I’ve spent a couple of months looking long at the prophetic book of Amos, and I’ve been stunned to find a microcosm of our own current world affairs—as well as a God who speaks into the madness, whose voice is so powerful and authoritative that it leaves every other voice (even the ones screaming the loudest) sounding like whispers in a hurricane.

Amos begins his book by saying, “The Lord roars from Zion and makes his voice heard.” According to Amos, the Lord roars (and also speaks and sings) in order to:

…declare punishment on both his own people and their neighbors.

…recount all the ways he has tried to win back his people.

…proclaim his presence and his plan to redeem.

I love that God is an all-knowing, truth-telling God. He’s not passive-aggressive or unsure of himself, nor is he swayed by the masses. He calls a spade, a spade. And so, in chapter 1 of Amos, he brings grave accusations against three of Israel’s neighbors: Edom, for mistreating his brothers (as well as stifling his compassion and raging incessantly); Gaza, for exiling “a whole community”; and Tyre, for breaking “a treaty of brotherhood.”** To these nations who abused and enslaved people within their own communities, he promises to send consuming fire as punishment.

Then he accuses Judah of rejecting his instruction, of following ancestral lies that led them astray. For them, too, consuming fire is promised.

Then the Lord moves on to Israel, describing her as predatory, impure, violent, enslaved to sin, indulgent, proud, callous, complacent, and self-righteous. Because of her sins, the Lord says,

“Look, I am about to crush you in your place as a wagon crushes when full of grain. … I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

And then—perhaps just in case Israel dares to question God (“How could you be so cruel?!”)—God reminds her of all the ways he’s tried to stop her from self-destructing, all the ways he’s tried to get her attention and woo her back to himself.

I sent famine—yet you did not return to me.
I sent drought—yet you did not return to me.
I made you stagger—yet you did not return to me.
I struck you with plagues, disease, defeat, and death—yet you did not return to me.

Out of his great desire to be in relationship with his people, to save them from their sins, God sent crisis after crisis. Yet his people refused to return to him. (I don’t want to rush past these haunting verses. I want to sit here and feel the awfulness of them—and then be filled with gratitude that the Lord disciplines those he loves. Oh, how I’ve needed his discipline time and again when I’ve set out on a destructive path.)

My favorite moment in the book of Amos comes next. At the climax of exposing Israel’s sin and prophesying judgment, the Lord tells her that he is with her—and gives her yet another chance to repent of her sins and seek him.

“He is here: the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, the one who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.” (4:13)

“Seek me and live!” (5:4)

“Seek the Lord and live or he will spread like fire… (5:6) 

The heart of God beats with holiness and hatred for sin, yet tender longing and patience too—“not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Judgment was coming. Israel would pay dearly for rejecting her perfect and patient Lover. Even so, the book of Amos ends with God promising a day when all things will be made right.

“I will restore the fallen shelter of David;
I will repair its gaps,
restore its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old. …
I will restore the fortunes
of my people Israel. …
I will plant them on their land
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.
The Lord your God has spoken.”

This year we collectively find ourselves in a chapter of chaos and crisis and conflict—but it is only just a chapter. The Story is a surpassingly great one, and it is always moving toward its glorious end (which is really not an end at all, but a breathtaking new beginning).

God is here. He is speaking, roaring. And his plans will prevail.

Speak, Lord, for we are listening.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Postscript: One of the most surprising and compelling themes of Amos (which I couldn’t capture in this scratch-the-surface post), is God’s heart for the nations. For this and so many other reasons, I highly recommend spending some time in this oft-overlooked prophetic book!

**Moab was a fourth neighbor God accuses and judges, and his crime was “burning the bones of the king of Edom to lime.” I found it fascinating that Edom was guilty of heinous sins, and God was going to judge him with fire, yet God would not tolerate another nation using fire to murder Edom’s king.

The post A book like Amos (for a year like 2020) appeared first on Colleen E. Chao.

A few of those precious promises are packed into two little verses at the end of the book of Hebrews—two verses that have beat a beautiful path in my mind over time and led me to a breathtaking view of my God and His goodness to me. 

Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

As we look into the unknown before us, here are a few things we can count on according to this Scripture:

1. God is a God of peace. 
   We are not naturally a peaceful people. We are born into turmoil, all manner of anxiety, anger, and self-absorption. But with God, we can experience true shalom—a well-being of both body and soul. Ephesians 2:14 says, “He himself is our peace.”
   
   God, we pray that we would walk in the joy of your presence, which is perfect peace for our troubled souls.
    
2. God keeps His promises.
   He made gargantuanly good promises to us and then signed them with the blood of His only Son. Can we truly continue to doubt God’s goodness to us when He paid the highest price to fulfill such undeserved promises?
   
   We are so grateful, God, that you always keep your promises—and that you paid the highest price to fulfill them.
    
3. Jesus is our Great Shepherd, raised from the dead.
   This means that Jesus has the authority and power to perfectly protect us, provide for us, and guide us. Isaiah 40:11 says, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
   
   Jesus, we ask You to lead us as a new day dawns—and to give us hearts that are happy to follow You.
    
4. God gives us everything we need.
   He is not cheap, unfair, or full of unrealistic expectations. Have you ever had someone charge you with an impossible task? And then perhaps they grew impatient at your incompetence when you couldn’t fulfill their expectations? God is nothing like that. He beautifully equips us for what He calls us to do, giving us everything we need (and then some!) to do it. He always out-gives us.
   
   Thank you, God, that no matter what unfolds today, You are with me, providing everything I need to do Your will—whether it’s to wash another sink of dishes or to forgive a difficult person in my life or to suffer in hope.
    
5. God is pleased with us.
   Because God looks at us through Jesus, our position as his beloved child is secure. Permanent. Indestructible. We may fall flat on our face ten times today, feel like an utter failure, and suffer the deep disappointment of others—but because we are in Christ, God delights in us and our smallest acts of obedience!
   
   O Lord, our hearts swell with joy to know that You take pleasure in us and our broken efforts for Your kingdom. Today, no matter how we feel or how we fail, we believe that we are Your beloved children. 
    
6. Jesus gets all the glory. 
   All of this lavish love and goodness and provision doesn’t result in us getting a big name or a place in history or the praises of the masses. It all crescendos in glory to Jesus and in His name becoming famous, which is what our hearts truly long for.
   
   Jesus, we praise You! We say, “You are greater than all others! Your name is like no other name! We love You and want to live for You because You are so GOOD! We are happiest when You are glorified!”

As we enter a brand-new year, may this power-packed benediction shape our hearts, our prayers, our joys, and our ambitions. And may these coming 365 days be spent in such a way that culminates in overflowing praise to our great God!

This article also appears on True Woman.

The post Benediction appeared first on Colleen E. Chao.

The world says, “Love yourself.” But by nature we’re shabby lovers—even of ourselves. Do what makes you happy, you deserve it, and take care of you first can’t fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. When you compare that kind of self-love with the Love described below, it ends up looking like a comatose patient on life-support.

But the Love we find bleeding through the pages of Scripture claims to be better than life itself. 

It’s perfect. It’s infinite. It always knows what’s best for us (even when the best is painful). And it doesn’t originate with or depend upon me. It is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, freely poured out into my heart in such a way that it overflows to everyone around me.

No need to drum up sweet-nothings for myself. I’ve seen every single one of these Bible promises fleshed out in real life these past 42 years. And after a year of battling cancer, I can say it again with fierce conviction: God’s love is the real deal. God is who he says he is, and he does what he says he’ll do. Every single time.

~ ~ ~

He has engraved me on the palm of His hand.
Isaiah 49:16

He carries me close to His heart.
Isaiah 40:11

He holds my hand.
Psalm 73:23

He will do abundantly more than all I can ask or imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

He daily bears my burdens.
Psalm 68:19

He thinks of me constantly: His thoughts of me outnumber the grains of sand on the sea.
Psalm 139:17–18

He gives me life, beauty, and dignity.
Ezekiel 16:1-14

He is intimately interested in my life. He even knows how many hairs are on my head.
Matthew 10:30

He has planned out my days.
Psalm 139:16; 118:24

He prays for me.
Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:26

He freely forgives me.
1 John 1:9; Psalm 103:12

He rejoices over me like a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
Isaiah 62:5

He protects and rescues me.
Psalm 91

He understands my disappointments, sorrows and weaknesses.
Hebrews 2:17–18

He gives me the power to live like Him.
Romans 8:9–11; Philippians 4:13

He delights in me and rejoices over me with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

He teaches me what is best for me.
Isaiah 48:17

He helps me.
Isaiah 41:10, 14; Psalm 118:13; Deuteronomy 33:26

He created me for a special purpose and designed me to be His wonderful creation.
Psalm 139:13–14; Jeremiah 1:5; Ephesians 2:10

He will fulfill His purpose for me.
Psalm 138:8; Philippians 1:6

His love for me is as high as the heavens are above the earth.
Psalm 103:11

He makes my path level and smooth.
Isaiah 26:7

He is always with me.
Psalm 73:23

He guides me with His counsel.
Psalm 73:24

He gives me wisdom.
James 1:5

He keeps record of all my tears.
Psalm 56:8

He satisfies my hunger and quenches my thirst.
John 6:35

He holds me in His hand.
John 10:27

He gives me life to the fullest.
John 10:10

He laid down His life for me.
John 10:11

He gives me good and perfect gifts.
James 1:17

He listens to me; He hears my cry.
Psalm 145:19

He fulfills my desires.
Psalm 145:19; 37:4

He has compassion on me.
Psalm 145:9

He cures me of backsliding.
Jeremiah 4:22

He makes me pure.
Ezekiel 36:25–26

He makes me happy.
Psalm 16:11; 36:8

He has made me His child.
Romans 8:14; Galatians 4:5; 3:26

He has given me fullness in Christ, and I am complete.
Colossians 2:9-10

He has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints.
Colossians 1:12

He has given me a home in heaven.
Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 2:6

He has lavished on me all the riches of His grace.
Ephesians 1:8

He longs to give me His very best.
Isaiah 1:19

He is distressed in my distress.
Isaiah 63:9

He lifts me up and carries me.
Isaiah 63:14

He leads me through the depths and the darkness.
Isaiah 50:10

He directs my steps.
Proverbs 20:24

He chooses to forget my sins; He buries them in the deep sea.
Isaiah 43:25, Micah 7:19

He has given me an inheritance far beyond my imagination.
Psalm 47:4; Ephesians 1:18, Colossians 1:12

He gives me the strength to serve Him.
1 Peter 4:11

The post Love List appeared first on Colleen E. Chao.

These hot months fly fast, so before they’re gone may I ask you a bold question? How are you going to care for your soul this summer?

~ ~ ~

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love the Psalms. My father read them to me when I was a child, and through repetition many verses were etched in my heart. But it was when depression found me in my late teens and twenties that I clung to the book of Psalms. In it I found

“a mirror of divine grace, reflecting the lovely face of our Heavenly Father, and the anatomy of the soul.”

Here was raw reality and Godward hope. In these Spirit-breathed poems I understood more of God and more of myself.

But a few months ago, inspired by my sister-in-law Shawna, I began experiencing the Psalms in a whole new way. I committed to daily praying through them—complaining, weeping, hoping, praising, singing through them. For 86 days now I’ve given myself over to the full gamut of emotions in the Psalms and I’ve met God afresh.

It’s become such a life-giving, joy-starting ritual for me that I’ve been itching to tell you about it. In fact, I’m going to risk sounding presumptuous and challenge you to join me over the next two summer months—to saturate your soul in what Samuel Clarke called “the most useful book of the Bible.”

Here’s what I propose: Beginning June 1, pray through one Psalm each day for two months—and challenge a friend to join you.

Grab a friend

It’s been pure joy for me to read through the Psalms alongside my dear friend Melissa. We read a chapter every weekday (today we were in Psalm 86) and then we text each other our favorite verse. It’s a simple and beautiful form of accountability–and what is sweeter than sharing Scripture with a friend?

Who would you enjoy journeying through the Psalms with? 

Begin to pray

Each of us has such a unique relationship with God that my times with Him will look so different from yours. But to give you an idea of how this works for me, here are a few excerpts from three of my “Psalm prayers.” (I usually use my laptop to type these out, but sometimes I pray them aloud, and occasionally I even sit at the piano to sing through them.)

from Psalm 61

I am the Rock that is higher than you and your day. I am your Refuge, and under My wings you can find shelter today. I am watching over you with My steadfast love and faithfulness.

from Psalm 62

Lord, let my soul wait for You alone, in silence. Let it not fume and fret in the waiting. Let it be still. Quiet. At peace. For from You comes my salvation. My saving! You only are my rock and my salvation, my fortress—the only One who keeps me from being greatly shaken. I shall not be shaken.

from Psalm 64

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint—and boy did I have some complaints in the middle of the night and this morning!!! Preserve my life from the dread of this weekend and next. Hide me from the plots of my flesh and from the effects of others’ sins. Take out these enemies of mine: my pride, selfishness, apathy, anxiety, covetousness, resentment, mismanagement of energy/emotions/time. Bring them to ruin in my heart and mind. For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep! Then others will fear You; they will tell what You have brought about and ponder what You have done.

A word for every condition

Dear one—this is changing me. I’ve come through a prolonged season of stress, exhaustion, and grief, but my heart is both healing and being emboldened, due in part to these simple prayer sessions. In the psalter there is a word for every human condition, whether you are in the throes of depression or on the heights of bliss. Here you will find permission to “pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord” who sees and knows and cares—and acts powerfully on your behalf.

So complain. Weep. Wonder. Worship. Hold nothing back from your God.

How ever you choose to get with God this summer, may your heart cry out, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your steadfast love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”

P.S. – If you decide to join me in praying the Psalms, I’d love to hear from you so I can pray for you by name. Just drop me a line at becomingchao@gmail.com. (I’m horrible about emailing back, but I will pray! ) Also, here’s a fantastic commentary on the Psalms that’s helped me pray with greater understanding:

The Treasury of David

*First quote by Gerhard. Other Scriptures referenced: Lamentations 2:19; Isaiah 64:4; Psalm 86:11-13.

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Below are some Scriptures I compiled many years ago for a group of high school girls I was discipling. I wanted to help them look beyond their small high school existence and get glimpses of jaw-dropping eternal realities. (Turns out, I needed the perspective every bit as much as they did.)

These passages paint surreal, breathtaking—and at times even slightly disturbing—pictures. As I try to fathom these realities, Christ becomes even more staggering to me. This blazing, thundering, warrior God pushed Himself down, condescended to be with us, to save us from our sins and make us His own.

The God of fire became God in flesh. For us.

I return often to these passages, because on my own I am small-minded and infatuated with the finite. The Spirit takes these and enlarges my fear of God, puts today’s pressures and pains in perspective, and grows my heart bold for the lost.

May I encourage you to spend some time in these too? Find a quiet space, play some epic instrumental music, and use every bit of your imagination to enter into the marvels described here.

(And if you’ve got a little one in your life—read these to them too! Even superheroes look a little dull and droll after this. Let God wow them early.)

Eternity with the Messiah King is going to be a forever phenomenon. Dear one, just imagine this….

Revelation 1:12-18

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Revelation 4:1-11

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 19:11-16

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Ezekiel 1:26-28

And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Isaiah 6:1-4

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

Daniel 7:9-10

As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

Psalm 29:1-11

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.

May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!

2 Samuel 22:7-20

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness around him his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.

Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.

The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.

And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.

He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Revelation 22:1-5

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

The post Imagine this…. appeared first on Colleen E. Chao.

And it’s been one way for me to heed C.H. Spurgeon’s advice:

What you need is to get to God through what you read, and not merely to come to the Book. The Bible…or the most pious prayers cannot save you; you must pass through these things, which ought to be helps, and not make them into barriers…. You have to get to God, dear heart.

As I pray Scripture out of a desire to “get to God,” my goal is to pray with feeling. When I used to act on stage, I would read a script with all the fervor and intention it takes to create a person wholly different from myself. My lines were there to breathe life into my new character. So even when I was sick or exhausted or heartbroken, I stepped out on that stage and said my lines with all the emotion I could summon—because my character’s very life depended on it.

In a similar way, I ask God to help me engage with his words in a way that makes me feel the life in them, even during my deepest funks and fatigues. After all, his Script is “no empty word for me, but my very life” (Deuteronomy 32:47).

Below are two passages I’ve prayed in recent days as a way to “get to God”:

Jeremiah 32:37-42

Lord, make me dwell in safety today. Let me live in the shelter of knowing that I am yours and you are my God. Give Eddie and me one heart and one way, that we may fear you forever, for our own good and for the good of our son. Thank you for making an everlasting covenant with me, that you will not turn away from doing me good. Put the fear of you (not man) in my heart, that I might not turn away from you. Bring me great peace as I remember that you rejoice to do me good, and you have planted me in this land of faithfulness with all your heart and with all your soul. Help me to believe that you want to bring upon me all the good that you’ve promised me—even in the wake of disaster.

Psalm 37

O my soul, don’t fret about the wicked and wickedness all around you. Don’t envy their power and exaltation and ease. For they will soon be mowed down like grass and wither like green herbs.

Lord, I want to trust in You and do good. Help me to dwell in this land faithfully, joyfully.

O Father, even now my head and heart are all over the place, but I ask you to let me delight in you above all else today, and I trust that as I do that, you will give me what I most desire.

Once again today I commit my way to you; I trust in you and know that you will act. You will act on behalf of me, Eddie, Jeremy, our circle of friends, those we want to come to know you. Be active in all of our lives today!

Let my righteousness in you shine as the light, my justification in you like noonday.

Help me be still before you and wait patiently for you. Again, don’t let me worry about those who seem to be prospering while we suffer, nor about those who carry out evil plans!

Give me the grace to refrain from anger—help me run from wrath. Give me the grace to not fret because I know it tends only to evil.

The post “Get to God, dear heart” appeared first on Colleen E. Chao.

So they screamed louder. Louder and longer.

And when screaming didn’t work, the 450 desperate prophets drew swords and started cutting themselves till they were a mob of sweaty, stumbling, blood-soaked oafs, still convinced their god would eventually answer them.

An entire nation looked on, with all their money on Baal. These prophets knew how to bend Baal’s ear, so it was only a matter of time before he answered.

Only one man stood apart from the motley crew, taunting: “Pray louder! Maybe Baal is relieving himself or traveling or sleeping! Louder!”

“They raved on . . . but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although thousands of years have passed since that showdown on Mount Carmel, Elijah’s culture is reminiscent of ours today. Like Baal, the gods of our age seem always to demand more—so the modern masses run in circles, screaming and bleeding like their pagan predecessors.

Theirs are fever-pitched cries that threaten to drown out what we God-fearers hold sacred.

They scream against the very existence of God. They run themselves ragged to redefine gender and marriage and family. They spill their womb’s blood at the altar of convenience. And still it’s not enough.

Deep down they scream because their gods won’t answer them. Their gods have no voice. And the silence is terrifying.

So…. more noise, more running, more blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Bible tells us that Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours,” and his fervent prayers worked miracles.

He didn’t have to yell or scream. He didn’t throw a fit to make his point. He prayed. He obeyed. He waited on God to act on his behalf.

And when the prophets had worn themselves out and Baal didn’t show up, Elijah said, “Now come to me.” And he stacked the odds against God. He put God’s reputation so far out on a limb that only a miracle would do. Then he prayed:

“Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Only one who knew God well could courageously ask for such things. And in response to Elijah’s faith, God answered with fire.

“And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.'”

Dear One, we have the potential to influence our world as Elijah did. (After all, he had a nature like ours!) But in our clamor to be heard by the masses—to keep our seat in the political arena, to prove ourselves right, to demand fair treatment—we are in danger of forgetting our most precious position: a seat at the feet of Jesus.

He hears us.
He sees us.
He answers us.

Sure, to the world we look foolish and misguided in our faith, and we will be mocked and marginalized. But when we drop to our knees we’re talking directly to Elijah’s God, “the God who answers by fire.” We know the One whose voice “flashes forth flames of fire and strips the forests bare,” so we don’t have to strain our voices to vindicate ourselves.

But the godless masses—they have to scream. It’s their only hope of being heard. Their gods, they are forever blood-thirsty, forever demanding more. As one Proverb tells us, “Death and Destruction are never satisfied.”

But the One True God shed His Son’s blood so we wouldn’t have to bleed. Christ’s death so perfectly satisfied God that Christ could say, “It is finished.” No more running in circles for us. No more screaming.

And oh how the masses are dying to hear that good news.

As a former screaming, bleeding enemy of God, I long to reach out to those who are still running frantic and say to them, “Let me show you the God who created you, who hears you, who loves you.”

So send us, Lord. Send us to those who are exhausted from crying out to deaf-and-dumb gods. Even today may we speak Your words, may we be those who….

…bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scriptures referenced: 1 Kings 18; Isaiah 64:4; Matthew 11:28; 1 Corinthians 3:18-21; Psalm 29; Proverbs 27:20; Isaiah 52:7; John 19:30

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You were a bloodied and abandoned newborn, left in an open field to die.

Rejected.

Unloved.

At your birth no one cried, “It’s a girl!” No one cleaned you or comforted you or nursed you. They looked at you, covered in your afterbirth and blood, and tossed you out like refuse.

But as you writhed and wailed and gasped for breath…. He walked by.

He slowed His steps, looked at you and said, “Live!” He loved you with a fierce yet tender love, an unreasonable love. A foolish love. He pulled you out of the heap of blood and briers you lay in, He wrapped you in His arms, and He gave you life.

“Live!” was the song He sang over you as He dressed your wounds and clothed you as His own daughter—as royalty. He lavished you with clothes and jewelry and food and beauty treatments as had never been seen before.

You were His bride, the apple of His eye, a queen perfect in beauty. And now you were to sing His song of life over others (so they too might live).

You loved Him back with an adoring love. Your heart beat happy with salvation and you could not stop singing His song of life.

But soon you heard the sound of your own voice over His. Oh how sweet you sang! You caught sight of your own reflection and became enamored by your beauty, your dress, your privileged position.

And you forgot.

You forgot what He looked like, what He sounded like…. what He’d saved you from.

You danced to the song of yourself. Your song deafened you to the cries of the despised and dying around you. They cried out for Life, but you offered them only yourself. (You, once ruined as they are now.)

Now the bloodied rise up and cry “Death!” and you, so consumed with self, act surprised. You resent them in their dirty desperation and point a fair finger at their misery.

How dare they not love you!

Do you not see? Can you not understand? Your own song will not do, faithless bride. Your pageantry and airs will not suffice. The dying need Life himself.

Oh that you would run back to Him, cling to Him as in those first days of love, and let Him sing His song over you—that they might hear and believe.

How will they believe if they have never heard?

You are chosen for this, beloved one. You were saved to go save. The Rescuer is slow to anger and abounding in love, not wanting any to perish but all to “Live!”

So return to your First Love. Remember what you were before He rescued you. Hide yourself in Him till your heart beats with His, till your ears are full of His voice and your eyes are alight with His love.

Then go and sing His song to the dying:

Live!

Scriptures referenced: Ezekiel 16, Ephesians 5, Jonah 4:2, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Zephaniah 3:17, Revelation 2:2-5, Romans 10:14-17

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He begged in order to eat. He scrounged to survive.

But then one day there was a stir on the street, and the blind man inquired as to the cause. “Jesus is passing by” came the answer. And the man knew that after a lifetime of helplessness, this was his one chance at hope.

His was a cry that came from the marrow of his soul: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And because the crowd could not understand what it was like to live in darkness and destitution, they harshly hushed him.

But a rebuke could not silence his desperate hope. So he called out more loudly,

Son of David, have mercy on me!

And to the astonishment of the hushers, Jesus invited the blind man to come near. Not only that, but he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Blind man, begging man, what do you want the God of the universe to do for you?

He dared to ask for a miracle.

He wanted to see.

Sight would mean he could live, really truly live. No more begging. No more groping about in the dark.

And at the word of Him who first said, “Let there be light,” the man’s eyes were illumined and the first thing he must have seen was Jesus. And he praised Him and the crowd praised Him and the story of Bartimaeus has been told for 2,000 years now.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~

I have been Bartimaeus.

You too, dear one? Do you recognize his desperation, his cry for mercy, the insensitive crowd? Do you also have limitations that make you feel like an outsider?

I don’t have a permanent handicap and have never experienced true poverty. But I have known what it is to have socially awkward limitations. Due to years of insomnia, panic attacks, and depression, I have to guard my evenings, sleeping habits, and schedule. And because of a variety of chronic illnesses my son and I struggle with, even catching a simple cold can mean weeks (or months) of health complications for us.

I’ve had to fight shame over admitting, “Evenings are difficult for me so we’ll need to leave early,” and “We’re sick…again.” Sometimes it can feel like a handicap of sorts, a relationship-buster, a crowd-upsetter.

Not everyone can understand, and I don’t blame them. (I wouldn’t get it either if I weren’t walking in these shoes.)

But these weaknesses have positioned me to cry out to Jesus. He is not ashamed of or impatient with my frailties. Weakness is where He meets me. Weakness is where He changes me. If I had no needs, no disabilities, I would miss out on His miracles.

I would miss out on Him.

There He stands, ready to show Himself to me, to act on behalf of me as I wait for Him (Isaiah 64:4). Where I am physically, emotionally, and spiritually needy—where I cry out for His mercy—that’s where I see Him working most powerfully in me. At times I am almost breathless at His goodness to me, a beggar.

But before I sound even remotely like a victim, let me quickly confess…. I have been the crowd too. Resentful of another’s weakness. Short on grace for their shortcomings. Eager to hush their hurts.

Here we go again….
Get over it already!
Why can’t you trust God with this?

Truth is, sometimes we don’t like each other in our desperation. Not many of us are the best versions of ourselves when we are needy. Our infirmities can keep us from fulfilling each other’s wishes and wants, leading to hurt and frustration.

But look at Jesus’ tender response to a man of frailty, and let it be our model. The impatient ones who cannot accept your limitations? Be tender toward them. The loved one who isn’t handling her sufferings well? Be tender toward her.

Perhaps your tenderness to their weakness will be the healing touch of Jesus in their life. So don’t take their reactions personally. This is, after all, not about us. This is about Him. He is doing something breathtaking behind the scenes and we are blind to it till He shines His light and says, “See! Look what I have been doing all along!”

Are you longing to be married, dear one? Are you barren? Sick? In a bad marriage? Burdened till you feel you might break? Does this holiday season cause you to feel like a social misfit?

Wait for God, dear one. Bartimaeus was blind and begging for years before Jesus walked by, but God had a miracle in mind all along—a miracle that would cause both the blind and the begrudging to praise Him.

~.~ ~.~ ~.~

Read the biblical account here and here.

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I had it all figured out, folks.

I shared my opinions freely. I judged silently but liberally. I was impatient with weakness.

After all, I had a clear vision for my future. I was getting ready to lay down my life as a missionary or pastor’s wife and change the world for Jesus. I was too full of important dreams and ambitions to stop for anyone who didn’t fit into my idealistic little world. So I sprinted by them—the weak, the waiting, the hurting, the hesitant—me in my running shoes with a spring in my step.

But God was about to stop me in my tracks and make me walk miles upon miles in their shoes. Over the past two decades, He has paved my way with “severe mercies” to teach me how to sit with the wounded in their pain. To listen and learn. To be patient with weakness. To forgive.

And one story in particular has helped me embrace the uncomfortable way of Compassion….

ONE LIKE ME

At 17 years old, Joseph was a boastful dreamer and a favored son with a colorful coat to prove it. Reading between the lines of Genesis 37, we can easily imagine Joseph being a know-it-all. And we definitely don’t see any signs of tender-heartedness or sensitivity to others.

But by age 30, he had become a deeply compassionate man, with a capacity to forgive great injustices and a skill-set that helped him meet the needs of thousands who otherwise would have died.

How did this transformation happen in the span of just 13 years? What could turn a priggish little punk into a mighty man of mercy?

JOSEPH SUFFERED

You know the story. Joseph is betrayed by his brothers, sold as a slave to a foreign land, wrongly imprisoned, and then (insult to injury) forgotten by fellow prisoners he’d shown great kindness to. Because we know this story so well, we can forget the sheer trauma of these circumstances.

Can you even begin to imagine your own siblings selling you into slavery?! And then being accused of rape by a woman you’d resisted in purity? Then imprisoned by her husband, the very man you had secretly and faithfully honored?

By human standards, Joseph had every right to be an angry, victimized, incapacitated man. Yet somehow Joseph nurtured a tender, forgiving heart, so that years later he was able to look his traitorous, hateful brothers in the eyes and say,

“Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”

Joseph was made of flesh-and-blood like you and me, so he must have longed for vindication when he was so grievously wronged. Inevitably he wrestled through anger, sadness, fear, perhaps even despair. And while suffering must have been a powerful tool of humility and maturity in this dreamer’s life, suffering in and of itself can’t produce a compassionate heart. (In fact, as you and I well know, it often leads to a hardened, embittered heart.)

GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH

In Genesis 39, we learn the secret to staying tender and tenacious through suffering. Four times it says:

“The Lord was with Joseph.”

The Lord was with him when his brothers threw him in a pit.

He was with him when he was sold as a slave to Egypt.

He was with him when he was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison.

He was with him when the baker and the cupbearer forgot about him, leaving him in prison for two additional years.

God was with Joseph.

And that changed everything. God’s nearness was Joseph’s good (Psalm 73:28), and it resulted in the saving of many lives and the preservation of God’s chosen people.

God’s nearness was Joseph’s good, so he was able to say, “God did this to me so that others could live.”

Had Joseph remained at home, comfortably cloaked in the favor of his father, history would tell a very different story today. But God mercifully gifted Joseph with a long season of suffering and the intimate experience of His transforming presence.

FROM COLOR-COATED TO COMPASSIONATE

Still I find myself judgmental at times. Short on compassion. Missing opportunities to meet others’ needs because I’m so wrapped up in my own.

But walking through weakness and hardships with Jesus has been a beautiful journey that is slowly changing me. And while I haven’t experienced sufferings like Joseph’s, I’ve experienced the withness of his God. Because God has forgiven me, I can forgive others. Because He has comforted me with His presence, I can comfort others. Because He has walked in my shoes, I can walk in theirs.

Because He laid down His life to love me while I was still His enemy…. I long to learn how to lay down my life to love the lost ones around me.

If we could sit down together and swap stories, I’m sure we’d both agree that the road to Compassion can be costly and uncomfortable, but it is the way of joy. Because when it feels like we’ve died to our dearest dreams and life doesn’t look anything like we think it should, we finally have ears to hear God say,

“Come with Me, beloved child—I have works of love for you to do.”

Scriptures referenced: Genesis 39:2, 23; 41:38. Genesis 37-45. Psalm 73:28. Hebrews 2:17-18. Galatians 4:4-7. Colossians 3:12. Ephesians 2:10. 

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