A song that has encouraged me often over the years. I was just singing it the other day, and realized I hadn’t listened to it in a long time! He is so good to us! Trust in Him!
Faith
A Well of Life
Work mornings often find me sitting at the kitchen table, gulping down my breakfast and hot cup of coffee while I read a couple chapters of the Bible for a little spiritual refreshment before the day begins. Today was one of those days, and even though I might not get the chance to sit and savour the Word like I would like to, I was blessed by several precious minutes before I had to head out for work.
One of today’s chapters was Proverbs 10. I appreciate the wisdom in Proverbs so much, but sometimes I feel like I can read a lot and not glean anything. Other times, like this morning and even with the limited time, the Lord blessed me with several verses:
“The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.” (Prov. 10:11)
“The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.” (Prov. 10:16)
“The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.” (Prov. 10:21)
And as I finished off my apricot refrigerator oatmeal (highly recommended, by the way!) and started my coffee, I asked myself a few questions.
Is my mouth a well of life to others—do my words breathe life and hope into their souls?
Does my daily work bring life—hope, healing, relief, strength—to those around me?
Do my words feed others’ souls? Are they refreshed by my conversation, or fatigued?
I’m reminded of the apostle James’ words, how great a difference can be made by the use of our tongues—either good or bad. “Can a fountain send out both salty water and fresh?” (Esther’s paraphrase; Jas. 3:11)
My prayer is that I can be a well of life to others. In Christ, I know I can be. Let us draw our strength and inspiration from Him!
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” (Prov. 10:28)
Micah and Mary
Currently, I’m doing a reading plan that involves reading ten different chapters in ten different books of the Bible per day. For me, it’s a fairly flexible one—some days, I only end up reading one chapter, other days it’s just five, but I always aim for all ten. The way this particular plan is set up is that once you finish reading a certain “section” of the Bible, you just start it over—and that can cause some interesting mashups at times!
A few days ago, several chapters really stood out to me, and I thought I’d share my notes from them today, as I’m still thinking about them this morning.
Key texts: Mark 14:3–9, Judges 17–18
Mark 14: The gift Mary gave Jesus (“ointment on his feet”) was to be talked about wherever the gospel was preached, forever (see vs. 9).
In Judges 18, something else has happened that will also be spoken of for a very, very long time: Micah, an Ephraimite, “did that which was right in his own eyes” (see 17:6), and made himself both graven and molten images. He then created a priest in a weird mix-up of calling these images “the LORD”, thinking he was worshiping the God of Israel.
It was an evil combination of true and pagan worship, and it happened while the house of God was at Shiloh…he still had access to the truth, but he decided to do what he thought was right.
And by that one perversion in one man, one family, everyone in Dan (well, at least the ones who came to live in a nearby city) ended up being drawn away too. This lasted “all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh,” “…until the day of the captivity of the land.” (See vs. 30-31.)
Of course, we don’t really know which captivity this was (or at least, I haven’t taken time to study that part out!)—it may have been as far out as the Babylonian captivity, or perhaps a closer, smaller one. It’s hard to tell.
What we DO know is that this perversion, confusion, and sin, lasted a long, long time.
One sacrificed everything for her LORD.
One didn’t even bother to figure out or ask what his LORD required.
One did perfectly, and caused great blessing.
One did perversely, caused great confusion, and drew many away from the truth.
Which one am I?
Both may have considered their decisions inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It’s easy for us, me, to fall into that trap, too. Thinking that our little actions don’t really matter.
But they do.
We may never see the long-term results. Mary probably didn’t, although Micah may have, at least to a certain extent. Both thought they were in the right. But what each one did affected many, many following generations.
How am I living my life?
Am I living it right in my eyes, after the pattern of Micah, or right in God’s estimation?
How are my actions now—however inconsequential, thoughtless, or otherwise—going to affect those around me…and the generations following me?
What a sobering thought!
As we start this next week, let us never forget that each action, each decision, does matter. Yes, God gives grace. But we’re still responsible to continue living for Him in everything we think and do.
“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” —Ephesians 5:8
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” —1 Timothy 4:16
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” —1 Peter 2:9-10
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” —1 John 1:7
What have you been learning in your personal devotional time lately?
Commit Thy Works…
This morning, as I was preparing for my day, I spent some time in Proverbs 16, along with reading a few other chapters. Verse three really struck my attention:
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.“
This past week hasn’t been the easiest in all senses of the term. For the last few months, Dad and Mom have been trying to figure out how to buy this rental we’re currently in. Due to one thing and another, though, getting all the paperwork together and getting the inspections and agreements drawn up has been a tedious, drawn-out process. And this week, they got the news that if they can’t get everything together by Friday, we won’t be able to purchase the place.
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.“
I was struck by the similarity of this verse with one a book earlier in Psalm 37:
“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.“
This committing thing is hard. It’s entrusting everything we have (or think we have, when really it’s His all along) to God. And while theoretically we might know that He’s the one in control anyway, it’s still hard to choose to give it to Him.
If we can’t get this place, we’ll have to move. While I’m personally not too worried about moving, and in some ways would welcome the change, I do shudder a little at the thought of the amount of work needed for us to make the move as a family. It’s a big job.
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.“
Sigh. I think I have more to learn in this “commitment” stage. And while I pray for God’s will to be done, and that I will be accepting and eager for His plan for my life—our lives—it still takes faith to wait.
Uncertainty is a difficult thorn to work with, but today, I’m going to focus on committing it and my future to Him.
I’ve got a promise to stand on that my thoughts will be established, and He will bring my way—His will for my life—to fruition.
What uncertainties are you facing today? What encouragement have you gleaned from the Word as you try to face it with a Christ-like attitude?
When You Can Sing Again
Last Wednesday, nearly a week ago, we were invited to the home of a local friend for an impromptu singing. If you happen to know our family in real life, you’ve probably found out that we love to sing—so it wasn’t likely that we would be missing this chance! It was a lovely evening of praise to our Lord and Maker, and I think we all came away feeling refreshed. One song we sang that night, though, touched the deep chords of my heart.
It is the last song I remember singing with Seth.
We had been at a concert put on by all the families of our homeschool group, and as our family has done for the past 5-7 concerts we’ve attended, we sang a couple songs together and shared a short poem. The songs and poem all spoke of loss, but beyond that—of hope after loss. I had invited a dear friend of ours, a recent widow, to the concert, hoping that our words—however trite they might come across—would be encouraging and helpful to her in her grief.
I had no idea then that the very words which I was hoping would be an encouragement to her would become a lifeline of a memory, a grounding pillar to me, exactly a week and a half later.
It’s bittersweet to look back on now, knowing that my last memories of singing with him were singing together about the Lord’s healing and help in the middle of struggles we don’t understand. It was—is—powerful to think on.
After the funeral, when life is supposed to return to normal, I remember noticing my singing had stopped. Dried up. Daily chores that had often found me humming favorite melodies were now unusually silent. My heart was just too heavy—overwhelmed—to attempt to even consider finding something.
During those days, I could only cling to the Lord and my family. Together, we discussed our fears, shared our pain, and prayed…a lot. All we had then were God’s promises to cling to, and they became enough. Every time whys surfaced, every time the grief got too hard to bear, He was there to bear it. He took it. And I could sleep each night in peace, knowing that the Lord was there with us in the mess.
Then, one day a week or two later, I caught myself singing again. It’s then I knew I could hope. If that part of me could come back, a new normal could follow.
I don’t know what you’re facing today, what trials are burdening your heart and bringing pain-filled tears to your eyes. But dear friend, may I encourage you to look up? Even if your heart and throat cannot express yourself the way you’ve always known, do know that the Comforter is right there for you. He loves you. You! You might not feel able to grasp that right now, but that’s okay. Cling onto one more day, one more moment. The One who created the universe knows what you’re going through, and He does care.
That song that we sang last Wednesday, the one we sang as a family? I’m thankful I can still sing it today. And it’s become even more precious than it was back then. Here’s our family’s version of it—admittedly not that great, but that’s okay too.
Blessings on your day, friend!
Have you ever been in a place where you just couldn’t sing? How did the Lord help you out of that?
When Real Life Hurts
I never thought, that morning in early October 2016, how quickly my life could be tossed into a tailspin. I had no clue then how much pain and loss can be crammed into a few minutes—a few seconds—in a day. I also had no clue as to how much the Lord’s presence could be felt even when you’re facing your worst nightmare.
I had no idea. And in many, many ways, I’m glad I didn’t. But as I’ve thought back on the day my oldest brother committed suicide, I’m often struck not with the ugliness and agony of that day (although that was most definitely there), but more with the love—the love that can only come from Jesus—that flowed to, over, and around us in that time.
It still makes me want to cry when I think about it. His love is beyond explanation.
I didn’t—don’t—want to write about this detail in our family’s history. It’s ugly. It’s awful. But at the same time, as month after month slides by, I’m coming to realize that not talking about a thing (surprise!) doesn’t make it just disappear. This is what happened. And as I’ve been pondering and praying about what to blog about, this is the detail that I keep coming back to:
God is good, even when life is a horrific mess.
Just recently, I was reminded of those beautiful verses in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 that go like this:
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
God’s comfort toward us was shown in a very mighty way over the months following my brother’s death. While I don’t want to “glorify” his death in any way, or “rub it in your face”, so to speak, I do think I’m going to talk about it sometimes from here on out. Because I know this is something—as ugly as it is—that I have learned a lot from, and if my experiences can be helpful to just one person, if these painful moments can help to comfort you in what you’re going through, I’ll count my time more than worthwhile.
I don’t know a lot. But I do know one thing: God is good. And I’d like to share just a little of that with you over the next while.
Have you been through some tough stuff in your life? Did you experience the Lord’s nearness in that? What did He teach you in that time?