Look Up!

(I wrote this a few weeks ago and shared it with Shonda.  She asked if I would share it at the Cornerstone Ladies conference on November 3 so I held off on posting it here until now.  I hope that if you choose to read through all of this, that you will also have time to watch the videos of the songs as they appear.  They underscore what I am hoping to share in a way that my own words just don't do alone.  So maybe grab a cup of coffee and sit back for this one.  It is going to be a long one.)   :)

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”  Psalm 121:1-2

This is my Mama’s favorite verse.  It comes straight down from my grandmother to her… to me.  This verse was a rock for my grandmother during the hard years of homesteading in Wyoming in the basin of the Big Horn Mountains.  Where life was tough but my grandmother’s faith was strong.  She passed that faith down to my Mama… to me.  Lately I have been thinking about my grandmother and this verse.  My family has had a lot of tough things happening recently.  My cousin, Shari, died of breast cancer on September 19.  It was an agonizing death.  Cancer is awful.  But Shari inspired all of us not only through her life, but in her death.  She kept ‘lifting her eyes’ right to the very end.  I spoke with her on the phone the day before she died.  She was not totally coherent, but the one thing she said adamantly was, “tomorrow will be better”.  She was so right.  And I believe she knew exactly what she was saying in that moment.  Not quite three weeks later, Shari’s husband, Johnny, died of cancer.  It was an agonizing death.  Cancer is awful.  He had ended up in ICU the day after Shari died.  Her memorial service had to be delayed until he could be released from the hospital to attend.  It was a beautiful day for the simple service alongside Shari’s favorite river.  It was even her late mother’s birthday, a perfectly poignant day.  And Johnny was able to be there to celebrate and remember Shari’s life.  But by that evening, he was back in the hospital and he never left.   

These are hard things.  These are painful things.  For those of us left behind, we wonder.  For many, there are questions that seem unanswerable.  That is okay.  God is big enough for all our questions.  But what can we do?  Where is our help in time of great trouble and sorrow?

Look up! 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

 

Joy and sorrow, pain and happiness…. all are fleeting.  Yet, we experience all in this life - here in this ‘almost but not quite’ home.    When we are facing the storm, what do we want to hold onto?  Our own strength?  Our own ideas and notions?  What others around us say?  None of that will work out well.  None of that is solid.  The only foundation, in good times or bad times, is God.  Experiences change.  God never changes.  

But what if our version of God is something too scary or intimidating to hold onto?  What if we are not convinced that God is good?  How can we learn to trust God completely?  We need to discern the true character and nature of God.  How do we find that out?  Well, the Bible has a whole lot of information on that.  

Here are some of the attributes of God…

God never changes - “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8

God is faithful - “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.”   
2 Timothy 2:13

God is loving - “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”  Ephesians 1:4a

God is gracious - “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”   Psalm 145:8

God is merciful - “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;”   Lamentations 3:22-23

God never leads us wrong - “In Him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  Colossians 2:3

God is our Creator - “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”  Ephesians 2:10

God is bigger than our circumstances - “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and the earth by Your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for You.”  Jeremiah 32:17

God is worthy of our trust - “He is the rock; His deeds are perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!”  Deuteronomy 32:4

Each of us can do a deeper study of the attributes of God found in the Bible.  And we should ask God to reveal Himself to us.  The closer we draw to Him, the more we will know about Him.  We can be in relationship with Him, who never wavers, never leaves, never leads us wrong. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au3otElq6D4

So then, how can we help those around us going through storms of life?  I for one do not believe that we can help anyone by telling them that what they are going through is ‘the will of God’.  Or ‘everything happens for a reason’.  Anyone who is unsure of the true character and nature of God will not be helped by those statements.  When we are in a storm of hurt, fear, pain… being told that God ‘did’ this to us is not going to be helpful.  Nor will it cause someone to turn toward God.  Why would it?  If they don’t know that God is good, how can they trust Him when in the depths of pain?  So what to do?  How can we help others know who God truly is?

We are key.  We have a job to do.  We are to help others learn the true character and nature of God.  How can we do that?  Well, there is one big way.  And it is often scary.  And always hard.  Climb in that pit of pain with them and reflect the image of God through our loving kindness.  Point them to the One who carries our burdens and provides true peace.  Use our lives to point others to Christ.  We are given a blessed opportunity to be the hands and feet of God.  Can you imagine?  The honor that is?  We can participate in the daily ministry of loving others as Christ has first loved us.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viYe589KIcw

About that relationship with God.  I think there is a mistake we can make.  We all know that when times are tough it can tend to draw us closer to God.  We even talk about that scenario in positive ways… ‘the trials of life can put us on our knees before the throne’.  That is definitely a positive thing, but we ought to consider… is a strong relationship only built on tough times?  Not only…  I would submit.   

True relationship comes from more interaction than that.  This is true with our earthly relationships, as well.  We find we are closer to friends we walk with through bad AND good times, simply because of the greater amount of time spent together.  Getting to know one another.  Sharing experiences - laughter AND tears.   I think our relationship with God can be like that.  If we only find ourselves on our knees before the throne when times are tough, then we are missing out on a whole lot of joy and intimacy with God.  This is where, I believe, gratitude comes in.

Clinging to God in the hard times is the only way I can get through them.  But I cling in a different fashion through the good times.  Sort of like holding hands in the midst of everyday life.  Throughout my day I offer up little prayers.  Sometimes I say a prayer of thanks quietly in my head.  Sometimes I just speak out loud - usually when I am alone.  ;)  My husband laughs that it took him awhile to get used to the fact that he can walk in on me and I will be carrying on a full conversation with no one else in the room.  That can be just me talking with God.  I tell Him how beautiful He made this day.  I thank Him for a hug from my grown kids.  I praise Him for the way He brought all these wonderful people into my life.  I laugh at an event and say “I know that was You!”.  I share tearful gratitude for this one beautiful, crazy, sometimes really messed up life that He has given me.  Sometimes I just cry out for Him to take my hand.  He is always here with me.  I feel His presence.  

But I should add that this is a result of cultivated effort.  This is a relationship that I have worked on over the years.  This news should give you hope.  Because it means if you don’t currently feel that kind of relationship with God, you can do something about it.  God is there.  Ready, willing, and waiting.  Remember, HE is unchangeable.  It is US who can and should change.  It is us who can build that relationship, flex that muscle, exercise that faith.  And the truly miraculous thing is, if we will do our part, HE will always do HIS part.  He wants to draw us near to Him.  “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”  James 4:8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PEzM-4VXdg

So, all of this equips me to trust Him in the good AND bad times.  That is key.  

But, why DO bad things happen?  Where is God in all the pain?

These are legitimate questions… The answers are hard and I don’t claim to know them.  But what I do know is we are not promised that things will go how we want.  Or that if we pray enough or do enough good works that life will progress without pain.  God doesn’t reward OR punish us based on our own set of tests.  Pain is a part of life.  Period.  There are no exceptions.  This is not our final home.  This is not eternity. 

David cries out in Psalm 25 “Show me your ways, oh Lord, teach me your paths”.   If we ask, God will!  But we must step up.  Call upon the name of the Lord.  Learn more about Him.  The result will be our trust will strengthen.  It’s not that God will get more trustworthy.  He never changes.  He is always who He is.  WE will change.  We will begin to recognize the true character and nature of God.  When we KNOW God, we are freed.  We then know that it isn’t about our circumstances - because circumstances can (and will) change in a heartbeat.  It is about God.  Who is bigger than our circumstances.  God, who loves us and hears the cry of our hearts.  God, who is worthy of our trust, is faithful, is our deliverer.  In these ways we can know that God IS good, ALL the time.

We long for heaven, but we have glorious work to do here.  We, as God’s people, are to be His hands and feet in this fallen world.  We are to love others and let God work through us.  We are to climb in that pit of pain with others who are walking through their own dark places and we are to love them and be with them, reflecting the love of God, in whose image we are made. 

Just remember to keep looking up.  Eyes on the cross, not the storms.  Everyone has hard times.  What matters is how we respond to those times, not necessarily what the times are.  Cling to the ONE who loves you the most.  Use HIS strength, not yours.  And when you need to, just be held.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s53R3aj5pfc

Lord, please give us eyes and ears and hearts to SEE you and HEAR you and KNOW you.  Let us reach out to you and cling to the ONE thing that matters - the ONE thing that will lead us truly home.  Let us be YOUR hands and feet as we walk alongside those who are suffering and hurting.  As we share their burdens and help point them to YOU.  As we rejoice with them and turn our thanks and praise to YOU.  Please keep us in the center of YOUR will.  For you are good, and we are loved.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4J73BmRHsI