Peace & Presence

Hachiko, called Hachi, was a dog owned by a Japanese professor in the last century. Hachi would walk to the train station with the professor daily to watch his owner catch the train to work. At 3 p.m. Hachi would return to the station and wait for his master so they could walk home together.

One day, the professor did not return. He had died at work. The gardener took Hachi in, but the dog kept his same routine. At three in the afternoon, he went to the station to wait for his master. This lasted for almost ten years until Hachi himself died.

At first, Hachi was a nuisance at the station, but then the people realized what was happening. Word spread, and Hachi became a national symbol of a loyal dog. Later, they erected a statue at the train station representing undying loyalty.

If we expect family or friends for a holiday visit, we anxiously look out the window or listen for the doorbell. We do this because we know they are coming. Anticipating Christ’s return should prompt us to do the same. If we expect a visitor, we try to clean up ourselves and our houses a bit. Knowing Christ is coming should motivate us to tidy up our spiritual houses. 

In numerous places in the Old and New Testament, prophets tell that Jesus Christ will return. Like Hachi, we should wait for our master, the Lord Jesus. And if He tarries, another generation will be raised to faithfully wait, based on what they have seen in us. One day, when least expected, the trumpet will sound. In the twinkling of an eye, Christ will appear, and we will all meet Him in the air.

Don’t regret anxiously awaiting Christ’s return. Doing so will be worth the wait.  

One Sunday, as my husband walked the church hallway, he saw Johnnie, one of my seven-year-old choir members. A distraught young teacher’s assistant tugged on Johnnie as he resisted. From the interaction, it was apparent Johnnie had misbehaved in class and had been removed from the group to the hallway.

As my husband passed Johnnie, he looked into his eyes and softly said, “What would Mrs. Shoaf think?”

Johnnie immediately straightened up and marched back into the classroom. The flabbergasted assistant gazed at my husband—her mouth dropping in disbelief.

Later, my husband chuckled as he relayed the incident to me. “I know she wondered what woman had such power over this little fellow.”

Johnnie was a handful—at first. He was an obvious leader, and the children mimicked his antics. I called him aside one day and solicited his help. Johnnie sought attention in the wrong way until given the opportunity to use his talents for good. I explained how important his influence was on the other children and asked him to assist me in teaching the others. From that day forward, Johnnie proved an asset in the choir.

How often do we struggle against God? We want to go our way and do our own thing, just like Johnnie. We seek attention by inappropriate means. We rebel for no apparent reason except selfish desires.

But the Holy Spirit can tug at our hearts and show us our disobedience. God endowed us with spiritual gifts and called us for specific purposes. His way is so much better. When we cease struggling against God, He will use us powerfully and positively. God wants to work in us and mold us into the people He knows we can be.

Let go of any self-centered behaviors and allow God to lead you. 

The fight against depression was exhausting.

“I don’t know why this semester has been so hard for me,” I told my parents over the phone.

Heaving sobs wracked my body, and tears poured down my cheeks.

“Have you prayed about it?” Dad asked.

I shook my head, then realized they couldn’t see me and said, “Not as I should.

In my senior year of college, I fell into a state of depression. I had panic episodes and found myself crying even though nothing had happened. Nothing should have triggered such a response. I tried to write it off as the stress of classes, homesickness, or being overly tired. But the real root of the problem was my distance from God.

Christians are supposed to have a daily walk with God, which includes studying the Bible and praying constantly. If a Christian falls away from God, the results can be catastrophic. In my case, it caused depression.

When depression hits, the best thing to do is pray about it. God wants His children to cast their cares on Him and let Him comfort them. But instead of letting go, I kept living in a depressive state. I told myself I would read my Bible and pray later. I told myself God could wait while I figured out my worries. But I couldn’t figure it out by myself. Only when I returned to God did I find comfort and rest.

Depression can be intense, but compared to God’s strength, it doesn’t stand a chance. As Christians, we need to remain in the Word to discover the joy of the Lord. In the battle of God against depression, God will always come out on top.           

Think of things you still hold on to that deprive you of God’s comfort. Then let go of your troubles and fall into the Father’s embrace.

I once worked in the television industry as a camera and lighting person and learned a lot by watching people do their thing.

At the Taste of Minnesota, a reporter from channel 11 was getting ready to go live when suddenly, I heard him scream, “What are they doing?”

When a reporter goes live on location, they introduce a package, which is a pre-recorded video. Because the signal going back to the station was so bad, the station decided to roll the package and not go live to the reporter.

Hearing the reporter scream made me wonder if we sometimes don’t scream, “Lord, what are You doing?” when we go through a hard time. I have wondered about this many times, such as when my dad divorced and left Minnesota. I wondered again after I left Minnesota and moved to Illinois to get a job running a camera, but then left the television industry.

One night, on my way home from my courier job, I screamed, “What are you doing, Lord?” The Lord reminded me that night when a tornado took off the roof of a nearby apartment building. I felt Him telling me that could have been my apartment. Yet the Lord did not leave me or forget me. God promised the same thing to His Old Testament people and still promises it to believers today.

When we know Jesus as our Savior, He will be there for us. Trust Him now if you haven’t already. He knows what He is doing. 

As I listened to my beloved football team, I silently barracked hard. My boys overcame a deficit and kicked away to a fabulous victory. Well earned. My team has a reputation for being comeback kings.

Enjoying a touch of spring in the air, I thought about how comebacks can inspire us. It is just as the word of God expresses in this verse: They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. I agree that not one of us knows when Jesus will be our comeback king. But as a Christian, I can be inspired by this promise of magnificent glory to come. So can any Christian.

Jesus asks each of us to love God and each other. If we smile, pray, and speak in peace, we can all act like talking Bibles daily. This is the greatest gift we can give each other: to be examples of making our faith accessible to all we meet.

Smiling and praying are important jobs. So are things such as not rising to bait and catastrophizing minor non-issues. Like my team, which aims to play on, we can all hope to pray on.

We hope to see Jesus, our comeback King, returning in all His great glory. In the meantime, we can keep praying to be His living word. We are all here for such a short while, so let’s make the most of our God-given days and enjoy happy times.

Let’s celebrate together the spiritual blessings of Jesus, our comeback King. Pray on.