What is Christ's current signature fragrance in your life? Can you see that your challenges may be refining your Designer's fragrance in you?

Thanksgiving in Suffering

While he suffered, bed-ridden from pulmonary thrombosis, Dr Bill Bright wrote his last book, The Journey Home: Finishing with Joy.

When his doctor announced the grave diagnosis, Dr Bright said, "Thank You, Lord." Thinking that his friend was either in denial, or didn't understand the gravity of his situation, the doctor got quite perturbed with him and explained again how he would suffocate to death.

Dr Bright explained that he was quite aware of the pronouncement, but was living out God's injunction to give thanks in all situations.

I marvelled at how the Word of God, deeply embedded in his psyche and spirit through years of reading, meditation, memorization, and practice, rose up to equip him to face that horrible news.

The last public record from this outstanding man of God makes me read carefully. I am observing how the Word of God shaped everything: his family life, his ability to dare great things for the Kingdom of God, maximize his gifts, and glorify His Master and Savior -- even in suffering.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

How do you treat the Word of God? What influence does it exert in times of hardship/ suffering?

What influences you most, your senses, perceptions, or what God says in His word? How might those affect each other?

Success in Suffering

It takes some strong weather and the maturing of your vine to realize that you can be in a windstorm and still prosper.

Joseph was thrown into prison for doing things God's way. Yet, "the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor.... and gave him success in whatever he did." (See Genesis 39:21-23.) The scriptures don't tell if Joseph stayed awake, tormented by the false accusations that put him in prison. Neither do they describe him as sullen or bitter. Instead, he seems to have discovered that, in this place of shame and constriction, God was with him and would somehow bring good (Genesis 50:20).

In the midst of difficulty, is this not success: submitting to God's presence, listening for God's insights, applying all that the Lord reveals  -- and in the strength which He mightily supplies? When we have a clear conscience and remember that God is with us, then the severe pruning of the vine is nothing to fear. We know it will eventually cause larger, more luscious fruit to develop. (See John chapter 15.)

Recently, my mother shared with me that, as she faces the ravaging storm of cancer, she feels as if she is in the eye of the storm. Everything around her is in turmoil, but she is at peace in the center. Because, like Joseph, God is with her.

While we might grapple with the whys, moving to the whats and experiencing God's transforming presence is ultimately what brings success in our prisons. There we experience uncommon peace, one of suffering's gifts. That's success!

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Might God be using discomfort in your life to strengthen you for greater things?

What do you need to address with God so you can move to the center and His peace?

Haiti's Horror

On the heels of Haiti's incomprehensible horror, I want to linger over Psalm 46.
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" (Psalm 46:1-3)

This horror reminds me of the concentration camps... too awful to imagine. In the movie, The Hiding Place, there was a scene of Betsie and Corrie Ten Boom as they led some women in a conversation about God’s love. An angry violinist on the lower bunk, huddled by necessity with the other women, shook her fists at Betsie. Once nimble fingered, accustomed to beautiful music, she’d been sorely injured in heart and hand by cruelty and forced labor.

‘Where is your loving God now?' Her taunt... reasonable... hung in the air for just a second before Bestie’s answer.

I remember Betsie’s answer was peaceful. It was something like, "If you knew Him, you would know He is good."

That kind of peace can only come from a deep KNOWING that God is truly good and is with us. In all our circumstances.

Suffering often thrusts us into a desperate search for answers. As we keep searching, we find One who is the answer, and who lovingly draws close.

Sometimes God's presence shows up in a white hot fire with Daniel’s three friends (Daniel 3:16-30). Sometimes, His presence gives us grace to die. More recently, God has been coming to many, dressed in human flesh, digging rubble, cleaning wounds, giving genrously and praying fervently.

For Your Consideration

“[Jesus] took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed"(See Isaiah 53, The Message).

Do you think Jesus' suffering for you was like or unlike His suffering for the people of Haiti?

How might the promises of Romans 8, epecially verse 28, help you process grief and suffering?

Will you pray that many in Haiti (and those who help) will come to know Jesus by name and in the power of His saving grace?

A classic devotional which often addresses suffering is Streams in the Desert. I highly recommend it.

Pray a Difference

Second Corinthians 1:3-11 focuses on experiencing the God of all comfort and letting His comfort overflow onto others.

But it was this short sentence in the second paragraph that invited me to sit awhile. “You help by your prayers” (2 Corinthians 1:11a, NIV).

My prayers, and yours, really do make a difference! When we (or others) are being stretched beyond our normal limits, we have an opportunity to pray a difference.

Paul says, “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9, NIV). Often we don’t like to rely on God ... or anyone else. We want to be tough. But being in hot water has a way of creating a desperate longing for God. After all, God resurrects life, even when it seems to be over.

Amazingly, hidden under suffering, we find gifts that reveal God’s heart. We find goodness and unfailing mercy. Faithfulness becomes precious. God’s promises secure a lifeline to sanity, and His presence soothes us more than a hot cup of tea on a cold day.

Thankfully, God not only has power and purpose in raising the dead, but God intervenes in situations that seem inconsequential in comparison, like getting the cookies baked in the time slot we planned. We need to ask. We need to pray a difference.

Perhaps our prayer will bring comfort to a grieving friend, or bring breakthrough to a desperate coworker. Perhaps prayer will bring us peace in the escalated demands of the season.

Though we may not clearly see the results of our prayers, Paul says we do make a difference through them!

May these words steep in our hearts like tea leaves in hot water. “Then many will give thanks … for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:11, NIV).

Let us pray a difference this season.

For Your Consideration:

How can you pray for a leader or other person who may be experiencing pressure that causes them to despair?

As you look more closely, what gifts has suffering revealed?

Do you give God thanks for other pray-ers?

Withered Grass

Aunt Kay left for heaven on Thursday night. She went peacefully, but after months of waning health. She was ready and willing to go. One last breath ushered in the unseen.

Ninety long years left in that last breath. Like scorched grass, her frail body was left in a hospice bed, while her spirit slipped unseen to a rich eternal life. Christ’s presence was there. Immanuel (her favorite name for Christ) was with us. As she left for eternity, we thanked God for receiving her, even as we grieved. (See Psalm 90.)

Another day, One agonized for us, His breath excruciating, till he gave up His Spirit. “It is finished.”

That same Jesus Christ, now risen, comforts us in our grief. Because He was obedient to death (Philippians 2:8), He opens the doorway to eternal life.

Watching Aunt Kay cross that threshold reminded me that Jesus redeems our suffering. When Jesus, with the Father's love, said yes to the cross, He opened our prison doors. When she said yes to Jesus’ love, she started becoming free. Thursday, when she left for Home, she was fully freed (John 14:1-6).

Eventually, we will box her belongings and sort though photographs and trinkets that were special to her. These photos of unknown people and places have little value to us: faded memories on faded paper. I keep remembering the old adage: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

I am very thoughtful these days, thinking of the withered grass image Psalm 90:5 uses. What’s the value in all her beautiful belongings? They too will be gone one day. I will too.

In Psalm 90:12 Moses prays:

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

It’s a good prayer.

For Your Consideration:

How can the light of eternity give you a fresh perspective?

What do your time and money say about your real values?

Will you take time for God’s love to satisfy and fill you with joy? (See Psalm 90:14)