Thankful for the Meat of Things: The I AM

If Thanksgiving had fallen on the day Christ hung lifeless from the trunk of a tree driven into the hill of Golgotha I wonder for what Mary would have given thanks. If 9--11 had delivered it's death jets on Thanksgiving Day I can't help but ask what we would have thanked God for. But upon Thanksgiving's arrival today there are fresh winds and blueberry frosh skies. The sausage rice stuffing is prepared and the sweet potato souffle is waiting for it's turn in the oven. Coffee is brewed and the news seems somehow void of any major events--for this one day. Thanksgiving. For centuries we've honored this day as a day to stop, just stop, and be thankful. I've always been one that likes to look beneath all the fixings, the trimmings, the fluff if you will. Show me the roots, the meat, the core, the crux. Get to the bottom line. Often when my husband has something to share with me I'll stop him and request that he tell me the end of his story first so I know exactly where we're going--then he can fill it in with all the details and dare I say bunny trails that make his stories so unique. And I find myself this morning in the same place--just saying, Lord, if everything and everyone I know and love were gone, what then would I be thankful for? What Lord, are those who awake today in barren lands or with barren hearts to give thanks for? This morning in my quiet time I was reading Isaiah 40 and like an anthem God's Word heralded the core of my Thanksgiving Offering. (Follow along in Isaiah 40) For what, Sarah can you always be grateful though flowers wither and grass turns brown with autumns parching wind? For what, Sarah can you say thank you when people die and holidays are spent alone, when stomachs are empty and dreams are unthinkable? This, Sarah, be thankful for this. I AM Comfort. I AM the God who comforts my people. I speak kindly to my people. There will come a day when I will end their time of warfare, when punishment will cease. Clear a way for me, for my comfort. Out of the desert regions within your souls will you open a road for me? I AM Adonai. I will elevate the valleys and I will level the mountains and hills. I will take the rugged, ravaged places and make them a smooth plain on which you will stand. I will reveal my splendor and everyone will see it. Don't doubt this because of what you see. Believe it because I have decreed it. Don't you realize that people are no different than grass yet you cling to them? Imagine clinging to a blade of grass when the winds rise and the rains rail against the shell of your souls? You are clinging to nothing if you cling to people. And dare you cling to their promises? You might as well cling to the fragrant petals of a wild Cherokee Rose. Hold on tight, now. Your grass will become brittle and flake within your grasp, and your flower will wilt and melt into nothing more than its perfume. What then will you cling to? When you cling to my decrees, then you are clinging to hope. When I, the Lord decree something it is forever. Go now to the nearest mountain and cry out. Don't be afraid or embarrassed or ashamed to shout out my introduction. "Here is your God." Here is your God! I will tell you who I AM. I AM a victorious warrior. I AM sovereign--don't miss this. I AM sovereign--there is not a thing, NOT ONE SINGLE thing in your life that somehow slipped beyond my grasp. And I am a warrior whose military power is greater than every nuclear bomb and hidden stronghold in the world. Greater. And I AM a shepherd who does not neglect his flock. Do you understand me? I'll never neglect you. I will tend, I will gather, I will carry and I will lead, but I will never ever neglect my flock. I AM your Shepherd when you need me and when you don't. I'm still there. It is I who measured out the waters of earth in the very hollow of my hand and it was I who measured the sky with precision. I weighed the soil of the earth on which you toil and I hold the mountains and the hills in balance. Do you think gravity is merely a scientific term? You need to know that I invented, formed, created gravity--it is nothing more than the inhaling and exhaling of my power. Can you internalize what I am telling you? These are the decrees, the truths you hold to when skies are clear and when they are grey, and these truths will not change. No one teaches me. No one instructs me. I am never in need of assistance or directions. You will never find an accurate earthly comparison to me because there is NONE like me. No. Not even one! There will be those who seek the golden faces of some idol but in time they will discover it is silent when they cry out. In time they will discover it is still when they plead for help. In time they will discover it's heart is stone when their grief overwhelms them. But, I am the one who stretched out the sky like a curtain and it is I who pitched it like a tent above you. Can you see that I gave it to you like a picture of how my sovereignty covers your very life? I reduce rulers to nothing. There is no country or ruler that bares any significance apart from me. Don't you see that when you fear who will rule your nation I am calmly orchestrating the events on earth as they play out in the timeline of eternity? And if you thought for a brief moment that you could compare me to someone--maybe just some small resemblance I would call out to you, "Not even close. I am HOLY. I am set apart, different and unlike any other." It was I who created and named every heavenly light and there is not one that is missing though you may not see them. Now, tell me, created one, why is it that you say, "The Lord is not concerned with me?" Allow me now to tell you with emphatic intensity, "I AM concerned. I AM the eternal God, the Creator of the entire earth and I AM not tired. I AM not weary. There is no limit to my wisdom. And I AM concerned with you. I will give strength to those who are tired and I will renew the energy of the man who has become weak. There is no man or woman who will not one day find themselves weary or stumbling and I AM there. I AM present. I AM ready to give strength to those who wait for me. When you wait for my intervention it will be as if you were swept up into the heavens on the wingspan of the mighty eagle. Those who wait on the Holy God of Israel will run through the mountains and the hills and the valleys. They will walk without falling. This, child, this, is who I AM. And this, child, will not change. For this you can be grateful both today and tomorrow no matter what that day brings. And so when scripture exclaims, "This is your God" I respond with "Yes, this is my God. The I AM. And it is for Him that I offer thanks today." Amen. (And Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours--may you offer thanks today for the meat of things.)

God's Not Like That

I heard him when I was walking out of the building supply store in town--a gentleman who attends the same church as me. I had politely waved hello on my way in, but he was on his cell phone so I didn't stop to talk. As the door clanged shut behind me I heard the yelling and a chain of four letter words that clanged into my ears and fell like rocks into my gut. It was him--the friendly man I see every Sunday letting somebody have it like they'd never gotten it before. Nausea climbed the walls of my stomach like biscuit dough rising; I was stunned. "Please God," I mumbled. "Let that be someone else I'm hearing." But it wasn't someone else. The very man who praises Jesus with the best of them on Sunday was cursing another human on Friday. And I couldn't shake it. Of course there is hypocrisy in the church. Of course there are sinners in the church. If there weren't sinners we wouldn't need church in the first place and we certainly wouldn't need God. And frankly, most days, I feel like Paul did--chief among them. But never, in my thirty-one years have I actually come face to face with a person who lived two different lives. I've got no problem with someone struggling and being real about it. I can relate to that--I struggle too, daily. And I've got no problem with somebody spouting out some four letter words like a faucet that drips. None of us are one hundred percent sanctified--we're all works in progress and God's love is not conditional upon our perfection. These aren't things I question, but I've never met somebody who flat out pretends to be one thing and then is something else entirely. So when that reality stared me down, it knocked the wind right out of me. I wanted to forgive him immediately. Maybe it was just a really bad day, but the words he said weren't strange to him--they were as familiar as my cup of half-caff coffee first thing in the morning. I prayed and asked God to help me to see how I am no different. In God's eyes, speaking venomous words is no different than being judgmental of another Christian. I knew God's will for me was to love this Christian struggling on his journey and let God have room to work in his life. This man needed only grace and the truth is that if someone were to catch me in a weak moment I would plead the same from them. There are days when I wish I could just wear a t-shirt that says, "I'm not perfect. In fact, I'm horribly flawed, but look inside my heart and I promise you'll see I am as sincere as I can be in my desire to obey God and love Him." So forgiveness of this man was not in question--I forgave him and prayed for him, his marriage, his business and his family. But the words he said ran through my mind over and over and over and over for the next two days. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I was genuinely disappointed. When it came to mind I prayed about it. Judging this man was not my intention, but I just couldn't shake the shocking difference between what this guy claimed and what he really was. It wasn't until Sunday at church when we were singing that God spoke to my spirit. We were singing the words "Holy Holy Holy..." and it was like God whispered into my heart, "Sarah, that's why you sing about my holiness--because I really am what I say I am. You're upset because this guy wasn't what you thought him to be, but I am without question everything I claim to be." In that moment I realized something for the first time on a very practical level. Of course I've known it intellectually, but God used this man to visually show me the difference between God and humanity. There is not one single claim that God makes about Himself that we will ever find untrue. God's holiness is sort of a sacred topic. I always get pictures of stained glass and cathedrals when the word holy comes up. To me, God's being holy is sort of like having pate when His being a friend is more like cheese whiz for me. One's just a little more familiar and comfortable than the other. But here's the thing--God's holiness is really one of the most down to earth concepts we'll ever chew on in our Christian walk. Holiness literally means "set apart." God's different. He's not the same as what we know in human terms. Every single negative human interaction we've ever had could be bagged up like lawn clippings and left. God's not like those experiences. He's different. It's that simple. He's holy--different--unique--unlike what we know. On the other hand, you could take every single positive experience you've ever had and bag that up too. When compared to God--He's still just way different. You see video of children in third world countries content to play with a jagged tin can because they've never known the luxury and joy of toys that westerners know. All of our greatest human experiences are like that tin can compared to what we'll know when we interact with God. He's still just better--not like anything or anyone else. Exodus 15:11 says, "Who is like you, O Lord among the gods? Who is like you? Majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?" Did you know that the word holy appears almost three times to every one time the word faith appears in scripture? Obviously God's holiness is crucial for the follower of Christ to grasp. The reason this is so important is because ultimately it's in Him we put our faith, our hope, our needs, our hurts, our dreams, our desires, our most intimate thoughts. We trust Him with the precious contents of our lives--our children, our marriages, our finances, our parents, our siblings, our illnesses--and we need to know that we know that we know that He is WAY different than anybody else. When he says, "I'm good." Count on it. He's good. And when He says, "I will be with you always." Bank on it. He's not leaving. And when He claims that He can bind the broken hearted and set captives free. Go ahead and bring Him the pieces of your heart and drag those chains to His feet. He'll heal. He'll free. He'll restore. He'll help. He'll love. He'll be patient. He'll be long suffering. He'll love. He'll love more. And He'll love even after you've done unforgivable, unforgettable things. Because He's not like us--He always forgives. He always throws our sins as far as the east from the west. He's holy and that is the foundation on which we must recognize we are standing. You and I, my friend, stand on the back of a God who will not let us down, will not disappoint us, will not waver, will not change. Jesus said, "In this world, you'll have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) We are inevitably going to deal with other broken, sinful humans. There's not a one of us that couldn't have a day like the guy at the building store. If we look around at the people that surround us we will always be disappointed. It may take someone a while before you find a crack and with others, you'll see or experience gaping chasms right away, but count on it like the sun rising--people will let you down. But Jesus overcame this world--he already did the human thing and defied it by rising from death. If our faith is hinged upon our fellow Christian's infallibility, we're in big trouble. But when our faith is firmly planted in our holy heavenly Father, we are rooted like a six by six in cement. What I saw that day at the building store was a picture of the things that God is not. But what must grieve God's heart so desperately is that so often we treat Him as if He is like that man. We had a stray dog show up to our house a few years ago. Every time my husband went near him, he'd cower and tuck his tail in as though bracing himself for a blow. We wanted so desperately for that poor dog to know we'd never hit him--that we weren't like what he had previously known. It's the same way with God. So often we cower before him bracing ourselves for disappointment or worse yet, we stray away like that dog had done because we figure that when things get difficult He'll hurt us. We never give Him the chance to prove His holiness and we never experience the peace of dwelling in the shelter of His character. The ironic thing is that the nearer we come to God the more we will mirror His image. The closer we are to a God who is holy the more we will convey His holiness to a world desperately needing to experience the relief of knowing the God who will never let them down. If we embrace God from a distance--a Sunday only kind of relationship--we'll never know intimately the thrill of a relationship based on complete truth. I cling to God's holiness when I'm not sure how to raise my children--God's not like employers I've had who've given me jobs and not given me the training to complete the task. I stand on God's holiness when the economy is falling apart and peers are losing their homes--God wasn't just blowing smoke when He promised to "supply all your needs according to his glorious riches..." I praise the holiness of God when again I've fallen or failed in some area because He and He alone forgives unceasingly. His promise of being "faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness..." wasn't just a bunch of pretty words. He is what He says He is, He does what He says He'll do, He provides what He promises to provide, He helps, He saves, He redeems, He shelters, and He will not go back on anything in His Word. For every moment you are tempted to question, to doubt, to worry, to wonder, to give up, to quit, may you remember that you are loved with an everlasting love by a God who will not change because He's just not like that. He's holy. Worth reading: Psalm 99, Psalm 103 Listen: Holy is the Lord--Chris Tomlin You Are Holy--Michael W. Smith has a good version Holy--Nicole Nordeman