Tag: Faith

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Rescue me, O God…

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When you stop trying to control your life
and instead allow your anxieties and problems to bring you to God in prayer,
you shift from worry to watching.
~Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life, p73~

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Though suffering itself is universal,
each experience of suffering is unique
because each person who goes through it is unique.
We must enter the darkness of loss alone,
but once there we will find others with whom we can share life together.
~Jerry Sittser, A Grace Disguised, p171~

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~part of our series, Serving Those in The Church with Chronic Needs~

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First: Introduction to Serving those with Chronic Needs in The Church

First: Introduction to Serving those with
Chronic Needs in The Church

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Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery’s shadow or reflection:
the fact that you don’t merely suffer
but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer.
I not only live each endless day in grief,
but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.
~C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, p9~

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People often mention how Scripture shows us Jesus loved to be with the marginalized—He is humbly involved in the lives of those whom the mainstream Jewish people wouldn’t really touch (with their prayers, their time, their gifts, or their hands). Do you know what else I find interesting about these marginalized people? Many of them have needs that are chronic, rather than acute—people with paralyzed bodies, withered limbs, leprosy, epilepsy, blindness… we don’t often know how long the people Jesus healed had been suffering with their ailments, but certainly we can deduce that many of these needs would have been chronic and longterm. These people had surely been suffering for a long time.

Matthew 9:20 tells us of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years before she touched the hem of Christ’s garment, and received healing.
Luke 13:11 tells us of a woman who had suffered severe infirmity for eighteen years before Jesus spoke to her and took her hands, giving her new strength and taking away her infirmity.
John 5:5-6 tells us of the man by Bethesda who had been infirm for thirty-eight years, and Scripture specifically says that Jesus knew the man had suffered in this way for a long time already.
John 9:1, 20 tells us of the man born blind, who was now an adult, and had spent his life unseeing until Jesus entered his life and opened his eyes.

Are we—Christ’s people—moved with compassion for those who are weary and scattered (Matthew 9:36)? Do we have the same humble love for the people in our own local church bodies who are marginalized due to chronic needs? Those who are crippled in body or in spirit? The men, women, and children all around us who suffer diseases or injuries or ailments? People who have visible suffering? What about invisible suffering?
Sometimes suffering is obvious (like someone in a wheelchair because of a disease or injury, or a longterm well-known illness like MS or ALS or cancer), and sometimes it is very hidden (mental illness—including depression—or physical illnesses that take invisible manifestations like fibromyalgia or CFS or autoimmune diseases).
Do we see these needs? And when we see them, how do we serve them? Who is responsible for taking care of which needs? How do we discern between needs and desires? How can we bless our brothers and sisters who suffer long and hard with chronic needs?

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When I am in the cellar of affliction,
I look for the Lord’s choicest wines.
~Samuel Rutherford~

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I have a heart for those who are suffering, and God has put it on my heart recently to pray and research and write for the sake of those with needs due to chronic illness, chronic pain, chronic suffering. I have been writing and conversing with a number of women lately who suffer various forms of chronic pain and chronic illness—seeking to uncover the ways in which they have been richly blessed, and also looking to see the ways in which they would be even more deeply blessed. I have also sought out some pastors on the subject, but unfortunately, they are so busy ministering to their own congregations (which I applaud them for!) that having the time to write out specific thoughts in this way may have been too much to ask—but I did hear briefly from a couple pastors that they acknowledge this area of need, and are thankful that we are going to have this conversation here, so that we can encourage one another on toward further love and good deeds, coming alongside our brethren and our neighbors to see their needs, cover them in our prayers, and seek wisdom on any practical ways our hands can bless.

I have been given my own forms of longterm suffering (both obvious and hidden), but I can only begin to scratch the surface of the depths of suffering that so many go through—so many people I even know personally—on a regular and ongoing basis.
Since this is a subject the Lord has put heavily on my heart lately, I want to honor Him and bless my friends in any way I can on the matter. I think this is an area where churches in general probably have room to grow. And I think both those who have the chronic suffering, and those who minister to them, could always use affirmation, encouragement, and a prodding to keep fighting the good fight.

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So, over the course of (probably approximately) a week, we are going to delve specifically into the subject of serving those in the body of Christ around us who have chronic needs. We will be asking some questions to get conversations going & make every single one of us think… we will be asking more than we will answer, for sure… we will be sharing quotes and Scriptures and prayers… and we will hear personally from a handful of people I know who suffer chronically so that we can see their varied perspectives through their own eyes.

As we do this, my prayer is that we would each be encouraged and exhorted by the words of Christ to His disciples, that “Freely [we] have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Please join in the conversation, please join me in praying for a humble & receptive heart, please share this series with others you know who would be mutually blessed, encouraged, & exhorted by reading along or participating.

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Suffering is God’s gift to make us aware of our contingent existence.
It creates an environment where we see the true nature of our existence—
dependent on the living God.
~Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life, p126~

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~part of our series, Serving Those in The Church with Chronic Needs~

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Chronic Needs Series Coming Soon…

Coming soon… up close & personal…

a little blog series on the subject of serving those in The Church who have chronic needs
{chronic pain} &or {chronic illness} of {any&all types}

Please stay tuned, please prepare to participate in the conversation, please let me know if you have experience…
if you are a blog lurker & would like to participate by being interviewed
either as a pastor/church leader or as someone with chronic suffering,
please please please let me know asap!

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~part of our series, Serving Those in The Church with Chronic Needs~

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Creating Memories, Scriptures

As we continue the conversation on creating memories for our children, (see the intro, part I, part II, and part III, as well as quotes on the matter & our sidebar on grace), we now pause to reflect on Scripture for a moment… and recall that our lives are but a breath, and that memory is a blessing.

Creating Memories, Scriptures
to remind myself what the Lord says in His Word

A quick bible study search shows the word “remember” 230 times in NKJV and 234 times in ESV. A search of “memory” shows 10 times in NKJV and 11 times in ESV.
Often, it seems that it is a negative comment, saying that memory of a person/place will be wiped out as a curse for disobedience. We can deduce from that that keeping memories alive are a blessing. So here are just a few little Scriptures referencing memories and remembering, as we continue contemplating the subject of creating memories even now. Psalm 90 is a recurring theme for me, as it reminds us of our frailty and God’s timelessness, and the psalmist encourages us to number our days…

 

Numbers 15:40
…remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.

Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing…

Mark 14:9
…what she has done will be told in memory of her.

 

Psalm 119:52
I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.

Numbers 10:9
…you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Psalm 111:4
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

 

 

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Creating Memories, III

Another installment in the conversation on creating memories for our children, see the intro, part I, and part II, as well as memory quotes & a sidebar on grace. And now I will tell you briefly a little of some hows & whys behind a few of the overarching qualities that we seek to pursue in our family culture. A lot of them are interwoven, with joy and grace being the essential threads tying them all into one tapestry ~ the tapestry that we call our home & family life.
Don’t forget to share your own thoughts on the subject in the comments, so we can make it a real conversation!

CREATING MEMORIES, III
how we pursue creating a general family culture
of music, fun, joy, laughter, delight, grace & forgiveness

~music~
As a musical person myself, I have sought to teach my kids about music and singing from the womb. I have grand visions of incorporating music and singing into every meal, like a regular liturgy. 🙂 Not sure that is actually realistic, which is probably why I have only managed to accomplish such things in short spurting seasons thus far. I have dreams of our children all learning various instruments, and someday having a little family folk band together. They will all learn piano first (well, they learn singing first! then piano is their first non-organic instrument…), and then have access to our other stash of instruments (harps, Irish hand drum, guitar, handbells), and then eventually would be able to choose instruments of their own (once they are old enough to be diligent, and have a good foundation with piano and singing, we will love to hire teachers and rent instruments of each child’s choosing). Beginning this year, we get the pleasure of introducing our children to a week-long summer day camp of music camp, and we could not be more delighted at being able to give our kids this opportunity! (Only one is old enough so far to actually attend, but they’ll each get there with time…)
We always have music playing on the cd player throughout the day, and what we call our bedtime serenades is something I will share with you soon. We sing when we tuck the kids in, too, and I try to work with the kids on other songs during the days (when I remember to do it).
It would be an enormous blessing (and honestly a huge success in my eyes) if my children were to look back on their childhoods as being regularly seasoned with music.

 

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located
will betray us if we trust to them;
it was not in them, it only came through them,
and what came through them was longing.
These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—
are good images of what we really desire;
but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols,
breaking the hearts of their worshipers.
For they are not the thing itself;
they are only the scent of a flower we have not found,
the echo of a tune we have not heard,
news from a country we have never yet visited.
~C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory~

 

~words~
Our children love singing, reading, writing, & of course (oh do they ever!) talking. I hope our children remember words in their childhoods being seasoned with grace. I long for them to remember our conversations being filled with kindness and humility (and yes, I hope they will forget the times when my words are flavored with harshness, cynicism, and selfishness). I want them to remember singing amazing songs and reading fantastic books and writing to wonderful people. One of my great desires for my little bibliophiles is that words would continue to grow them, shape them, mold them, give them delight, increase their wisdom, and create memories of stories—both their own and otherworldly. I want them to love words, understand words, and use words for building kingdoms and building up of souls.

 

I want my kids to learn firsthand and up close that different isn’t bad,
but instead that different is exciting and wonderful
and worth taking the time to understand.
I want them to see themselves as bit players,
in a huge, sweeping, beautiful play,
not as the main characters in the drama of our living room.
~Shauna Niequist, Bread & Wine, p98~

~laughter~
I want my children to remember their childhoods as filled with laughter. The carillon that comes from an absolute overflow of utter delight!
Our rooms are literally ringing with it throughout the day, and as the kids get older, I don’t want that evidence of joy to diminish but to grow and deepen. I would love for laughter to be a hallmark of our family’s love for one another and delight in being together. It doesn’t take much to get these little people rolling with chuckles on the floor, but I confess that I have a long way to go in growing in my own laughter. I am far too serious, and I hope that the Lord will have mercy upon me in giving me more laughter as time goes on—so that my children will see my wrinkles someday as laughter lines rather than stern lines. This is my hope, and I need to make it my prayer.

 

Parenting in grace is not parenting on the basis
of your own consistent gospel-centeredness.
It is just the opposite.
Parenting in grace is parenting on the basis
of Christ’s consistent perfections alone.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p163~

~forgiveness~
I suppose above all else, even above an atmosphere of utter joy itself, is that I want my children to remember their home as a place where forgiveness was both sought and given wholeheartedly. There is nothing that is too big for God’s grace and forgiveness, because as His children Jesus paid the ransom for it all. I want that to ultimately permeate and override everything else in our home, family, routine, desires. Only by God’s grace can that happen, so that is what I pray for, yearn for, endeavor to inculcate in our home & in our people. From the fount of forgiveness all other graces can then pour, for without the peace that flows from forgiveness, joy and laughter and music and grace-filled words would just be empty shells.

Only humility, only transparent confession of our great need,
will result in the grace we so desperately need
to parent the little fellow sinners in our home.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p165~

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Creating Memories, Sidebar on Grace

As we take today to just meditate on grace, and especially as it relates to parenting (but obviously God’s grace is for everyone!! and the following quotes could be applied easily to others as well…), please remember that we would love to have you chime in by commenting and sharing your own thoughts on the subject of creating memories. Check out the intro here, part I here, fun quotes here and part II here…

Seeking to be faithfully obedient parents is our responsibility;
granting faith to our children is His.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p53~

 

Works righteousness is a deadly and false variation of godly obedience.
Godly obedience is motivated by love for God
and trust in His gracious plan and power.
Works righteousness is motivated by unbelief;
it is a reliance on our abilities and a desire to control outcomes.
Works righteousness eventuates in penance:
I’ll make it up to you by redoubling my efforts tomorrow!
rather than repentance:
Lord forgive me for my sin today. Thank You that You love me in spite of all my failures.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p55~

In parenting, works righteousness will cause us
to be both fearful and demanding.
When we see our failures, we will be overcome with fear…
When we see their failures, we’ll be overly demanding…
Works righteousness obliterates the sweet comforts of grace
because it cuts us off from God,
who alone is the giver of grace.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p55~

When we’re quietly resting in grace,
we’ll have grace to give our children, too.
When we’re freed from the ultimate responsibility of being their savior,
we’ll find our parenting burden becoming easy and light.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p55~

 

[C]hristian parenting books are not Christian if their primary message is law.
If their message isn’t rooted and grounded in the truth
that you and your children are deeply sinful yet deeply loved,
in reality it’s nothing more than a glorification of the will and work of the parent.
Aside from placing a crushing burden of guilt and fear upon the backs of dads and moms,
the thought that we can change anyone’s heart is laughable.
Change our children’s hearts?
Only God has power to change the heart!
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p161~

How desperately we all need to remember that there are
only two verses in the New Testament about Christian parenting.
Only two!
When we make parenting more complex than God has made it,
we afflict ourselves with burdens too heavy for us to carry,
and we are unintentionally presuming that the good news of the gospel is insufficient.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p161~

 

When we forget the gospel and then feel guilty about it,
we are completely missing the point of the gospel.
Our ultimate joy as parents is not dependent on our ability to parent well.
God’s smile on us is not contingent upon anything
other than the record of the beloved Son.
It is based on our belief that Jesus has already done it all perfectly for us.
Grace simply means resting in Jesus’s blood and righteousness.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p162~

Grace isn’t created by our ability to work at it or even remember it—
that’s why it’s called “grace.”
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p162~

Grace is not a thing.
It is not a substance that can be measured or a commodity to be distributed.
It is the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 13:14).
In essence, it is Jesus Himself.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p162~

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Prayers of Psalmody, for those in Physical Pain

I am afflicted and in pain;
let Your salvation, O God, set me on high!
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:29-30 (ESV)

Physical pain, whether acute or chronic, can bring us both actually and figuratively to our knees. Would you please bow your heads with me today, as we fall on our knees and rest weary aching heads in feeble hands—our God is our Strength and our Deliverer, and He hears us when we call to Him through Christ our Advocate and the interceding groans of the Holy Spirit. Whether it is your pain, or the pain of someone you know (or both!), please bring these burdens to the Father’s Throne with me now—He will accept our offering, hear our prayers, and answer according to His will. Come with me in faith.

 

Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals, we come asking You humbly to hear our prayer in Your great mercy—please hear our cries for endurance and sustenance for as long as this pain lasts, and hear our cries for relief and deliverance—grant us, ultimately, peace through Christ with whatever Your will for our lives and our bodies and our pains may be, and take delight in satisfying and replenishing our souls (Jeremiah 31:25). Give us eyes to see what Your will is, and give us Your grace to accept what Your hands lay upon our shoulders.

Lord, help us to feel Your hand of peace and strength when we are in pain. Enfold us with Your strong comfort. Enable us to see and somehow embrace that in our suffering, we become closer to You and more like Christ (1 Peter 4:13). Help us to bless You, to remember Your kindness, to praise You for Your forgiveness and healing (Psalm 103:2-3), and the various ways You present these things to us Your children.

Please grant us the humility of spirit to accept this painful thorn as a gift from your hand (2 Corinthians 12:7), Father. Make us boast in Your strength when we are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9), and help us never give in to the temptation of self pity and wallowing but gird our loins for the battle You have chosen for us (Isaiah 40:29). Renew our hope in Your future promises, allow our eyes to focus on the glorious gift of new bodies in heaven (Philippians 3:20-21) where our tears will be wiped away and our pain will be no more (Revelation 21:4). Pain can be so isolating—and genuinely can isolate us if we are bed ridden or house ridden due to physical pain—especially when it never seems to go away, so Father, please help us to remember that we are not alone—not only are You always with us, but others of Your people around the world and throughout time have and do also suffer in similar ways (2 Timothy 2:3). Make us firm in our faith through this trial, and in Your timing, please restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us (1 Peter 5:9-10) for the sake of Your glory, and even for the glory that You promise to share with Your people when the sufferings of this time are past (Romans 8:18). Lord, give us rest from this pain and turmoil, relief from this hard service You have called us to serve—give us voices to proclaim Your Gospel and Your Kingdom, to share Your providence and provision and healing hand (Isaiah 14:3).

Because we know that Jesus did not turn away those who suffered from various pains and afflictions (Matthew 4:24), we come with boldness asking for His hands of healing to remove this pain. Please cleanse our bodies of the physical ailments that deter us from further engaging in life and joyful participation in the lives around us (2 Corinthians 7:1). Oh Lord, our prayer is simple and our words are few—please grant healing, please take away this pain, please restore physical strength and health—please give glory to Yourself through this act of mercy. Grant us peace in this world of turmoil, for we are confident in our faith that You have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Lord, You know—You know!!—the suffering, the pain. Remember us, visit us, take vengeance on behalf of us for the sake of this pain (Jeremiah 15:15). God, please hear the depth of anguish as we cry to You—why is this pain unceasing, this wound incurable, why does this body refuse healing? (Jeremiah 15:18) We fall and flounder and falter, for this pain is ever before us (Psalm 38:17), in this affliction and pain, O God, we beg You to save us and set us on high (Psalm 69:29). Do not forsake us, Lord, but be near to us right in the midst of the suffering. Make haste to help us, for You, O Lord, are our salvation (Psalm 38:21-22). Father, even when we speak or when we pray or when we seek relief, it feels like our pain is never assuaged, and when we seek to be strong with endurance and forbearance for Your sake, the pain doesn’t lessen. It wears us out, Father, shrivels us up, and our bodies themselves rise up against us (Job 16:6-8). Our souls are poured out, for the days of affliction take hold of us—even in the night, our bones ache, and there is no relief from the agony because the gnawing pain never takes rest (Job 30:16-17).

Jehovah Shalom, Lord our Peace, You alone can give rest to our souls whether our bodies continue in this dire pain or whether You lift this physical burden from us (Matthew 11:28). Your Son, our Lord Jesus, is the only One who can give us peace which passes our understanding, so we ask You in Your grace to fill us with His peace and guard our hearts and minds during this season of life (Philippians 4:7). God, we are so tempted toward cynicism when the suffering is long and unrelenting—like Job, we can beg that You would simply crush us and completely cut us off. We can think that this would be a comfort, that it would glorify You. But Lord, give us the grace to follow in Job’s footsteps so that we exult even in the midst of unsparing pain, allowing us never to deny the words of You, our Holy One. We do not have strength and we do not know our end, so please give us faith to wait on You and to be patient as we call upon Your mercy. We are not made with the strength of stones or bronze, and You—our Creator—look upon us with understanding. (Job 6:8-12)

Father, You made us of dust and You filled us with Your own breath (Genesis 2:7), so we call upon You to remember our frame (Psalm 103:14). Please forgive our iniquities and take away our physical ailments, redeem us and crown us, satisfy us and renew us, O God we pray! Please show Your compassion to us (Psalm 103:3-5, 13). As we are bodies paired with souls, according to Your infinite wisdom, please care for our spirits as well as our physical temples—as Jesus went about proclaiming the Gospel and healing physical needs, please have mercy upon each part of our being (Luke 9:6, 11). Please heal our bodies and take away our pain—please strengthen our faith and increase our imaging of Christ for the sake of Your glory, for the furtherance of Your Kingdom.

And as we recognize our frailty in every way, please send Your Spirit to intercede on our behalf. Even our prayers are not brought to You on our own strength, Lord. We do not know how to pray, nor for what we ought to even ask, but we trust You and we rely on You—please, send Your Spirit to intercede for us, because we belong to Jesus, and hear His groans on our behalf. We know that You search our hearts, and we call upon You to hear the intercession of Your Spirit for us, according to Your will (Romans 8:26-27).

In our frailty, in our humanity, in our pain, in our suffering—O Lord, hear our prayer. Give strength to us, Your people and grant us Your peace (Psalm 29:11). For the sake of Christ in whose name we pray—trusting that He indeed is the Risen King who conquered death and sin so that we can look ahead toward perfect bodies and resurrected new life in the future Kingdom—amen.

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The Good Stuff

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Nothing comes easily.
You have to lose things you thought you loved,
give up things you thought you needed.
You have to get over yourself,
beyond your past,
out from under the weight of your future.
The good stuff never comes when things are easy.
It comes when things are all heavily weighted down like moving trucks.
~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines, p179~

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Motherhood, daily & divine

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Any way you cut it, motherhood is intimidating…
moms might not know it, but they are the bravest of the brave…
and perhaps what makes this kind of everyday courage the most remarkable
is how very seldom it gets recognized.
~Lisa-Jo Baker, Surprised By Motherhood, p93~

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Vacations are more than vacations,
and that island is more than an island.
Vacations are the act of grabbing
minutes and hours and days with both hands,
stealing against the inevitability of time.
There will be a day when our family as we know it will no longer exist,
and I want to know in that moment that I wasn’t at the office or doing the dishes
when I could have been walking on the dock with my dad,
when I could have been drinking tea and eating ginger cookies on the porch with my mom.
~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines, p45~

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We are always to do our best,
striving to be obedient
and to love, nurture, and discipline them.
But we are to do it with faith in the Lord’s ability to transform hearts,
not in our ability to be consistent or faithful.
~Elyse Fitzpatrick & Jessica Thompson, Give Them Grace, p53~