God of Both/And
Inspired by Luke 1:5-25
Incense swirled its way upward, outward, heavenward.
Forgive Your people
Send the Messiah
Give us a son
Zechariah stopped mid-prayer, chiding himself for that last request and shaking his head that it lingered still. Truly, it had been a desire long ago, voiced by himself and Elizabeth, but as decades passed, it had crystalized into a wordless ache.
Remember your people
Keep your promise
Give us a -
Not again! Enough with the personal issues! He took a deep breath, the aroma filling his nostrils and focusing his senses. He was there at the altar of incense on behalf of Israel’s long-held hopes, not to bring up his own impossible ones. How selfish of me, and how ridiculous! If God had been silent towards the entire nation for hundreds of years as they prayed, then surely God’s lack of response to his private burden should be understandable by now. Plus, with age came natural limitations. Priorities, he told himself.
Deliver your people
Bring us hope
Give -
Suddenly, off to his right, he sensed someone nearby. All of the people were just outside praying; who would dare to enter this sacred space? He looked over and turned white with dread.
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.”
In a millisecond, questions flashed through his mind: Which prayer? For the nation or for Elizabeth and me? Which one has been heard? How could either of them really be answered?
God would break centuries of silence to answer both an elderly couple’s cry for a child and a nation’s cry for a Deliverer. John would be his parents’ fulfilled prayers and Israel’s final prophet announcing their Messiah. We don’t have a God who has to pick between either/or; He is the God of both/and.
Do you pray believing that? Or do you filter your prayers, as if God has to choose one or the other? Has time decreased the probability that He can answer at all?
I’ll be taking a blogging break over November & December, so Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
12 Books from 2024
Although we’re still two months out from the close of 2024, I take a break from blogging at the beginning of November until the New Year. Since that leaves only one more blog post before 2025, I’m sharing some of what I’ve read this year, and maybe it will make your list for next year.
From books covering theology to methodology, my goal is to grow by considering perspectives that challenge, adjust, or reinforce what I think and believe.
I also try to learn at least one lesson from those whose lifestyles might feel foreign to me. I learned from a Quaker steadily boycotting slavery long before the American Revolution and from a legendary rock star shouting injustice in the spotlight that I have a role to play in my generation, but its effect may not fully be realized in my lifetime.
Reading equips me a little more for that role. I’d love to know if you’ve read any of these!
A Non-anxious Presence, Mark Sayers
All My Knotted Up Life, Beth Moore
Developing Female Leaders, Kadi Cole
The Journal of John Woolman, John Woolman
The Paradise King, Blaine Eldridge
The 6 Types of Working Genius, Patrick Lencioni
Practicing the Power, Sam Storms
Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer
Streams of Living Water, Richard J. Foster
Surrender, Bono
Timothy Keller, Collin Hansen
Write Useful Books, Rob Fitzpatrick
Dead or Alive
Being just two weeks away from Halloween, more skeletons are turning up as lawn ornaments on my daily walks through our neighborhood. Bones dangling from green tree branches and skulls peering out from the grass have earned the term decoration. Death resurfaces, becomes normalized, and gets celebrated.
And death can resurface in our spiritual life, Colossians 3:1-11 tells us. Remains that have been buried, because they’re old and dead, rear their ugly head. Skeletons in the closet creep out to the front yard and become socially acceptable, even celebrated:
Immorality
Impurity
Passion
Evil desire
Covetousness
Idolatry
Anger
Wrath
Malice
Slander
Obscene talk
Lies
Racism
Elitism
Legalism
Any of these that may have once been a part of my way of life, my culture, my natural responses, my worldview, and my social status, belong to someone who is actually dead. If I’m raised with Christ, then that means I died, so I put these remnants of death in the grave, not in storage.
Hurricane Milton
A prayer inspired by Psalm 89:8-14
As family and friends down south brace for yet another storm, my heart lifts up this prayer:
O Lord God of Hosts, the one who commands angel armies,
Who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
You rule the raging of the sea.
Rule it.
When its waves rise, you still them.
Still them.
The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours.
Hold them.
The world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
Steady them.
The north and the south, you have created them.
Care for them.
You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.
Reach down.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Reign over.
Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Come quickly.
For Life & Home
I came across the interior designer, Jean Stoffer, a few years ago, and I loved her attentive, thoughtful restoration of historic houses. It was intriguing to me that she seemed to have “suddenly” appeared in the popular design world, yet she was in her 60’s. From her demeanor, it was clear that there was something deeper about her.
When her book Establishing Home arrived on Target’s shelves, I wanted to know more.
You’ll be inspired by her story if you’re holding loosely to a dream that hasn’t had much momentum because of your stage of life; if you’re chipping away at a project that hardly looks different from one day to the next; or if you’re feeling like slow might just mean never.
Jean consistently kept her values of God and family at the forefront of her business decisions, although it was agonizing to do so at times. After turning down a large-scale design opportunity, because it would have interfered with her family life, she writes this, “I was saying yes to growing my business slowly, one project at a time. Would I ever see an opportunity like that again? I had no idea.”
She believed that God would bring the next right opportunity within her priorities, but that didn’t make the choices obvious or easy along the way. Building her business at a pace that fit her family’s rhythm required faith, and in a culture where going viral is the goal, she models what it means to go step by step.
Check out Establishing Home