Monthly Archives: February 2012

Due Dates

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Today’s date, February 13, has been red-circled on my calendar for many months, because it’s our 6th grandbaby’s due date.

Of course Linnea is the key player in this big event, and the rest of us are taking our cue from her. She’s not counting on meeting the new baby today, based on the tardy arrivals of babies #1 and #2. But as with every labor and delivery since Eve gave birth to Cain, no one can be sure. Without the medical intervention of C-sections or inductions, due dates are merely ballpark figures. Even the most experienced obstetrician doesn’t have a clue what triggers labor.

Lots of other due dates chase us through life, too, sprinkled from birth to death, most with negative connotations. We have due dates for taxes, applications, bills, permits, assignments, and payments, each one dangling over us like a weight about to fall. Maybe that’s why a baby’s due date is special: it’s linked with great joy, and we’re eager for it to arrive.

God has a couple of other mysterious due dates, too: our death date, and the end of the age. Those three dates, birth, death, and Christ’s return, are secrets we’re not privy to, until God is ready to reveal them.

And that last one is especially critical, because no matter what birth and death dates we end up with, the day Jesus arrives on earth will be the only one of global import. When we meet him on that third date, whether sooner or later, the calendar number won’t matter as much as what we’ve done about him between dates one and two.

Meanwhile, God is patiently waiting for each of us to make preparations for that day. He wants us all to anticipate his coming with the same eagerness we feel in anticipating the birth of a baby. And God wants us all to be ready.

Linnea and Adam have done everything possible to prepare for their baby’s imminent arrival, whether it’s today or a week from today. Now it’s up to God. After all, he’s the one who holds the secret to the specific birth date.

And I have a feeling he’s going to let us in on that very soon.

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come…” (2 Peter 3:8-10a)

 

Starting Small

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We’ve all heard the expression, “A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

This weekend we enjoyed a beautiful snowstorm, and as with the first small step of a journey, that blizzard began with one small snowflake. Mary and I were outside when she spotted a flake in the air and said, “Is it snowing?”

I didn’t see anything and said, “I don’t think so.”

But soon there was one more and then another, and sure enough, millions followed. Insignificant beginnings can reach sizable proportions and end up having considerable influence. Our weekend blizzard got so severe it completely shut down the highways at the southern end of Lake Michigan, bringing everybody’s car to a standstill for hours. And it all began with one snowflake.

Many of life’s important events start just like that, so small they go unnoticed. Take Noah’s flood. That global calamity of mountain-deep water began with one raindrop. In other categories, a college degree begins with one class; a 50 year marriage begins with one vow; a skyscraper begins with one cornerstone; a marathon begins with one stride; and a human life begins with one cell.

Even the creation of God’s Universe began with one word.

But unlike our small steps, all power was embodied in that first word, as it is in all of God’s words, more power than even a category 5 hurricane. And even hurricane power is minor compared to what’s behind every one of God’s words. Were we to thoroughly understand how vast this power is and what he can do with it, we wouldn’t have the courage to get out of bed in the morning.

But interestingly, God says his power “is made perfect in weakness.” In other words, we’re not to stress about how powerful he is. Instead we’re to believe him when he offers to use bits of it for good in our weak lives.

In trying to understand this better, I thought about a gigantic, powerful horse. I pictured him rearing on his hind legs, muscles rippling, head shaking, mane flying, people backing away from such dominant power. Then I pictured that same horse on another day, standing calmly in his corral while a toddler wanders toward him. The massive horse leans low and lightly touches his soft muzzle to the child’s cheek, his muscles relaxed, his power in check.

Although this is an inadequate picture of God’s power and his command over it, it does help me understand a little. He’s willing to control his infinite power enough to participate in our small beginnings. He can gently touch our lives in ways that will, with enough touches, eventually revolutionize us. It’s much like the first step on a long journey or the first snowflake in a big blizzard.

One step with him can grow into thousands. And that life journey is one I want to take.

“The gospel… is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

Out from under Regret

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Virtually every widow struggles with regret. She’s haunted by the many ways she could have been a better wife and thinks, “I should have… I wish… If only…”

When I think of my own marriage, one thing Nate modeled exceptionally well was his consistency in thanking me. There were other things in his life he struggled to be grateful for, but I wasn’t one of them. If I filled his drawer with clean underwear, he’d find me and let me know how much he appreciated it. If I brought his dry cleaning home, he’d thank me for taking such good care of him. And though I made simple dinners, he never ate one of them without voicing gratitude.

Some wives might have found this over-the-top, but it always felt good to me. My regret is not having done the same for him. I should have daily thanked him for battling it out at work. I could have mentioned his kindness each time he filled my car with gas or willingly picked up our children at odd hours.

Interestingly, I often had thankful thoughts toward Nate but over and over failed to transform those into audible words. In each case, then, the only one benefitting was me.

All of us can recall situations in which we liked what people did, what they said, or what they looked like, but didn’t deliver the compliment or word of appreciation. We thought it, but didn’t speak it out.

The biblical book of James says our tongues can be used for good or evil, to soothe or irritate. There’s a No Man’s Land in the middle, though, that he doesn’t mention, words in our heads that have the power to bless others but never make it to our tongues.

But we’re not left without instruction on this. God sees our wordless thoughts and says, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

He’s saying, “I’m looking for those affirmative thoughts you have toward others and will bless you if you voice them. When you speak goodness over someone else, I classify that as a deed worthy of reward. If you hold it in, you not only haven’t blessed others, you’ve also forfeited a blessing for yourself.”

Since I’ve repeatedly fallen short on this, my response to God’s statement is to admit failure and ask for help. Hopefully he’ll pluck thankful words from my brain and set them on my tongue, moving in with his supernatural controls. Because he is able when I am not, I know it can be done.

And while I’m trying to remember to say good things to others, I can practice by verbalizing words of praise to God.

“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue.” (James 3:7,8)