Personal Reflections
Chapter 19:
Have you ever wondered why God made himself manifest through miracles throughout the Old Testament days -- manna in the desert, the burning bush, speaking directly to the prophets, Jonah swallowed by a whale and surviving the ordeal? And Jesus during his time on Earth with us healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry by multiplying fishes and loaves, walking on water, calming the storm, turning water into wine?
Why don't we have miracles today to help us believe?
This chapter suggests that miracles are happening but we don't necessarily recognize them. I have thought that same thing for a long time now. It was easier back then, not so much because the miracles were so blatant, but because there was always someone around whom those miracles centered. And perhaps people were less cynical then? They certainly did not have as much scientific knowledge then.
We like to explain everything using our own knowledge and research. We've seen a lot of scams, con artists and deluded leaders, too. So it's good that we are not so naive as to fall for every con artist's line.
But miracles? They happen. People are healed with no good medical explanation. We make mistakes that could easily be fatal (like pulling in front of another vehicle on the road because we didn't see them coming, or because we misjudged their speed), yet somehow we remain unscathed. Our guardian angels on the job?
Whose prayer can you be the answer to today?
We've all heard that God uses us to answer prayers. We've all had our prayers answered by someone else, in unexpected ways. We can do this in very ordinary ways, actually. By paying attention to others, to their needs and their pain, by getting outside of ourselves for once and reaching out, maybe even simply by smiling or holding a door for someone.
Visiting the sick, homebound or imprisoned, feeding the hungry, offering someone a ride to an appointment, stopping to help someone whose car is broken down (or just calling for help), taking a colleague out for coffee or lunch or just lending a shoulder and listening. All are ways to answer prayers or create small miracles for others.
And if we pay attention, we will begin to see miracles everywhere, every day. What a great change to make in our attitudes!
"The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, in fact, will do greater works than these." John 14:12
Chapter 20:
Radical love? What is that? My perception and understanding of love is constantly changing. When I was young, love meant parents who provided for my needs and encouraged me, friends who would spend time with me and for the most part, as a child love involves more receiving than giving. Children are needy.
Later, love meant something more romantic, and it was often painful. Unrequited love is one of the great dramas of adolescence and young adulthood. It's a burning awareness of someone else (who may not even know you exist) and yet it's still a self-centered kind of love.
But becoming a parent means a radical shift into being the provider rather than the providee, and even those who do not become parents often have pets, or they may enter a profession that is more of a care-giving nature than the other way around. Adulthood usually involves some kind of shift like this.
But even this isn't enough. As my children became adults and gradually (finally) moved out of the house for good, I became even more aware of the needs of others and of the opportunities for me to help some of them. Having low self-esteem can get in the way of helping others, because you don't feel worthy of doing for someone else. Sadly, it is in that sense a self-centered state of mind, too, even though it's a negative kind of selfishness.
There's a lot of Scripture that talks about love.
Last Sunday we heard about the prodigal son who was so self-centered, he demanded his inheritance early, ran off and squandered every penny of it, then came back home to beg for a lowly job so he could survive. But his father had a better sense of love and so he pulled out all the stops to celebrate his lost son's return home, much to the chagrin of his other son who had stayed home and done what was right.
That's a kind of radical love on the part of the father. Not all fathers would be so overjoyed to see a son come home begging after squandering money he didn't earn or deserve.
But John 15:13 suggests an even more radical idea: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."
And that's what Jesus did when he died on the cross. As God, he didn't have to go endure that agony. But he did.
Read I Corinthians 13:4-8 for more specifics on radical, unconditional love.
What are you laying down your life for?
That's an interesting way to phrase a question. I probably would have thought about WHO I am laying down my life for. But we make decisions all the time about our priorities in life. Am I laying down my life for work -- a career -- so I can have more power, buy a bigger house to live in, make others jealous, perhaps elevate ourselves in hopes someone will admire us or look up to us?
Or are we laying down our lives by way of sharing what we have with others who have less? Are we giving of our time, support, resources to help raise up others instead of benefiting ourselves? Do we trust God enough to do that, secure in our belief that our heavenly Father will not allow us to fail, that he will provide other people who will provide somehow for our needs? Or do we not care, as long as we are making someone else's life easier?
Radical love can enable us to do radical things. Some people choose radical bad things to do, as have many famous dictators, kings and evil men throughout history. Others have chosen radical good, even in our own lifetimes. Think of people like Mother Teresa of Calcutta aka Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who devoted her life to helping the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India. Or throughout history, those who have given their lives to the Church -- the unsung heroes as well as the well known saints. And speaking of unsung heroes, they are among us everywhere, quietly spreading love and healing.
What are you laying down your life for?
Chapter 21:
The main event? The Resurrection, Jesus executed by the Romans, at the urging of the Jewish people in Jerusalem, yet three days later, an empty tomb. This chapter shares a story by a journalist who was an atheist three decades or more ago, whose wife became a Christian. This journalist used his reporting and investigative skills to try to discredit the resurrection and save his marriage, for he did not believe he could remain married to a Christian. But he was unable to discredit it; in fact, he came to the conclusion after examining all the available evidence (in Scripture and in the historic records) that it would take greater faith to maintain his atheism than it would take to accept the resurrection as truth and become a believer!
This former atheist was at the time he set this account into writing celebrating his 30th Easter as a Christian. It wasn't just his research that turned him. He saw changes in his wife, in her behavior and attitudes. The more he looked into it, the more he realized he couldn't continue to argue against the existence of God. He still cannot prove that God is real but he found enough evidence to change his own heart, which is not what he had set out to do.
God wants to resurrect you in some specific way. What area of your life needs resurrection right now?
I want to turn that around, to ask what area of my life DOESN'T need resurrection right now? But that's a cop-out.
However, I don't think I can figure it out on my own. This is something I will have to spend some time figuring out in prayer. Or just allowing it to unfold by handing over more of my days to God and see where it leads.
Susan
