Divine Interruptions

 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

—Isaiah 55:8-9

^{___________________}

SAUL

Interrupting the Acts of the Apostles!

Knocked
from his horse by an unseen Force.

Blinded,
hearing a thundering voice—
truth, like a spear in his side.

Stunned, Stumbling
waiting further instruction.

Anointed
and driven to the Arabian desert.

Three clarifying years.

PAUL

Commissioned.

Ready.

^{___________________}

Have you ever been “knocked from your horse,” so to speak? Stunned in such a way that everything changed? Perhaps the sudden death of a companion, or the pink slip that you had no idea was coming? Certainly the Apostle Paul’s story of conversion demonstrates such an event.

He was traveling on behalf of the temple leaders in Jerusalem on his way to Damascus. He had been given the duty to imprison anyone he found belonging to the cult of “The Way”—the group that started over the influence of their crucified leader several years before. Paul was of the temple establishment that believed this new group meant nothing but trouble for those traditional Jews in Palestine. Known for his zeal, he enjoyed the respect and responsibilities given him by this auspicious group of Jewish spiritual leaders in Jerusalem.

Even the Book of Acts itself, telling the story of the work done by Jesus’ Apostles in establishing the new Church, is interrupted by this story. No one saw it coming! This sudden call, transformational, an obviously divine moment.

No doubt shocked above all others, Paul needed time to process all that happened to him that day, including a God-directed name change. After such a forceful occurrence, he needed to get away, to think, to pray, and to study. He spent three years on such an endeavor away from all distractions in the Arabian wilderness.

God alone knew what this world-interrupting event meant to His new work in the world. He gave this commissioning to the leader He had chosen to take the Gospel to the Gentile nations. Paul’s life-focus had to change. He could never go back to his old life and his old ways.

Perhaps you have had a “spear” thrust into your side that struck with such force that you knew God wanted your attention. The best response you could give was to say, “Lord, what do you have for me to do?” You were not alone:

• Remember Moses’ experience at the burning bush, as recorded in Exodus 3.
  
  
• Remember Isaiah’s vision and God’s call to him, as found in Isaiah 6.
  
  
• And, remember Mary’s breathtaking news of a virgin pregnancy, as detailed in Luke 1.
  
  

Each of these events acted as a prelude to something new that God was doing. Whenever we face similar trials, we must examine how God may be using what we are experiencing to advance His Kingdom.

At the beginning of this new year, let’s watch for God’s work in this world. Let’s particularly be aware of events He will bring about through us. If those events seem to turn in a backwards directions, we should ask what God is doing. In this time in history, we should anxiously await His call to action—even and especially if that call comes in a new and startling moment. We must recognize that He has plans far above our selfish puny insights and timetables.

 

 

Carrying the Load

 

Carry each other’s burdens …

—from Galatians 6:2

I can still see the image from my teaching days of teacher Mary Ann Peters’ third graders coming down the hall with her. She always assigned the line leader the task of carrying her purse. This was a daily assignment for one of her boys or girls.

Now, Mary Ann didn’t travel “light” as they say. She always had a hefty bag, often with a long shoulder strap. I can still see a small boy, shifting the weight from one arm to the other, as he proudly led the class through the hallways.

I didn’t detect that her students complained about the discomfort of this job. Instead, they seemed to love doing this for Mary Ann. They enjoyed the trust she had in them, even though her bag contained her most necessary and personal items.

Galatians 6:2 tells us:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The word “law” conveys a pretty strong principle that Christ desires for His people. A “law” in His Kingdom is a way of life, the manner in which He lived on earth, and the way He expects His subjects to live.

Another image fresh in my mind from the TV mini-series, The Bible, is that of Simon from Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross to Golgotha. This scene, in my opinion, was well portrayed. As Jesus struggled to carry the heavy wooden cross, this man, Simon, was pulled from the crowd and given the task of helping.

In Jesus’ physical pain, what a comfort this stranger must have been to Jesus, helping to reduce His fear and His humiliation. Even though Simon struggled clumsily—just like the little boy with the teacher’s purse—Simon helped Jesus, and that was enough.

If the Lord Jesus Christ asks us today, are we ready to help carry someone’s burden? We may not feel up to the task, may not do it well, may struggle and feel awkward, but we may be a very real lifeline to someone in need of a traveling companion, who provides help along the road of life. If we choose to respond to Christ’s call, may God bless us on the journey!

 

 

The Women of Christmas: Anna

 

… she [Anna] gave thanks to God …

—from Luke 2:38

The Bible only mentions Anna once, but the memory of her lives on through the ages, even to this very day. Notice how Dr. Luke describes Anna, as found in Luke 2:36-38:

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Dr. Luke says Anna was a Prophet. Yet, some have said she may not have foretold the future like Simeon did at the time of this same meeting with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, who had come to the Temple at Jerusalem in order to fulfill the requirements of the Law, and in order to present Jesus to God with an offering for sacrifice. Rather, Anna forthtold the impression that God had given her of His precious Son.

Whether Anna foretold the future, or she forthtold her God-given impression, she certainly knew her way around the Temple, and she knew well the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Luke speaks of her love for the place where the Holy of Holies resided—this place where pilgrims from all over Israel came several times a year for the Jewish festivals. Luke proclaims that this octogenarian never left the temple, but worshiped day and night.

Anna must have enjoyed special favors from the priests, in order to live within the Temple walls along with other Temple servants. No doubt she had plenty to share about her knowledge of the sacred texts. Of one thing I am fully persuaded: Anna not only knew the text of Psalm 122:1-9, she actually lived it!

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up— the tribes of the Lord— to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. There stand the thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.

Anna watched the tribes of people “go up” to Jerusalem, year after year. Perhaps on former journeys, Mary and Joseph had even seen this old woman in the temple. Anna rejoiced over this Holy City, praised God for it, and prayed for its peace, just as the Psalmist had instructed. Anna saw Jesus as the Hope for her city, her Temple, her people, and her world. She had given her life in devotion to that Hope. She spent her days there in the Temple serving the Lord.

I suppose the nuns of the Roman Catholic church could be likened to Anna in their life-long devotion to service. But, I’m thinking that Protestant women can dedicate themselves to the Lord in service to Christ, His Kingdom, and their church in this modern age, as well. I challenge myself and my Christian sisters to make a vow like Anna gave before God that, in the new year of 2026, we will dedicate ourselves to the reading, studying, and meditating on the Scriptures, to prayer, and to the work of God through the church.

The Lord Jesus Christ expects us, as serious disciples, to give more than a single hour of time in worship each week. He wants us, as much as it is possible, to give our lives, like He did, to the work of His Kingdom through the church. We should love Him and His church. We should serve Christ’s church with a heart like Anna’s—even to our eighty-fourth year and beyond.

 

 

The Women of Christmas: Mary

 

My soul doth magnify the Lord …

—from Luke 1:46 (KJV)

Mary’s Song, the Magnificat, found in Luke 1:46-55, offers us something worthy to study during the Season of Advent. What beautiful language from a young girl in the midst of a startling and newly revealed sacred responsibility—namely, to give birth to the Messiah.

The first sentence captures my imagination. I love to read it from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, as stated at the beginning of this blog post. Other translations use the words: “glorify” or “exalt.” But for me, the word “magnify” has a richer contextual image. Even the Latin word “Magnificat” comes from the same root word.

We think of magnifying glasses for people who have lost the ability to see small print. They need to magnify the text, in order to understand it. We know that students often use magnifying glasses when they observe tiny animals or plants, so that they can better see the details. To magnify something makes it appear bigger, brings it closer, and allows us to comprehend things we might otherwise miss.

How did Mary magnify the Lord? She went on to praise Him and worship Him for doing wonderful things. In fact, this very special Song of Mary includes fifteen quotes from the Old Testament, in which other believers magnified the Lord before her. These quotations expound on the blessings God has given, the merits of His grace, and the wonder of His working. In doing so, those who proclaimed this magnification of God witnessed to others the greatness of God, and we can certainly agree with them.

Several other passages in Scripture speak of magnifying the Lord. Again, in the King James Version, Psalm 34:3 states these words:

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

And, speaking of the miracles that God performed through the Apostle Paul, as recorded in Acts 19:17:

“Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.”

As believers in the life-transforming power of the living Lord Jesus Christ, our lives either magnify Him or diminish Him. How can we magnify our Lord and bring others to the place where they will take a closer look at Him? When others watch our lives, do they see Him in a clearer way? When we gather together to exalt Him in worship, do we make Him more understandable, more attractive, and more able for others to long for His Presence in their lives?

I pray that today the Lord will show all of us how we can magnify His goodness, His power, His works, His holiness, His mercy, His grace, and His love. May those around us see Him through our lives and desire to take another look at Him.

 

 

The Women of Christmas:Elizabeth

 

“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

—Luke 1:25

Elizabeth often gets overlooked in the Christmas story. In fact, she had probably been overlooked all her adult life. The Bible says that she and her husband, Zechariah, were:

“… upright people, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.”

Even so, people must have always wondered what she might have done to deserve a punishment like barrenness. She may have wondered the same thing herself.

In the Gospel of Luke account, Elizabeth is described as being: “well along in years.” In our modern time, she might have been considered “middle-aged”—perhaps in her late 40’s or early 50’s—but well past her normal child-bearing years.

While serving his duty as a priest, an angel had come to Zechariah and had promised a child would be born to him and Elizabeth. Though the angel did not come directly to her, Elizabeth soon discovered that the message the angel had brought was true. It was during the days that followed, in the early months of her pregnancy, that Elizabeth became fully aware that the Lord was blessing her with a child.

Elizabeth and Zechariah must have been overjoyed. No longer would they carry the stigma of being childless. Not only that, the angel had promised that their baby would be filled with the Holy Spirit for a special duty, as recorded in Luke 1:17:

“… to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Yet, Elizabeth must have had to grow in her faith and in her trust of God during this strange and fearful period. She needed to trust what her husband shared with her, and have confidence in God, though she most certainly didn’t understand His ways.

Then one day, Elizabeth received a visit from her relative, Mary, who had questions and fears even greater than those of Elizabeth. She too had been visited by an angel, was miraculously pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and had been promised a son. As Luke 1:42 records, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s body moved in her womb, which caused Elizabeth to proclaim loudly:

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!”

How wonderful for Mary and Elizabeth that God had uniquely scheduled these pregnancies of two women connected by family and during the same period of time. How they must have rejoiced, and prayed, and wondered about what God was doing with them and through them for His purposes.

I surmise that, after her visit with Elizabeth, Mary must have returned home a different person. She had left her home as a frightened and unsure teenager. She returned home a blessed and trusting young woman. God had used Elizabeth in Mary’s life. And, the mutual encounter had been by divine appointment.

Let us consider how God wants to use us in another person’s life. Has He strategically placed us together with someone He wants to bless? Perhaps He has placed us with someone in unusual, but similar, circumstances. We should look beyond our own age group. We should rejoice that God engineers such encounters for us. He is the same God today, who more than 2,000 years ago arranged the mutual blessing and mutual strengthening of two of His choice servants. He can do the same for us today.

 

 

Anticipating With Fear or Joy?

 

“But who may abide the day of His coming and who shall stand when He appeareth, for He is like a refiner’s fire. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

—Malachi 3:2-3

Most musicians will recognize these famous verses as the source for the words from the Christmas section of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The alto soloist begins with an air, followed by the chorus. The words portray not a joyful expectation of the coming of the Redeemer, but one of fear: “Who can stand the scrutiny of His coming?”

Anticipating the first Advent of Christ meant allowing God to purify sinful hearts, especially those of the priestly tribe of Levi, who served night and day in the Temple. In some ways, it seems rather backwards that God would especially put His own Temple servants through the hard process of refining, until they were able to reveal the glowing image of their Lord and give to Him offerings acceptable to such a Great King.

It is reasonable for us to ask: “Does God expect the same of His servants who anticipate His Second Advent?” The sobering reality of this future Great Day comes to us in 1 Peter 4:17:

For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Yes, just as God’s people looked forward to His first coming with joy and anxious anticipation, we too should watch and eagerly wait for His second coming with expectation and with joy.

But, we also must remember, that as it was when John the Baptist came shouting: “Prepare the way” for Jesus’ Galilean ministry, we must also prepare to meet Him with hearts purified by His written Word and purified by His work of sanctification. And, as with Anna the prophetess, who met the infant Jesus in the temple on the eighth day, we should be faithfully on watch, day after day, for His return.

As you hear the strains of Handel’s Messiah this Christmas, along with the joyful tidings and great joy, please also recall this sobering section about allowing God to refine you, so that you can offer to Him that which He deserves: offerings in righteousness.

 

 

What If ...?

 

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

—Matthew 1:20

Fears come to all of us. For this reason, Joseph and Mary certainly must have had tremendous apprehension after both of them had a separate visitation from the Angel of the Lord. They no doubt felt, in the depths of their spirits, one of the most common thoughts that we have as humans: “What if …?”

Joseph must have considered:

• “What if my reputation is ruined?”
  
  
• “What if I can no longer make a living in this town to support my wife and child?”
  
  
• “What if I am the only one to help Mary deliver her baby?”
  
  

Teen-age Mary must have questioned many things and wondered:

• “What if my parents don’t believe the word the angel gave to me?”
  
  
• “What if the baby comes while we are on the way to Bethlehem?”
  
  
• “What if there is no place where we can stay when we get there?”
  
  
• “What if robbers overpower us and take all we have?”
  
  
• “What if I have trouble in childbirth?”
  
  

Vaneetha Risner, in her book, The Scars That Have Shaped Me, develops this theme in one of the chapters. She reminds us: ¹

People in the Bible were unsettled by what-if questions, too. When he was told to lead the Israelites, Moses asked God, “What if they don’t believe me?” Abraham’s servant asked about Isaac’s future wife, “What if the young woman refuses to come with me?” Joseph’s brothers asked, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us?”

In the development of her book chapter, Risner wonders if instead of asking: “What if …?” we should declare: ”Even if …” because we can be assured God will be there with us. As a positive example of this, she uses the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were not guaranteed deliverance from the fiery furnace.

Faced with imminent death, just before King Nebuchadnezzar sentence them to be placed into the fiery furnace, these three men replied to the King, as recorded in Daniel 3:17-18:

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it … But even if he does not, we want you to know … that we will not serve your gods.”

Risner sums up their change of thinking with these words: ²

Even if. Those two simple words can take the fear out of life. Replacing “what if” with “even if” in our mental vocabulary is one of the most liberating exchanges we can ever make. We trade our irrational fears of an uncertain future for the loving assurance of an unchanging God. We see that even if the very worst happens, God will carry us. He will still be good. And he will never leave us.

Job came to a similar conclusion. In Job 13:15, the Patriarch states this about God:

“Though [even if] he slay me, yet will I hope in him;”

We get a hint that the virgin Mary must have had this mindset, too. Though she didn’t share the words “What if …?” or “Even if …?”, she did express her faith by speaking to the angel these words recorded in Luke 1:38:

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

As we live through frightening days and we ponder scary thoughts, we hear within our minds, these words:

Let us decide to trust in the God who will keep us even if our worst case scenarios happen.

May we boldly stretch our faith in His power and love, by holding very tightly to His mercy and grace. Amen.

______________________

1 Risner, Vaneetha Rendall. The Scars that Have Shaped Me. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Desiring God, 2016. Pp. 115-116.

2 Ibid. p. 118. Please note that in each case, whenever citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.