But God

The Un-tied States of America, by James Watkins, Gas City, Indiana

Jim writes:

I wrote this essay six years ago for an online magazine. It’s truer today than in 2016! What I’ve updated is in brackets [ ], but it remains virtually unchanged along with the political situation! 

A study by Michigan State University notes: Far From United: Political Divide In America The Worst It’s Ever Been. Researcher and author, Zachary Neal, writes:

“What I’ve found is that polarization has been steadily getting worse since the early 1970s. Today, we’ve hit the ceiling on polarization. At these levels, it will be difficult to make any progress on social or economic policies.”

The [midterm elections] have revealed just how divided are the “United” States of America. Commentators, pundits and leaders are searching for reasons to explain the deep racial, gender, ideological and political divides.

I blame the Internet. Let me explain before I cause even more division. With the WWW, consumers no longer have to listen to differing viewpoints.

Take the news . . . please. Citizens can choose to get their news and views with a liberal slant on CNN and The Huffington Post or from a conservative perspective on FOX and The Drudge Report. During the Jurassic Age of Journalism, reporters were schooled to stifle their biases and objectively present both sides of an issue. In the modern age, there’s no need to listen to differing opinions and perspectives!

Then, there’s Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, [Parler, Truth Social] and other social networks. Users can choose “friends” who look, think and act like themselves. And if some “hater” offers an opposing view, they are simply “unfriended” and “blocked.” It’s the online equivalent of covering one’s ears and shouting “La la la la la la la!”

Even our institutions of higher learning, which once prided themselves in exploring all perspectives, set up “safe zones” where young adults could avoid hearing anything about the contentious electoral results that might upset their fragile psyches. Much better to color and make PlayDoh art than to talk out their feelings in the student union or dorms.

The Unique States of America

I propose that there are now thousands of unique, niche states of America. Citizens no longer have to listen to opposing views or interact with people of different persuasions. They simply choose their news and views to reinforce their own tastes, beliefs and prejudices with the click of the computer.

But there is [or should be] still one place in America where citizens can interact with people outside their cyber cell . . . the Church of Christ! The apostle Paul writes to a truly divided church:

“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).

And Jesus’ last recorded prayer is for his future followers:

“I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:21-22).

The United Saints of America

Church should be the ultimate “safe place,” where citizen who are different from others are accepted and listened to as equal members of The United “Saints” of America. (Remember that Paul called the motley crew in Corinth “saints.”)

A good friend of mine cannot be more different than me. He’s a five-point Calvinist. I’m a Wesleyan-Armenian. He’s a vegetarian. I’m a carnivore. He’s a social drinker. I’m a teetotaler. He’s a ballroom dancer. I’m a clutz. He votes Democratic. I tend to vote Republican. And yet our love for Christ and writing has made us such good friends that we spent three weeks 24/7 teaching writing and staying together in India—without killing each other. The only time there was even a hint of conflict was setting the thermostat. He has no body fat. I have plenty of insulation.

May unity among professing Christians be so obvious that the world will know that Christ is real and is expressed in the love between believers. The Church has, in the past, been the cultural common denominator in this diverse land . . . and it can be again . . . if you and I obey the words of Jesus:

“I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35).

• Pray that Christians’ unity, despite the continuing political conflict, reveal a love that is greater than personal political beliefs.

• Pray that American citizens will be at least willing to listen to differing voices.

• And pray that Americans will give newly elected leaders a chance to bring people together to address the many challenges the country is facing.

Copyright © 2016 James N. Watkins Used by permission

Take a moment to be still. Breathe.

But God is the fountain of life

Psalm 36:7-9 How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Picture a shepherd boy in the hills at night, pouring out his heart in a song of wonder and praise as he gazes at the profile of the Judean mountains backlit by a zillion stars:

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens.

Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

Your justice like the ocean depths.

You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

This is our incomparable Creator Lord, the One worthy of our wholehearted devotion. Be still for a few moments, just loving him, opening your heart to him, listening for his words of love to you, right now, today. Lift up to him the burdens, griefs, fears, and frustrations you carry. Receive in exchange the gift of his peace. Let it fill you, soothe you, hearten you. Carry his love with you into the challenges of your day.

A favorite worship song in Portuguese by Eli Soares says, “Apesar dessa glória que tens, tu te importas comigo também,” (Despite your incredible glory, Lord, you care about me too.)

Close your eyes and listen to Third Day sing this psalm. Don’t get distracted by the graphics. Just think about the greatness of our God and his particular love for you, now, today. And always, no matter what.

Even in grief

But God cares deeply

Psalm 116:15 The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.

This weekend was unusually busy and intense. In the middle of it I learned my friend Vanessa, whose generosity I wrote about on April 4, died a month ago from cancer. Here’s what I wrote:

I struggled one whole morning to understand a series of marketing procedures new and not intuitive to me. In frustration I cried to the Lord, out loud, “I need help! I need someone who can show me what I’m doing wrong!

Within seconds of my prayer, a message flashed onto my Instagram screen from a Brazilian friend I haven’t seen or talked to for at least twenty years, a psychologist who worked with me in restoration ministry. “Debra, do you need any help with online advertising for the Karis book? I’m trained in that.”

Yeah. I was stunned. But wait—there’s more!

When I told Vanessa her offer was a direct answer to prayer, she said, “Well, your need is a direct answer to my prayer. Last week I was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. I asked God to give me something to do for someone else, to divert my focus from myself and my fear and worry about this cancer. Then I saw your announcement about the Karis book being published here in Brazil and thought, that’s it! I want to do all I can to help you let people know the Karis book is available now in Portuguese. I’ve been reading other things I’ve found written about Karis, and her faith is helping to stabilize mine as I walk through this battle with cancer.”

Vanessa died on the operating table. I don’t yet know more details than that. I only found out because a friend of Vanessa’s noticed my repeated inquiries on Vanessa’s Instagram about how she was doing and took the time to tell me she had died.

Vanessa was so sure she would beat this cancer. Perhaps I won’t ever know why she couldn’t. I’ve learned, though, that in these times when I don’t understand, I need to cling even tighter to the Lord, who sees the big picture I can’t see.

Yesterday the Lord comforted me very personally. Not just through my tears and my husband sitting with me as I cried. And by giving me a vision of Karis hanging out with Vanessa in Heaven. The Lord also cared for me through a friend who unexpectedly offered to help me solve yet another computer issue I find perplexing. A touch of kindness in my landscape of grief that means so much to me because it touches another area in which I’m weak and vulnerable.

So I’m praying God will touch each of Vanessa’s loved ones—her husband, her parents, her extended family, her friends, even her beloved dogs—with whatever specific kindness will let them feel how deeply he cares about each one of them, even in their grief.

Perhaps he already has.

I wanted to die, by Walt and Sharon Hastings, Golden, CO

But God gives his people strength

Psalm 28:1, 8-9 I pray to you, O Lord, my rock. Do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die. … The Lord gives his people strength. … O Lord, lead your people like a shepherd, and carry them in your arms forever.

Note: Walt is one of my husband David’s mentors. Walt and Sharon are members of our international mission team. Both Walt and Sharon fought cancer in 2020 and 2021.

On July 21, 2022, Walt wrote the following:

Just wanted to give you a brief update. Sharon is gone on a five-day cruise with our daughter Bethany and her two girls. They get back Friday afternoon. She left early Sunday morning, about the time I came down with a high fever and infection in my right leg. Yesterday I went to urgent care and was told to be hospitalized immediately. I’m at Sky Ridge hospital being treated for a severe case of advanced sepsis infection. I’m responding well to the treatment, and likely will be here several more days.

Sharon: “Several more days” turned into a pitched battle to save Walt’s life. It’s hard to remember what life was like before these last ten weeks. There was a fight with cancer, but it seems like a long time ago.

Walt: I was in so much pain in the hospital that if I had been given a choice, I would have chosen to go be with Jesus. My muscles atrophied so much that I couldn’t support myself even to stand up. I lost about 25% of my lower leg. I couldn’t bear to look at my leg wound because I would go into shock. My left leg seemed to be half the size of my other leg.

In the ICU I came to realize that the veil between this life and the next is very thin. I had a dream or vision or something in which I was in a dark spot and to my right there were three creatures I would call demons. On the other side beings of light called to me. I told the Lord I wanted to go home to be with him. And the Lord said no. I asked the Lord what he wanted me to do. He responded, “Be with people.”

“Beings of light called to me” Shutterstock: Melitas

Sharon: We didn’t know if Walt would make it, but prayer on the night of the crisis call ended up trumping Walt’s wishes. We’ve stuck together through it all. We’ve grown close. I told God, “You don’t want Walt right now. He’s still not perfect. I need to work on certain areas in his life.”

Walt: When I went to the rehab hospital, I had serious doubts that I would ever walk again.

Sharon: We owe the physical therapist a case of beer. The doctors are impressed and surprised with how amazingly healthy Walt is.

Walt: One doctor said it’s amazing how God heals. Today, the two legs look almost the same size. There are at least three layers of skin. If the bacteria had gotten to the third layer which transports nutrients to the whole body, I would have been gone. The specialist who treated me said he loses about half of his patients who have this flesh-eating bacteria.

Sharon: I’m not teaching. I canceled all my classes to take care of Walt. I have no energy to think of anything else. I’m always thinking of how much protein Walt needs each day. Tomorrow’s skin graft surgery should be the last chapter of this. His knee froze with scar tissue. While he’s anesthetized for the skin graft, a surgeon will work on removing the scar tissue. Like Walt, I’m asking God what His purposes are.

My husband Dave on October 4: Today I had a terrific, life-giving mentoring session with Walt. I’m grateful he’s still here to “be with people,” including me.

God’s workmanship is marvelous

But God saw me before I was born

Psalm 139:13-17 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion … You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. … How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

These verses have been repeating in my head ever since my first glimpse of my granddaughter Juliana as she was born Friday evening. Every tiny part of her, so perfect, so complete. A brand new unique little person. Marvelous indeed.

Juliana an hour after birth

Ultrasound gives us a shadowy image of a child in the womb. But God sees these little ones perfectly. David tells us in this psalm that God is intimately involved with the creation of each little person. That’s why our daughter Karis was convinced that her intestinal disability was not a “mistake,” but rather something God intended to use for good. And she lived her life accordingly, always looking for what God was doing through every difficult or joyful circumstance. Still, I felt immense relief when I saw little Juliana’s first poop! Something Karis never had. I don’t know what Juliana’s challenges will be, but her intestines seem to work perfectly. Thank you, Lord.

Big sister Liliana, Aunt Valerie, cousin Caleb, and Mommy: part of the family already loving Juliana

Our extended family is growing fast! Between December 2019 and May 2020, five little girls were born, including our Talita and Liliana. The next batch included two boys, a little girl in the Cayman Islands, and now Juliana. Two babies are due in December.

God sees and intimately knows each one of them. And you and me too. No wonder the psalmist says God’s thoughts about us are precious.

With Mom and Dad, ready for a rest

What are you creating these days?

But God’s breath brings life

Psalm 104:24, 30 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. … When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Psalm 139:13-14 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous.

Ephesians 2:10 We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Collected on a walk through our neighborhood yesterday

As around us leaves take on variegated hues, there’s a lot going on in our corner of the world. A new grandchild, soon to be born (perhaps today!) fills us with the awe of co-creation. A co-created book (Treasure Hunt 1904, Book 2 of the Cally and Charlie Series), coming out sooner than expected, bears the imprint of early readers, artists, and designers. Creation of materials and logistics for the first in-person Pastoring of Pastors leaders retreat since 2019, in Bogotá, Colombia October 21-25 engages a whole team of people at one level and all the participants, from twelve countries, at another. Another co-creation with each other and with God.

The last few days while Dave is in Colorado Springs for mission meetings, I re-watched a couple of the early episodes of The Chosen. Remember Jesus the craftsman, leaving carved animals for the girl Abigail when he decamped? And how he created in the minds of the children new vision and spiritual curiosity? I love the visuals of Jesus, co-creator of the universe, a master craftsman in his life as part of our world. I love the fact that God gives gifts through the Holy Spirit, empowering each of us to be creative in our own ways.

What are you creating these days? I would love to know!!

The power of story

But God is powerful and mighty

Psalm 78:2-4 I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.

Jeremiah 32:17-19 NASBOh, Lord God! Behold, You Yourself have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You … great and mighty God. The Lord of armies is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of mankind.

Zechariah 8:6 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: … All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

I love spending Tuesdays with my grandchildren Caleb (4) and Talita (2). Last Tuesday while I folded laundry, Talita napped, and Caleb played near me with his cars, he started singing a song I remember from my own childhood, “Nothing is too difficult for thee.” Google tells me it was written by Don Moen.

Caleb and Talita with their dad, Cesar

Caleb sang it several times. I asked him whether he learned the song at school, at church, or from his mom. “My mom,” he said.

It’s been running through my mind ever since, encouraging me regarding some tough situations. Nothing is too difficult for thee …

It’s caused me to reflect on the power of story. In this case, the story of God creating the universe illustrates his ability to do everything else. Nothing is impossible for him.

How interesting, that a story I learned to sing at my mission boarding school when I was small, and then sang to my children, my daughter Valerie sings to hers. And God used her child innocently singing it back to me to encourage me when I needed it.

Do you see why I want you to tell your story of what God has done for you? And generously share it with me and those who read this blog? You have no idea how much it may encourage someone else.

I hope this story is one Caleb never forgets and passes on in turn to his own children one day.

Everyday love, by Elaine Elliott, Antigua, Guatemala (“Art and Scripture”)

Psalm 138:8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Isaiah 43:4 God says: “…You are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.”

Ephesians 3:19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

God has gifted me [Elaine] with an intriguing place to live, a valley with a volcano on one side, lavish flowers all year round, interesting old ruins from the late 1700s, and bright blue skies. Hiking through the surrounding forests as they “sing,” I appreciate God’s cleverness in all he made. I cherish God’s love in my everyday life.

Arco Santa Catalina and Volcán Água, Antigua, Guatemala

Enjoying family and friends, holding them in God’s deep love, makes life interesting. Technology connects us with people at a distance. I encounter strangers with openness, as an opportunity to see Christ in them. Loving and honoring others with genuine affection and delight (Romans 12:10) makes life meaningful.

I fall more in love with God as I learn about his creativity through the innovations of people, in books, documentaries, art, music, and technology. Hospitality, my own creativity, and finding ways to serve others keep me in God’s love. Hearing from God through Scripture, even puzzling things out with help of a commentary, allows me to experience His love.

I am grateful for all the loves in my life: family, friends, community, place, Scripture, beauty, justice, goodness, God himself… Scripture uses the word “love” 500 times in the Old Testament, beginning with parental and spousal love, so it makes sense we find much joy in our families. We find khesed, God’s unfailing love, mentioned about 120 times. Scripture calls us to respond to God’s love with our own: for him, neighbors, strangers, even enemies. Jesus says we are to love him even more than our closest family members, not loving them less, but practicing an even greater love.

Love is produced in us by the Holy Spirit. It knits us together, protects us, makes us good examples, and perfects us as we live in God. Reading through all 800 or so references to love in the Bible builds in me a deep sense of how pervasive love is in our lives. As the Ephesians reference says, Christ’s love is too great to fully understand with our minds. We must experience it. Love is his very nature and appreciating this becomes bedrock for our lives.

As I go through any ups, downs, or plateaus in life, I find it helpful to remember that “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance… Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:7, 13). God’s faithful love makes my everyday life a very good place to be.

P.S. from Debbie: Elaine is the second to respond to my call for “But God” stories. I can’t wait to receive yours!

Where did you hide as a child?

But God is our refuge

Psalm 62:5-8 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. … O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Philippians 4:6-7 Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

When you were a child, did you have a hiding place, somewhere you went to feel safe?

In my small childhood home (two bedrooms for a family of ten), there seemed nowhere to go except inside myself, and I became very good at finding that space. But at boarding school, I hid in two places. One was inside a narrow, covered stairwell with doors top and bottom. The other was high in a cypress tree at the property a block away where we went for recess.

Shutterstock: Air Images

In those spaces, even when I was small, I had a sense of God’s presence with me that I didn’t feel anywhere else. The world out there was too challenging, too crowded, too fraught and frightening. Often I was too flooded to sense he was there in the confusion of competing feelings. In secret, though, the Lord helped me regain my balance. When I’m upset, I can still imagine myself there, take some deep breaths, and begin to relax.

As an adult, hearing other people’s trauma stories, my heart went out to those who blamed God for what they had suffered and thus cut themselves off from his comfort. As a child, I didn’t blame God. I primarily blamed myself. I think it’s natural for children to feel they “should” be able to be “good enough” or “powerful enough” to diffuse the tensions, stress, anger, conflicts, and hurtful actions of the adults around them. Just try harder …

God, though, was my refuge. My rock. My place of safety long before I knew anything about Psalm 62, or Philippians 4 or Hebrews 4.

There were times when I doubted God’s power and goodness, when I couldn’t sense his Presence at all. In chapter 1 of Karis: All I See Is Grace, though, I describe a time of crisis when I was able to cry out to him and hear his response. He challenged me to trust him even though I could not understand. Why, if he is all-loving and all-powerful, he allows so much suffering in the world. Why he doesn’t do what I, in my great wisdom, think he should do.

Today, I am making the same choice: to trust. To pour out my heart to him. And then to wait quietly. For God is my refuge, my safety, my hiding place.

You too?