God’s Great Faithfulness
As
I was with Moses I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:5b
Shirley Temple died this week. That was sad for me because
I adored her when I was a child. As soon as I heard the news songs and scenes
filled my mind, but one stuck. I don’t remember which movie it’s from but
precious, precocious little Shirley struts around singing “When I Grow Up.”
Eventually the butler, Arthur Treacher I think, starts singing it too. So there
it was, “when I grow up, in a year or two or three.”
I suppose that one stuck with me because I’ve just decided,
at the tender age of fifty-six, what I want to do when I grow up. It’s a great
idea but I don’t know if it’s God’s will so for now, I’ll bloom where I’m
planted. But bloom how? The what I want to do is finally pretty clear but who
do I want to be? You’d think that I would know by now and I do, sort of, but
suddenly that became much clearer as well.
Call it the day of the awkward conversation. Early in the
day I was involved in a discussion that included a woman I know who prides
herself on being a “good Christian.” I
love her and therefore do not want to cast aspersions on her so I will use two
quotes to sum up her attitude throughout the conversation.
“You
can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when he hates all
the same people you do.” Anne Lamont
“I
love your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike
your Christ.” Ghandi
Listening as she spoke I prayed, “Oh Lord, please don’t let
me sound or look like that.” My goal is to draw people to Christ not push,
judge or scare them away.
A bit later I received an email from an old acquaintance.
It included the quote about the woman the devil hates. The one who when her feet hit the ground in
the morning the devil says, “Oh no! She’s up.”
There it is. That is who
I want to be when I grow up. So
it was settled and I was so grateful to God for the enlightenments. My day felt
great. Enter the next message from another person. I suppose it was meant to be
cute and funny but it wasn’t. Instead the passive aggressive nature of it hit
right between the eyes. It almost knocked me over. I felt myself wanting to
give into to some serious self-pity. The Enemy would have loved that, right?
God is too good to let me sit there. In the exact moment
that I wanted to give in and whine, God placed an image of my sweet friend Tara
in my mind. I remembered her sharing a story of how someone she loves was
blindsided by fear after taking a serious leap of faith. Hm… is that God
allowing cruelty? No! If we look at it as an if/then, if you step out in faith
the challenge will come, then maybe… But thinking of Tara in light of my own
weak moment I realized how different it truly is. God’s love never fails.
Those leap of faith moments or decisions to be the best
witness/servant we can be bring huge grace and love into our lives. That grace
and love gives us the strength to sustain during the moments of attack. So the
if/then would go like this, if an attack is coming, God has already shown up in
love with the mercy, grace and strength to see us through.
I love Tara and I am always grateful for her but yesterday
God made her a little more precious to me. She served as a reminder that God
does indeed provide. His mercy is new every morning and his love never fails.
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