Peace or Prosperity

I have a very heaven-minded husband. He longs to be in the presence of the Lord and would often much rather be there than here. When we first started dating and even upon engagement and marriage, I did not understand his way of thinking. In times of Scripture memorization, I often questioned the verses, “Who have I in heaven but you? And beside You I desire nothing on earth” or “To depart and be with Christ is much better, but for your sake I remain.” I fully and readily admit that I felt quite at home here, and in a sense my love for S may have felt more tangible and reciprocal than my love with Christ.

But through these last few years, my heart and hunger for Heaven have increased. My passion to share with the lost has more deeply developed. My love for the Lord has reached the heights because I know this world has nothing to offer me.

I don’t mean this in a fatalistic sort of way. I believe we should be taking advantage of opportunities, serving the Lord and each other well, enjoying the blessings He has given us here, but our HOPE, our JOY, our TRUST, our PURPOSE should not be here. It should be found in the person of Christ and in His promises.

I’ve been reading a book entitled Stepping Heavenward by E. Prentiss. It’s a journal of a woman’s journey to godliness. The main character, Kate faces many hardships in life: her father dies when she is still a child, upon marriage her husband is often away and she is left with a household of critical observers, her son dies, and she faces much illness. Here are quotes near the end of her journal:

“And I can see now, what I wonder I did not see at the time, that God was dealing very kindly and wisely with me…” (256)

“But I see more and more that happiness is not dependent on health or any other outside prosperity. We are at peace with each other and at peace with God; His dealings with us do not perplex or puzzle us, though we do not pretend to understand them” (257).

“God’s ways are infinitely perfect; we are to love Him for what He is and therefore equally as much when He afflicts as when He prospers us; there is no real happiness but in doing and suffering His will; and that this life is but a scene of probation through which we pass to the real life above” (258).

There is a great temptation in American today to believe the lie that God exists to prosper us and that is when we are truly blessed. John Piper does a wonderful job of sharing that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him through suffering. Please watch this excellent video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEZGDFKI6LE

God is our strength in weakness. He is glorified in us when we praise Him through hardship. He is our glorified when we’re content to not compare. He is glorified when our hearts don’t long for more outside Him. He is glorified when everything around us fails and we fix our eyes on Him. May He be glorified in us today.

Chartreuse and the Sillies

A is really enjoying her recent discovery of new words. She loves when we open the fridge and she can say Ed (for bread), Ess (for eggs), Orange (for Orange Juice), Apes (for grapes), and Mom (for milk). All of these make me laugh for one reason or another.

A seems to have certain words that make her laugh hysterically, and she holds on to them for days. She finds a word that's funny to her and wants to say it or have it said to her constantly. When we were in NC the word was Couscous. Aunt D made us couscous with our dinner one evening. We placed A's plate before her and said, "This is couscous". She laughed SO hard and within a second, we were all laughing.

Once back from NC, she started to say "Doree" and laughed every time I said it back to her. We think it could be a combination of things: 1.) Her middle name is Doreen. 2.) Her Aunt's name is Doreen. 3.) She has a doll named Dora. 4.) One of her first words was door and adding the "eee" sound made it all the more fun!

The other day we were walking through the market and A must have said "Doree" a thousand times, consistently cracking up each time. Now, don't get me wrong -- Doree is still a HUGE hit, but this afternoon we discovered a new word of hilarity: Chartreuse. It's a color that is in the middle of yellow and green. We heard it on Blue's Clues and as soon as it rolled off Joe's tongue, she looked at me and smiled. I said, "Chartreuse?!" And she laughed harder! I knew it would be our new word of sillies. We were saying it all through dinner and all three of us were laughing hysterically.

Life is just so fun with our little one! And all the more fun with words.

Anywhere But Nineveh

There’s a particular story in Scripture that strikes a chord in me. It’s the story found in Jonah 1-4. God was calling Jonah to a people that were running far away from Him, and what did Jonah decide to do? Run far away from God. I can not help but laugh when I read Sally Lloyd-Jones’ interpretation of Jonah in this paragraph:

“It was a silly plan. (Because you can run away from God, but He will always come to find you.)
Jonah went ahead with his not-very-good plan. ‘One ticket to NOT Nineveh, please!’ he said and boarded a boat sailing in the very opposite direction of Nineveh.” (The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers His name)

Isn’t that how we are? I’ll follow you here in this particular situation I prefer, but not there. Anywhere but there. But, that’s exactly where Jonah ends up at the end of the story.

This is amazing. God called Jonah to Nineveh knowing that Jonah would run, and it was his running that gave him such a testimony before the people. He had run far from God, and God forgave him and continued to use him. When Jonah shared his story with the people of Nineveh, they turned to God and loved Him, too.
This story causes me to reflect on God’s sovereignty and great love for His people. It also reminds me that there is purpose in all that we face, even the thorns in our flesh. God ordains the thorns and uses them for His glory, and can use our running, too.

I think of the many poor decisions that live in the past; the ways we could’ve chosen obedience and chose the opposite. Sometimes the consequences of sin can almost seem to outweigh the fruits of obedience. But, it’s not as it appears. In fact, I’ve come to realize that even our disobedience can be used of God when we’ve come to Him in repentance and trust in His work on the cross. In fact, He can turn it into something very beautiful, something redeemable, and something that not only draws people to Himself, but draws us closer to Him.

I think before we question the circumstances God places us in, or even what He seems to call us to, we should thank Him. He really does know what He’s doing. It’s as if my fear of the what-if’s has now left me. And they’re not hidden in my closet; instead, they’re freed in the truth I’ve found in Christ. I know that whatever comes my way has purpose. He knows. He will not leave for forsake me. He is good. The sins of today and tomorrow are covered by His blood and redeemed for His glory. Praise God.

I desire to follow Him to Nineveh, and I’m thankful for what He takes me through to get there.