Thursday, March 29, 2012

Lessons from Legion

Fifteen minutes of watching the news will convince you that in today's world, truth and freedom have both become relative terms.  I find myself surprised over and over.  Shocked, even.  Has our world really gone so far away from what is right? 

But then this morning I was reading in Luke 8, and I realized that things haven't changed all that much.  I was reading the account of Jesus' encounter with the demon possessed man, where the demons identified themselves as Legion, meaning many.  Although I know this passage well, I noticed something today I really haven't noticed before.  In verses 34-39, after the man has been released from bondage, Scripture describes the reaction of the people in the area.  Verse 35 says, "Then the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid."

What?  He was dressed, in his right mind, and the people were afraid??  Were they not afraid when  he was naked and demon possessed; screaming and ranting insanity?  They were okay with him when he was crazy but afraid of him when he was in his right mind?  That doesn't even make sense.  I used to work in a psychiatric hospital.  I have seen people who are not "in their right mind".  I have seen people completely out of their minds, out of control.  It is a scary sight.  It is enough to make someone afraid.  But someone calm, rational, acting appropriately is certainly not a frightening thing. 

The account goes on to say in verse 37, "Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes  asked Him (Jesus) to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned." 

Here is where the connection comes in.  The Truth has always been frightening and offensive to the world.  People who are of the world would rather be in bondage, living in insanity, than be confronted by the Truth of God.  Satan has so blinded them that they believe their insanity and bondage is really truth and freedom.  The call of Jesus doesn't make sense to a lost world, outside the intervention of the Holy Spirit...

"And He said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.' " Luke 9:23-24

Saturday, March 17, 2012

My Way Of Saying Thanks

Many years ago I had a conversation that I have never forgotten.  It impacted my life more than the other person probably ever dreamed it would.  It was a quick conversation, almost held in passing.  But it changed the way I have viewed my role as a mother, and this week I have fully experienced the implications of that conversation.

Many years ago,  a sweet friend was serving as a journeyman missionary in Tanzania, Africa.  Her mom (also a dear friend) had recently been for a visit.  On the Sunday after her mom returned home from the visit, I saw her at church.  I asked her about the visit and about the well-being of her daughter.  Then I said, "Wasn't it hard to leave her?  Didn't you want to pack her up and bring her back with you?"  Her answer stunned me, and it opened my eyes in a huge way.  She answered something like this: "No.  She is exactly where the Lord wants her to be, doing exactly what He wants her to do.  She is right in the middle of His will.  How could I want anything less?"

In that moment, my understanding of my responsibility as a mother changed.  Suddenly, I understood that my job is to prepare my daughters to be who Christ has called them to be, to do what Christ is calling them to do.  I love my daughters with all my heart, fiercely.  I love nothing more than being with them.  For years, when they would go away to children's camp for 5 days with our church, I would cry almost daily.  I would hate every day that they were gone.  But that was the day I started learning to let go.  It suddenly dawned on me in a real way that they aren't mine anyway.  They are His.

Then, a couple of years ago, I started having moments of panic when I would realize that they were getting closer and closer to being "grown".  I would wake up at night and be unable to go back to sleep because all I could think of was how many years I had left with them at home.  I would count how many more "first days of school" we had left.  That was not who I wanted to be.  I didn't want to be that mother who spent my children's high school years crying over every "last" thing.  I didn't want to be the mother who mourned the past.  I wanted to cherish every moment and look forward to the future with excitement.   So I began to pray and ask God to give me joy in the expectation.  As always, He is faithful.

This week, my oldest has been on the other side of the world, in a time zone almost opposite of ours, doing things I can only imagine.  As the time approached for her to leave, I was filled with excitement about what she was about to experience.  But I wondered what would happen once we got to the airport.  Would I crumble?  Would I cry when we drove away?  Would I lay awake that night, worrying while her plane was crossing the Atlantic?

I am here to tell you I did none of those things!  We spent our time at the airport joyfully anticipating her week.  We drove away and I smiled at the excitement she and her team members had exhibited.  That night, and every night since, I slept soundly (unusual in itself for me, since I regularly experience insomnia).  My prayers were fruitful.  The lesson learned so many years ago had taken root.  My girl was doing what she was born to do.  She was where God had placed her, doing the things He has created her to do.  She was right in the middle of His will.  How in the world could I want anything else for her?

She will be home in a little more than 48 hours.  I have to say I can't wait to see her.  I can't wait to hear about everything she did and everything she experienced.  I can't wait to hear about everything God taught her.  The girl I put on that plane won't be the girl who comes back.  She will have grown and changed.  I can't wait to see what God has done! 

I am forever grateful for that conversation all those years ago.  This is my thank you to my teacher. She knows who she is.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Chance Encounters

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.   Mark 15:21

From all I can tell, that is all that God's Word tells us about the chance encounter Simon of Cyrene had with the Son of God.  This encounter has been depicted in film, in song, and in Easter and Christmas pageantsBut, in truth, this is all we know of Simon, except that he was the father of two sons.  I can't help but wonder, though, what impact this chance encounter had on him.

Was he changed?  Did he know whose cross he was bearing?  What must his sons have thought?  Simon is one of a very few people who are forever memorialized by a brief encounter with Jesus Christ in His earthly lifetime.  

What about the people who encounter me?  I bear the image of the Creator, and the mark of the Holy Spirit.  I bear the name of Christ.  People cross my path every day.  Strangers, whom I may never see again.  People who may be lost, hurting, wandering.  Believers who may be suffering silently.  Are they changed by our encounter?  Do I reflect Christ well enough to make a difference?  Do they know they have been in the presence of the Holy One?  

That is my prayer.  

And as I think about it, it is my prayer for my daughter and the team she is serving with in Latvia this week.  I pray that the people they encounter this week will be changed for eternity.  I pray they will know that they have been introduced to the Savior of their souls.  May their futures be forever changed.  May the name of Jesus be forever memorialized in that little corner of the world because 13 people decided to travel around the world to share Him.