I am moving back to blogspot, so you can find me at smilingatthefuture.blogspot.com.  Lord willing, I will be posting more regularly.  Come, check it out!

An Unxpected Week, A Wonderful Savior

 This past week is known throughout the world as Passion Week, as the momentous events of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are remembered by millions of people.  I had been looking forward to this week for a number of reasons.  My son Ben would be home from college for Spring Break, another son Bill would make a quick visit, and we would be having special services at our church to reflect upon the glorious historic realities that are at the heart of Christianity.  My week started off as expected, Ben and Bill got into town safely, and I enjoyed spending time with them.  But on Tuesday my Passion Week turned into Pain Week.

To make a long story short, after a rather unpleasant couple of days, I ended up in the hospital having my appendix removed.  Surgery went well, but didn’t start off well.  They had great difficulty getting an IV going in my less than cooperative veins.  The experienced surgeon said that he had never seen anything like it.  Not exactly the way you want to be remarkable!  I was completely alert during the eight stabs in my arms in the hallway of the operating room.  But then they decided to just take me to the operating room, and they would put an IV in my main line there.  I thought, and the doctors thought, “no problem”.  In the OR they gave me a shot, “so I wouldn’t remember any of this”, said the anesthesiologist, and then hooked me up to an oxgen mask, that I suspect gave me something a little stronger than oxygen.  I began to get quite fuzzy, but could defintely sense that the ‘no problem’ had become big problem.  At that point I was far from clear-headed, but two truths were absolutely clear–I am a miserable sinner, and Christ is a wonderful savior.   

When I say that I am a miserable sinner, it’s not because I’m a secret serial killer, or anything like that.  In the world’s eyes, I would be considered a ‘good’ person.  But I am a sinner.  God’s standard of holiness is so pure, so perfect, so absolute, that any good done by me is merely filthy rags in comparison.  There is nothing that I have done, or could ever do that would allow me to enter into a right relationship with a holy God.  But the good news is, Christ is a wonderful Savior.  That’s what Passion Week is all about.  Christ came into this world, God became man, to live a perfect life so that He could go to the cross and bear God’s wrath for the sin of all who would ever believe in Him.  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  What a remarkable trade!  Christ gets my sin, and the sin of all who will ever trust in Him, and I get His righteousness.  What a wonderful savior!

What wonderful truth to give perfect peace when you are in the operating room, aware that everything isn’t going well.  They did find a vein in my foot and pumped me up with enough liquid to then put the IV in the main artery in my leg.  After that the surgery was a piece of cake.  Although I am still feeling the effects of being a human pincushion (and have the bruises to prove it!), I am feeling so much better than before.  I thank God for the many ways His grace was on display in my life this week.  I even felt well enough to attend Easter service at my church this morning.  I thank Him that I could rejoice in the passion of this week that is infinitely greater than my pain this week.

 I would encourage you, whether your week, past or future, is totally as you expected, or knocks you for a loop, to reflect upon the realities of the crucifixion and the resurrection.  Do you know this wonderful Savior?  Do you rejoice in Him every day of the year?  I have been encouraged by and would recommend some books that help me to think about these truths and how they should impact my daily life and thinking.  I’ve read The Cross-Centered Life, by CJ Mahaney, am currently reading The Gospel for Real Life, by Jerry Bridges, and am planning to read Living the Cross-Centered Life by CJ Mahaney.  Please join me in rejoicing in a wonderful Savior that makes every week a good week.

A Family Treasure

Some families may have a treasure in stocks and bonds, others might have antique furniture, precious jewelry, or other valuables, others might have photographs or mementos handed down from past generations.  My treasure is my family itself.  I have a wonderful, faithful, loving husband, three fantastic sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law, and a cute and precious grandson.  Our church recently surprised my husband and I by flying in the rest of the family for the Installation Service at Believers Fellowship, where my husband is the pastor.  What a treat! 

Before you label me just another mother bragging about her family, I want to make it clear that my boast is in the Lord.  I praise Him for the work He has done in our family, for the fruit that He has born.  Bruce and I both came from loving families, but in neither home was the Bible modeled and taught, nor was Christ the focal point.  When we got married, we were committed to pattern our home in accordance with God’s Word, seeking to please and honor the Lord.  In our 30 years of marriage, we have realized that God is extremely gracious, and His Word is true. 

It is always a joy to be with our children, because they are such a spiritual encouragement to us.  They love the Lord and are actively involved in serving Him, and the Lord teaches us through what He is teaching them.  Knowing intimately all the mistakes their mother made along the way, I stand amazed at the grace of the Lord!  I wasn’t always faithful, but God is.  I thank the Lord for my daughters-in-law, appreciative of their wisdom and spiritual maturity.  We are all praying for little Tyler, that He would outrun us all in the spiritual race. (Hebrews 12:1)  

3 John 4: I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.  There’s no greater treasure than that!

It is often said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  While the Bible has no pictorial illustrations, it repeatedly uses word pictures to paint a richer, fuller portrait of the thought being presented.  You can find one of these delightful word pictures in Proverbs 31:25.  Describing the excellent wife, whose worth is far above jewels (verse 10), it says, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.”   I have always found this word picture quite interesting, and so have borrowed this phrase for the title of my blog.

Why is this woman smiling?  The key to this woman and all her admirable qualities is seen in verse 30,  where it says she fears the Lord.  Because she has a right understanding of who God is, and who she is, God is the focus of her attention.  She lives to please Him, not herself.  She has confidence in Him.  She trusts Him.  She can smile at the future.

She smiles at her eternal future.  Fearing the Lord describes a believer, someone who knows salvation from the Lord.  She can say, along with Paul in 2 Timothy 4:8, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

She can smile at the future in the midst of difficult circumstances.  She knows that God is in control.  She knows that He is at work in her life for her good.  The Israelites were taken into captivity in Babylon as judgment for their sin.  Yet God tells them in Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”  Even in the midst of captivity, they could smile at the future.  No matter how difficult our circumstances, so can we.

She can smile at the future regarding the people in her life.  When you read Psalm 31:10-31, you will see this woman is totally devoted to her family.  She works hard to take care of them, to do nice things for them.   Yet she doesn’t worry about them.  In Psalm 37:1-8, we are told three times not to fret.  Instead we are to trust in the Lord, do good, cultivate faithfulness, delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, rest in Him, wait patiently for Him.  The focus is on God, trusting in Him, and depending on Him.   We must do this with our family and the people in our lives.  Our sovereign Lord knows and cares about our loved ones much more than we do; we can be confident in Him.  We can smile at the future.

Like the Proverbs 31 woman, I have confidence in God.  I have seen Him work in my life, drawing me to Himself, growing me and changing me to be more like Christ, through good times and bad.  I have seen Him work in my family in amazing ways.  Because of Him, I am smiling at the future.  Are you?