Seeking Abigail: Scene Ten

…and many believed in the Lord. Acts 9:42b

Abigail remained seated on the grassy knoll overlooking the river. Chloe stood on the bank talking with Tabitha and some of the other widows. They were all smiling and talking at once, using animated gestures. She could not hear their words, but guessed they were planning another opportunity for Peter to speak and for Tabitha to share her story. What did Chloe call it? She scrunched her brow trying to remember. A testimony of something…something or was it the other way around: something…something testimony? She was always so bad about details. She pulled her knees up to her chest and smiled. It did not matter. Not now.

“She lives.” Abigail whispered the words over and over as she watched one person after another kneel in prayer on the riverbank and then step into the water.

Judah, Peter the Apostle, and some other men she did not know spoke intimately with each person, immersed them in the water, and then pulled them out again. She could not remember what this was called either, but she wanted to know.

This whole thing truly was a miracle! There was no other name for it. There was no other explanation. A dozen witnesses, including Chloe and Judah, swore before the swelling crowd that indeed Tabitha was dead, but now she lives. A few people threw themselves at Peter’s feet and tried to worship the apostle, but they were quickly pulled to their feet while Peter proclaimed with a loud voice that Tabitha lived because of Jesus the Christ, the Living Messiah.

Abigail asked the open air, “Can all our religious leaders be wrong?”

“Yes, they can.” Elias sat down next to her.

The stunned girl murmured, “It is you.”

“Yes.” He smiled broadly. “It is me.”

As if for the first time, Abigail looked deeply into his face. His eyes twinkled with a bright radiance she had not noticed before. Or had she? And his smile was sincere and generous. The richness of his laughter from the Sabbath meal filled her thoughts. Goose bumps suddenly appeared on her arms and she shivered involuntarily. Without a word, Elias jumped up and removed his cloak and then placed it around her. His strong hands lingered for just a moment on her shoulders. The goose bumps doubled in number, but she willed herself to remain composed.

She thought she should say something, but nothing even remotely coherent formed in her mind. All that came out was a barely audible, “Thank you.”

“What?” Elias turned to her. “Did you say something?”

“Oh…uh…” Abigail pulled his cloak in tighter to her goose bump-filled body. “I just said, ‘Thank you.’”

“Ah…well…you are welcome.” A trace of disappointment edged his words, but his addictive smile never wavered.

A well of regret threatened to burst within her. Regret for all the rude remarks and cold shoulders she had hurled at this man…and at Judah…and even at Chloe, her closet friend. She was not always this way, was she? It was all this Jesus nonsense that made her so…so intolerant, just like her father. She gasped!

“What is it, Abigail?” Elias’ smile vanished and concern etched over his face. “Are you ill? I can take you home.”

“I…I need…” She shook her head. “How can I become one of you?

It Needs Repeating (e)

Wisely, Joshua didn’t try to fill Moses’ sandals. He was his own man and cultivated his own relationship with God, and he indeed led the Israelites with strength and courage. Sure, he had setbacks. Sure, he didn’t get everything right. But, he made a choice to listen to God’s repeated instructions. As a result, he accomplished God’s goal for his life. He was far from average and received the same one line affirmation Moses did at the end of his life.

It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah,
which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.
Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
Joshua 24:29-31

It would be easy for us to ignore this triple instruction from God to Joshua as not being applicable to us. We will not be going to war anytime soon or marching around fortified cities for seven days. In fact, some days the biggest decision we will make is whether to eat at Wendy’s or pack a lunch. However, we know that just when we seem to have it all together, life hits. We are reminded we are smack in the middle of a fierce spiritual battle and are instructed to take on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). Sometimes just doing everyday life takes a triple dose of “strong and courageous,” especially when it comes to this whole love one another thing!

Just as it seems odd that God would instruct a warrior to be strong and courageous, doesn’t it seem odd that Jesus would have to tell His closet followers to love one another? I mean they roamed around Judea for three years together and witnessed countless miracles. They walked and talked with Love Himself! Surely they knew how to love. It was woven into their very being. Love was something they were comfortable with. It was natural. Wasn’t it?

Maybe you have learned first-hand, as I have: it is often hard to love some of the one anothers in our lives. Even those we love dearly can drive us to our knees seeking courage and strength for one more day. Surely many a Christian parent’s knees are bruised over their strong-willed or wayward child. I know I am safe in saying that others have probably been on their knees in dealing with me.

I hold no claim in being an easy one another to live with.

My friend, if loving one another came naturally and was easy, God wouldn’t waste His eternal ink on the subject. On the contrary, loving—truly loving as Christ loves—demands more strength and courage than a legion of soldiers on the most brutal battle field. We can’t even come close to God’s standard of love yet we’re commanded to love throughout the Bible. It is as overwhelming as a land filled with giants and fortified cities.

But Praise His Name, God never leaves His children to their own devices when He gives a command. Just as He guided Joshua in very specific and practical ways, He shows us, through His Son, how to love one another.

Discussion

Our second application is to double or even triple bless just one one another this week. Try to make the blessings something unexpected and out of the ordinary. If you don’t know where to start, begin within your home of one anothers. Those disciples of Jesus who live with you are always a good choice to bestow blessings upon. It doesn’t have to be anything monetary; in fact, I would encourage blessings of the non-monetary nature. Be creativity, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and I am confident you will be double blessed or even triple blessed as well!

Psalm 23: Effective Sheep

My cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5c

The question for a disciple of Jesus Christ is not whether the glass is half empty or half full, but rather why isn’t the glass full? And not just full…it should be overflowing. God’s extravagance is always with us, as His sheep, it is always available to us. We should always have overflowing cups! It doesn’t matter whether we are having the best day in our lives or the worst year in a lifetime.

I am not talking about an annoying Pollyanna sugarcoating of evil or a head in the clouds denial of bad things happening to us. I am talking about thriving in the bad…in the evil. We can do that. We are actually commanded to do that. We have thousands of years of saints (aka; sheep) witnesses who have done exactly that. I think the disconnect for us is that we have traded in God’s “My cup overflows” for the American version of self-reliance or as Oswald Chambers calls it, self-awareness.

Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
My Utmost for His Highest: August 19/Oswald Chambers…

One of the clearest proofs that the Bible is true; both spiritually and historically, is the uncompromising honesty found in the Bible. There is not one biblical hero (as we call them) who has it “all together”, other than Christ, of course.

And just for the record, Jesus is no mere hero. So, let’s keep the King of Kings out of that demeaning category, please!

Anyway, the history of the people in the Bible was not sugar coated. They were all basically a mess and in need of a Savior. The basic difference in the lives chronicled by the Bible are those who realized they were a mess and needed a Savior (Sheep in God’s Pasture) and found their cups overflowing in spite of themselves and circumstances. And those people who were a mess, but either didn’t care or didn’t want to acknowledge their messiness and therefore did not look for their Creator, so not in God’s Pasture, and no overflowing cups. And that is all of the human race in a nutshell. One is either in God’s Pasture as His Sheep or one is not.

Can we thrive in bad days? In a bad year or years?

For the sheep of God’s pasture, the answer is a resounding…YES!!

The steps of a man are established by the LORD and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One Who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their decedents begging bread.
Psalm 37:24-26

Psalm 23: Satisfied Sheep

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Psalm 23:5a

There are a lot of enemies running around in our world these days and most of them are not in the news every day! The beginning of this verse has two equal parts and they are both equally misunderstood and misused, at least by me. Maybe you will be able to relate.

I love this truth of God, The Shepherd, preparing a table for me. It actually blows my mind to think this God of Creation not only takes the time to do this, He wants to do it! God wants to take care of me! He wants to take care of you! Crazy, isn’t it!? He doesn’t begrudgingly go about giving me tidbits here and there or haphazardly throw scraps my way. He lovingly and graciously prepares a table for me.

In 2018, I set a milestone in my life by visiting my 50th state, Alaska! It is almost surreal to think of how God has allowed me to do this and the blessings and some heartaches that have come with this distinction. One of the blessings in being in all 50 states is eating! I don’t have a very adventurous pallet, but I have always tried to make a point of trying some of the local cuisine every trip or every new home location.

I’ve had everything from amazing Alaskan halibut to Maine lobsters to Nebraska beef and Louisiana jambalaya. And I’ve had just about every good, bad and ugly experience in a host of different styles of restaurants. I can honestly say that it made no difference if it was a “hole in the wall diner” or a 5-Star high rise restaurant, if the table set before me was thoughtfully executed and the service spot on, the food was just that much better.

But if the table set before me was sticky with food scrapes at my feet and the service rude or uninviting, even the most delicious food was spoiled and the meal experience ruined. So, let’s clean up the mess surrounding this precious verse, clean up the misunderstandings and really enjoy the feast God has for us.

See you at our next table reservation!

How blessed is the man who does not walk in counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor seat in the seat of scoffers.
Psalm 1:1

It Needs Repeating (d)

Okay, back to Joshua! It is the end of the 40 years of wandering. Now the children of Israel sit on the edge of the Promised Land leaderless, but not for long. God has a man and his name is Joshua. He has big shoes to fill and a large contingent of followers who are better at wandering than following. What will God tell him? How will He instruct this new leader?

Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous!
Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:6-9

I find God’s instruction here intriguing. In my way of thinking, it seems there would be little need for God to tell a mighty man like Joshua to be strong and courageous. After all, he and Caleb were the only ones within a whole generation with any moxie. They were not afraid of the giants or fortified cities in the Promised Land.

They were more than ready to pack it up and move in; 40 years ready!

Wouldn’t it make more sense to repeat three times something in regard to a weakness within Joshua’s skills and talents rather than an obvious strength? Did he need help with his public speaking skills? Or maybe he could have a lesson in angel recognition? Why did God instruct him multiple times about something that was natural…normal…comfortable for him? Strong and courageous was woven into Joshua’s very being. No man would dare call Joshua a coward. Is that what God was doing?

On the contrary! God first affirmed Joshua’s skills and position of leadership and his success in securing the land (v. 6). God then gives Joshua instructions on the foundational pieces for achieving that success. As for the repetition, I can think of eight distinct reasons God repeated the command to be strong and courageous. Maybe you can add to this list.

Joshua was indeed strong and courageous as Moses’ right-hand man, but now he was the leader of millions of people who did not have a great track record of cooperation.
The preverbal buck would now stop with Joshua. No more running to Moses.
God was now speaking directly to Joshua as He had done with Moses. That alone would be enough reason to need more strength and courage.
Joshua was a brave warrior and military general seasoned in tactical warfare, but his first battle in the Promised Lane would be won with his sword in its sheath.
God was about to ask him to not just step out of his comfort zone, but to dump that comfort zone in the trash heap.
It takes strength and courage to stay on course and a new course at that. This new direction was the law (v.7). It’s no coincidence that meditating on the laws given to Moses was also repeated in these instructions (v. 8). Before Moses, God had not actually written His expectations down anywhere. Now they were written down for all of Israel and humanity. For Joshua, there was no excuse for not following it.
Prosperity and success require a great deal of strength and courage (v.7, 8). Power and achievement are strong distractions from following God’s instructions.
Finally, often a personal great strength can easily turn into a greater weakness when one loses sight of God’s perspective.

Discussion

We have two practical applications to work on this week as we wind down our time together.

The first is to ask God to open our eyes and ears so we may comprehend when a fellow one another blesses us and then respond with appropriate thankfulness. This may seem silly and unnecessary because we assume we surely notice when we are blessed. But I wonder if we really do. As women, I think we have so many expectations of the one anothers within our circle we are calloused about being thankful when they bless us.

Let’s ask ourselves:

Are the morning and bedtime hugs and kisses treasured moments or commonplace rituals?
Is that firm handshake from Pastor So-and-So second nature to you, except when it isn’t extended?
Does the smile across the conference room given by the only Christian co-worker at work go unnoticed most days or do you smile back and lift her/him up in a quick prayer?
When you share a prayer request in small group or Bible study and one or more sisters in Christ name your name before the throne, does your heart skip a beat in wonder or is your spiritual EKG flat?

Every single day God blesses us through one anothers and we should be thankful and full of praise. But because we are in a hurry or rattled or expectant, we don’t hear or see the blessings let alone take opportunity to bless our one anothers back.

This week, ask God to help you see your life and your circle of one anothers with heightened spiritual senses and respond with a heart of praise.

Psalm 23: Calm Sheep

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4b

Experiencing the valley of the shadow of death is common to all of us and not just physical death. There are many types of death in our lives.

The death of a lost relationship.

The death of losing a job.

The death of losing our mental faculties.

The death of financial security.

The death of success.

The death of a dream.

Each one of these types of losses can leave us exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And that exhaustion leads to a vicious cycle of worry, doubt and fear. And these lead to poor choices and shortsighted decisions which leads to hanging out in the never-ending valley of the shadow of death much longer than we ever dreamed possible.

And then we wonder, “How did it ever come to this?”

David had his share of “valley of death” experiences. Some were his own fault (think Bathsheba). Some were the jealousies of others (think King Saul.) Some were family problems (think Absalom). Some were career related (think Philistines). And some were lost relationships (think Jonathan). And when he reflected on all these valleys he could say, “I will fear no evil.” and the reason for this was because “You are with me.”

When we need comfort or we want to comfort someone else and reach for this Psalm, I think we stop reading or reciting right there, at Psalm 23:4a. We are very glad to know that through whatever valley being experienced, fear does not have to be part of that experience. And we comfort each other with reminders of God being in the valley experience. That’s great! Right?

Yes, of course, right! No fear and all God! That’s what we need! But do we take all of the One True God? Or do we really want the god we’ve made up in our heads? You know the one!

The one that gives us big hugs and says, “That’s okay. You can keep on doing this sin and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” We want the god that gives us everything we ask for; even to bless our plans for disobedience. We want the god that we can bargain with; “You know, god, if you do this and get me out of this jam, I won’t go near a frat party for a whole month.”

We want the god that will just hurry up and show up and change our circumstances and get us out of this horrible wretched valley. We want the god that wouldn’t let us get in this valley in the first place and it doesn’t matter that it is my fault that I am stuck there. We even want the god who will zap the “enemies” who put us in this valley: the mean mother-in-law, the overbearing boss, the bully at school, the drunk driver, the thief. They don’t need any kind of god’s mercy. It is not deserved.

Being human, I would imagine that sometimes even David wanted a god like that.

But, when he looked at the history of his life and could see it as the True God ordained it, David concluded that it was The Shepherd’s rod and staff that brought the greatest comfort and peace in the valley AND provided the only way out of the valley. Seems quite the paradox, doesn’t it? A shepherd with rod and staff in hand bringing the most comfort and surety to his stubborn and wayward sheep. How can that be?

The LORD Shepherd has a rod and staff. They are called the Holy Spirit and the Bible. But here’s the thing. We have to take all of the Holy Spirit; His comfort, His peace, His joy…and His conviction and correction. We have to take the whole Bible, not just the parts that make us feel good or that we fully understand.

(Who can even do that and claim we know the full mind of God!)

We don’t like the rod and staff of The Shepherd because we think it hinders our fun in life. We think it keeps us from obtaining our idea of success and having the American dream. And we would be right on those points! God is so much greater than just having fun though He is no spoil sport. And His ways are not our ways which is a very good thing. And the American dream has absolutely nothing to do with having a life that is full and rich and meaningful.

The Shepherd uses His rod and staff to keep us close to Him. He uses them to keep us from wondering back into the valley of the shadow of death when He is trying to get us out of there. He lovingly uses His Word and gives us The Comforter (Holy Spirit) to help us see as He sees; to give us hope and increase our faith when all seems lost. But even The Shepherd can’t do all of this if we reject the Holy Spirit’s guidance, if we pick and choose what we want to believe in the Bible and what we want to obey. The One True God will not force us out of our valleys, nor will He deny His deity and supremacy over all creation, which includes each of us.

The Shepherd is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100) It is He who laid the very foundations of the universe and gives us breath and life. (Psalm 103) And it is He who sent His only begotten Son to save us! (John 3:16) Did Jesus go to the cross and suffer the death we deserved just so we could keep on living in the mire of our willful ways and in our sin? God Forbid! (Romans 6-8)

When we forget all these things and try to manipulate our own way in life whether on a mountain top or in the valley, we think we know better than God. That keeps us far from the reality and wonder of Psalm 23.

Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Isaiah 40:11