Hidden Treasure

But God calls us by name

Isaiah 45:3 I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the one who calls you by name.

Isaiah 43:1-2 I have called you by name. You are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

John 10:3 The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When our grandson Caleb, now almost six, was learning to talk, he called me Maggie instead of Grammy. I loved it. Recently I told him this and he was affronted. “You’re kidding me, Grammy. I never did that!”

But thinking about Caleb’s little voice calling me Maggie still warms my heart. Don’t you delight in being called by an affectionate, just-for-you name by someone you love?

Caleb then and now

And have you heard the Lord of the universe call you by your name?

I have. The memory of it tingles all the way to my toes. To be seen and known by the King of kings—there’s nothing like it: “You’re not alone. I hear and see and understand your joys and challenges. I get your fragilities and vulnerabilities and fears. I see your mistakes and overreaching. And I love you. I want to walk with you and show you the way forward.”

One of these moments occurred a couple of weeks ago in Bogotá, Colombia. I was frustrated by missing a whole day of a very special retreat–including my role leading a retreat-within-the-retreat for a group of sixteen women–due to altitude sickness, which I have never experienced before in a lifetime of high-altitude living and visiting. As I lay in bed trying to catch my breath, I heard the Lord say, “Debbie, your value to me does not depend on what you do. I love you just because you are my daughter.”

Mirian, in the striped sweater on the right, did a great job leading the group!

I don’t think there’s any greater encouragement than this–any greater treasure when times are tough and dark. Listen for his still, small voice. Listen to him call you by your name, with all the tenderness and love he nurtures just for you. Because you are his beloved, cherished son or daughter.

Rest

But God is full of compassion

Isaiah 44:6, 10 This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “I am the First and the Last; there is no other God. … Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol who cannot help him one bit?”

James 5:11 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

On my trip home from Colombia, I read a book called And I His Servant by Dr. Dick Hillis, the founder of our mission organization, OC International. It’s a collection of his stories, many of them about his experiences in Asia beginning in 1933. (Dr. Hillis’s biography is also available, called Steel in His Soul.)

One chapter, “Sincerely Yours,” would fit neatly into Isaiah 44. Dr. Hillis describes the process of making a mud idol, then says this:

But before I made a further judgment about their sanity, I decided to ask why the people bowed before these idols. “Madam,” I said, “for the last ten minutes you have been on your knees bowing before this deity. Would you please tell me why?”

“Sir,” she replied. “My husband is out of work. My children are hungry. The landlord has threatened to throw us out. My burdens are heavy and I am asking for help.”

“And you, Sir,” I said. …

“We have seven children. The youngest is two weeks old. Her mother is very sick. The midwife can’t stop her bleeding. She has a fever and won’t eat and I am afraid for my children and their mother’s life.”

The answer to why people bow before gods who have eyes and cannot see and ears and cannot hear, is simple. They have burdens they cannot carry and fears they cannot quiet. They have never met the One who said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).

It occurs to me today that perhaps we create idols—likely not made of wood or mud, but rather of other things that matter more to us than the Creator, Redeemer, and Lord of Heaven’s Armies—for the same reasons: burdens we cannot carry and fears we cannot quiet. We deny, numb, and distract ourselves with our choices of addictions and indulgences, but nothing is really solved or healed. We fight for our independence only to discover we’re not capable of managing life all by ourselves.

And the Lord says to us with compassion, “Come to Me. I will give you rest.”

For joy!

But God forgets

Isaiah 43:25 [The Lord, your Redeemer, says] “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Psalm 130:3-4 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness.

1 Corinthians 13:5 Love keeps no record of being wronged.

1 John 1:9 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

I’ve just flown back into Pittsburgh over autumn-hued hills, returning from an amazing retreat with seventy leaders from fourteen countries in Bogotá, Colombia.

The last retreat session included time for ten of the group to share what they had been hearing from God during our time together. Again and again, people referred to Isaiah, including this chapter, particularly verses 18 and 19 about the “new thing” God is doing through discipling and pastoring of pastors.

I usually think of Isaiah 43 in terms of its first four verses, as a “go-to” passage when I need reassurance of God’s love and care. You too? But the chapter is so rich, I encourage you to read it all.

Tucked in toward the end of the chapter is another startling evidence of God’s love and care for us: his joy in forgiving our sins and never thinking of them again. God says he does this for his own sake—to preserve his treasured relationships with us. Surely, he knows we will hurt him again, because we are far from being all we want and should be. But he values the joy enough to forget the pain. He truly delights in us.

Recently a man whose wife was divorcing him asked me to read a letter she had sent him explaining her decision. It was a long litany of what he had done wrong and all the ways he had hurt her during their marriage.

The man said, “I’m devastated. In every one of these cases, I recognized and grieved my wrong, asked her to forgive me—which she said she did—and tried hard to do better. I wanted her to thrive in my love for her. I longed for us to return to the joy we’d known together.”

He stopped for a moment to contain his tears and then continued, “Obviously, where I thought we had achieved repair, she instead added the incident to her list of my failings. Maybe that’s why she spent so much time journaling. I don’t know what to do. What does she mean at the end of her letter that she still loves me, she just can’t live with me because she knows I’ll hurt her again? Does love keep track of every evidence of fault in the other person?”

NO. And Jesus, who lived out God’s love through his relationships on earth, invites us to love as he did. For joy!

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other the same way I have loved you (John 15:11-12).

How can we do it?

But God calls us to demonstrate his righteousness

Isaiah 42:1-8 Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. … He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says, “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you … And you will be a light to guide the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison. … I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else.

Shutterstock: akramalrasny

This photo is from Yemen, but it could be so many other places in the world.

I find this to be one of the most encouraging and the most challenging passages in Scripture. Where would we be without God’s promise to bring justice to the nations, to all who have been wronged? Yet how can we possibly demonstrate his righteousness? We’re not wise enough, good enough, self-giving enough, strong enough, or brave enough for such an assignment.

I don’t manage to consistently reflect God’s priorities even within my small circle of influence. How can we respond as God’s partners in his purpose to make justice prevail throughout the earth, for each person to whom he gives breath and life? Too often v. 19-20 describe me!

If this call from God on our lives doesn’t keep us humble and on our knees, nothing will.

Two phrases from Isaiah 42 give me hope: “I have put my Spirit upon him,” and “I will take you by the hand and guard you.” It’s the Holy Spirit in us who can reflect God accurately, not ourselves. And when God says he will guard us, I think in part that means he will guard us from our own weaknesses, blindness, and inconsistencies as we submit ourselves to him.

God guarded me one day when a young woman dressed in full Sharia-correct garb appeared at Karis’s hospital room door. Karis welcomed her with joy, and the two spent a happy hour together. I, to my shame, sat in a corner struggling with feelings of resentment against her and all that in my mind she represented.

But in his mercy, during that hour, God showed me the deep, compassionate, affectionate love in his heart toward “those people.” He melted away my prejudices and fears. He took my hand and guarded me against myself. I am so very grateful, because I could have gotten in the way of important relationships in Karis’s life, as she poured out the love God had shown me.

I trust you, Lord, to keep on showing me and freeing me from all that does not please and reflect you.

No dissing, ghosting, or discarding

But God will never throw us away

Isaiah 41:9-10 [The Lord says] “I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. … For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.’”

Isaiah 41 lit up for me this week because two dear Pittsburgh friends are stuck in Tel Aviv. They took a tour in Israel to celebrate their retirement, and their tour guide was called to active duty. Then their flight home was cancelled. Another reason to pray for God’s mercy, along with our prayers for both Israelis and Palestinians caught in the crossfire with Hamas.

I have chosen you.

I will not throw you away.

I am with you.

I am your God.

I will strengthen you.

I will help you.

I will hold you up.

I hold you by your hand.

I am here to help you.

So, don’t be afraid or discouraged.

DON’T BE AFRAID.

Here is the story of this beloved hymn (authorship unknown) linked above, whose second stanza is taken from Isaiah 41:10.

Gently

But God understands

Isaiah 40:11, 27-29 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. … How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? … The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

From the time Karis was small, Isaiah 40 was important to us, she the lamb carried in the Lord’s arms, I the mother sheep He gently led. During long nights in hospitals and surgeries, we knew He was not weak or weary. No matter what our current crisis, dilemma, or grief, we knew He understood what we faced.

Karis with her sisters and cousins at a family reunion in Bolivia, 1992 (age 9). On this trip, Karis started getting sick again, after God gave her (and us!) two years of good health to adapt to living in Brazil. Karis was the oldest of eight granddaughters of Dave’s parents. Dan was their only grandson–adored by all the girls. Age 9 was the year Karis started keeping journals.

Aligned with Isaiah 40, two songs encouraged us. The first one you will likely recognize, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” which contains the beautiful line, “merciful and mighty.” It invoked our “lifeline” verses, Lamentations 3:22-24. We counted on God’s mercy and his power, renewed for us every single day.

The other, “Tu és soberano” (You are sovereign), we learned after we moved to Brazil when Karis was seven. Karis had a profound belief that NOTHING happened to her except by her Father’s permission and for some divine purpose. She was always asking not “Why did this happen to me?” in a self-pitying kind of way, but rather “What purpose does God want to accomplish through this?”

Because she asked this question, she was alert to what was going on around her. Who else was in the hospital this time to whom she could extend love? Who would God bring to her whose troubles she could better understand at a heart level because of her own pain and losses?

“Tu és soberano” includes this beautiful line: “Apesar dessa glória que tens, Tu te importas comigo também, e esse amor tão grande eleva-me, amarra-me a Ti, Tu es tremendo” (Despite the glory you have as Sovereign of the universe, you care about me too, and this love lifts me up and binds me to you. You are amazing).

Tears come to my eyes as I remember singing this beautiful worship song, full-throated, with my beloved brothers and sisters in Brazil. They have been God’s human arms to care for us and lift us to the Father not only while we lived in São Paulo, but through their prayers ever since.

I hope Isaiah 40 will encourage you today too.

For the next generation

But God adds or takes away life

Isaiah 38-39 When Hezekiah was well again [from a deadly illness], he wrote this poem. … “The dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness. Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.”

Isaiah 38:19, “One generation tells of your faithfulness to the next,” is one of the texts God used to convince me to write Karis: All I See Is Grace. I wanted grandchildren yet unborn to know about Karis, to feel in some sense that they knew her. I wanted to encourage their faith through her testimony of God’s faithfulness so personally treasured by her.

And the process of writing that book required me to take stock of my own life in a new way. Hope in the face of death dawned gradually from the darkness of grief. I wanted to help Karis communicate to a broader audience her experience of grace, to inspire others to hope in God’s love and care along with her.

I feel a bit sorry for Hezekiah. Jesus had not yet come to die and rise again, conquering death. The king had no vision of praising God in heaven. He thought physical death was the end. I hope his understanding deepened before he did die after the fifteen “extra” years God gave him.

I’ve just participated in a mission team retreat in the San Bernardino Mountains. We were challenged to write stories about our mission memories exactly for Isaiah’s purpose: to pass on to the new generation what we’ve experienced and learned. Last evening, we shared with each other some of the stories we had been writing. Such a rich time together! We barely began to plumb the depth of personal knowledge of God’s grace and faithfulness preserved in the memories of our team.

The OC International Ministry Team: rich in experience of God’s grace and faithfulness

Think about this: we have the holy Scriptures because the writers took time to write down what God inspired them to say. We have the records of believers through the millennia for the same reason. Our stories aren’t given to us alone. They are meant to encourage others.

We referenced several times this song by Steve Green. May all who come behind us find us faithful.

What would you like to communicate to your children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren? Oral communication is great. And writing and video can have even more generation after generation impact. Think about it! And if you’d like to share your story here, please let me know.

Even when words aren’t adequate

But God bends down to listen

Isaiah 36 and 37 “This is what the great king of Assyria says: ‘What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?’ … Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us.’” … The prophet Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him.’” … Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! … Then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” Then Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed … For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.’” That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Then King Sennacharib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land.

Psalm 116:1-2 I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

It happens regularly when I’m with my young grandchildren. The tug on my clothing or my hand. The urgency in the child’s voice, “Grammy, listen!”

He or she wants me to stop what I’m doing, bend down to their level so our eyes can connect, and give exclusive attention to whatever the issue is: “I need to show you something,” “I think …” “I want you to help me …” “I’m sad [or mad or glad] because …”

I thought of this when I read Isaiah 36 and 37, this story of a desperate king needing assurance that God saw and cared about his situation. King Hezekiah had no resources in himself adequate to the overpowering strength of the Assyrian army, bent on conquest.

What situation do you face today that’s simply too difficult for you to face on your own? What army do you find arrayed against you?

Cry out to the Lord. Picture him bending down to you, as an adult to a small child. Pour out your need and watch for him to act on your behalf.

I’ve written about this before, but it’s such a powerful example of God bending down to us that I want to remind you and myself again of an experience Karis recorded in her journal. In January 2006, Karis had received a five-organ transplant (the first intestinal transplant in 2004 had failed). After a two-and-a-half-year absence from school as she battled for restoration of health, Karis was able to return to Notre Dame for fall semester, 2006. In January 2007, a doctor told Karis the steroid she had to take to combat rejection had destroyed her hip. He recommended immediate surgery, which would require her dropping out of one more semester at Notre Dame.

Karis was devastated. She threw herself down on the grass beside Mary Lake, her despair too great for words.

And Jesus came to her. She saw him with each one of her scars on his body, in the deepest imaginable identification with her pain. He knew, he cared, he faced this new crisis with her.

God does bend down to listen.

Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering (Isaiah 53:4).

An abundance of flowers!

But God’s vision is joy!

Isaiah 35 Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom … There will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! … With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to save you. … The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! … Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Luke 7:22 “Tell John what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”

1 Peter 1:6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.

In my Bible beside Isaiah 35:2 I noted in 2012, “Val’s wedding!”

I’ve never attended an event with such an abundance of flowers. The wedding was held at a campsite outside of Joinville, in southern Brazil. The decorators did such an amazing job with flowers, linens, crystal, china, and candles that you would never know you were in a plain camp dining room.

I was as surprised as any other guest when I walked into this gorgeous setting. Though mother of the bride, I was unable to participate in the planning of this milestone in Valerie’s life because I was in Pittsburgh caring for Karis. She (Karis) had planned for months to travel to Brazil for her beloved little sister’s wedding, but an untimely accident left her in the hospital instead of on an airplane. That’s another whole long story. Karis called it the biggest disappointment of her entire life.

I left Karis in the care of my beloved younger sister and traveled to Brazil with no idea of the beauty that awaited all of us. I experienced in my own small way the joy foretold in Isaiah 35. For that day, I was able to set aside my “tired hands, weak knees, and fearful heart” for Karis and let my soul absorb the loveliness and joy of Valerie + Cesar. A celebration that renewed my strength for the long days awaiting me in Pittsburgh on my return.

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus, and fulfill in some measure today your promises of future joy.

Those ants!

But God cares about his creatures September 25, 2023

Isaiah 34:16-17 Search the book of the Lord and see what he will do. Not one of these birds and animals will be missing, and none will lack a mate, for the Lord has promised this. His Spirit will make it all come true.

My five-year-old grandson Caleb asked me questions about his Aunt Karis as we drove home from the park. We rounded a corner and I had to slam on the brake to avoid a deer crossing the road. For Pittsburghers this is a frequent occurrence, but I was a bit rattled by how close we had come to hitting the deer, likely killing it, and causing an accident to my car and possibly others on that busy road.

Caleb asked me why I was so worried about hitting the deer. “I might have killed it,” I told him.

“But Grammy, you told me heaven is a wonderful place and Aunt Karis is very happy there. So, wouldn’t it be better for the deer to be there instead of here? Maybe Aunt Karis would like to have this deer with her in heaven.”

Disregarding the folly of taking on five-year-old logic, I endeavored to explain that God is in charge of life and death, and it isn’t up to me to decide an animal should die. God knows better than I do what is best for the deer and his other creatures and for people, too.

“Then why did you kill those ants in your kitchen this morning?”