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“It’s going to be good!”

When I was a little girl, eternity looked pretty boring to me. Was life with God going to be like one long church service? No good books to read for hours? No horses to ride? No creeks to play in? No ball games? No friends to share with? Were we just going to wander aimlessly around heaven with nothing to occupy our hands and minds other than singing praises?

Frankly, the heaven in my imagination was so unappealing that I couldn’t summon up much enthusiasm for spending even a weekend there, much less endless time. But one thing I did know: heaven was preferable to the hell pictured by the preachers, so of course I must focus on heaven.

That was a young girl’s limited imagination. Now, many decades later, I still can’t imagine the great plans God has for His children. But I’m much more excited about stepping into them and discovering what He has in store for us.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure (1 John 3:2-3 NLT).

In these verses we have a promise that is far beyond the imagination of anyone, young or old. We can only look forward and say, “Wow. What will that be like?”

We will be like Christ. God began the process when He opened the way and invited us to come back to Him. He continued the plan when He adopted us as sons and daughters, siblings, if you will, of Christ. He gave us glimpses of the future when He sent His Son to model for us how to live out the life of His kingdom — pure, devoted to God, in close relationship with Him. And then God ripped open the limits of our earthly lives when He raised His dead Son to life, pulling apart the curtain to give us a peek and say, “This is your future too!”

As a guarantee of that future, He planted within us the beginnings of transformation. His own Holy Spirit is working as you read this, transforming, connecting you to your Creator and your God, the one who loved you so much He came into your world to rescue you.

And here’s the promise: the ultimate end of this process is that we will be like Christ.

That’s amazing to me for a number of reasons. My first thought is of how far I am—now—from being like Christ. I know I share His Spirit, but I also daily experience the war that still rages within, between my old person and the new person the Spirit has birthed and wants to grow.

Secondly, I wonder what it will be to be like our Lord. We will be like our God? That’s a bold statement. Yet we were created in God’s likeness in the beginning. He paid the price to bring His lost children back. He is now in the process of creating again — He’s established His kingdom and He is creating new lives in His people. And yes, this is the promise: His new creations will indeed share in all that Christ is and has!

I do not yet understand how seeing Him “as He is” will complete the transformation, but I suspect that knowing Christ fully, being with Him face to face, will have a transformative effect on me. We know that even now, the more time we spend with our Lord, the more He can change our minds, hearts, thoughts, and actions. Yet our sight is clouded. When we see Him clearly and when we are fully with Him, what exciting and incredible things will surely happen to all of us who love Him?

I take from this another promise: I will someday see His love clearly. I’ll be able to see it on His face and in His eyes and feel it in His touch and hear it in His voice, and I will finally understand the love that is so deep and wide and beyond my comprehension now. We know that in our life here, being loved has transforming powers. Perhaps knowing Christ’s love fully and finally seeing its depth will transform us completely. For now, it is enough for me to know that I will see Him and know, face to face, how much He loves me.

So, John writes, let’s work at keeping ourselves pure because we are headed for this exciting future. Of course John knew, just as we know today, that perfection before God is impossible—we still stumble and fall short of Christ’s purity and sinlessness. John knew this reality, and he reminds us (in chapter 1 verse 9) that God uses even our sin and confession to cleanse and change us, working toward the future promise of our complete transformation.

My little girl imagination had such narrow limits. Even now, my grown-up imagination can only go so far. But Scripture says that all of this Good News of what God is doing is so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching as it all unfolds.*

As one of my friends says, “It’s going to be good!”

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*see 1 Peter 1:12

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Even though …

This passage from Habakkuk is both beautiful and astonishing. It’s astonishing because we see a life filled with disaster, a life we might think is bleak and hopeless—yet the passage positively shines with hope and strength.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Read these verses again, slowly and maybe even aloud, and don’t miss some key words.

Even though. Even though the check book is depleted or the savings are gone or the job disappears. Even though the diagnosis is cancer. Even though I have wasted all those years. Even though I struggle with depression or live with chronic pain. Even though I am a single woman alone. Even though I’m being ridiculed for living as a follower of Jesus. Even though my best friend dies. Even though my husband leaves me. Even though I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Even though …

You can finish a few more of those sentences, I’m sure.

Even though all looks like disaster …

Yet. Yet I will rejoice that God rescues me. Salvation is a difficult word to make concrete in our world. When I learned that it meant rescue, then many Scriptures took on new meaning for me. Even though disaster falls in every area of my life, yet I will rejoice in the God who rescues me. I remember that He has in the past and know He will in the future. No matter what situation I’m in today or what battles are raging, I know He is my rescue. In that, I will find my peace and joy.

Sovereign. He is sovereign! He rules supreme, and as Sovereign, He holds my life in His hands. What better place to find refuge? My strength comes from His. My resources come from Him. He is my Shepherd, and He sees to it that I do not lack anything I need. The Lord of the universe has claimed me as His child!

He makes me… I have no stability, no joy, no strength, no security of my own making. All of my strength comes from Him. I depend totally on Him for courage and endurance. He is the One who makes me able to scramble up the mountainside, no matter how steep or high. He keeps me from slipping and places me on solid ground even when the path leads through the valley of disaster or I am under siege by the enemies of my soul. Even though my clay is fragile, He makes me strong and firm, courageous and steadfast.

In the middle of disaster, hope can yet trust the Sovereign Lord who rescues and gives strength.

As a writer, I wish I could write words this beautiful and powerful. As a child of God, I want my life to sing these lyrics.

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On Waiting for God

I’ve been impatient about many things lately. No, more accurately, I’ve been impatient all my life. God’s timing often seems much too slow for me. I know His time is not my time, but still … Why not do this now, Lord? Why not judge this now? Why not fix this now? Why not bestow the blessing or the joy or the answer now? Why not show me this now?

I wrote recently about one particular blessing in waiting. But my usual attitude is, What’s the point of waiting?

This morning, I timed my walk perfectly. Deep rose, crimson, and purple on the eastern horizon heralded the rising sun:

 Morning glory

I turned my back for only a few minutes to climb a hill (lots of those around here), and when I turned again toward the east, the sky was gray with heavy clouds muffling all but a trace of color.

 Morning Sky

 

Isn’t this the rhythm of our spiritual days? Sometimes our days blaze with God’s glory, full and spectacular. We can’t miss it. We fall at His feet in reverence and awe and praise and worship and thankfulness. But at other times clouds block our view of the glory. We see darker skies, portents of rain or storm, and we lose sight of the intensity and glory.

Yet I know the sun came up today. The day is already growing lighter and warmer. The sun will march across the sky and nothing will prevent the morning from turning into noon and then evening.

Our God is even more unstoppable and persistent than the sun.

My sister remarked recently that there are so many Scriptures full of promises to those who wait on God. Wait. Wait. Wait through cloudy days and wait through the glorious, light-filled days. We must wait on God, and we will see His glory.

Of course, my first impulse was to not even wait for the Scriptures—I took out my phone to call my sis and ask her to send me a list of those verses ASAP so I could write this post. Nope, did not want to wait to do the searching myself (even though I know what a blessing comes with that searching).

But I did not dial. I will wait upon God as I look, myself, for His promises about waiting.

I’ll get back to you and share what I’ve found … but you may have to wait a few days.

In the meantime, you could start searching for those promises yourself. And I am so certain of God’s dependability and steadfastness that I can promise you’ll catch some of God’s fantastic glory in the process. 

I’m sure of it.

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Good Things from Hard Places

Their youngest son went for a walk one day and never came back. The only trace of him that was found was a piece of clothing belonging to the boy—smeared with blood.

Can you imagine a harder place? The boy’s parents had no clue as to what had happened to their child, but the bloody coat suggested violence. Yet a body was never found, nor was a perpetrator of the crime ever suspected, accused, or punished. They spent many years grieving and wondering.

And I’m sure the father, especially, had many questions for God. His life up to that point had been anything but peaceful. He knew God’s promises, but his life’s path had been through many deep valleys. Why had God allowed this to happen now? Had he not already suffered enough? This tragedy was too much to bear. It was such a staggering blow that he lived in constant and deep mourning.

I wept when I read the end of the story. I had read and heard it many times before. Because this is the story of Joseph and his father, Jacob. Yet this time, reading it through, it touched me like it never had before. Could you imagine a harder place for a parent to be? Can you imagine the prayers, the tears, the questions, the sadness?

But as I read the end of the story, I wept not in sadness, but in relief and thankfulness.

Many, many years later we see that God has had a hand in Joseph’s life all along—and in Jacob’s. In Jacob’s old age, his entire family is in peril of death, and Joseph—the child Jacob has spent decades mourning—is alive and in a position of power to save them all.

But oh! the hard places Jacob had to walk through! And yet at the end of the story, we hear Joseph saying, “God has gone ahead of all of us, setting the stage so that I can save us all.” And God Himself comes to the old man Jacob and says, “Don’t be afraid. I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again.”

There are so many Scriptures that tell us that God holds the lives of His children. He not only walks through everything with us, He goes before us. He has a purpose and a plan. He holds our times in His hands. So many Scriptures! You probably have your favorites. Hold on to them in the hard times!

I just want to pull out two today that always speak peace to me. They are taken from two very different contexts. One is written to people who are in the middle of terrible suffering. The other addresses people on the verge of a wonderful new life.

…trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you. (1 Peter 4:19)

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water…a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. (Deuteronomy 8:7, 9)

In the good times and the very hard times, our lives are safe in His hands and He is bringing us to the place He promised us.

Praise the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

p.s. Will you share your favorite promises in the Comments section?
If you have trouble entering a comment, just shoot me an email with your Scripture, and I’ll enter the Comment for you.
Send it to elainestarner@gmail.com
Thanks for the encouragement it will bring to all of us.

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Hearts turned in awe

Today a friend in the blogosphere writes of our hearts being turned toward God. Turning our hearts to look for His hand in our lives. Turning to Him for everything we need today so that our lives become a beacon and a signpost pointing others toward the hope of God’s promises. This expanded my prayer of the last few days: I’ve been asking to be filled with awe.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing meals (including the Lord’s Supper) and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-43, 47).

I had never before noticed or thought about one clause in these verses; most of the time when we read through this account of the early church, we’re focusing on their fellowship, the many people being saved, and the apostles’ miracles.

But there it is, and it struck a longing in me this week: A deep sense of awe came over them all.

I want to be filled with awe.

I think they were filled with awe at what God was doing daily. Not just the miraculous signs and wonders, but the amazing things the Holy Spirit was doing in each of their lives. I think they looked forward every day to getting together with other believers and to recalling Jesus’ words that might not have made sense just a few months before; now they understand! I think they looked back even further, to the prophecies of the Scriptures that they might have studied since they were children; now God is keeping His promises! Let me tell you what happened today…  I’ll bet there were no quiet meals, and I’ll bet that many of them talked about these things all day, too, whenever they got a chance.

They were filled with a deep sense of awe at what God was doing. The Almighty’s presence in their days was as real and unmistakable as the pillar of fire and the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness.

We look back at the history of the children of Israel. God chose them, He chose them out of all other nations, to be His special people. He promised blessings and special favor; He promised to provide and care for them. We read their stories and think, “How could they have missed so much of this? How could they blow it like they did time and again?”

Wake up, chosen people of God! Those who come to Christ to be rescued are now the new people of God! (See Galatians 6:15-16). We are His new creation. We are right in the middle of the new thing He is doing on this earth. He keeps His promises. Everything He says He will do, He will do. He lives on this earth through us. He has a special mission for us here. Our lives are His life, pointing the way for people to come back to God. And His presence with His people is just as sure as the pillar of fire.

That may sound like boasting, but it’s really awe and amazement, bursting out… I have nothing to give Him — in all honesty, I have to admit that too often I am instead a hindrance to His work in my corner of the world. I drag my feet and mumble excuses or I do it all wrong because I like to do things my own way. Even so, He has adopted me and calls me His child and says I am His ambassador in this world. He’s changing me into His own likeness (He created once in His likeness, now He is doing it anew!) I can depend on Him to keep all His promises.

And yet I feel as though I’ve only just begun to glimpse it all…the length and breadth and depth of this relationship the Almighty God has with the people He loves. I’ve only had a sip of that deep awe.

I’d like more, please, Lord. Turn my heart in awe.

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