Lori Stanley Roeleveld's Blog, page 16

The Shocking Reason We Hang Out in Psalms

Like many of you, I am not always okay these days. There are moments when I feel connected with Jesus, engaged with work, on-top of the pandemic situation, and prayerful.

Then, there are the other moments.

When I’m frustrated at the number on my scale. Or sad about the loss of my dad. When I’m angry about a painful family situation – or about social distancing – or about the division in our country. When I’m blue about the prolonged separation from my kids and grandkids or I’m disappointed in not meeting my own productivity expectations. When I’m annoyed with my husband (or quarantine-mate) or he with me.

None of these emotions change the truth of the gospel in my life, my foundational belief in Scripture, or my trust that God will work all this together for good for those who love Him, and yet, it doesn’t always feel okay to tell other Christians when I’m not okay.

I know it is fine to not be okay because I read the Bible. Jeremiah, Moses, Paul, Job, and Jesus Himself had moments when they were not feeling okay about their situations. We have recorded the times when they expressed these feelings to God in prayer.

And, yet, we struggle to hear these same sentiments – anger, fear, sadness, grief, disappointment, stress, frustration – from other believers without immediately responding with a Bible verse or Christian cliché designed to “fix” our friend’s mood.

The Psalms don’t do that. The Psalms remind us God designed us with a full emotional palette and not all of them are pleasant to express. Better yes, we know the Psalms – in all their raw, emotional, transparent, theologically sound resonance – are blessed by God as holy Scripture and we find this more assuring than the rapid religious prescriptions too often doled out by our Christian friends.

David was one of the chief Psalmists and we know him to be “a man after God’s own heart.” David honored the truth of who God is as He reveals Himself through His Word. David generally ends every Psalm with a redemptive, hopeful statement about God’s nature and His plan.

But, David was more willing than our modern cohorts to also honor the truth of his experience as a human being living in a fallen world.  

David’s faith in God’s character was so rich and full that he could risk being fully human in front of God. Psalm 103:13-14 says it best, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” ESV

God rejects our sin, but He does not reject our humanity. He created us and knows our design better than we do.

He knows we’re suffering from this social distancing because He made us to live in community with others. He knows we are sometimes afraid, anxious, angry, sad, disappointed, grieved, or frustrated. He’s not afraid of these emotions and is ready to process them with us, just as He did with David in the Psalms, if we’ll only let Him.

It may be disturbing, but apparently an ancient warrior/poet/shepherd/king was more in touch with his emotional truth than many of us are today.

The shocking truth is that as much as our society understands about feelings, many Christians still feel more comfortable turning to a dead Psalmist for comfort than they do other Christians. We have evidence in Scripture that we should be accessing support from both.

Of course, we want to encourage one another with God’s Word, to fortify our hearts with truth, and to inspire one another to hope. We do this by honoring the truth of Jesus Christ and clinging to that as the final word on all our situations.

But, the pathway for most us to pinning our emotions to that truth is to bushwhack through the whole truth of what we’re feeling and experiencing. We need to honor our own humanity by honestly speaking the truth when we’re not okay, to express it and explore it before God (and often another mature believer) and THEN restate the truth of Christ to which we cling.

When I was learning long-division, I would often get lost somewhere in the problem. Sometimes my teacher would tell me the right answer but then insist I work back through the problem and sort out where I went astray.

We honor God, not by handing our brothers and sisters the “right answer” but by sitting with them, reminding them that God hasn’t changed, but then listening to their current discomfort, accepting them where they are, and THEN asking what truth they know about Christ they can hold onto until their emotions come around.

As my math teacher used to say, it’s not just about the right answer, it’s about developing the confidence to work through the next problem.

We can help one another with that. We can be living Psalms by being willing to be authentic with one another at the same time we state God’s truth. By honoring our humanity as we honor the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ, we deliver the whole truth and grow deeper in relationship with one another.

How Do You Handle Bad Days? https://t.co/GwautrykT2 The Shocking Truth of Why We Hang Out in Psalms #Psalms #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 22, 2020

 

The Truth We Know – Even in the Dark

God has been having one long hard conversation with humanity since the fall – not the season – the decision, the moment we chose our way over God’s way in the Garden of Eden and were thrown out.

Every boundary, every law, every rule reminds us He is perfect, wise, and holy. Every story of every flawed human who dared to try to connect his or her story with His greater story, reminds us there is hope for us, forgiveness, relationship, redemption.

Jesus on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane choosing God’s way over His followed by His long walk to the cross, into death, and back into life provided the open door for each of us to enter this hard conversation and come out whole with God. And it demonstrated His power and His love.

Individually, our stories don’t begin at our birth, not even at our physical conception. To know the beginning of our story, we must reach back to the moment when the idea of us was conceived in the mind of our God.

You were conceived in God’s imagination. And He cherished the notion that was you and considered where He would want you to enter His story, precisely the moment, precisely the place, precisely the manner in which you would impact the rest of us by fighting your way out of darkness into the light of this outpost of glory. And then, He breathed His life into you and launched you into the conversation.

Of course, we all experience some confusion because we’re born in the dark. Just as we do whenever we come upon an ongoing conversation, we must listen for a time to catch up.  Studying God’s Word and listening to those who came before us provides context for what we’re hearing. The sooner we listen, the sooner we’re able to contribute wisely and with love. If we neglect this listening, we just add to the noise and misunderstanding.

But there comes a moment for each of us when we comprehend Jesus. We embrace the truth of Him, and we distinguish His voice from among the others. And in that moment, we grow unafraid. We follow His voice and we find Him. Whatever we were before, in that moment we make eye contact with Jesus, we become warriors in the battle for souls this side of glory.

And all that came before was just our way of finding our way back to connecting our story to the greatest story ever told. And when we make this connection, our story makes all the sense in the world. Even the pain, even the suffering, even the missteps we find have simply become story threads that He weaves into His epic tale.

The day we become warriors we lose our fear of the hard conversation. We rise to it. We know it is meant for our healing and for our salvation so we endure every discomfort, every hardship, every brutal truth like soldiers who remember the reason they fight, what is at stake, how everyone we love depends on us standing this ground against dark forces.

We are light warriors and we illuminate the battlefield so others clearly see the hideous nature of the enemy and can find their way to the greater story, the only one that leads to life.

It was no mistake that your story passes through a pandemic. You were designed for this, assigned to it, and equipped for it. Your story began in the mind of God and will continue in His great heart but right now, it passes through great tunnels and dark valleys. Do not let the times make you afraid and do not let them make you silent.

Give voice to your experience of God during this time. Continue to engage in the hard conversation – the one that tells us we all fall short of His glory, that we have all selfishly chosen our own way rather than the truth of God. But God in His great love, provided a way for us to be saved and that way is Jesus Christ.

We live in a fallen world and so wars, disease, disaster, and death come upon us all. The enemy of God exploits these times to interject lies into the great conversation, to whisper rumors that God is not good or ineffective or dead.

But we are the ones who know the truth. We are the ones equipped to speak it into these times. We have made eye contact with Jesus and in that moment, we became fearless warriors armed with truth and light.

Our lives are our living worship. We honor Jesus’ resurrection most when we allow our lives and words to testify to it even as darkness presses in and as the enemy tries to convince us we isolated, small, and alone.

Your story has connected with the greatest story and you live as an integral part of something greater than any one of us alone. The truth of our lives is what we add to this ongoing conversation.

Wherever we celebrate our risen Lord this weekend, let us remember now more than any Easter that has gone before that our presence here is no mistake, we were assigned these times. We know that our Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand on the earth and after our skin has been destroyed yet in our flesh, we shall see God. Job 19:25-26 (paraphrase)

We know this truth even in the dark because we are the light of the world.

The Truth We Know, Even in the Dark https://t.co/FmVqAWKKO3 #Easter #COVID19Pandemic

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 11, 2020

Allow Me to Introduce You to My Friend

Dear Reader, We all have to pull together through this pandemic. Many Jesus-loving authors are launching books at a time when they cannot schedule speaking events or reach the public. One of these writers is my dear friend, Lori Hatcher. She’s a godly woman with a deep understanding of biblical truth and a passion to inspire that in others. Her newest book, Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible  is well worth an investment of your time, book-spending cash, and heart. Here is an excerpt particularly dear to my heart. This may not seem like a logical time to consider hard conversations but there are likely to be many in our very near futures:

Ezekiel

Hard Conversations

“You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”  Ezekiel 2:7

My husband, David, dreaded the conversation he knew needed to take place. Steve was like a brother. They’d attended school together, played high school football, and spent hours hanging out. When Steve came to faith in Christ, David felt almost as excited as the day he’d gotten saved. He watched Steve take his first faith steps and rejoiced when Steve and his wife began studying the Bible together. His childlike faith was inspiring. Although he’d been through some dark times, Steve finally seemed to be headed in the right direction.

And then he wasn’t.

First he wouldn’t answer his cell phone. Then he was too busy at work to take David’s calls. Days went by with no return call. Giving in to the nagging concern that weighed heavily on his heart, David finally drove by his home one evening, hoping to see his car in the driveway.

A mutual friend, similarly concerned, called David with news he never expected to hear.

Steve had quit his job, left his wife, and moved across the country with a woman he’d met at a trade show.

We don’t know what made Steve answer David’s call several weeks later. He’d ignored dozens of other attempts. But the conversation shed some light on what was going on, and it wasn’t pretty.

After listening to Steve’s story, my husband took a deep breath and said what he knew he had to say.

“I’m sorry you’ve been struggling, but this isn’t the answer. I know you want someone to love you, and a home, and a family, but God can’t bless your life when you totally disregard His principles. What you’re doing is wrong, and it’s not going to turn out well. Why not come home and let us help you?”

David reminded Steve of his love and—most importantly—God’s love. “You’ll get through this. With God’s help, you can turn this ship around.”

Steve hung up. We didn’t hear from him for two and a half years.

As my husband grieved the loss of Steve’s friendship and mourned the path he’d chosen, he wondered if things might have turned out differently if he hadn’t confronted Steve about his sin.

God’s words to the prophet Ezekiel reminded him of his responsibility to speak the truth, even when the message is unpopular. “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious” (Ezekiel 2:7).

As Christians, we’ve been given the privilege of sharing God’s truth with those around us. We find some of this truth easy to receive. Who doesn’t like hearing God loves them and wants to give them a life filled with joy and purpose?

Other parts of God’s truth are hard. Not everyone wants to be reminded that the God who loves us has also established principles to help us achieve that life filled with joy and purpose and bring Him glory through our obedience.

My grandchildren are a classic example of hard truths. They shout “Yippee!” when I walk through the door with ice cream. But they grumble when I require them to wash their hands and sit at the table to eat it. And oh, the pushback I get when I remind them that we eat sweets only in moderation.

The same is true when God prompts us to share His message. Sometimes those with whom we share receive it with gladness and thanksgiving. Other times they scorn, reject, and despise it.

The two and a half years before Steve reached out to David again were long and heartbreaking. The path he had taken was fun and exciting for a while, he told us. Before long, however, its sandy foundation began to crumble. With the broken pieces of his life piled high around him, he finally admitted his need for help. He reached out to those who loved him and began the long journey home. One of the first people he reconnected with was David.

I wish I could say Steve is following the Lord with all his heart, but I can’t. Not yet, at least. But he’s more open and tender, and that’s a good start. When he and my husband talk, Steve knows two things are going to happen. First, David’s going to remind him how much he loves him. Second, he’s going to point him to God, the greatest source of help and healing.

Uncommon Thought

Our responsibility to share God’s truth isn’t determined by others’ responses. We must speak the truth in love and trust God with the results.

Unusual Faith

Do you hesitate to share God’s truth with others because you’re afraid of their reaction? What might happen if you don’t speak the truth? Are you willing to take that chance? Consider that God has placed you where you are because your warning, challenge, or exhortation could change someone’s life. Whether they receive your words with gladness or grumbling, you can rest in the knowledge that you obeyed God. Prayerfully trust Him for the results.

Read Ezekiel 2:1–7.

This post is an excerpt from Lori Hatcher’s latest book, Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible (Our Daily Bread Publishing). Lori is a women’s ministry speaker, blogger, magazine editor, and pastor’s wife. She writes and speaks to help busy women connect with God. Read more from her on Facebook, Pinterest, or her blog, Hungry for God … Starving for Time, 5-Minute Devotions for Busy Women (www.LoriHatcher.com).

Allow me to introduce you to my friend https://t.co/lp1XXhRDIJ #refreshyourfaith #NewRelease

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 8, 2020

An Open Letter to the Dragon (On the Death of the Saints)

In light of our remembrance this week of Jesus’ great triumph over Satan and death, and in view of what we endure in the face of this pandemic, I thought of this excerpt from my first book, Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus). In this “letter”, I refer to the second coming of Jesus Christ and why, as that time grows ever near, Jesus’ defeated enemy lashes out even more because he knows his destruction is sure.

I pray this will fortify your heart as we face the next week and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, which is also ours.

He’s coming, you know.

It won’t be long now, well, not in your sense of time.

And you can’t stop Him.

That’s what gets under your skin, fills you with rage, fuels the fire in your dragon belly, driving toxic smoke from your nostrils: you know the end is closing in.

That’s why you strike at us. Us, the pathetic creations you thought you could pilfer from under His nose. We proved such an easy target, weak-willed and all too ready to bite at the bait.

That should have been the end of it,

our ruin,

His rage.

Instead, He surprised you. He crafted a plot twist driven by love you hadn’t anticipated. You stood helplessly by, watching as He carried out the most amazing plan of redemption in all of eternity.

Ruined race redeemed.

This all the more galling to you, fallen one, for He provided no such redemption for your kind, despite your beauty, your wisdom, your original standing. For you, only destruction awaits, and you can feel it oozing, flames licking toward you even now.

But for us He gave His only Son and stole us back from you forever.

So you release your fury on us. Yes, it’s a terrible fury. You send us twists and temptations, deception like mustard gas, sorrows upon sorrows, indignities, humiliations, imprisonments, and depravity. You rob us of our young, our old, our freedom, our health, our dreams, our heroes, our sanity, and our earthly comfort.

You divide us, confuse us, arrest us, torture us, hold us down, hold us back, surround us, and kill some of us. You murder us in our sleep, in the streets, in our churches, in dark forests, and cement-walled prisons and places forgotten by those in power, and in private palace rooms behind tiled walls.

We suffer loudly.

We die easily.

We break beneath your boot, crushed and snuffed like spent smokes. When we fall there is no sense of glory, only defeat.

But a deeper truth exists than the one we experience beneath your boot, for we are not being brought to death but to everlasting life.

Despite what is visible.

Despite how we falter, flounder, flop, fail.

Despite the fact that we fell.

He has loved us, redeemed us, and breathed into us life everlasting.

We will rise.

He will come and He will bring our lives with Him—whole, free, undamaged, more glorious than even we imagine. He will draw the final curtain on this battle, and you will face your sulfuric damnation, locked away where you will never harm us again.

We will be with Him forever.

Safe.

Free.

Beautiful.

Redeemed.

Basking in His love and glory.

So spew your fire and blow your smoke. He is coming. As pathetic and weak as we are, He is so close that we feel it too, and it gives us strength to endure the dragon’s fury because the Bible says:

We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:14-18 NIV)

So, dragon, crush us now, but we will rise, whole, unharmed, and free in the conquering name of Jesus Christ.

Ponder the Perplexities:

Creepy, right? Knowing we have some dark force enemy trying to destroy us to get back at God.

Some days that seems like an old story from childhood—as distant and unreal as fairy princesses and knights on horseback. Other days, it’s as real as the headlines ticking across the screen, and I can feel hot dragon breath on my neck.

What’s important for us? Know the battle is real and so is the enemy. Know his time is close to an end. Know we need not fear, for he is defeated. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Remember: As pathetic and weak as we are, He is so close that we feel it too, and it gives us strength to endure the dragon’s fury.

(Excerpted from Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus).)

An Open Letter to the Dragon (on the death of the saints) https://t.co/oBWrNdGSvO #Easter #COVID19

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 6, 2020

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask the Hard Questions Right Now

People of faith are not the people who are always fine.

People of faith are not the ones who only experience happiness, peace, and calm in the midst of great trials.

People of faith are the ones with so much trust in God, they aren’t afraid to ask Him their hardest questions when trials press in and threaten to destroy them.

People of faith are wrestlers, refusing to let God go until they are sure He hears them, stands with them, assures them of the truth.

We know this because He recorded in Scripture the moments that great men and women of faith “lost it.”

The prophet Habakkuk: “God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, ‘Help! Murder! Police!’ before you come to the rescue? Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day? Anarchy and violence break out, quarrels and fights all over the place. Law and order fall to pieces. Justice is a joke. The wicked have the righteous hamstrung and stand justice on its head.” Habakkuk 1:1-4 The Message

Moses: “Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here.” Numbers 11:11-15 The Message

Jeremiah: “Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears, and what’s coming is more of the same.” Jeremiah 20:18 The Message

Elijah: “When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life to Beersheba, far in the south of Judah. He left his young servant there and then went on into the desert another day’s journey. He came to a lone broom bush and collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way to be done with it all—to just die: “Enough of this, God! Take my life—I’m ready to join my ancestors in the grave!” Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush.” 1 Kings 19:3-5 The Message

During this global pandemic, we want to be voices of faith, courage, hope, and vision when we interact with others and this is right and good.

But there are other moments, aren’t there? It’s okay, I have them too. We all do.

Darker moments when we are overwhelmed, fearful, angry, lonely, despairing, or worse. Moments when we ache for our loved ones. Hours when we wonder if God even hears our prayers. Times when we think we don’t want to face whatever comes next or can’t imagine we’ll have the strength to bear it – loss of loved ones, financial ruin, global outrage, starting over. Long moments when we start to doubt.

It’s okay. This doesn’t make us faithless people – it makes us humans facing historically frightening times.

When the preacher, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was imprisoned by the Nazi’s, he struggled and captured his struggle in the poem, “Who Am I.”  Times of worldwide crisis drive us to ask the greater questions.

Don’t be afraid to ask them. Fear of asking these questions smothers the life from our prayers. It puts a chokehold on our relationship with God. It paralyzes our souls.

God welcomes us to Him with everything we bring – anger, fear, doubt, and panic along with praise, faith, love, and trust. He embraces us wholly in the name of Jesus.

If we don’t bring Him our great questions, they will knock our legs out from under our faith. Bringing our questions into His light reduces them from the fearful size they mimic in the dark. The shadows of our questions, looming over us, are worse than the truth we find when we cry them out to God in the night.

All people of great faith have stories to tell of falling on their faces before God awash in questions that threatened to rip apart their souls. They rose from those moments – usually not with all the answers – but with God.

There are great answers. Our faith is a reasonable faith. Great thinkers and men and women of intellect enrich our faith with their understanding. Wisdom cries out in the streets and can be found in a relationship with Jesus. People of faith ask questions all the time.

Questions drive us to the feet of God and when we follow them to Him, we find that we didn’t just need answers, we also needed Him. And He is there. And we are settled. And our faith is fortified. And we can move forward into another day.

Asking God your biggest questions is an act of faith – don’t be afraid of the answers, because they are found in Him.

There are reliable supports for these questions – if you know of others, please leave them in the comments but here are a few:

Difficult questions – Thoughtful Answers 

Gospel in Life

Jews for Jesus

Don't Be Afraid to Ask the Hard Questions Right Now https://t.co/N1WnV7YyZY #COVID2019 #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 4, 2020

#Beyond COVID-19

It’s easy to get lost in the crisis of this pandemic.

When we’re blindsided by something so horrific, initially, we lose our bearings. It’s as if we’ve been tossed into a cosmic tornado and for a time, we brace against the spin, trying to stop the pressing motion or we clamber up the sides trying futilely to escape – grasping only at wind.

Where are you, God? Have you suddenly lost sight of me trapped inside this twister? Is my voice lost in the storm? Are my prayers blown away by the force of this trial or lost in a sea of other voices crying out? Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.

But, we are incredibly well-designed to withstand the worst this fallen world serves up on its buffet of sin and death. And so, before long, we yield to the force of the storm and we begin to sort truth from fear. No longer able to orient by circumstance, we remember our true north and begin to navigate by Jesus, the bright Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

Every generation of believers faces its own pandemics – war, famine, locusts, fire, ice, genocide, disease. And our loving Father visits these disasters on His own people as well as on those who deny Him. We are not all spared.

Yes, there are miracles. Yes, He stands with us. But, yes, some of us will fall. Because there is always a greater story, there is always a truth that extends beyond the virus, beyond the plague, beyond the oncoming wave of death and we are called to live that truth – sometimes as we die.

Our greatest challenge as individuals is not that our lives don’t matter – it’s that they do. It isn’t that we’re insignificant, it’s that our significance is hidden from us. In this current pandemic, that lie is exposed, is it not? You and I, as small as we are, as ineffective as we sometimes feel, we – individually – have incredible impact and influence on the world.

The choices we make – unimaginably simple choices – whether or not to wash our hands, cough into our elbows, drive to the store, gather with friends – the choices we make contribute to the spin of the tornado or to slowing it’s spin and diminishing its force.

Simple choices we make right now, in the privacy of our isolation, known only to another loved one or maybe to no other human, will also have global impact. Will we orient by the daily briefing or by the eternal Word of God that does not change? Will we tune into the 24/7 livestream of impending doom or attune our hearts to the One who still hears us, even above the voices of a million reporters screaming across the airwaves of a million channels. Will we seek our own comfort and escape by binging on false idols – food, worry, alcohol, substances, entertainments, and the like or will we be present with Jesus even now?

When the ancient tribe of Israel faced an overwhelming enemy set to destroy them, God found Gideon hiding in a winepress, beating precious wheat out of sight of the Midianite warriors. Even in our best hiding place, God sees us and knows us as we truly are.

“And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’ And Gideon said to him, ‘Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” Judges 6:12-14 ESV

And in Christ, are we not mighty men and women of valor? And do we not echo Gideon’s questions to the Lord? And is His answer to us any different than it was to Gideon – has He not sent us to the people of this age? Will our choices now not have an impact beyond COVID-19, beyond the age of coronavirus, into eternity?

One day soon, this pandemic will end. Like every tsunami, it will at some point recede and leave us to rebuild what has been lost. You and I, however, are eternal. We will outlast this storm. We will extend beyond the wind because we carry within us the mighty wind of His Holy Spirit with a force of life greater than any death that visits the people of our time.

We can be His warriors in this storm. We will weep with those who mourn. We will cover in prayer those on the front lines. We will speak truth against every lie. We will answer fear with persistent love.

We will represent Him as we outlive this scourge or as we die from it. But even if we die, we will die with His name on our lips, testifying with our last breaths so that as we step through the door of eternity, others will be freed in Christ to follow.

Even as we are separated from one another, we are not alone. Let us rediscover that truth in this time and celebrate our recovered memory. Let us press in to the One who will never leave us alone, even in death. Let us lift up the name of Jesus with courage and with joy.

If we quiet ourselves, we will hear Him singing over us because He is greater than the wind of this pandemic, He is greater than our fears, He is with us in the spin and on His Word, we rise.

#BeyondCOVID19 https://t.co/Y1UsAFgH0j #Jesus Where is God in this pandemic?

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) April 2, 2020

The Glaring Truth Not A Single One of Us Can Deny

Here’s what’s clear to us in March that may have eluded us in January – each one of us impacts more lives than we ever imagine.

A microscopic virus has illustrated that each life touches another and can affect worldwide change.

We are viral in scope – no matter how small we feel.

The idea that our individual lives are insignificant is a convenient illusion we Christians embrace to comfort ourselves when our efforts to represent Jesus feel overwhelming, ineffective, or hard.

Jesus was God but He came into the world hundreds of years before social media and took on human form – one man. His disciples could barely agree on how to secure lunch prior to the cross but after the cross, as witnesses of the resurrection, they went viral.

Peter, James, John, Paul, Mary and the rest could not have imagined the scope of their testimonies, but I don’t get the impression from the New Testament that they wasted much time fretting over it.

They devoted their lives to telling others the truth they knew. They lived so that the Holy Spirit had free reign to work through them, and every person they touched made a choice to accept that truth or reject it. And here we are.

Each of us is so potent our enemy has had to flood the air with a great deception that we don’t matter. This pandemic reminds us that we do.

From the most powerful world leader to the homeless beggar who has forgotten her own name, we have the same potential to pass on what we carry within us – sickness, cynicism, fear, doubt, corruption, evil, and death or health, hope, life, light, love, and the truth – the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God, in His mercy, and us, if we’re paying attention, can transform this moment of global panic into the greatest resurgence of faith the world has ever seen. The only question is this – will we choose the comfort of the convenient delusion or will we choose the courage to go viral with the gospel? Because we can no longer deny that we can.

“But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

18 even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

20 the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Acts 2:16-21 ESV

The Glaring Truth Not a Single One of Us Can Deny https://t.co/ayWqt5csPV #coronavirusandthechurch #COVID19 #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 26, 2020

We’re Going to Disappoint Each Other

We’re going to disappoint each other.

This pandemic is unprecedented. We’re bushwacking on a global scale. And we’re not going to get it right every time.

Our leaders will let us down and we’ll let them down.

Sure, there will be heartwarming stories of heroism, sacrifice, and community that will make headlines, but for one simple reason – they’re news. They’re uncommon events worth reporting.

More common, here on the frontlines of everyday Christians living their faith while navigating a world-wide deadly virus, there will be missteps, meltdowns, and misunderstandings.

With a 24-hour news cycle providing moment-by-moment prophecies of doom, it’s to be expected that we’ll take turns handling this badly. Of course, Jesus will be with us through it all – and He’ll witness every moment of panic, paranoia, and pettiness.

And He’ll go on loving us, refining us, and extending grace – and so should we.

The Bible is rife with stories of great men and women of God who displayed disappointing behavior in between miracles and mountaintops. Jesus is perfect – we’re still playing catchup, so let’s practice some of what He preached and bear with one another, forgive one another, and get over ourselves a bit.

Truly, we’re in a terrible season of great trial. But, the church, the amazing – broken – blundering -imperfect Body of Christ is God’s idea and He loves her.  We’re better together even when we’re off our game.

Let’s create safe spaces – soul spaces – sanctuaries for brothers and sisters collapsing or exploding under stress. And let’s expect our leaders to be fellow followers not infallible idols.

Yes, when I’m stressed, I lean on alliteration.  Sue me.

That’s all that’s on my heart tonight. That, and this prayer:

Father God,

Grant us courage equal to our times. Grace equal to the challenges ahead. Provision for our needs. Generous hearts toward our neighbors.

May we conduct ourselves with such faith and love that generations behind us find their hearts strengthened and may they one day remember these times as the days they knew that Jesus was real because of what they saw in us when we were tested.

You walk with us every moment – of this we are sure. Amen.

Love is kind. Let’s love one another through this.

(As a side note, I’ve met many, many women (and some men) in the past months who feel invisible in the church. During this time of social distancing, invisible people are likely to feel even more separated and alone. I’ve begun a Face Book group to minister to invisible people. If you’ve felt invisible or care about invisible people, join our group on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/201197987818616/. OR if you’d like to share your story of invisibility or the story of a believer doing great things that go unseen, hop on over to this page on my website and share the story there – it can be anonymous if you wish. Here’s the link: https://loriroeleveld.com/conversations/

It’s called I.C.U. Invisible Christians Unite (or Intensive Compassion Unlimited). I’m already hearing some amazing stories and I’m so thankful God has given me eyes to see many who live unseen.

We're going to disappoint each other https://t.co/qN8mUz86LP #COVID19 #Jesus

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 19, 2020

Disaster, Disease, and the Dow – Is this the End? It May Be.

Of course, we’re asking the question.

I mean, some of us are too sophisticated to ask it aloud. It’s not like this is our first round of natural disasters, viral pandemics, and societal upheaval. Seriously, we survived the sixties, Vietnam, H1N1, 9/11 and it’s not like we’re in the midst of WWI or II.

We’re not chicken little believers running in circles shouting that the sky is falling. I mean, these are bad times but the end? The end? Let’s just all get a grip and put our times in perspective, right?

There have been plenty of periods when disaster and disease prevailed but now, we have global communication, so we’re just more aware of it, aren’t we? That’s what this is. Everyone just exhale and go about your business.

But wait.

Have we been going about our business? Maybe we have. But we’re supposed to be going about our Father’s business. What about that?

In Matthew 24, we have Jesus’ words about signs of the “end.” Wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes. Famines. Increased lawlessness. Hatred. Betrayal. People’s love will grow cold. The beginning of birth pangs. Early labor for the end.

And He does, indeed, issue a warning not to panic. “Don’t be alarmed.” He says.

But, He doesn’t say not to act.

In fact, the rest of Matthew 24 isn’t a warning to those who don’t believe. It’s a warning to us not to fall asleep in our service to Christ!

“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”

“But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’  and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know  and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The early birth pangs aren’t a wake-up call for unbelievers but for the followers of Jesus. They’re a reminder to be about our Father’s business without delay.

Stop waiting for tomorrow to speak truth about Jesus. Stop waiting for next month to be in God’s Word, to pray, to serve our neighbors. Stop distracting with endless apps and streaming services and consider how to make the most of the days we have.

Because when the time comes, there will not be time. “Like a thief in the night” isn’t hyperbole – it’s our Lord’s warning that it’s too late to install a security system when the intruder has already arrived.

There is something more dangerous at work in our times than disaster, disease, and the fluctuating Dow – it’s deception.

There is now rampant global deception and God’s people have the vaccine against it – God’s truth. Does it make sense to hoard it, to withhold it, to hide it and only speak it to ourselves?

Yes, we can’t control how others respond and many will ignore what we say.

Yes, we are secure in Christ and He will forgive us and receive us because of His work on the cross, not because of our deeds, so we do not need to fear. In fact, it’s not fear of failing our Father that should motivate us.

It’s love. It’s that ember of love that hasn’t yet cooled that should spark us to act on behalf of those who still don’t embrace the truth. Love for Jesus. His love for those around us. His expansive, reckless, generous, endless love for us.

Jesus left the comforts of heaven to become one of us, to speak truth to people who reject Him, to suffer, and die because His Father so loved the world.

And while we may share in His suffering if we do the same work, we will also share in His resurrection to new life so what do we have to lose by speaking out when it matters most?

Yes, loved ones. These are the times about which Jesus spoke.

Now is the time we have to be about our Father’s business which is delivering love and speaking truth.

Now.

Are you awake yet? If the world is on fire, shouldn’t we be ready with the Living Water?

Disease, Disaster, and the Dow Is this the end? It May Be https://t.co/8c2S7gomro #Jesus #Prophecy

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 10, 2020

One Brave Pastor

I know of one brave pastor who made a bold move – in the name of love.

He loved his congregation – all of them. But, he realized they were all suffering, largely because of the actions of a few.

You know those few because they have visited (or taken up residence) in your congregation, too. They identify as Christians (and some of them are). They know what the Bible says. They’re always at church. Some are very involved.

But, there are Bible verses they ignore or think don’t apply to them or translate so loosely as to strip them of all practical meaning.

Bible verses like, Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”

Or 2 Corinthians 12:20 “For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.”

Or Romans 16:17 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

Yes, Jesus died for us, paying the price for our sin. Yes, we are therefore forgiven, recipients of lavish, reckless grace. Yes, we are free in Christ.

But we are free from sin – not free to sin. Why cling to old rags when we’ve been provided robes of righteousness? Why engage in a lazy faith that receives the gift of salvation in Christ and yet denies that He then provides the power to change?

This pastor wasn’t eager to stir up trouble among his people. He wasn’t looking for a fight. He wasn’t judgmental or legalistic or conflict-hungry. He enjoys being liked as much as the next guy.

But, he read his Bible and believed what God says there.

In verses like Hebrews 12:15-16 “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.”

Or Luke 17:3 “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, “

Or James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

This lone pastor became convinced that if he loved God and loved his congregation, then he needed to have conversations with people that may be uncomfortable or challenging.

He didn’t zoom in on sin or beat them over the head with rumors or verses, instead, he got to know them. He asked questions. He acknowledged their strengths. He spoke of God’s deep love for them. He spoke truth about areas they were disobedient or in which they needed to grow.

Some of those causing pain through their actions were simply immature in their faith. Through these conversations they grew, they changed their ways, they walked more secure in God’s love.

Some of those causing pain through their actions resisted correction, insisted they were fine the way they were, worked to stir up division about the pastor. The pastor and other mature believers persisted in their honest conversations filled with love, compassion, and truth. Most of those more in love with their ways than they were with God’s truth chose to leave.

The pastor wondered what would happen when those causing suffering humphed out the door. What would be the result of his act of faith?

The suffering of the people was alleviated. Love replaced fear. Honest conversations replaced gossip and backbiting. Repentance and forgiveness flowed freely. And the congregation began to grow – both in numbers and in their love for the Lord.

One brave pastor invited people for coffee and got to know them, learned to love them, and spoke truth into their lives. Some received the truth. Others clung to their hurtful ways, but they took them elsewhere (sadly, they likely found refuge in another congregation where others now suffer.)

Sometimes love is a hard conversation.

King David had many strengths and he loved the Lord, but he failed to speak with his sons about their sinful, hurtful ways. Because of this, his people suffered in ways that might have been avoided if David had been willing to speak words of correction, set boundaries, and stand firm on God’s truth.

Of course, the church has often gotten this wrong. We must walk in humility with our God. We must approach others armed with love, grace, facts, and gentle compassion. Galatians 6:1 says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

But, we only learn to do something by doing it.

One brave pastor believed God enough to act on the truth and now a light shines in his community and his congregation is a welcoming place where love abounds and honest conversations are daily fare.

May we all embrace the perfect love that casts out fear and speak truth that makes room for the light of the world.

One Brave Pastor https://t.co/HrWm4PLqmb #confrontation #Jesus #Christianliving

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) March 5, 2020