I Want a Horse

When I was eight years old, I wanted a horse. Not a pony…a horse. And I wasn’t asking Santa Claus…I was asking my dad. Daily.

I did my homework. I looked in the newspaper and found ads for stable rentals. I figured up what it would cost annually to care for a horse (based on my own rough estimates). And then I found local listings for horses in a price range that seemed reasonable to me. Then I made my case.

I wanted a horse. And I saw no reason why we shouldn’t get one. It made perfect sense to me. An eight-year-old.

My dad responded with his typical loving patience. “We don’t need a horse.” “We’re not going to get a horse right now.” “We can’t really afford a horse, Lynn.” “Yes, I see that you’ve worked it all out, but we don’t need to get a horse. We need a new mower.”

Eventually I let it go.

And then I got a bike! It was SO much better than a horse! I zipped around the neighborhood every afternoon with my friend Clark and we had a blast racing with our banana-seats and out-there handlebars. My dad knew better after all.

“Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NAS)

“Wow, Lynn, you’re brilliant! I’ll never worry about anything again! I’ll just know that God’s gonna give me a bike and everything’s gonna turn out great!”

Ummm…no.

I know it’s not that simple.  Life is still hard. And we are supposed to be honest and open before God with the concerns and passions of our hearts.

But remember…he’s in heaven and you’re not. He sees the bigger picture and you can’t. When bad things happen or you see the bad things around you, bring those things before God and then trust him. Believe that he sees these things in their context.

Remember that death is not defeat. In Christ, death is passage. We often pray that death will be postponed, but when God does not intervene, that death is not denial. It is loss for us…and often it is heartbreaking loss…but it is not a negative response to our requests. It is a fulfillment of God’s promise of life everlasting.

So when you pray…when you come before God in the quiet of your own home…and you feel stumped at just what to say about all of the things that are on your heart, just start with, “My Father, the one who sits in heaven and sees everything in its greater context, holy is your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

The rest will just fall into place. After all, he knows better.

I Know Why the Old Ladies Cry

When I was young, I would see old ladies at church cry during songs about heaven and wonder what was so upsetting that they would actually cry about it. Do you know what I mean? Whenever we would sing or hear songs about heaven and seeing Jesus—songs like “Until Then” or “I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy” or “When We See Christ”—the tissues would come out and the tears would come down and they would be boo-hooing somethin’ awful. Which left me completely puzzled.

I didn’t understand what the big deal was back then. They’d have tears streaming down their faces and I’d be looking on in amazement. I’d think to myself, It’s just a song. It’s just a pretty song about a pretty place that we’ll all go to someday. No need to get all worked up about it.

Until recently. Now I’m one of the old ladies.

I went to a funeral this morning. The father of one of my best friends died suddenly a few days ago so we had a beautiful memorial service for him this morning at our church. My friend’s brother and her husband (who is also my pastor) both delivered tender and eloquent messages of love and grace about a well-lived life. Between their presentations, another friend, our worship pastor, sang “I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy.” And at the end of the service we all sang “Until Then”:

This weary world with all its toil and struggle

May take its toll of misery and strife;

The soul of man is like a waiting falcon;

When it's released, it's destined for the skies.

But until then, my heart will go on singing;

Until then, with joy I'll carry on;

Until the day my eyes behold the city,

Until the day God calls me home.

By the end of that song, I had a tissue out (which I fortunately found in my purse) and was trying to clean up the mess my tears had made with my mascara. I was boo-hooing with all the rest and the best of us old ladies.

So now I know why.

When you’ve lived on this earth a while--long enough to get “old”--you get weary. You learn what “toil and struggle” are like and your soul becomes that “waiting falcon.” You get tired of going through the same struggles over and over and over and over . . . you get the picture. Whether it’s physical pain or emotional difficulties or financial problems or whatever, life is just plain hard. For everyone.

But that’s not why we’re crying.

We have something to sing about in the meantime. "Until then” we can “carry on” . . . with joy! The fact that someday God is going to call us “home” gives us a reason to keep pressing on while we are in this foreign land. Our citizenship is in another Kingdom and we serve a God who loves us and has purchased and empowered us through the blood of His son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1-4).

So we get a little homesick for that place. And that's why us old ladies cry.

Share the Love...and Drive out Fear

Do not be afraid.

Repeatedly throughout the Bible, messages delivered from God begin with those words: Do not be afraid. Look at Psalm 27:1-3; Matthew 14:27 and 17:7; and Acts 18;9.

When we are followers of Jesus Christ, there is nothing for us to fear. Sometimes the greatest way to show our love is to remind other believers of that truth. When someone we know is afraid of the future, afraid of the unknown, afraid of a medical diagnosis, afraid of the economic outlook, afraid of death, we can remind them that the God who loves us is the One who created the universe and has all of it in his hands. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful.

This is not to be confused with all-causing. Terrible things happen that are outside his perfect will. Into this perfect universe, he introduced the element of choice. With that ability to choose came sin, rebellion against God's perfect will. As a result, bad things happen in this world and the consequences of those bad things grieve the heart of God as they do ours. But none of those consequences are beyond the power of God to save and redeem.

Paul said it best in his letter to the Romans:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
     "For your sake we face death all day long;
     we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

This is the bottom line: We have nothing to fear when we trust in Christ. We should take the time and make the effort to communicate to other Christians that fear--anything that suggests that something could bypass the power of God in and over our lives--is a lie.

Furthermore, we should recognize that trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword have no part in the love of Christ. That may sound like I am stating the obvious, but too often we allow people to believe they are facing these things at the hand of God. Paul is clearly stating that these things may be trying to separate us from the hand of God, but they cannot. No one, especially a fellow believer, should allow someone to believe that they are suffering these trials as a part of God's will.

We will face terrible things in this world. But the good news--the astounding news--is that "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Nothing--absolutely nothing--can separate us from the love and ultimate will of God in our lives.

Do not be afraid.