Fall Into Reading: Tramp For the Lord

I have begun reading Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom and if you love The Hiding Place, then you have to read this too! It picks up where The Hiding Place left off and tells the story of Corrie's ministry after the war was over. I've only read about half the book, but I've been taking copious notes.

After the war, Corrie spent the rest of her life sharing her testimony- how, through the grace of God and her obedience to His Spirit, she was able to forgive the person who had betrayed her family for helping Jews. This betrayal had led to the death of her beloved father in prison and resulted in Corrie, age 52, and her sister Betsie, age 59, being sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. They were there for almost a year. Betsie died in the camp and Corrie, by an administerial "mistake," was released one week before all the women her age were killed. During their time in Ravensbruck, Betsie had a vision for their ministry after the war, in which they would reach out to the German people who were living in such terrible spiritual bondage. After her release, God led Corrie to begin the ministry which Betsie had envisioned. Corrie ministered to the people of Holland and Germany, and later, she traveled throughout the world preaching forgiveness and the message of the gospel.

I love her writing. She seems real to me, not one of these "super-saints" to whom everything seems effortless. She shares her ongoing struggle against bitterness and selfishness, and her sense of humor shines through.

A few of Corrie's insights on forgiveness:

"If we forgive other people, our hearts are made fit to receive forgiveness."

I don't think I've ever looked at it in quite that way before. Yes, there is a direct command to forgive if we want to receive forgiveness from God (Matt 6:14-15) but I had always looked at it as one of those "You better do this or else!" commands. It never occurred to me that by refusing to forgive someone else, I would be unable to accept forgiveness, from God, myself, or even the people around me who offer me forgiveness. A determination to hold on to that bitterness prevents me from receiving forgiveness.

Corrie writes about an experience she shared with a German man who had lost both legs in the war and had given himself over to bitterness and hatred. But even after he had accepted Jesus, he still struggled with these same things. He asked Corrie,

"After you forgave your enemies, was it settled once and for all?"

"Oh no," I answered. "Just this month I had a sad experience with friends who behaved like enemies... they took great advantage of me. However, I surrendered my bitterness to the Lord and asked forgiveness and He took it away."

"Was this bitterness gone for good then?"

"No, just the next night, at four o'clock, I awoke and my heart was filled with bitterness again... Again I brought it to the Lord. He filled my heart with His love. But the next night it came back again. I was so discouraged. God had used me often to help people love their enemies, and I could always give my testimony about what He had done in my life, and now I felt defeated.

Then I remembered Eph. 6:10-20 where Paul describes the 'armour of God.' He said that even after you have come to a standstill, stand still your ground. I was at a standstill, so I decided to stand my ground and the bitterness and resentment fell away before me."

"I am glad to hear that," he said. "For sometimes my old bitterness returns. Now I shall just stand my ground, claim the victory of Jesus over fear and resentments, and love even when I don't want to."

My friend had learned well the secret of victory. It comes through obedience.

Corrie shared how, while speaking in Munich, she came face-to-face with one of the brutal guards from Ravensbruck. He did not recognize her, but she immediately knew him. He joyfully told her that he had become a Christian, and he asked her forgiveness and thrust his hand toward her for her to shake. She almost couldn't do it:

"I stood there- I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven- and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place- could he erase her slow, terrible death simply for the asking?

"I had to do it- I knew that... Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and horrible as that.

"And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion- I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling."

He did.

Isn't it an incredible story? More to come later.

Copeland Farley

"My conversations with God right now are more like those you have with a junior high boyfriend as you pass them in the hall at school: necessary in order to remain in a relationship, but short, probably somewhat insignificant to any on-lookers. "Hey." That's about all I can muster at this point. What do you say to the God of the universe who chose not to heal or save your baby? Who, though they are giving you strength to endure, moment by moment, actually allowed the situation that require endurance in the first place? I call on you to pray for me. I will not turn my back on Him. But words fail me."

On September 18, Conor and Boothe Farley gave birth to a daughter, Copeland Fair Farley, who was born with Trisomy-18, a chromosomal disorder which is fatal. Copeland lived for 8 days. You can read her story here.

WFMW: What to Tell a TattleTale

For today's Works For Me Wednesday, I'd like to share a wonderful character-building resource.

As all homeschool moms know, "Spring Cleaning" means sorting through the past year’s piles of papers, notebooks, "artwork", essays, portfolios, and lots of books. Recently I was digging through some of these piles when I ran across a book I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It was written by fellow homeschool mom Pam Forster, and this short booklet had the interesting title of The Brother-Offended Checklist: What to Tell a Tattletale. I have five tattletalers in my home, so I was intrigued! I opened the book and began to read:

“Mom-my! He took my truck!”
How we deal with an “offended brother” is important.
As parents, we can encourage our child to become a talebearer, or we can help him learn to deal with offenses and offenders in the way God has outlined for us.
We can teach him to speak honestly and humbly with the person who offended him, or we can encourage him to gossip and to involve others in his complaints.
We can urge him to graciously overlook minor faults and offenses, or we can allow him to become a proud and petty judge of other’s weaknesses and sins.
We can help him learn to trust God and His delegated authorities, or we can allow him to harbor grudges and bitterness when he believes that justice has not been exercised.
Teaching our children to obey God’s instructions when facing their own sins and the sins of others will affect their relationships for the rest of their lives. It will help them become better spouses, better parents, better friends, better church members.”

Ouch! There’s no doubt that my children are tattletales from time to time…but as an adult, I struggle with the very same behaviors! Tattletales grow up and continue telling their tales of woe and injustice to anyone who will listen. It may surprise you to find that in the Bible, God addresses the heart of the “offended brother” as often as he addresses the one who has offended.

As parents, we struggle to teach our children how to love each other and forgive each other so that as adults, they can follow God’s instruction to “live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). But tattling isn’t just for kids! God must have known what a huge temptation it is to want to tell on everyone who has hurt us, because the Bible is filled with instruction not only for those who are the offenders, but also for those who are the “offended brothers." So how should we respond when someone has offended us? The Brother Offended Checklist summarizes what the Bible has to say:

Don’t be in a hurry to tell someone else. “Do not go hastily to court…Debate your case with your neighbor himself” (Prov 25:8-9)

Remove the plank from your own eye first (Matt 7:1) The following questions can help you discover your “plank”: Are you being easily provoked? Are you thinking of yourself first? Are you repaying evil with evil? “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5)

Be a peacemaker. Are you being patient? Are you trying to avoid a quarrel? Are you overcoming evil with good? “It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife” (Prov 20:3)

Go to the person who hurt you. “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you”. (Matt 8:15)

If the offender repents, forgive him. “Forgive other people just as God forgave you” (Eph 4:32)

If the offender does not repent, go back to him with witnesses. “But if he will not listen, take one or two others along” (Matt. 18:16)

Do not rejoice in the other person’s wrongdoing. “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth” (I Cor.13:6)

If the offender still does not repent, go to the authority. “If he refuses to listen, tell it to the church” Matt 18:17

God knows our hearts, and He knows how hard it can be to get along at times! But He also expects that those who profess to love Him follow the example He set through His son Jesus. When we follow God’s “checklist” for loving each other, we become a church which pleases Him, and one which He is eager to bless.

You can find The Brother-Offended Checklist as well as many other wonderful character-building books and products at Doorposts.

On Pepper and Prayer

Pepper, our cat, is very pushy. I suppose she has to be, living in our house. Otherwise there is a very real possibility that, like the houseplants, she would simply not get fed and wither away until there was no hope left. (Needless to say, we no longer have houseplants... when Philip needed one for his science project this week, I had to go buy him one at Walmart!) But we do not have to worry about Pepper withering away. She shows up promptly every morning as soon as she hears someone stirring, and begins:

Meow. Meow-meow-meow. Give me food now! NOW-Meow-NOW!

Her persistence pays off and eventually someone feeds her. As I open the Rubbermaid box that holds her food, she is so anxious to eat that she sticks her head in first, thereby impeding the progress of food to bowl. To increase the challenge, she then runs to her bowl and hovers right over it to remind me that that's where the food should go. I tell her, "Move, cat!" but she does not move, and sometimes the food ends up scattered around her bowl because she impeded a clean food drop. "Dumb cat," I think to myself.

But as I reflected on my demanding feline, I wondered if I do the same thing when I pray. I beg and plead with Him to respond to my needs and my wants... and then I promptly get in the way. Like he needs help or something. And I wonder if my "help" is sometimes responsible for the delay in an answered prayer, if my life would be so much more peaceful if I could simply learn, like David, to wait before the Lord.

"... pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests..." Eph 6:18

"I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God." Ps 38:15

And There Was Much Rejoicing

Philip was baptized by his Dad tonight. It all began last year after VBS, and he asked his dad then if he could be baptized. John was concerned that the age of 8 was too young for him to really understand, so he told Philip they would study more about it during their morning bible studies. Well, this year after VBS, Philip came to John with tears in his eyes and said, "Dad, I need to be baptized!" And it was time.

John asked Philip to tell the assembly why he wanted to be baptized and Philip explained the gospel for everyone to hear. He understands! It was a great moment to watch. Andy led the church in "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" and "A New Anointing" while Philip changed and then Terrell prayed. Philip was a little overwhelmed by all the attention afterwards and was glad to escape to go play video games. We went to get ice cream at Sonic later, and invited the Williams' to join us. It was a great night and there was much rejoicing.

The Test

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

I've been mulling over this testing thing for a while; who knows why. When I think of a "test", I think of a teacher giving a student a test to see if they've learned what they were supposed to learn. Or maybe a parent might test a child to see if they're mature enough to earn some sort of privilege or new responsibility. And that's the way I've always viewed God's tests. It just doesn't seem fair sometimes, like life isn't hard enough already without all these "tests"!

So I began thinking about it. Why in the world would God need to test us? After all, God is omniscient, all-knowing. He knows the past, present and future. He knows every thought I make before I make it and every breath I take before I breathe it. He knows exactly how I will respond to every situation of every moment in my life. What's the point of the test? That's where I've been for the past couple of weeks while I turned this over in my mind.

And finally, I had the biblical "duh!" moment. Did everyone know this except me? (I have lots of moments like this.) Anyway, here's my first conclusion: the testing isn't for God; it's for us.

God knew exactly how Abraham would respond when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac. But I wonder if Abraham knew. God's request was absolutely unthinkable. I bet if someone just walked up to Abraham one day and asked him if he could slice open his son's throat and offer him on an altar of fire, Abraham would have said, "You're out of your mind!!" I bet Abraham didn't think he had it in him- "God, I'm willing to do all these things for you... but not this!" And then God asked- for that. That one thing that Abraham held most dear to his heart. Could he give it up?

He did. He did the thing he didn't know he could do. And Abraham not only pleased God through this demonstration of faith, Abraham's own faith must have been increased dramatically. He had found God to be absolutely faithful, naming that place God-Yireh (God-Sees-to-It) Gen 22:14.

And God's response to Abraham?

"...I'll bless you—oh, how I'll bless you! ...because you obeyed me." (Gen 22:17-18 MSG)

Here are my humble conclusions (feel free to disagree):

• God tests us so that our faith in him can increase
• God tests us so that he can bless us.

Somehow... that makes me feel a lot better. God isn't throwing these things at us just to see how we'll respond. He already knows, and he promises that we will not be tested beyond what we can bear (I Cor 10:13).

I know things don't always seem like they're working out so great during times of testing (just ask Job). And I know people a lot smarter than I am have probably written volumes on this subject. (Maybe if you've read them, you can let me know what they decided.) But for now, this is working for me. Strengthened faith and a blessing in the end. Works for me. What do you think?

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed... Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Rom 4:18-21)

I Believe

Today is Easter Sunday. The celebration of Easter has been a journey for me. The church of my childhood did not officially recognize Easter as a religious holiday (since it is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, I suppose), so for years I thought Easter was little more than new dresses, bunnies, and a filled basket on Easter morning. Oh, of course Easter celebrated the Resurrection, but didn't we do that every Sunday?

I'm glad the church of my adulthood recognizes the beauty and necessity of special days and special celebrations. Easter is special. The Resurrection is the center point of our faith; without it, we're all wasting our time. And personally, the Resurrection has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

I think that the church of my childhood confused discipleship and salvation. We were led to believe, whether intentionally or not, that our salvation was hanging by a thread. The scriptures about "working out our faith" and "making our calling and election sure" were heavy burdens, seeming to promise that only the best of us (whoever that would be) had a prayer of making it past the pearly gates. Salvation was a tantalizing goal, but never a certainty. But those passages are not dealing with salvation- they are addressing discipleship: learning to be like Christ.

It has taken me the better part of my life to figure this out. Sinless perfection is not my goal; learning to love like Jesus is. And because God's grace is great enough to cover my selfishness, my pride, my laziness, and all the other things I struggle with, I can rest secure in my calling as a daughter of God. Jesus has it covered, and the Resurrection proves it. God did what He said He would do then, and because of that, I choose to believe He'll do what he says He will do in the future.

I choose to believe that grace covers even me.
I choose to believe that I don't have to be afraid of dying.
I choose to believe that when I die, something fabulous awaits, beyond my wildest imagination.
I choose to believe that even though I don't understand, God is in control.
I choose to believe that God, the perfect Father, loves my children more than I could ever begin to, and they are safe in His hands.
I choose to believe that God is who He says he is, and He will do what he says He will do.

I choose to believe.

Winter Weeding

January came back today- gray and cold, with sleet to boot! Yesterday it was 63, can you believe it? It was sunny and pleasant and I was out gardening- well, weeding really. Weeds had been taunting me all fall, but I just didn't make time to get to them. They made themselves at home- and invited friends! I filled several buckets with the spoils of weeding victory.

Winter weeding is nice in a way. All the deciduous bushes have lost their foliage, so it was easy to get in under them and dig out sneaky weeds that thrived in hiding during the summer. The damp soil made it easy to pull up alien root systems, and the worn-out monkey grass seemed relieved to lose some of its summer excess.

As I worked, it occurred to me that maybe I could use a good weeding as well! Sometimes I just need to stop, get out of the fray of life for a while and let God tend to the garden. It's easy to let weeds crop up: weeds of selfishness, stubborness, anxiety, self-righteousness, anger... weeds of bitterness and impatience. I develop overgrown foliage of "busyness" and exhaustion which grows unchecked without regular maintenance.

It's really not fun to be weeded (I'm sure my monkey grass would agree!) But weeding is just a fact of life in a garden. All beautiful gardens require maintenance- even indoor house plants. And the more beautiful they are, the more maintenance they receive. The beautiful gardens at places like Disney have round-the-clock care. But wow, I'm not sure I want quite that much pruning- sometimes I'm perfectly content to just "look nice from a distance"! It doesn't seem fair... it would seem like the more fruitful you are and the better you bloom, the less anyone would bother you with shears or weeding forks. Instead, the opposite is true... the most lovely gardens are the result of conscientious gardeners who are passionate about their plants. They give them constant attention and help their plants thrive. God is definitely a conscientious gardener!

And weeding in January... sometimes you just need a break. Ministers and teachers take sabbaticals, understanding that in order to keep producing fruit, you need "down" time to reconnect and let God take care of your weeds. But I feel guilty whenever I'm in a season where I'm feeling less productive- surely something must be wrong with me or my ministry! It would be a relief to finally view these times as a necessary part of my "growth cycle"- weeding and all.

My preacher teases me sometimes about "Sandy-isms". I'm sure he would consider this entire blog entry to be another "Sandy-ism"... Do you think God would be ok with me portraying him as a gardener pulling weeds and pruning bushes? Well, this time I think I've got scripture solidly on my side: Jesus describes God exactly that way in John 15:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

Neat, huh? I'm glad I waited to weed in winter. And I might as well let God get going with his weeding... he's got a lot of work to do!

A Fish Story

As a mother of small children, I’ve learned that each day can bring new discoveries, unexpected surprises, and sometimes- if I am paying attention- a special glimpse into the nature of God.

One evening as I was working in the kitchen, a loud “BOOM” reverberated throughout the house. “Better go see about that one,” I thought. The older kids and I hurried around the corner, where we stared in shock at the scene before us. My two-year-old had attempted to climb up his chest of drawers and managed to pull the entire thing over. Nathanael was fine, but the chest now lay on its side and the fish aquarium, which had been on top, lay empty on the carpet. Blue gravel and fishy water were quickly sinking into my pretty pale beige carpet. My first thought was, “My carpet!!” but then I realized: the fish is missing.

“FIND THE FISH!” I yelled to the kids. We began frantically digging through gravel, searching through toys… and then I saw him. When the aquarium went down, the momentum flung the fish across the room, where he hit the wall and now lay motionless beside the baseboard. We were too late. Becca picked him up. “Mom, he’s alive!” she exclaimed. We rushed to the kitchen and put him in a cup of water, where he quickly recovered.

Later, as I was cleaning up the mess, it occurred to me how my own life sometimes feels like that fish’s. Often through my own sin or carelessness- and occasionally, through no fault of my own- my “aquarium” gets dumped over. In the past, my view of God was one in which he sees the chaos, sees me gasping for breath and scolds, “Will you just look at this mess you’ve made now!” But the Bible portrays a very different God, a God whose one overriding concern is, “Save this child!” As I turn to Him, He rescues me and soothes, “I’ll take care of you. We’ll clean up that mess later.” King David must have felt that same divine comfort as he sang these verses:

“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” Psalm 103:2-4

I wrote this a couple of years ago for our church bulletin. Thought you might enjoy it too, before it fell into computer oblivion!