Oh, happy day!

O, happy day (Oh happy day)

O, happy day (Oh, happy day)

When Jesus washed, He washed the sins away

He taught me how to watch, fight and pray

Fight and pray

And live rejoicing ev’ry day, e’ry day

Had the song been written, I think it might have been sung on that first Easter morning, perhaps by a heavenly choir.   Mary, Peter and another disciple had gone to the tomb where Jesus was buried and where their hopes for this man of God might have seemed buried, too.  But, the stone had been rolled away, and they were about to discover the great victory God had put together in what had appeared to them as certain defeat.  How could these joyous, melodious words they would have heard been true?  But it was, indeed, a happy day achieved by the faithfulness and power of God Himself.

How, you might be wondering, did I come up with the possibility of the song "Oh, Happy Day, (a 1967 gospel music arrangement by Edwin Hawkins), ringing out for any and all to hear on what would become our Easter morning?  The answer is simple:  viewing the last half of the movie Secretariat just yesterday afternoon.  Something I have teased my husband somewhat mercilessly about brought me back to seeing with “eyes of faith” that takes us beyond what this world throws at us. 

My husband has this interesting habit of checking out movies on television at whatever point in the story he happens to tune in.  Despite my suggestions that movies have a beginning, middle and end meant to be seen in that order for a reason, he still continues to delight in catching even a bit of a movie here and there.  I have recently brought it to his attention that starting times for movies at the theaters are printed in the paper for a reason.  Still, he continues his unusual viewing habits, and today I would add, thankfully so.

At the point we tuned in, Penney Tweedy, Secretariat’s determined owner, had been thwarted yet again as she tried to keep her father’s farm afloat and a horse’s promising chance for winning and winning big alive and well.  As she looks out over the stables and sees the horse’s groomer washing him down, she hears this gospel hymn playing on the groomer’s radio.  Somehow her spirits revive, and she joins in with the washing, perhaps ridding herself of this most recent setback.  She moves forward with her faith and determination that this horse has the potential to achieve not only winning the upcoming Kentucky Derby, but going all the way and winning the triple crown, something that had not been done for about 25 years.  And win it all she did with faith and courage after noting that you can’t earn a reward “without taking a risk.”

A troubling, painful and somewhat disabling medical condition finally getting a name—not the worst, but not the best—feels a little like Easter morning with its seeming disappointment, grief and disappearing hopes and dreams.  But like the record breaking horse, I have been “in training,” drinking in the living water and drawing deep into the well of faith and hope and trust, God-given virtues and strengths of God-seeking people so beautifully depicted in the scriptures.

Today we bought our own copy of the movie, and I watched it, start to finish, just to see how that works as opposed to “bits and pieces” viewing by someone I live with.  Stories of courage and hope that beat the odds can point us toward parallels in our Christian endeavors.  “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the substance of things not seen” as described in the well-known faith chapter in Hebrews 11.  Surely believing in God can be even more rewarding and joyous than believing in even the finest race horses.    

Holding on to good plans

               Growing up in a Protestant church, I was introduced to the Bible at an early age in Sunday school and vacation Bible school.  Children were given their very own Bibles around age 10.  But it was not until my 20s that I was encouraged by a friend to read the Bible and “listen” for God speaking to me in what I read.  By doing so over many years now, I continue to grow in my appreciation and understanding of what these “spoken words” reveal as one seeks intimacy and truth with a living Savior who wants to shepherd His people, each one known to Him by name.

               The many books of the Bible written over hundreds of years by people in different times, cultures and stations in life amazingly contain some very central themes and consistent characterizations of God and His ways.  For some years, I have noticed how God has plans—and they are good.  At a very difficult time in my life, I came upon Jeremiah 29:11 and its clear presentation of God’s plans being for good and not for evil.  Constantly, God encourages His people to make good choices, life over death, blessing over cursing, light over darkness, faith over doubt.

               Recently, I wrote about noticing two key things at the beginning of the story of Lazarus in John 11.  Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, and God had a good plan that would bring Him glory.  It certainly didn’t look like anything good was in the works as Lazarus died and was buried in a tomb before Jesus arrived, but Jesus kept engaging the sisters to listen to Him and believe “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

               During this week’s prayer and share group discussion, we talked some about God’s plans.  We turned our attention to Joseph, the famous Joseph with the technicolor coat.  Good had a good plan for his life, but many years of hardship, including being dropped into a hole by his brothers and then sold to passing travelers, passed before he was taken out of jail to interpret Pharaoh’s dream.  The wisdom God gave Him to do this was recognized, and he supervised a plan to store up food before years of draught came.

               During the draught, his brothers traveled to Egypt for food.   After Joseph revealed his identity and forgave his remorseful brothers for what they had done to him, he told them, “As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).  God had a plan and a purpose which was to accomplish much good for many people.  What he always needs is someone to believe such things, especially when circumstances are troublesome and discouraging.

               In January, 2010, I wrote Billy Graham’s words from Day by Day in the front page of my Bible:  “Nothing takes God by surprise.  Everything is moving according to a plan, and God wants you to be in that plan.  The devil also has a plan for the world.  God has a plan, and the devil has a plan, and you will have to decide which plan you are going to fit into.” 

               God’s word tells us to seek Him, to listen to His voice, to ask for His wisdom to discern His plans in the midst of life’s ups and downs.  God wants to reveal “possibilities born of faith” as Mother Theresa called them, the good plans He hopes to bring about despite what can be the worst of life’s circumstances.  Gifts of faith and power to believe--these He longs to give us still.

Locked in or out is no problem for God

               What got me started thinking about a time many years ago when we realized our keys were locked in our van, I cannot tell you.  This event happened close to 20 years ago at a marina area in West Alton.  A couple my husband taught with owned a houseboat, and they had invited the staff to come for a shared meal and a ride on the large boat.  It was a nice, warm day—perfect for enjoying someone’s “hospitality” afloat.  Yes, perfect until we realized our keys were locked in our van.

                I do not remember if my purse was also in the car or if perhaps I hadn’t brought one that day, but there was no one anywhere with another set of keys—not a pleasant realization.  However, our “crisis” had a surprising and quick remedy.  One of the teachers at the marina had worked part time repossessing cars.  That line of work ended when people started shooting at him as he tried to drive their cars away.  The tool he used to make his “keyless entries” was still in his car, though.  It was a very slim, flexible, long device that he slipped down in the crease where the window went up and down in the door.  Within seconds, our car was unlocked, and we were back in business.

                So, why am I thinking about this one time we found ourselves locked out of a car?   Perhaps because I, like many others, face various life situations that can make us feel locked out, unable to gain access to the help or love we need and seek—from doctors, from companies, from people we know and care about, maybe even from God.  I have envisioned myself with bloody knuckles from banging on doors that don’t seem to budge day after day after day.  I would say we all are in need of someone with a “magic tool” from time to time.

                I certainly would not equate the tools of God’s kingdom with magic, but His thoughts, His ways, His means of breaking in and getting through are wondrously powerful—and so different than ours.  Before Saul became Paul, he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1).  He was locked in to his ideas about religion as a zealous Pharisee who had no intention of following this man called Jesus.  But a light shone on him as he journeyed to Damascus, and then Jesus spoke to him, asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4).  Just like that, his course was turned around and his zeal rightly directed toward the living God.  Who would have thought up that plot line for the persecutor of early Christians.

                Even more dramatic is the grand reversal we will celebrate this coming weekend.  Those opposed to Jesus, including many religious people of His day, thought they had it “locked up.”  Jesus had been nailed to a cross and died, then taken to a tomb.  A very large stone was placed over its opening and guards were stationed to keep the dead body of Jesus undisturbed.  But what the forces of evil had designed, and men had carried out could not lock out the grand purpose of God to redeem mankind.  The resurrection power of the living God brought Jesus back from the dead after He had gained the victory over sin and death. 

                So maybe the memory of the former car repossesser who rescued us that day so long ago has been a prodding to me by the Holy Spirit to keep looking up and to keep trusting in the ways and means of God to push through and bust open some of these doors I have been beating on. 

                 

Tempted in all points

             Writing the last post on Lazarus actually helped me clarify some striking gleanings from this amazing tale of God’s power: 

Jesus loved His friends, Lazarus and his two sisters. 

He also loved His heavenly Father, and He knew God had a good plan for His sick friend. 

Always one to speak directly, He challenged the sisters’ faith at their most vulnerable 

moments.

He grieved and felt sadness at Lazarus’s death just like the sisters and others.

He stuck with His father’s plan and spoke boldly, “Take the stone away.”

One “new” possible insight about the human Jesus came up at a recent Prayer and Share meeting I attend as we discussed this story in our continued study on the book of John.

               Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan and his attempts to distract and lure Him from God’s path for His ministry and purpose on earth.  A very revealing verse in Hebrews 4:15 expands what the human Jesus experienced:  “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  The “without sin” part settles in easily; it is the “in all points” that seems surprising for someone like Jesus. 

               At times, I am tempted to feel fear and doubt even as I cry out to God when I face struggles and overwhelming difficulties.  Does that mean that those kinds of feelings even tempted Jesus during His ministry here on earth?  It seems to me that the writer of Hebrews is saying exactly that.  And if this is true, then perhaps little thoughts of fear and doubt nagged Him as He pressed on from start to finish with God’s good plan for Lazarus.  When Lazarus emerged from the tomb, still wrapped in grave clothes, this proof of God’s power over death perhaps was a “faith builder” for Jesus, too. 

               Numerous exhortations in the New Testament point out the need for building ourselves up—in faith, in knowledge, in love, etc.  The life of faith isn’t a one-time big gift.  It is a sustained seeking, a humble abiding in the words and the presence of the living God, and a great dependence on Him through His Holy Spirit for guidance, strength and patience to “pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).  Jesus’s life illustrates this kind of daily walk with God as He spent time alone, even whole nights in prayer and fellowship with His Father.

               And so perhaps it is possible that when God’s power raised Lazarus from the dead according to God’s revelation to do so, that Jesus, too, was strengthened and edified in His humanness.  Lazarus came back to life; the faith in God that overcomes even death itself, death in this life as well as in eternity powerfully demonstrated itself.  The Father had revealed a good plan to Jesus where He would also need to be brought back to life by the power of the living God. 

Following God’s instructions and seeing His faithfulness time after time to heal, to deliver, to open blind eyes and set the captives free must have contributed to strengthening Him to remain “without sin” even when tempted to do otherwise.  He knows our frame and our need to draw near to God for faith that “overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4).  That's something worth considering and remembering.