by MeredithNMills | Mar 4, 2015 | parenting, Uncategorized
“Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain” Ps 127:1.
Yesterday, this verse “came alive” to me. I had gone to run an errand when a neighbor came by to borrow a yard tool. While he and hubby chatted for a few brief minutes, our littlest one let herself out the back door, somehow unlatched the backyard gate and began walking down the stairs toward the street. Hubby “happened to” see her before she reached the bottom of the stairs. How grateful we were that he found her before she got to the street!
Then last night, around 11:30, little lady woke me up with her crying (an almost predictable nightly occurrence). After comforting her and putting her back to bed, “something” made me go into the big kids’ room to check on them. Apparently they had wanted a dimmer nightlight than the one they had. So they took a (plugged-in, turned-on!) clip lamp down and laid it on the floor. They then covered it up with a blanket. By the time I found it, the lamp was very hot and I could smell the plastic warning label melting. I quickly unplugged it and took it from the room, then knelt by my bed and thanked God for His protection over my kids.
In one day, all three of our kids inadvertantly got themselves into dangerous situations “behind our back.” In one day, our lives could have been forever changed. As I lay in bed with racing thoughts full of “what-if’s,” God reminded me of the above verse. We can do everything in our power to protect our children. We cover outlets. We turn pot handles to the back. We wear seatbelts and sit in booster seats. We screen the movies our kids watch. We have parental controls on our computers. We only leave them in the care of those we trust. And the list goes on. We try, as every loving parent does, to protect our babies in every possible way.
But ultimately, at the end of the day, God is their ultimate Protector. All our protecting would be in vain if not for God. But when God is watching over them, they are protected even from dangers we parents cannot see. Because He sees everything. He is omniscient (all-knowing). He is omnipresent (everywhere). And He is omnipotent (all-powerful). Does this mean that nothing harmful or painful will ever happen to them? No. But it does mean that they are never out of His care. He can use even evil or hurtful things for their benefit – ultimately to draw them to Himself, which is His ultimate act of mercy and protection.
This is so comforting to me. I’m grateful that it’s not all up to us! Because we make mistakes. We miss things and don’t always see the dangers lurking in the shadows. But God does. He gives us wisdom in parenting, but He also makes up for our mistakes (or just our plain humanity).
One more thought came to mind as I pondered the events of the day. My heart was so grateful for God’s goodness in preventing harm. His love and kindness were so obvious. But in the midnight stillness, He whispered to my heart that His character is unchanged by my circumstances. He was loving and good to alert us to danger and protect our kids…yes! But if the unthinkable had happened (as it has to so many precious parents), He wouldn’t cease to be loving and good. Bad things, horrible things, happen in this fallen world. God does not always prevent harm. This is illustrated in Hebrews 11 where we see that some Christians, by faith, escaped the edge of the sword, while others died by the sword (v. 33-38). Sometimes we are delivered from evil unharmed. Sometimes unthinkable pain crashes into our lives. But always, God is with us (Heb 13:5, Is 41:10). He never changes. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8). What He has revealed to you about Himself in the good times…He’s still all those things. What His Word says about Him…He’s still that God, despite what circumstances or emotions scream to your soul.
So may these two thoughts encourage your heart today – God is our ultimate Protector, and He is sure and unchangeable, throughout the shifting sands of time. May you rest in Him today.
“I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety” Ps 4:8.
by MeredithNMills | Jan 20, 2015 | knowing God, Uncategorized
“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10.
“I don’t know.”
Those three words…I’ve said them more in my years of being a parent than in all the prior years combined. The longer I live, the longer I’m a mom, the more I realize how very much I don’t understand.
I don’t know what to do when my child’s heart is hard and no discipline or training tactic seems to be working. I don’t know what to say when they can’t overcome a sin struggle. And I just don’t always know the answers to the deep questions they ask.
It’s not just child-training that points out my inability to make sense of things. What about the life issues that just seem so unfair? Why do some people suffer so intensely? Why do children die of starvation and neglect? Why does human trafficking exist? Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?
On a more personal scale, why does God seem so distant at times? Why can’t I get past the depression that just weighs on my soul some mornings? Why does God allow “sorrows like sea billows (to) roll”? Why is He sometimes silent when I pray and pray for Him to act? Why do my loved ones have to endure such heartache? What about all the other unanswered questions – those nagging doubts that a Christian is afraid to vocalize? Those things we feel that seem to contradict the faith we claim?
We’re quick to point our fingers at sin. And yes, sin is absolutely at the root of it all. Sin started all our suffering and misery (Rom 5:12). There would be no death, no murder, no abuse, no starvation without sin.
But why didn’t God stop Adam and Eve before they sinned? Or just leave the source of temptation out of the Garden? Why didn’t He prevent it? Why doesn’t He prevent suffering in my life, in my kids’ lives? If He’s really good, then why…?
Sometimes, I just don’t know.
I don’t always have the answers to my heart’s questions, my kids’ questions, my friends’ questions. But it’s okay, because my God does.
He knows. And He cares deeply. He offers wisdom to those who ask Him for it (Jas 1:5). Priceless, beautiful wisdom that is found in getting to know Jesus (Eph 1:17, Col 2:2-3). And as we know Him more, we learn to trust His heart. We experience that He loves His own extravagantly and works all things out for our good (Rom 8:28). He submitted Himself to suffering, too, out of love for us (John 15:13). He understands and is with us through it all (Heb 13:5). But there are some things we just may never understand. And that is when we must choose to just be still (Ps 46:10, above).
Be still. Cease striving. Let go. Relax.
If I know nothing else, I can know Jesus (1 Cor 2:2). He is God. He will be exalted. His plan will come to pass. Evil will be avenged someday. Suffering will not last forever. One day He will wipe every tear from His beloved children’s faces (Isa 25:8).
When my heart rages, and accuses, and blames and is restless…I can, I must, choose to rest. “He is God and I am not,” as Steven Curtis Chapman so aptly put it in his song God is God. He welcomes me to ask Him for wisdom and to pour out my heart to Him (Ps 62:8).
But sometimes the only answer is that He is God. And that is when following Him means I must “bow the knee” and trust Him. Trust that He is who He says He is – just and yet merciful, good when life isn’t, loving when my heart hurts, holy and blameless when people aren’t, patient when I’m impatient, a Redeemer of what’s broken, the Friend who sticks closer than a brother…
So seek Jesus. Allow God to fill you with a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to “enlighten” your heart (Eph 1:17) as your intimacy with our beloved Savior grows. Because if you know Jesus, you can be still even when you don’t know why.
What question do you need to trust Him with today?
by MeredithNMills | Dec 10, 2014 | abiding in Christ, rest, Uncategorized
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30.
Overworked, weary, exhausted? Pick me, pick me!
Do those verses resonate within you? They strike a chord deep inside my soul. The word “weary” could also be translated “work to exhaustion.” That is me so much of the time. Exhausted. Worn out. Weary of the treadmill of life. Long nights and even longer days. Have you been there?
And “heavy-laden”- that means “to load up” or “overburden.” Do you feel “loaded up” with burdens, with cares, with responsibilities? It’s just the nature of life to carry burdens. Whatever the job description, responsibilities and “burdens” come with the territory.
A while back, I made a list of the “sea of demands” weighing on me…teaching my kids, preparing meals and snacks, laundry, cleaning, errands, activities, friendships. I should be investing in people outside my home. I should be a fun mom (who doesn’t care if they spill sugar on the floor when they want to help cook.) I should have my kids’ friends over and do crafts with them. I should invite people to our home for dinner. I should have a cleaning routine. I should cook healthier food. I should learn to coupon. I should potty train soon so we can stop paying for diapers. And on top of it all, I should be making time for daily prayer and Bible study. But how, oh how, is one person to do it all?
Into this chaos and craziness comes a gentle invitation. “If you’re weary and overworked, come to Me. I will give you rest.”
It’s interesting to note that He doesn’t confine this invitation to a certain scheduled time of day – “If you come meet with Me every morning, you will find rest.” Instead He invites me to get in the “yoke” with Him, to walk with Him every. single. moment. The picture is that of two animals fastened together, working in sync to pull a cart or a plow. When I am connected to Him , He carries the weight of my burdens. The work He calls me to do, He does with me and through me because I’m in the yoke with Him. (John 15 calls this “abiding in Him”.)
In addition to “taking His yoke,” He invites me to learn from Him. The weight of the plow is made lighter as the two oxen walk in step. Similarly, as I learn to become more like Jesus, I am falling into step with Him.
Of all His attributes, He chose to list here His gentleness and humility. Biblical gentleness is not just a personality trait that comes naturally for some and not for others. It is “that attitude of the spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good and do not dispute or resist…It is a condition of mind and heart that demonstrates gentleness not in weakness but in power. It is a virtue born in strength of character.”* It is “the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation…This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of human will (Galatians 5:23).”**
Jesus was gentle and humble. His heart was at rest. As we walk with Him and learn from Him, our hearts can rest, too.
Please don’t misunderstand me. Concentrated, set-aside time alone with Him is vital. We learn of Him and become like Him by studying His Word and talking with Him in prayer. How precious and life-giving is His Word (Psalm 119:97)!
But God is not confined to our alone times with Him. He wants to walk with us and show us how to apply His Word in the moment-by-moment grind of life. He wants all of life to be worship, not just set aside times of singing or studying or praying. His yoke is easy and His burden is light because He carries the weight of it for us! He wants us to rest, even in the midst of life’s struggles. His heart toward us is good. His love for us is unfathomable.
Do you need rest? Come to Jesus. Share His yoke. Learn from Him. And find rest.
*Lexical Aids to the New Testament from the Key Word Study Bible
**Blue Letter Bible Lexicon
