.king’s cross.

I started reading a new book last night called King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus by Timothy Keller. I thought it would be a book that just related the history of the culture surrounding Jesus while he was on earth, but I was thankfully wrong. In the book, Keller is basically going through the book of Mark and explaining how every action and every statement Jesus does and says proves that he is none other than the Son of God. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite books because Keller does a great job at reminding you along the way how much God truly loves you and desires to be in a relationship with you.

Chapter Six walks through the encounter of Jairus and the woman who was healed by touching Jesus’ cloak. (Mark 5:21-42) Jairus was a prominent ruler in the synagogue and had wealth and local fame. Yet he comes to Jesus and falls at his feet to ask him to heal his dying daughter. A large crowd begins to follow them as Jesus is escorted by Jairus to help his daughter and Jesus realizes that power had left him. This is one of my favorite parts in the story: Jesus begins to ask who touched him and the disciples ask, “Are you serious? We are surrounded by people on all sides, everyone is pushing and shoving and bumping into each other, and you are asking who touched you?” (I love how Mark does not forget to show us that there was sarcasm in Jesus’ day too!) The woman who had touched Jesus came forward knowing that it could turn out very badly when he found out who it was. Because she had been sick for so long, she was ceremonially unclean and for her to even touch a rabbi was out of the question; yet she did anyways, even though it was mainly out of superstition.

I can just imagine it now: The woman comes forward, not taking her eyes off the ground, on the verge of tears, and quietly says, “I am sorry, my Lord, it was me.” Expecting the fierce anger and a possible physical blow, she simply hears, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” I can only imagine how her face slowly lit up and she began to relish in the fact that she was now healed and she had been accepted. What a wonderful picture!

Meanwhile Jairus is still escorting Jesus and trying to make sure that they are going at a quick enough pace to make it home in time for Jesus to heal his daughter. Yet Jesus stops to try and figure out who had touched him. Jairus was probably astonished that Jesus would even stop when he knew how dire the situation was. In the book, Keller likens the situation to a modern day ER. “If these two (the woman and the child) were in the same emergency room, any doctor who treated the woman first and let the little girl die would be sued.” (p.62) While Jesus is with the woman, some servants came from the house of Jairus and informed him that his daughter had died and there was no need to bother the teacher any longer. If I was Jairus I would be feeling very frustrated right about now and I would be a little more irked when Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Here, Jesus is telling him to be patient because there is no need to hurry and to trust him. They will get there when they get there and they will be right on time.

In both the situation of the woman and that of Jairus, Jesus uses the delay to give them far more than they even asked for. Keller says, “Be aware that when you go to Jesus for help, you will both give to and get from him far more than you bargained for. Be patient, because the deal often doesn’t work out the way you expected.” (p. 64) The first time I read this statement, I realized that once again God is asking me to trust in his timing.

This is where the story becomes a beautiful story! Jairus and Jesus finally make it to the home and Jesus walks in and begins to ask why everyone is crying when the girl is simply asleep. They begin to laugh at him because they know that the girl is dead, it’s not that difficult to determine when a heart has stopped. Jesus goes in to the room where the daughter was, takes her by the hand, and says , “Talitha koum!” These words are words that ought to make us stop and revel in God’s love for us. Talitha means “little girl” and was a sort of pet name that a mother would most often use. Today it would kind of be like your mom calling you “honey.” Koum means “arise.” Basically Jesus is saying, “Honey, it’s time to get up,” just as if he were her own father. With her hand in his, he declares that death is nothing but sleep and brings her back to life.

Keller states the significance of these words and actions the best:

But Jesus’s words and actions are not just powerful; they are loving too. When you were little, if your parent had you by the hand you felt everything was okay. You were wrong, of course. There are bad parents, and even the best parents are imperfect. Even the best parents can slip up, even the best parents make wrong choices. But Jesus is the ultimate Parent who has you by the hand and will bring you through the darkest night. The Lord of the universe, the One who danced the stars into place, takes you by the hand and says, “Honey, it’s time to get up.”

Why would you want to hurry someone this powerful and loving, who treats us this tenderly? Why would we be impatient with somebody like this? Jesus holds us by the hand and brings us through the greatest darkness. What enables him to do that? In his letter to the church in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 13:4, the apostle Paul says Christ was crucified in weakness so that we can live in God’s power. Christ became weak so that we can be strong. There’s nothing more frightening for a little child than to lose the hand of the parent in a crowd or in the dark, but that is nothing compared with Jesus’s own loss. He lost his Father’s hand on the cross. He went into the tomb so we can be raised out of it. He lost hold of his Father’s hand so we could know that once he has us by the hand, he will never, ever forsake us. (p. 68-69)

Even when we go through those times where we don’t understand why God is delaying or not giving us what we think is best for us, we must remember that he still has us by the hand and that he knows where he is taking us. Praise God that we aren’t going through life alone. I pray that God will continue to remind me of this truth and that he will show me how to become a more patient person. May I begin to trust in God’s delays and know that he will get me where I need to be when he is ready to get there, and that will be the right time to be there. We will get there when we get there and we will be right on time. How wonderful is our God!

.ready.

I always love how summer is a time to rejuvenate and strengthen my relationship with God. At the beginning of the summer I was going nonstop and I made almost no time for God. Somedays I was too exhausted from the activities of the day; other days I simply had no desire to make time for him. I thought I had everything under control and there was no need to have full reliance on God. My stubbornness got the best of me for a while.

Then God brought some changes into my life. I didn’t like them and they were hard to go through, but he was still faithful through it all. I am still amazed every time that God is able to break through my stubborn and selfish ways and shows me how ridiculous I have been. I may never be able to understand why I am so quick to tell God that I have everything under control and that if he will just give me the thumbs up every once in a while, all will be good. Thankfully God has brought me to a place where I now understand a little bit more that I must allow him absolute total control.

I am reminded on a daily basis that God’s plan is so much better than my plan. I am also learning daily that God’s plan requires a lot of patience on my part. If I desire that God’s plan be evident in my life, I must learn to trust in his timing. I’m almost 99% certain that this lesson will be a continual lesson throughout my whole life. I’m not sure why I have a difficult time with waiting when I know that I always mess things up when I rush ahead of God’s plan. Thankfully God knows why and I must have enough faith to go off of that simple truth.

Slowly but surely I am comprehending what it means and looks like to trust in God’s timing. I am ready to stop trying to force things to happen the way I want them to. I am ready to trust God with every aspect of my life. I am ready to stop looking and to just wait for that day. I am ready to fully trust and know that his way is far better than my way will ever be. I am ready for a new start and I am ready to be patient. So here I am God; I’m ready.

.allah {part one}.

I have recently started to read Allah: A Christian Response by Miroslav Volf. I found this book in Christianity Today and it caught my eye. I am intrigued with all things related to Islam and have a special place in my heart for those trapped in Islamic cultures and ways of life. In this book the author is presenting his main thesis that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. (Admittedly, this was the main reason I wanted to read this book, to see how he was going to argue his case.)

The book is split into four parts. I have only made it through the first part so far and thought I might share some of what the author presents. He starts off by saying that the main reason we must begin to see that we worship the same God is that if we can agree on that fact, then a lot of conflict will be resolved. Volf also states that our world is so interconnected and interdependent now that fairly soon our resources will become very scarce and it would be ideal to not have to fight over them, Christians against Muslims.

His first argument was based off of the doctrine of the Trinity. Volf shows how both religions have the same belief in one God and only one God. However, the Islam religion does not agree with a triune God. Some statements, such as this one, I do agree with him on: “Put simply, the Holy Trinity tells you who God is; Jesus’s death on the cross tells you what God thinks and does. Along with all other non-Christians, Muslims miss these two essential things about God. And they miss them for the same reason that all non-Christians do: human beings cannot come to these convictions on their own, using only reason and disregarding God’s self-revelation.” [p. 67] Yet it almost seems that Volf  is talking out of both sides of his mouth. At one point he says that we need to understand and accept that Christians and Muslims worship the same deity. Then he says that Muslims need to realize that they need to accept the Christian view of God and his sending his son to earth for us. It may be just me, but sometimes he almost seemed a little hypocritical.

Another major argument was the fact that both religions believe in the command to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. If both religions are based on love, then how can two separate gods have commanded the same things? And if it is the same God who commanded to love, then how can he be for two separate peoples? He uses the example of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural speech during the Civil War where he tried to reason with the country that both sides cannot pray to God asking to harm the other side. God will inevitably have to allow one side to be defeated and one side to triumph assuming that it is the same God they are praying to.

It kind of reminds me of car shopping. I go to the car dealer and look at a nice sedan. My best friend comes with me and looks at a SUV. They are made by the same company but are two completely different cars. They both have four wheels, air conditioning, a radio, an engine, and a security system. But no matter how hard I wish, think, pray, dance around the car, or whatever else I think may work, my sedan will never be a SUV. Yes, there are similarities and a long list of them, but my car is very different and in no way the same as my friend’s car. Unless we both had SUVs or sedans, they will never be the same. But what about the fact that they come from the same manufacturer? Before Ishmael broke off to become the roots of Islam, the nation of Israel was under the Abrahamic covenant. Because God is the creator of all, I believe that he allowed Ishmael to take his Abrahamic roots and the knowledge of God that he had learned to create a spinoff god. God, the manufacturer in this example, was still over Ishmael.

The next section of the book delves deeper into determining if the two religions serve the same God. I am very interested to see what the rest of the book holds and I am thankful for all of the worldview classes I have taken. Any comments or thoughts are welcome.

.precious.

This week God has been teaching me that a girl is a precious creation and needs to be cared for in a special way. Opening day God began to show me that these girls aren’t just people or price tags, they are individuals in need of someone to love them, someone to make them feel accepted, and someone to let them know that they are beautiful. God reminded me that they feel pain and they struggle with fighting the perfect image displayed by the media just like I do. I pray that one day God will bless me with a daughter and that I may be able to remind her on a daily basis that she is treasured by God and that she is beautiful.

I pray also that God will continue to remind me on a daily basis to hand the pen of my life story back to him. May he seek to show me that my life is not under my control and that he knows the desires of my heart better than I know them myself. May I remember that I am where I am for a reason even though I have yet to come to understand why. God, show me that I am your treasured possession and that you will never reject me or change your feelings toward me. God, remind me that you are constant and that you desire to know me and for me to know you.

One day things will change. One day God will send me to a new place and may he remind me to stay content if he is the only one to go with me. Lord, I want to live for you, even when it seems impossible and not even worth it. I want to go where you send me for you know the desires of my heart, you know that I want to go to the ends of the earth for you. Consume me with your love that I may begin to pour it out to others and may this experience one day glorify you. Show me how to love these girls to remind them that you are the Ultimate Romancer and that you deeply desire to know them personally, intimately, eternally.

Remind me that this is just another season in my life to praise you and that you are continuing to work out the details in my life. Bring peace to my heart that I may remember that you are still preparing me for the one you have chosen. May I sincerely surrender my life to you and trust that you will surpass all my selfish hopes and desires. Teach me how to be patient and to wait for the one you have chosen. Continue to work in me to make me someone who is viewed as a treasure and precious.