Category: <span>Devotional</span>

Genesis 3:9-10

But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’”

We are currently 8 months into our third round of parenting a 3-year-old. I know everyone likes to talk about the “Terrible 2s,” but really it’s the “Three-nager” stage that I think is the hardest (of the ones we’ve experienced so far). Don’t get me wrong – Micah is sweet and adorable and way too smart for his own good. I’d absolutely do anything for him. But there’s something about life with a 3-year-old that brings to life the story of Adam and Eve eating the fruit from that tree. Is it a coincidence that it happens in Genesis 3? I’ll let you decide, but let’s just say that the fact that everything is flowing along wonderfully for those first two chapters and then wham! everything gets turned upside down – it’s relatable. 

Micah’s favorite expression right now is “UGH!” but I swear he makes it at least two syllables long. Sometimes three. He knows everything about everything, which makes us always wrong, and he can go from zero to tantrum in the blink of an eye. If we say no to candy, it jumps immediately to, “Ugh! You never let me eat anything!” (I swear we feed him.) Did Mom really say you aren’t allowed to eat anything anymore forever? Of course not, but he is definitely receiving it that way. And I think that Adam and Eve were sort of like 3-year-olds at this point in the garden – though I have no idea how human development works when you’re formed from dust instead of being born.

The real temptation in the garden wasn’t really about eating the wrong thing. It was about questioning the trustworthiness of God. 

That insidious question: “Did God really say…?” No, actually he didn’t. They knew that and they said so. Yet the question was enough to plant that little seed of doubt disguised as curiosity. What if God is holding out on us? What if he doesn’t really want my best? What if he doesn’t truly love me? Once they were unsure and unsettled, it was surprisingly easy to accept the lie, even after they had experienced such intimacy with God.

We are never immune from those questions, and they are at the root of all our fears because they are at the root of original sin itself. All the nagging “what if” questions that keep us awake at night – What if I get sick? What if someone important to me dies? What if I lose my job? – they are all different versions of our deepest question: What if I can’t trust God after all?

After that fateful moment in the garden, it doesn’t take long for fear to enter the story. God pursues them despite the recent damage to their relationship and they hide. They hide like a 3-year-old who doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s been doing. The man explains that he was afraid because he was naked. 

I’m convinced that his fear in that moment has nothing to do with nudity and modesty. Let’s remember that God formed each and every part of his body out of dirt then intimately breathed his very breath into his lungs. There was no mystery there. No, the nakedness they felt was about being vulnerable. Exposed. When they started questioning whether or not God could be trusted – if he even loved them – they lost their sense of security. There will never be enough fig leaves to take away this kind of nakedness. They were vulnerable to the onslaught of “what ifs” and left without any good answer for them. Ironically, it seemed that questioning whether or not God really loved them would turn out to be the reason for him to stop. 

But God never stopped loving them. He pursued them. He didn’t erase the consequences of their choices, but he never stopped pursuing them. The whole overarching narrative of the Bible is about God pursuing a loving relationship with his people no matter how many times they rejected him. He pursued us all the way to the cross and he pursues us still. All to answer those nagging questions at the root of all our problems. 

Is God trustworthy? Yes.
Does God really want what’s best for me? Yes.
Does God actually love me? Yes! 

All our attempts to hide our nakedness and vulnerability only push the questions deeper. We can actually deceive ourselves into believing that we’ve succeeded. I’ve hidden how I really am, that’s why God loves me. If he really saw what I was like, he wouldn’t love me. 

The bad news is that we’ll struggle with these questions in some form throughout our lives. Just when we think we’ve worked through it, when we’re at our most intimate with God, that’s when they’ll resurface in a new form. Our enemy has not lost any of his skills. 

The Good News is that God is tireless in his pursuit of us and he won’t give up until one day, the questions are finally put to rest forever, when there is a new heaven and a new Earth. When the “old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Moment of Beauty

Ponder the poem, “Touched by an Angel” by Maya Angelou:

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Devotional

In light of the tumultuous events of this past week, the only logical choice was to look to Dr. King for wisdom this weekend. We are living through extraordinary times, but so was he. By some measures, we have come a long way since these words were spoken. By other measures, little has changed in our world.

As we grieve, let us consider the outstanding words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“First we must unflinchingly face our fears and honestly ask ourselves why are we afraid. This confrontation will, to some measure, grant us power. We shall never be cured of fear by escapism or repression, for the more we attempt to ignore and repress our fears, the more we multiply our inner conflicts…By looking squarely and honestly at our fears we learn that many of them resides in some childhood need or apprehension… By bringing our fears to the forefront of consciousness, we may find them to be more imaginary than real. Some of them will turn out to be snakes under the carpet.”

“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward in spite of obstacles and frightening situations; cowardice is a submissive surrender to circumstance. Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though their life is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live. We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. ”

“Envy, jealousy, a lack of self confidence, a feeling of insecurity, and a haunting sense of inferiority are all rooted in fear. Is there a cure for these annoying fears that pervert our personal lives? Yes, a deep and abiding commitment to the way of love. “Perfect love casteth out fear.” Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that.”

Excerpts from a sermon Dr. King preached on fear in 1962. Source 

Devotional

On Fridays, I am honored to be able to introduce you all to some of my friends. Their wisdom and perspective inspire me regularly and I’m so excited that they’ve agreed to share it here. The brave woman who volunteered to go first is the amazing Triann Benson. 

Ephesians 4:29 advises us, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

If I’m honest, that can sometimes be a challenge on a good day! Throw in the stress of a national stay-at-home order due to an international pandemic and all bets are off. At least that’s been my perception as of late. Watching the events of the last several months unfold on various social media outlets, I’ve observed a grandiose shift in atmosphere. Gone are the innocent days of “Look what I baked!” and “How cute is Johnny?” Oh those posts are still there, but perhaps fewer and farther between. And when they are there, they seem to be scrutinized in a way I haven’t seen in the past. “Why isn’t Johnny wearing a mask?” “What lengths did you go to to get yeast for that bread, or are you just a hoarder?” Yikes!

What once was a way to stay connected and be a part of others’ lives no matter the distance, has become a rather prickly place to be. As these stay-at-home orders and restrictions have gone from weeks to months, tensions are mounting, lines are being drawn, and the overall demeanor of many has gone dark. When face to face interaction is taken away, it seems a quicker leap from spark to full-fledged forest fire and everyone is getting burned. Friends, neighbors, and even families are more heated in their discussions. There’s an air of distrust, misunderstanding, and a whole lot of name calling going on.

Many threads start out with true questions, seemingly benign statements, or even just a ‘this is how I feel’ post that is valid for the person speaking. Each time I hop online to check in with friends I am increasingly saddened and discouraged by the condescending tones, the judgement, and the downright hate being spewed by people I would have never thought could behave that way. Ephesians 4:31 urges us to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.” If you think brawling with words isn’t possible, think again. The carnage is devastating and it is tearing people apart. Temptation to jump in the fray and throw in a few well-worded punches of our own, whether in defense of others or of ourselves, can be alluring, especially when the topic is something you’re passionate about.

Stop.

Wait a minute.

What is the end goal? Verbal darts are a dangerous game. If you’re hoping to make a difference in those listening, are cleverly crafted retorts (or rants) the right avenue? Or are we driving one more nail into the coffin of society as we know it?

The other enticement is to simply walk away from it all and not even engage. But…what if? What if we are being called to more? More compassion. More understanding. More grace. More speaking of the truth in love.

We must be the light bearers.

I implore you to take a step back. Evaluate what you want to convey. Pray about your words. Decipher if they should be cast out into the sea of humanity right now. I’m not saying that we are being called to silence – most certainly not. The world needs words of encouragement. Words of hope. If you are being prompted to shine light, breathe life, console, encourage, laugh with others, PLEASE do so! If those who can offer light turn away from the shadows, only darkness remains.

What kind of imprint on others do you want to leave today? I’ll leave you with the words of Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you.”

 

Devotional

Psalm 4:4

“In your anger, do not sin…”

Several years ago, I was listening to a lecture given by a child psychologist. While he had a lot of wisdom to offer about various aspects of child development, this one simple line resonated with me in a special way and I’ve never forgotten these words: Mad has to go over to sad.

The lecturer went on to explain how common and natural it is for people of all ages to cope with uncomfortable emotions by masking them with anger. It is hardly a conscious effort, but rather an instinctive response that often occurs when we are overwhelmed or confused by our other emotions. He explained that when children are acting angry or throwing tantrums, there is often another emotion behind it, and the quickest way to help them move past it is to help them identify the underlying emotion, feel it, and then work together on an appropriate response. I started paying attention to my own children’s outbursts and realized that responding to their anger with anger or punishment simply prolonged the struggle. In small children, mad almost always goes over to sad before the situation is resolved. 

Then I started paying more attention to myself. Though it was pretty hard in the moment, after I had calmed down from being angry I could almost always identify another emotion that was hiding within the anger. Sadness, sometimes, but also feelings of frustration, disappointment, grief, failure, inadequacy, and fear. These feelings are painful, and I’d rather avoid feeling them. Lashing out in anger gives me a sense of being in control when my genuine feelings are threatening – because they reveal all the things I can’t control. It is false and it is temporary, but it will persist until I call a spade a spade and identify what hurts. This defense mechanism seems to come standard on most human beings.

The problem with this is that reacting in anger, especially when being angry might not seem justified to those around us, can lead us into words and behaviors that cause pain to others. Physical violence, hurtful words, damaging objects… in others words: sin. Anger so very easily leads us to sin. And the worst part about it is that usually anger isn’t even at the root of the problem.

“In your anger do not sin,” is an admonishment found twice in the Bible. It is maybe more familiarly known from Ephesians 4:26, but in his letter Paul is actually quoting Psalm 4:4. I happened to read this verse in two different Bible translations and the differences were so intriguing that I ended up theology-nerding out with my husband a bit, using all sorts of crazy reference books. It turns out, I had underestimated this old familiar verse. 

In short, the word often translated as anger refers to a trembling or quaking reaction caused by a strong emotion such as anger or fear. It is in this state that we must be especially careful not to sin – because it is exactly then that we are especially prone to it.*

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a scary year. And even as we hear calls for unity to face our circumstances together, it sometimes feels like the division and controversy is only growing. Even if we want to be united, we can’t agree on what we should unite behind. There are ugly words on social media and on television, ugly actions occurring in streets and parks around the country, and it seems to only escalate. I wish I could say that people who identify themselves with Jesus were somehow rising above the fray, but I think we all know that isn’t true.

What if we could acknowledge that so much of our anger is actually a costume disguising the fear, grief, and disappointment that might otherwise overwhelm us? We are trembling with these strong and painful emotions and it’s coming out sideways. Our fear cloaked in anger is leading us to sin, and it won’t stop until we rip off the mask like a Scooby Doo villain. 

Perhaps it’s time to do as the rest of Psalm 4:4 instructs: “search your hearts and be silent.” 

The remaining verses of Psalm 4 are like a guide for resolving the tantrum. Like a good parent, our loving Father sees our angry outburst for what it is and patiently longs to lead us to a healthy resolution.

v. 5: Trust in the LORD
v. 6: Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
v. 7: You have filled my heart with greater joy
v. 8: I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. 

In the end, we find our peace and rest when we find our security in God alone. 

* We studied this primarily using a Hebrew Interlinear Bible and a theological dictionary, but if you don’t have access to those you can easily look up an Amplified Bible online to explore different possible translations.

Moment of Beauty

Music can elicit and help us express our emotions. The first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is a classic and familiar peace that really expresses this feeling of anger eventually resolving in peace. And if you happen to be a more visual than auditory person, this graphical representation of it can help you see what’s happening in the music. Even if you aren’t a big fan of classical music, this may be a good background for asking God to help unmask any hidden emotions so you can move through to peace.

Devotional