Peace & Presence

There I stood, simultaneously holding my breath and having no breath. Sweat trickled down my back. My hands shook, and my legs grew weak. I could hear children laughing, someone shouting names, and my heart going thump, thump, thump. One by one, those around me left until there I stood—but not alone. Time seemed to stand still. 

This scenario was the beginning of recess for most of my childhood. Would my peers choose me? Did I hear my name? I desperately wanted to be picked. It didn’t matter by which team. I just wanted to hear someone say, “We want Lisa.” At the same time, I prayed that no one would pick me. What if I lost the game? What if I messed up? The pressure was too much. Most afternoons, I entertained myself until recess ended. It seemed safer that way.

Yet during those same childhood years, I had the opportunity to choose. To call out a name. To pick a team. I called on the name of Jesus and chose to believe Jesus died for me. He lives for me and loves me.

My choice was life-changing, life-giving. Even more amazing, God chose me before I chose Him—before I ever thought about choosing Him. And not because of anything I had done or could do but because of who He is and His love and mercy for me. 

Paul reminds us that God loved us before He made the world. He chose us and adopted us into His family. He wanted to do this, and it gave Him great pleasure.                                              

Loved. Chosen. Adopted. Wanted. This is how God sees us, and it gives Him great pleasure.

Now, here I stand. My breathing is calm, and my body is strengthened. My heart rejoices. God chooses me.

Where are you in the recess of life? Let the truth that you are chosen and deeply loved by God calm your heart.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Alexas_Fotos.)

My ninety-four-year-old prayer sister delights in an indigo-blue tear bottle that sparkles in the sun and reflects the glass shelf on which it sits. Acquired in Iran, where lament bottles with caps have captured droplets for three thousand years, this vessel embodies a lover’s wailing for a departed soldier.

The magnitude of tears can symbolize the sum of affection for a beloved. The mourner carefully holds the rim against the edge of the nose, an inch below the corner of the eye. Droplets roll along the edge of the nares, allowing the shape of the rim to draw the drops inside. As symbols of a mourner’s grief, containers are buried with their cherished ones to express honor and devotion.

God not only tracks each sorrowful tear of mourning or grief but also tracks our sorrows and tears. Even more so, He records each one in his book. For some, that’s a lot of sobbing, but none is wasted, and God accounts for all.

God devised the bottle for this weeping and a careful technique to store every expression. He never takes them lightly. When God sacrificed Jesus on the cross as a man of sorrows and when Jesus wept when Lazarus died, God gathered the tears. And because Christ knew earthly death was still present for Lazarus, He allowed God to collect His innumerable tears.

We writers record these tears in books, stories, and memories. And not just in amount but in all kinds of circumstances and stances of the heart. David’s words invigorate us when we consider that God also records our human pain and suffering. He remembers our sorrows.

Treasure up your tears and see how God uses them for His glory and your good.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Vika_Glitter.)

The night before every physics exam in college, I chugged Dr. Pepper and crammed until dawn, stuffing my short-term memory with formulas and definitions. My two prayers were, “Lord, why did you create physics?” and “Tomorrow would be a good time for Your Second Coming.”

In Mark’s account of the deadly hurricane-like gale on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus’ disciples feared drowning and the fact that Jesus didn’t care about their danger.

The disciples woke Jesus. He stood in the boat to face the storm. Without a shred of alarm or worry, he quickly subdued nature's violent display with His words. The Bible App provides diverse translations of Jesus’ rebuke.

“Hush now! Be muzzled!” (AMPC). “Peace! Be still!” (ESV). “Quiet!” (NIV). “Hush!” (NASB1995). “Silence!” (CEB). And the wind and the waves listened.

After shushing the storm, Jesus asked His disciples two poignant questions: “Why are you afraid?” and “Do you still have no faith and confidence in Me?”

The terrified disciples didn’t answer His questions. They were too freaked out that someone with that much power rode with them in the boat.

Throughout my life, this story of Jesus’ ability to silence storms has seen me through worse tempests than physics exams. Yet His two questions to the disciples never cease to confront and convict me of my heart's attitude toward Him.

Grace, why are you so afraid of ---------? After all we’ve been through together, don’t you have faith that I hear your prayers and confidence that I love you?

Worries and fears are hushed as I remember the cross where Jesus died for my sins. Meditating on His life, death, and resurrection comforts my heart and mind. Jesus’ words and actions assure me that He loves me.

When storms shake you, cry out to Jesus. Be confident and patient that He hears you and will act.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and geralt.)

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I knew God was redirecting my course. He had sent me plenty of confirmations.

However, the change involved leaving a secure job that provided financial security, and I was nervous about the drastic reduction in income. How am I going to make ends meet? I thought. Where will I be a year from now? Will I have enough to support myself? Reflecting upon my anxieties about the change, I realized I was putting my trust and faith in my bank account instead of God. I needed to allow faith, not fear, to rule my heart.

Give us today our daily bread. As I recited the prayer repeatedly, Jesus’ words regarding daily bread struck me. He teaches us what we should ask our heavenly Father for regarding our needs. His word choice was no doubt deliberate. Jesus didn’t say, “Give us today enough bread to last a year,” or “Give us today enough bread for the upcoming month.” He didn’t even ask for enough bread for tomorrow. Instead, He encouraged the disciples to ask for and trust God to provide what they needed today.

I realized my perspective needed a drastic shift. I had been consumed with looking into the future, questioning whether I would have enough and how I would have enough when all I needed was to focus on today. I needed to trust God to provide for my daily bread, not my year’s worth of bread. He would give just enough for today. And tomorrow, I could trust Him to provide enough for tomorrow.

When we harbor a heart of thankfulness, seek God’s will, and trust Him to provide, faith displaces fear. We can rest assured that God will supply what we need to get through today. He is a good Father. Trust Him for your daily needs.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Couleur.)

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On our way to church one drizzly Palm Sunday morning, my sister Sandy and I noticed a wasp emerging from the vent below the windshield.

We looked at each other and agreed to ignore it until we pulled into the church parking lot. Unwilling to wait, the wasp eased closer and stared at me from the dashboard’s edge. I took a chance, eased up on the accelerator, and opened the driver’s-side window. Out it flew.

A few days later, a wasp landed on my desk. I followed its flight to the iron banister at the edge of my loft office/studio and stealthily retrieved a battery-operated fly swatter. Zap! He was stunned. A few more zaps, and he was lifeless.

Why do we have pests—creatures that “bug” us, we might wonder? I asked God to reveal the good He created in evil wasps. My spirit sensed His suggestion to Google it.

I learned that wasps are extremely beneficial insects, a necessary part of our ecosystem’s delicate balance. They protect plant and vegetable life by controlling populations of harmful insects such as aphids, flies, and caterpillars. Wasps are fiercely territorial. With one sting, chemical signals are released into the victim, beckoning others to join the attack.

God created the universe to perfectly reflect His glory. He has also given us rules for coexisting with dangerous creatures, like scorpions and wasps.

Watch out daily for dangers around you, submit to God’s laws of living, and appreciate His protecting love.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and 631372.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)