By Leslie Hester, Preschool Ministry Director

As a mother you spend years not only protecting your children, but also wondering if everything you are doing will help them become the person they are meant to be. You spend long nights praying for their future and hoping the help and advice you’ve given will be enough. As they grow you look back at “the hard years” thinking they were never going to end but they seemed to have passed little by little. You realize that those sleepless nights, when you and your baby are alone–you holding them, rocking them, are irretrievable. You will never get them back.

As they grow into school age years one day you wake up and realize they don’t need your help getting ready because they have gotten ready without you. Oh you would never dress them like that, but you’re proud of their independent spirit! Then you think to yourself, “If I could have just one more opportunity to help them; to tie their shoe, fix their lunches.”

Fast forward to the teenage years, you argue as they begin to grow into their own person and you wonder if you will both survive. Despite all of those disagreements and not seeing eye to eye as they leave your home, you often long wrap your arms around them and protect them from hurt while at the same time wonder if you have done enough to prepare them for what is to come. You think to yourself, “If I could just hold them one more time.”

Now put yourself in Mary’s shoes.  From the time she found out she was going to have a baby, she knew he was to be great and that he would be the savior of the world. She knew from her conversation with the angel in Luke that he would be great despite the mistakes all parents make… I mean they did leave him at the temple only to go back and find him not scared and looking for them but teaching. Although Mary was worried, she knew this was all part of what the angel had told her. In Luke 2:51 we are told that “she treasured all these things in her heart.”

Fast forward to where Jesus is grown and starts performing miracles. If you’re a parent, you know how proud Mary must have felt, not in a prideful way but a “that’s my boy way” as he ministered to people through his healing and teaching. Then everything changes. The crowds who once followed him turned on him. The ones who shouted Hosanna now shout “crucify him!” Mary’s son is beaten, mocked and crucified.

She is there through all of it. Does she longingly reflect on memories of his childhood, teen years (yes, Jesus was a teenager!), and his young adulthood? Regardless of our temptation to dehumanize Jesus, he was the son of a mother who loved him deeply and cared for him compassionately.

On the cross, all that changed. She couldn’t stop this. Jesus was dying for her! Her son was also her Savior. Her once newborn would now give her new life. The one who depended on her for food and a roof over his head would become for her the bread of life and go to prepare a place for her. Everything changed. Everything.

In the middle of the greatest and most awful moment in human history, Jesus remembered her. Dying for the sins of humanity (and Mary’s too), Jesus made sure she would now have a roof over her head and food on her plate. Looking at his best friend, John, he said, “Woman, behold your son.” In other words, Mary, John will take care of you now. 

What humanity and divinity–Jesus, the God-man dying for Mary his mother.

Woman, behold your son.

Do you know the most compelling evidence to me of who we are in Christ? He is unnamed. We’re not exactly sure the crime he committed. We just know that it wasn’t by accident that he was scheduled to be executed the same day Jesus was crucified. Most executions were not attended by crowds. Most crucifixions didn’t cause a stir. For this unnamed criminal, his most embarrassing moment became his most exhilarating. His most confining moment became his most liberating. He was crucified…and rightly so. He was guilty of crimes.

Jesus was crucified right beside him…and for no good reason. He was falsely accused.

This unnamed criminal, hanging naked, bleeding, writhing in pain on the cross, saw something in Jesus that the Romans soldiers refused to see. He saw something in Jesus that the Jewish leaders refused to see. He saw something in Jesus that the other thief refused to see. He also saw his sinful self.

Do you know what happened? That day, the naked, destitute, friendless, guilty criminal became a saint. What grace from the cross when Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” He had no time to join the church, no time to mend fences, no time to make restitution. He didn’t have to. He was crucified with Jesus…literally…and he was crucified with Jesus spiritually. He had a new relationship.

From criminal to citizen. From outcast to insider. From a thief to a saint. In just one moment.

If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, that’s what happened to you.

I know. It’s scandalous.

Grace is.

This week the blog will focus on six hours one Friday–that fateful Friday when Jesus hung on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, between God and us, dying for our sins. In those hours, Jesus made seven statements. We all lean in to hear what someone has to say in their dying hours. Thankfully, the gospel writers recorded Jesus’ last words.

Father forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing. 

Ben Poteat and David Grindstaff wrote a song that says this better than I could.

Last week I was asked to submit a simple prayer to be used on 106.9 The Light’s impact days. This week John Owens, General Manager, sent me a recording of all of us (the others who had been asked to pray too). I think you will find it comforting and encouraging.

It’s 11 minutes long…but worth it.

In case you don’t recognize some of those praying, here is a list:

Pastor Bruce Frank – Biltmore Church, Arden NC
Chip Ingram – Living on the Edge
Will Graham – Evangelist/Executive Director of the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Asheville
Clayton King – Crossroads Summer Camps and New Spring Church
Chuck Bentley – Crown Financial Ministries
Dr. Don Wilton – First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, SC
Greg Laurie – A New Beginning
Pastor Jerry Lewis – Grace Community Church, Marion, NC
John Fuller – Focus on the Family
Pastor Jim Dykes – Brookstone Church, Weaverville, NC
Anne Graham Lotz – Living in the Light

When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! (2 Samuel 16:5-7, ESV)

O LORD, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul,

“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.

I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah (Psalm 3:1-8, ESV)

You are no match for the many in your life, but God is.

Your many are no match for your one God. He is a shield. He is the lifter of your head. Your walk of shame is his opportunity to show you mercy. If you slept last night, somebody stayed awake and watched over you. If you’re awake this morning, somebody woke you, but breath in your lungs and hope in your heart.

Your many are no match for your one God.

After reflecting on his one true God, David has courage. His language changes. Though his own son is chasing him out of his beloved Jerusalem, though Shimei is hurling insults and stones, David writes these words: I will not be afraid of many.

Many things are unraveling in our world. Our health is at stake. Our finances are in peril. Pressure on families in tight quarters produces anxiety. Fear is rampant. You have your own list of many. You don’t have to think hard to list them.

Salvation belongs to your one God. He will smack your many on the face; he will punch your many in the teeth (David’s words, not mine)

This song was written from Psalm 3. Worship.

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (Psalm 62:5-7 ESV)

David returns to his opening thought. (see verse 1)  For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence. Why? For my hope is from him. Most of the time we use the word hope interchangeably for “wish.” I wish the sun would shine tomorrow. I wish that package would arrive. I wish…

Biblical hope is far more than a wish.

Biblical hope is the sure promise of future reward.

Paul talks about this kind of hope in Romans 5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Paul tells the believers in Rome that they can rejoice in sufferings. Why? Paul isn’t advocating an emotionless response to the very real pain of life. No! Rejoicing in suffering is possible for the same reason a mother endures the pain of giving birth to a child: the hope of holding that child in her arms as a newborn. Our hope is fixed on the glory of God–we live to honor Him. And strangely enough it comes through waiting and suffering.

Suffering initiates a domino effect: suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Hope grows best in the soil of suffering.

Notice the distance between suffering and hope. Suffering is followed by endurance (which takes time).  Endurance is followed by character (which is built over time). Character produces hope.

For most of us this has been the worst year of our lives. Our suffering is so real that hope seems a distant dream, a far-flung idea. Don’t despair. Hope is coming! Endure–don’t quit!

David writes: He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Today, lean in on God. Wait on him–quieten yourself before him. He is your refuge, your safe place…your hope.

You’ve heard it said, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I’ll spare you my words and show you a picture of Gogo, Wendy’s grandmother, who is in Mountain Ridge Wellness in Ridgecrest. Since we cannot visit her, they’re so gracious to post things like this. This was posted yesterday.

C. S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Gogo was made for another world. So am I. So are you.

No one in his right mind wants to suffer. Sometimes suffering comes quickly: the stroke that robs your mom of her dignity; the heart attack that takes your dad’s life. Other times suffering comes slowly: the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s; the slow, painful divorce. Or, in our days, the languishing effects of a pandemic.

Suffering is unavoidable. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said it this way:

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

Peter, writing to suffering saints in the first century, put it this way:

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10 ESV)

Peter agreed with Longfellow: suffering is inevitable. Into each life some rain must fall. Suffering is the common plot of every human being. Life languishes. Problems persist. Grief grips. The difference between Peter’s words and Longfellow’s dirge is this:

Longfellow depends on the sun shining behind the clouds. Peter points to the God who shines through the clouds.

He is the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.

Your suffering is not wasted. God himself shapes you through suffering. When suffering has reared its ugly head and left you mangled and marred by the pain of life, God himself shows up and restores, confirms, strengthens and establishes you. Take heart. God has not forgotten you. He sees you, not as you are, but as you will be.

This morning, I read Psalm 150 and immediately I began to wonder.

Read the Psalm.

I’m sharing the prayer I prayed after reading it. It was such a sweet time–I’m overcome just thinking about it.

Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD! (Psalm 150:1-6, ESV)

Lord Jesus, I know that before you left heaven to come to earth you were constantly praised, and that now even more (if that is possible) you are praised. But I wonder about some things.

How was it when you returned, after having come to earth? When Peter and the other disciples saw you disappear out of their sight, were the angels leaning over the balcony of heaven awaiting your arrival? When you entered heaven (however that happened) did you walk down the main street, paved with gold, and was it completely quiet at first? Did they notice your scarred hands and feet and wonder how you could love somebody else that much? Scripture says angels “long to look into these things.” Did they whisper to one another, “look at him. I can’t believe he did what he did. I can’t believe what they did to him!”

And how did the Father respond? I know they praised you then in your mighty heavens and they are praising you now.

I will join them and praise you for your mighty deeds! Praise you for saving a sinner like me, for becoming one of me that I might join you there some day. Praise you that, when I was dead in my sin, a self-centered 15-year-old, you cared enough to get my attention, draw me to yourself, and cause me to be born again unto a living hope. I praise you that you went to “prepare a place for me” and that one day I will be with you. Lord, I praise you for all the reckless sinners you have turned into redeemed saints. I praise you that the work you began in me, and so many others, you will bring to completion until the day you return. I praise you for your mighty deeds.

Jesus I praise you for your excellent greatness. You were oppressed and afflicted but you did not open your mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, you did not open your mouth. By oppression and judgment you were taken away and stricken for the transgression of your people. They made your grave with the wicked (those criminals who hung by your side) and you were with a rich man in your death (Joseph of Arimathea), although you had done no violence and there was no deceit in your mouth. And this is hard for me to fathom, but according to Isaiah, it was the will of God to crush you…but also the will of God to prosper you.

It seems that the Psalmist pulls out all the stops when he describes the instruments that are used to worship you. One day Jesus, one glorious day, we will praise you. We will not, on that day, have the inhibition of sin, the disruption of life, the difficulty of despair. On that day we will not be thwarted by fear, burdened by guilt, weighed down with the cares of this world. On that day, the angels will be silent as the redeemed of the Lord (and yes, by your great grace that’s me…hard to believe but that’s me!) march into heaven. And like one large choir we will join our voices together and sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Revelation 5)

(I then listened to this song…I’m convinced a foretaste of heaven. You’ll see why 22 million others have listened too)

This is a repost of a blog from a year ago. I’m convinced that previous trials can provide present hope. One of my longtime friends once said, “In God’s economy he doesn’t waste a thing.” As we navigate the twists and turns of the coronavirus pandemic, remember that if God was faithful then he’ll be faithful now.

Things clamor for our attention. At the best they are distractions, at the worst they are devastations. We are sometimes drawn away by our wants; at other times our worries dominate our thinking.

We are in Beaulaville, NC where the remnants of Hurricane Florence litter the landscape like wind-driven snowdrifts. FEMA trailers sit alongside empty houses as people anxiously anticipate returning to normal life. 165 days have passed since Florence came ashore.

Just like people here must do, you and I must determine where our focus will be. David faced the same dilemma.

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. (Psalm 26:1-3, ESV)