Bigger picture

A really good movie is one that enhances rather than distorts or diminishes the mental pictures I can make while reading the book.  Very few movies are capable of this, but it does happen, and when my mental picture is enhanced or corrected I love it! Sometimes re-reading a story will accomplish this same feat.

Yesterday I re-read a story, paying attention to different details.  It's a story you know about a guy who gets thrown to the lions and then rescued.  

But in this reading of the Big Story, I'm working my way through chronologically, paying much closer attention to dates.  I read Isaiah in the middle of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and I read Daniel's story right after reading Jeremiah instead of after slogging through Ezekiel like usual.  This reading really was eye-opening.

If you pay attention to the dates, you discover that Daniel had been living faithfully in exile for 66 years.  So he's OLD when he gets thrown to the lions.  In Sunday School and in kids' movies and in my previous mental pictures, he's always about 16 years old.  But Daniel is not a teenager in this story.  He's well past retirement age by any count.  

Because I was paying attention to dates too, I also saw that the king's confession at the end of the story is the key to the story.  This new pagan king, fresh off of conquering an empire, recognizes and proclaims that there is only One who has all power and One who rescues and saves--the One Daniel so faithfully serves.  This king is closely connected to or possibly is King Cyrus, my study notes said (archaeologists aren't exactly sure).  

King Cyrus--you know, the one Isaiah had foretold way beforehand who let the Jews return and fulfilled the Father's promises to bring them back to their land.  Now, clearly it is the Omnipotent One's hand that worked in Cyrus' heart to allow the people to go back.  But don't you think that the faithful witness of Daniel in that courageous moment also played a part on the human level?  I like to think that.  The Author uses many pieces to make His story come together.  

Daniel had about 3 really exciting days in his whole life.  The rest was humdrum, exiled faithfulness. But did it pay off in a HUGE way by helping a pagan king come to recognize and reverence the Omnipotent Author of the story?  

So when I get discouraged by faithful, humdrum, hidden days, I need to once again reflect on Daniel's 66 years of quiet faithfulness in exile, which allowed him to display the faithfulness and power and salvation of the Author, resulting in one spectacular moment of glory.  It's worth it.  

Single serving

Last weekend, a speaker at my home fellowship talked about the need of the Body to oppose gay marriage, the transgender movement, and other social ills.

I agree. But I think the only way to do this is to have a robust theology of singleness (stand FOR not against) and take action to encourage those whom the Father has called to live single, for whatever reason.  Plain condemnation and finger-wagging won't get us anywhere.

So here are some things I wish more people knew about being single in a conservative evangelical place here in North America.

1.  Singleness does not equal spiritual immaturity.
People often say, "Marriage is so sanctifying!" and I'm sure it is.  But God doesn't let single people rot in sins either.  To preserve relationships, I have to put off envy (when friend after friend gets married and has babies, which I'd love but isn't in God's plan for me right now) and put away selfishness to maintain relationships with old friends (which I cherish). It means that as I have less and less in common with those around me I need to learn to listen better and love more.  This is sanctifying!  Also, as I am single, I have uninterrupted devotional time, which allows me to get deeper into the Word.  This sanctifies me too.

2.  I know a lot about Christ's sufficiency.
If marriage demonstrates the love between Christ and the church, singleness demonstrates the sufficiency of Christ--in loneliness, in unmet expectations, in unfulfilled dreams, in grief.  As I walk through these experiences as a single person, I can tell you a lot about Christ's sufficiency as I press into Him.  Ask me about it; it's not something I often know how to bring up but it's something I know about as I live out the single life.

3.  I often feel I don't fit anywhere.
Any time I show up to a gathering, I make the group odd (not an even number).  In my late 20's suddenly I couldn't go to Sunday School with a lot of friends because they'd joined a "young marrieds" Sunday school class and/or small group.  In my 30's I'm finding I sometimes don't fit with women's ministry because it can be all about motherhood and I'm not a mom.   I find mixed gatherings hard because I have more in common with the guys who work outside the home than I do with the other girls who are all moms, but don't want to just hang with the guys.   I feel a deep sense of appreciation though for those friends who lovingly seek to include me in their world in many ways, and feel really loved when people make a special effort to welcome me in.  Another thing that really helps is when people ask me to sit with them in church, or at any other gathering.  I go to a lot of stuff by myself, and any time I am invited to sit with someone it is a huge inner relief and blessing.  Even more helpful are the people who save me a seat regularly and make me part of their group.

4.  I am super tempted to put my identity in what I do.
I know that everyone struggles with this, but as a single person the pressure is enormous to sink myself into what I do rather than who I am. I seek to justify my existence through what I do. I can't often see when I'm doing it, and need my brothers and sisters to speak into my life and remind me who I am and that I am loved, not for what I do, but because of Whose I am.

5. I need extra encouragement in this world.
It's really shameful in the modern world to be celibate, which is a Biblical requirement for living single.  Out in the world people assume there's something wrong with you.  Inside the church people  ask you why you're not married yet, also assuming there's something wrong with you.  A word of encouragement about how you see Him in me really goes a long way, as does a word of blessing for following Him.  The church here needs to be deliberate in its encouragement, because the battle is hard.

6.  Don't assume that God's plan is for me to be married someday.
Maybe it's not!  And if not, that's OK, because God's plans are best!  Please don't offer to pray that God would bring me a husband.  Please pray instead that I would experience Him more fully, because that alone will truly satisfy my heart.

7.  I hope I push you towards Him.
In living out my life, I hope I push you towards Him, even through singleness.  I hope you remember that the time is short, and we are living for more than the now.  I hope you see His sufficiency in my life.  I hope you see that we are waiting in expectation for that glorious Day when the Bridegroom appears!

Teammates, not competitors

"You're not as good as her," whispers the evil voice.  "Your life isn't on the right track because  (you're not doing _______, you're too _________,)" it goes on to say.

This temptation can get particularly strong when you're serving cross-culturally.  The enemy would have us compete--but in fact we are on the SAME TEAM and are fighting TOGETHER for the SAME Captain.

So remind me frequently not to compare myself to others and remind me that life is not a zero-sum game. I'm not locked into competition with anyone else, but I'm running the race for Him, together with my brothers and sisters.

What can we do to remind each other that we are on the same team and are not competitors?

When you are on your knees for cross-cultural workers, keep us lifted up to be reminded that we are on the same team. Ask that competition would be erased and that we would seek new ways to cooperate in this great work the King has called all believers to do together!