The Spirit in Family

When my two daughters were young, I attended all the group presentations in which they participated. I took note of the other parents. When their child was next to do a solo or recitation, the parents’ anticipation rose. Shortly, they were out in the aisle taking a picture.

My expectancy also peaked when one of my daughters was next to do her thing. I, too, jumped out into the aisle to take my picture. If she remembered her lines, she was smart like her mom and dad. If she forgot them, she was cute. It was a no-lose situation. She did not have to be good because she was mine. 

Thessalonians is Paul’s letter to the church he had birthed by God’s grace. This letter drips with Paul’s parental love for those who came to know Christ through his ministry. Paul uses the imagery of a loving mother. God had brought these children into the kingdom of God, but Paul loved them like his own.

When we reach heaven, we will receive two rewards: God’s presence and a feeling of righteous pride about those we introduced to Christ.

Whether we have been a preacher, teacher, encourager, comforter, loving parent, or just an example of Christ-like living, we either plant, water, or witness the harvest. Regardless, the reward is the same.

Nothing done for Christ is ever done in vain. Those you lead to Christ will be your trophies and source of pride and joy.

My expensive prescription glasses went flying. As four pairs of hands reached to corral the basketball as it bounded off the backboard, my glasses (I think) were accidentally knocked off my face. The game sputtered to a halt as my friends quickly looked at their feet.

The glasses were nowhere to be seen on our makeshift basketball court. They had flown further afield, and that was a problem. We had shoveled snow off our basketball court so we could play, and now piles of shoveled snow ringed the court. Somewhere in those piles, my glasses had landed and sunk out of sight into the frozen precipitation. It took a few moments, but we eventually found them.

Prescription spectacles had been the bane of my existence since the fourth grade. I hated them, and I hated having to wear them. However, the vision in my left eye was ridiculously bad without correction. Depth perception was a constant problem without my glasses. Unfortunately, accurate depth perception is somewhat necessary when it comes to trying to put a basketball through a basketball hoop.

My problem lay in the fact that I needed to see to play sports. On the other hand, losing, breaking, and scratching my glasses was something at which I seemed to excel, and it also drove my parents crazy. To preserve my glasses for as long as possible, my mom and dad insisted I wear thick, heavy, black plastic frames. I despised them. They spent more time shoved into my pocket than on my face. While my best friend got to wear ultra-cool, round, wire-frame, John Lennon glasses, I was stuck wearing glasses that looked like something Clark Kent would wear.

But no matter how nerdy I looked wearing them, my glasses were vitally necessary. They brought my world into clear focus.

Viewing and navigating our fallen world also requires corrective lenses. The Bible and God’s Holy Spirit give us the glasses we need to view a wicked world flawlessly. When applied to our perception of the world, God’s Word enables us to discern His loving will for us. The Holy Spirit steers us around potholes in our road and rocks in our river. Both act as spiritual glasses as we journey toward knowing our Lord with all our hearts.

Wear your spiritual glasses. Don’t be like me and shove them in your pocket. They don’t do a bit of good when they aren’t on your nose.

Easter is hard in our house for multiple reasons. I have an adult son with mental retardation who struggles with seeing anything depicting Christ on the cross. It’s hard for him to grasp. For that fact, it’s hard for me. It is for most of us, or at least it should be.

The mere thought of what Jesus suffered tears me to shreds. It breaks my heart and then knowing that Christ chose this in my stead. My heart grieves that my sin, our sin, is that grim and gritty.

Isaiah prophesied His death and its depth years before Christ came as a baby. He laid it out piece by piece. The Son of Man would be oppressed and afflicted, led like a lamb to the slaughter, never opening His mouth but humbly submitting. The Messiah would be judged and protested. Rejected by men, suffering, despised, and considered of low esteem. And if that were not enough, He would bear our transgressions and be crushed for our iniquities. He. Would. Brutely. Die.

Who can get their head around that? Who could understand the depth of love involved? That the Father would offer His Son as an atonement for us, but that Christ willingly walked the path of man’s cruelty. He died for us—me and you.

When I say those words, “He died for us,” there is silence—dead silence. I imagine that the moment Jesus died, silence fell over the world. For a moment in time, the world had to take it in. There must have been a global gasp. For an instant, there was no choice but to believe.

I understand the joy of Easter fun for children, but for me, it’s different. I feel the loss. I cry for a sacrifice that shouldn’t have been required but was necessary—and given freely and fully in love so redemption could follow.

When I read the words, He is not here; he has risen, just as he said (Matthew 28:6 NIV), I feel the joy of not just Christ but of a Savior. The burden is lifted. The sadness is gone. His arms are open, and death is not just overcome but defeated forever.

Mourn your sinful nature and then look upward. Rejoice at the gift of life given to you, for Christ has risen. He lives. And He will come again. Hallelujah and amen.

I asked Christ to come into my heart as a little girl. Since then, I’ve hungered and thirsted for many things besides Christ, even though He’s the only One who promised to satisfy the hunger and quench the thirst in my soul.

But when I read Isaiah 55, God reminded me how beautiful—and relevant—the gospel is. I realized I was spending my time, money, and effort on figurative bread and water that couldn’t satisfy my hunger or quench my thirst.

Although I had a relationship with God and had heard the gospel countless times, God used Isaiah 55 to open my eyes to a powerful truth: only He offers the food and drink that can fully fill my soul.

God gives us opportunities to find satisfaction in Him—not just at the point of our salvation but every single day afterward. We must keep returning to our true fulfiller, especially when Satan tempts us to satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst with other things. By communing with God—reading Scripture and praying—we can find refreshment for our souls.

In the life to come, we’ll no longer hunger or thirst because we’ll be in the presence of the Lord. But until then we must commune with Him through the spiritual disciples.

God wants to commune with you. Think about what prevents you from communing with Him. Then, surrender those things to Him and seek the genuine fulfillment only He alone offers. 

I wish I did not worry. As a child, I would pray aloud as we crossed a bridge, “Lord, protect us.” I once passed out praying on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. My momma used to call me a worry wart. It turns out Worry Wart was a comic strip character from the 1920s.

The Bible has plenty to say about worrying. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything.” 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Holy Spirit does not want you to be afraid.” So why is it so difficult not to worry? Maybe God knew just how hard it is to have faith. I like to think He understands our lack of trust, so He filled the Bible with many reminders.

Over the years, I have worried about my students’ welfare when they asked if they could go home with me. I worried about my family, young and old, knowing I could not solve all their problems. And I worried about my coworkers and the heavy load they carried. So, I gave snacks to the hungry students and hoodies to the cold ones. I called to check on the elderly and read to the little ones. I sent notes of encouragement to coworkers and shared lesson plans.

I once heard, “Work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.” That gave me something to do. I want to say I quit worrying, but I would be lying. We do the best we can. I thought if everyone knew I worried, they would question my faith in God. Now that I am older, I believe God gets me. He is still working on me.

In life, we can control some variables. We can set an alarm to wake us up. We can plan and save for a rainy day. But some things will come our way over which we have no control. For some, there will be no worry. For others, like me, there will be some wringing of the hands and restless nights. We press on.

Think about what worries you, then plan what you can do alone and what you must leave for God.