His Gifts of Beauty

"See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these" (Matthew 6:28-29).

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12) 

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you; or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:7-10).

 

Prayer for October

 Father, October is one of the most beautiful months of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also a month now wholly overshadowed by its final day. 

In my childhood, and even my children's, the eclipse wasn't yet total. Now the stores, the costumes, the yard decor, the party planning, have swallowed October whole. The witchy vibes, the Samhain celebrations, the coven gatherings, are more plentiful and open than they've ever been. Isaiah 60 describes our day when it says, "See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples" (60:2a NIV). Jesus has vanquished death, therefore His spiritual enemies deceive people into reviving it, and whether those people are innocent or intentional, few realize how they are being used. 

Why do they celebrate death and destruction? Why turn their October lawns and gardens into graveyards? Because, as in the song "Graves into Gardens" by Brandon Lake, Your Jesus does exactly the opposite. Because, in the absence of faith in the Messiah You gave us, they must either try to gain mastery over death themselves or whistle in the dark concerning it. It's as if they're compelled to partner with it, like victims of Stockholm Syndrome. Because without You, it's our default future, and without You, we have nothing that can change that. 

Father, we thank You for the beauty of October. The colors (and my favorite, the magenta of the sumac!), the breezes, the apples, pumpkins, squash. But physical beauty alone can't withstand the darkness. Only You can do that. Isaiah 60:2 continues: "But the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you." Only You can break the deep darkness that covers the peoples. 

So we ask for extra light in October, knowing that means "extra You" but not knowing exactly how that will look. Honestly, that is Your business. We ask, You give. We ask in Your will, we receive. So many, many gravitate to "dark" now--dark in general. But You are light, and in You is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5b). I want to walk in the light, and pray that many more will desire the same, so that we will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Amen.  

And it Came to Pass

 

I love words and phrases that plainly--or covertly--express meanings we usually overlook. I mean, the word "discover" means "take the cover off of," right? I like noticing that the word "because" contains the word "cause"; compactly conveying the meaning "the cause is that..." When the Bible says "it came to pass," do we see what's really being said there? The idiom means "it happened." But what the words are really saying is that it came...and then it went. The event arrived in our present, only to pass into history. 

Nothing in our world is permanent, another saying goes, except God's word and people. Even the heavens and earth that are now will pass away, and a new heaven and earth will replace them (Revelation 21). (This is how we know the earth isn't going to die because of pollution or climate change; this planet isn't going anywhere by any means other than these words of Scripture "coming to pass.") The phrase, then, speaks more truth than we realize. Everything about this world system and the material things we value has or will "come to pass." It comes. It goes. Almost as if it comes for the purpose of passing. 

"And it came to pass" is saying to us that the only permanence rests in God's kingdom. The new heaven and earth, the life, the rewards, each other, and God Himself in Three Persons. All of that, when we are in Jesus Christ, comes to stay. 

Questions About Questions (Questions #4)

 

Did you ever have so many questions that your questions had questions? That may be a bit of an exaggeration for me; long ago, as a high-achieving child, I thought the smart people weren't the ones with the questions but the ones with the answers. (In a similar vein, I had a like-minded friend who wouldn't use pencils that had erasers, because erasers were only for people who might make mistakes. O Lord, have mercy. Seriously.) But compared to spouting answers, isn't knowing what questions to ask perhaps the greater skill? 

I've found that sometimes questions are just lovely in themselves. It occurs to me that some are to be pondered, some enjoyed, some even perhaps forgotten, and others pursued to answers. But not necessarily rushed to answers. How wonderful, even luxurious, is time given to think, research, pray, and "wisdom" them through, those that call to us. For example:

• Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today?

That's kind of what I mean about questions having questions. We often hear of the importance of asking the right questions. This concept of "right questions" may be puzzling at first. What's wrong with any question we may have? Often, nothing. The encouragement that "no question is a stupid question" is valid, especially when learning something new. Yet in many circumstances, asking the right questions during a discussion or exploration can lead us to the point, instead of beside the point. It can make the difference between solving and not solving a problem. It can even reveal motive and character. Our spontaneous or formulated questions can tell on us, and reflect either well or poorly.

The Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus a lot of questions that were meant to trap Him. "Should we pay taxes to Caesar?" "Which commandment is the greatest?" "If a woman's husbands keep dying so that she ends up marrying an entire family of brothers, how is that going to work if there's a resurrection of the dead?" When the Scripture says in Matthew 22:43 that no one dared ask Him any more questions, it means they stopped asking Him questions designed to trip Him up, because the answers Jesus gave only exposed their scheming and made them look ignorant. 

We can still ask our real questions.

Even so, some questions might be frivolous, or ones He's already answered (He might be silent on those), or might lead us away from what God would really like to say. So let's go back to the question above:

Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today?

I've been asking it. I haven't heard a lot yet. But the realization that it could add a wonderful dimension to prayer time has quickened my spirit.

Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today?