One little blemish

I wonder if you can remember occasions in your teenage years when your skin did not look as clear as you wanted it to look. Perhaps, like me, you tried to cover up those annoying blemishes and hope no one would notice them, even though they felt so obvious. Yes, there are certain stages when our appearance may matter more than at other times – although I am sure I did not worry about such things at the tender age of ten, as our youngest granddaughter seems to.

Recently, she caught the flu and was quite sick. But a far worse calamity for her was that she ended up with a cold sore on her face below her nose. It was not obvious, but it must have felt that way to her, as she flatly refused to go to various places because people would see it and maybe say something to her. That even included her dad!

I felt our daughter was wise in the way she dealt with this whole issue. Once our granddaughter calmed down a little, her mum pointed out how, sometimes, we have to put up with how we look and face the world anyway. She reminded our granddaughter of a lady who works in their school office who has obviously experienced terrible burns sometime in her life. Her face is badly disfigured and some of her fingers are missing, but she cheerfully goes about her work the same as anyone else and does not try to hide at all. We suspect this made our granddaughter think at least, but she still felt sensitive about her own one almost unnoticeable blemish.

Yet how can I judge our granddaughter in any way? I remember once as a child agonising over some homework I was given to do one weekend. It was a matter of pride for me to create a special, fancy heading for such work, so I laboured long and hard at writing the title in Old English script, using a thin, black pen with a nib. Each time there was a blot, however, or the printing was crooked or something else was wrong with it, I tore out the relevant page in my exercise book, along with the unused page attached to it. After some time, to my mother’s disgust, there were barely any pages left in the whole book.

Just as well we do not need to go to such lengths with God – for two reasons. First, God sees everything anyway. I used to think it was so scary that I could not hide my shortcomings from God, but, thankfully, the time came when I realised how freeing it is to know God sees everything – and loves and accepts me anyway. And that is the second reason I do not have to try to hide from God. Of course, I need to live in a way that does not presume on God’s grace, but it is so good to know God will never stop loving me, despite my mistakes and imperfections. I am God’s child – and, whatever happens, I can remain safe and secure in that knowledge.

Blemishes or otherwise, we are truly blessed, don’t you think?

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25

A true labour of love

Recently, a big box arrived in the mail from my cousin. As I opened it, I noted the careful way it had been packed – plastic air ‘pillows’, then bubble wrap, then another thicker wrap, then tissue paper, then a piece of polystyrene. Nothing left to chance, for sure. Finally, out my gift came – a beautiful piece of stitching work, mounted in a sturdy, brown frame.

Yet this was not your normal piece of stitching work, I soon discovered. My cousin had included a note with it from which I learned it is called ‘blackwork’, even though several colours were used to create this particular piece of embroidery. Apparently, way back in fifteenth century England and possibly even earlier, blackwork was indeed largely black and was used mostly to make the collars and cuffs of men’s shirts stronger and more decorative. Some say it came to England from Spain via one of Henry VIII’s wives, Catherine of Aragon – and thus it is sometimes called Spanish work. But my amazing gift actually contains various traditional Celtic designs, each pattern created by using simple, ordinary, single stitches.

What a labour of love it was for my cousin, no doubt taking many, many hours of painstaking work. along with incredible attention to detail. Some of the shapes it contains look like little trees, others like leaves and still others like stars. Then there are also intricate diamond and square shapes, all linked together to form a dainty, colourful grid, while the traditional black has been used throughout for borders and for the rectangular design at each end of the pattern. Yet, when I emailed to express my thanks for such a special gift, my cousin responded with touching simplicity: I love doing this work and I really love giving it to others who value and appreciate it.

I felt even more humbled when I read these words, but they also set me thinking. Perhaps my cousin had given their work to someone in the past, imagining they would truly love it, only to discover this was not the case? Perhaps the recipient tucked it away in a drawer, never to see the light of day? At that point, I felt so sorry for my cousin, even though the whole creative process had obviously brought much joy and satisfaction in itself.

My cousin’s words stayed with me for some time afterwards as I reflected on how affirming it is when others appreciate something we have taken time and effort to create. Yet sometimes that does not happen, does it? Sometimes, we simply need to put our work out there, offering it in love while knowing it may not always be fully valued or even accepted. After all, this is what Jesus Christ himself did for us with his very life.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:10–12

What an extreme labour of love Jesus offered up for us! May we always treasure such a priceless gift and praise and honour the Giver each day.

Those many other things

I wonder how often you find yourself wishing you knew more about something. Perhaps it is some skill you wish you had acquired earlier in life and would like to pursue even now. Or perhaps it is an area of expertise where you wish you did not need to rely on others’ knowledge but were able to handle everything yourself. This applies to me in the general area of IT. I am not interested in it at all, although I use my laptop all the time as a writer. Instead, I rely heavily on my husband’s knowledge whenever I experience some computer glitch or problem with the internet. But what will happen when he perhaps cannot help me? Then I may well wish I had listened to him much more carefully.

Each day, we are surrounded by so much information, some of which we may wish we had and some we are happy to ignore. But recently, I came to some verses towards the end of John’s gospel I could not remember noticing before that definitely made me long to know more. After describing how the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples, including Thomas who had not initially believed, John continues:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30–31

Then, in the final verse of this gospel, we find the following:

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21:25

At that point, I felt a little ripped off. What other signs that Jesus performed do we know nothing about because they are not in John’s gospel – or anywhere else? And what about those many other things Jesus did as well that would fill whole volumes, according to John? I wanted to know all about them and perhaps get an even clearer picture of Jesus and his ministry as a result. In choosing what to include, it seems John did not overlook any signs Jesus performed or anything else he did. He simply decided – no doubt as God led him – that he had written enough to enable us to believe in Jesus, without including anything more.

As I thought more about this whole matter, I realised two things. First, we do indeed know enough of the wonderful things Jesus said and did, as John maintains, to believe Jesus is the Son of God. Second, Jesus is even more powerful and amazing than I have already concluded! According to John, we have glimpsed only a percentage of all Jesus said and did – and I for one cannot wait to discover what we have missed out on.

For now, however, we have been shown and told enough. One day, we will find out the rest but, until then, may we all keep on believing in our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. May we continue to declare, along with the centurion who saw Jesus crucified for us:

Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39b

Useless?

As I stared at the computer screen in my study, suddenly it came to life and I could see my interviewer in his studio at Trans World Radio somewhere in the Manchester area in the UK. He introduced himself and we chatted for a while. Then he outlined what we would cover in the interview we were about to record. [To watch this interview, please click here.]

‘First, I’ll ask you where you live and where you might take me if I were to visit you in Sydney,’ he explained. ‘Next, we’ll talk about your new book Swansong – why you wrote it, the importance of speaking life-giving words to others and so on – and then I’d like to ask you about your fiction books too. Is that okay?’

I warmed to him immediately. With my other recent radio interviews, I had had no real idea what question would come next. In the end, they were fine, but knowing what lay ahead was definitely reassuring.

In the end, this interview lasted for twenty minutes, with one question flowing easily onto another. But the most important question, I sensed, was one my lovely interviewer asked around half way through.

‘When I was a child, if I made a mistake, a close family member would say to me, “Oh … you’re useless!” I don’t think they meant any harm by that – it was just a throwaway line – but for many, many years, those words harmed me. So, what would you say to someone who has experienced something like that? How can we bring forgiveness and restoration into those situations?’

Immediately, my heart went out to him across the miles. I could see by his facial expression how important this question still seemed to be and my mind worked furiously to grasp the right words to say. I began by suggesting that this is the opposite to how God views us. In Genesis 1:27, we read we are all, male and female, created in the image of the God of the universe. Further, we were each created and formed with such intricate care, as King David wrote about:

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13–14

As well, when God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah was told God knew him even before he was born (Jeremian 1:9a) – and surely this is true for each one of us today too. On top of that, we who believe in Jesus Christ have been given the amazing privilege to be called children of God (John 1:12), something John continues to marvel at in his first letter:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! I John 3:1a

My point in sharing these thoughts with my interviewer was that, given we are God’s beloved children, created in the image of God with such care, how could we ever be useless? I can well understand how we can come to believe such things about ourselves when others say them to us, even once, but surely this is the work of the enemy who always seeks to accuse and deceive?

Useless? I don’t think so – do you?

Falling from the sky

Recently, I had the most amazing phone conversation with someone I have never met. In fact, this lady began her call by telling me she knew nothing about me until someone gave her one of my business cards and told her she should invite me to speak at her club. As we talked, I remembered how, the previous week after I spoke somewhere else, another lady came up to me, introduced herself and asked if she could take one of my cards for her friend who was always looking for good speakers for her own club. Of course, I was happy for her to do that, but even as we chatted, I wondered if she would indeed remember to pass it on. Sometimes, people make such statements but may not follow through.

This time around, however, my doubts were ill-founded. As the phone conversation continued, my caller explained she had now checked out my website and would be very interested to have me come and speak and to meet me.

‘I find it very hard to get speakers,’ she said. ‘I have a long list of them but none of their topics seemed to jump out at me. Could you perhaps come to our club in May?’

She suggested a certain date which, miraculously, was still free in my diary.

‘That’s so wonderful!’ she blurted out then. ‘I have just come back from a bus trip and, all the way home, I was thinking over and over, “Who can I get to speak?” and praying hard too. Oh – it’s like you’ve fallen from the sky for me!’

I am sure no one else has ever said such a thing to me before. I laughed, but she insisted that was what it felt like to her. ‘You’re definitely an answer to prayer,’ she then added with relief.

We went on to discuss which of my talks I would give on the day, but even at the end of our conversation, she was still marvelling how I had ‘literally’ fallen from the sky for her and how God had provided her with a speaker at just the right moment.

At the time of our phone call, we had visitors in our home, so I then shared this story with them. We discussed the interesting theology behind the idea of someone falling from the sky – but we knew what this lady meant and rejoiced with her at the amazing way God answers our prayers.

Later, her joy over this whole event caused me to think further about answers to prayer I have seen in my own life – and also to wonder how many I may have missed noticing altogether. At times, I suspect I can pray about something but, when the answer comes, I can, to my shame, forget God’s part in it altogether. I may attribute it merely to good management on my part – or perhaps even to chance or coincidence.  As a result, how many wonderful ‘falling from the sky’ moments have I missed? And how thankless I have been towards God too.

I hope I have learnt my lesson. I hope I will rejoice and be thankful much more often in future.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1

In safe hands

When you were growing up, did you ever tell others what you thought you might become later in life? Some of us seem to know from early on, don’t we? I suspect my older sister knew soon after starting school herself that she wanted to be a teacher. I still have a memory of being her ‘pretend class’ as I sat obediently on our back steps while she stood in front of me and ‘taught’!

Recently, our ten-year-old granddaughter looked up at me with her big, brown eyes and announced, ‘Nanna, I want to be like you when I get older!’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked her, thinking she might be referring to something I do or say as we spend time together.

‘I’m going to be an author like you,’ she said firmly, ‘because I write really loooooong stories!’’

I swallowed hard, thinking how much more it takes to produce a book than the ability to write long stories, but decided not to discourage her in any way. ‘That’s wonderful!’ I told her.

‘’Yes, I’m going to be an author and an illustrator!’ she added then, obviously very satisfied with her decision.

Who was I to dampen her heart’s desire at that point? I know Maxine has a wonderful imagination and an amazing ability to think up interesting scenarios. And she is definitely a much more talented artist than I will ever be. Maybe she will become a famous author and illustrator – but my heart went out to her as I envisaged the many discouragements she would most likely face along the way in tackling such literary endeavours. So, in that moment, I prayed she would know God’s presence beside her and in her, whatever twists and turns her life journey might take.

None of us knows exactly what lies ahead of us in life, do we? If we did, we might want to skip some of the more difficult parts altogether or at least reach the better parts sooner. I do not remember it but, apparently, I stated in our school magazine in my late teens that I wanted to become a writer. That is indeed what happened – but not until my middle fifties. Instead, I believe God guided me through various other occupations and many wonderful but also challenging experiences in my life that have hopefully served to add much more depth to my writing. But in the process, I also discovered that, however hard things are, God can always be trusted to watch over us and hold us close.

King David certainly went through many extreme ups and downs in his life. In Psalm 31, he does not leave us in any doubt as to how distressed he is at that point. He is in anguish, grief-stricken and weak, to the extent that he feels ‘like broken pottery’(12). As well, his friends and neighbours flee from him in contempt and his very life is in danger. Yet, in the midst of it all, he writes:

But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hands. Psalm 31:14–15a

Today, those hands are there for us too, whatever stage of life we are at – and they are indeed the safest hands imaginable because they belong to our loving, powerful Lord.

In the light of Easter

Sometimes in life, I find my perspective can become more than a little askew. Sometimes, I am so focused and what is there in front of me to be done that I lose sight of the bigger picture. Sometimes, I become so entangled in worrying about this or that person or this or that thing that I act as if I am in charge of everything. Sometimes, I leave God out of all my thinking and planning.

This is one key reason I am so thankful when Easter comes and I am faced once again with the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and the overwhelming hope and freedom his resurrection offers. Somehow, as I sit back and reflect on all this and allow these events to impact me up close and personal, all the other issues and concerns of life that have held full sway take their rightful place again. For me, Easter provides that special time I need to reframe, reassess and regroup.

Recently, I talked with a lady who told me that, now she has finally retired, after working hard all her life, her focus is on doing all the things she has always wanted to do. ‘It’s time for me!’ she declared rather forcefully – and, in one way, she is right. I understood and felt excited for her as she outlined the various interests she was exploring, even as another part of me cringed. Perhaps that is indeed what God has for her right now – perhaps God does want to shower her with blessings and even with unexpected experiences of fulfilment later in life. But as I tried to talk with her about becoming who God has created us to be, I sensed God was only a very vague part of the picture for her, if any part at all. Yet, without God in the picture, what will she have left when she has done all she wants to do and reached the end of her life?

Not long after this conversation, I read again Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in which a rich man decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store all his surplus grain that will last him for years. He decides to take life easy, eating, drinking and generally being merry – but then God speaks to him:

You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ Luke 12:20

Jesus concludes his parable with the following warning:

This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.’ Luke 12:21

While everything we fill our lives with – activities, hobbies, possessions, people – may be good in themselves, we still need to see them all in the light of the cross, with its stark reminder of what it cost Jesus to bring us back into God’s family. We are not our own, as Paul states, but were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). And as we reflect on the cross, may we also gaze in awe again at the empty tomb that reminds us we have something far more precious than anything this world can offer – the hope of eternal life with our loving Lord and King.

Next level care

Recently, I heard of two separate instances when someone went out of their way to help another person. Both of these challenged me – but God had apparently not finished with me at that point and proceeded to use the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan to give me even more food for thought.

The first instance I heard about involved someone a friend found sitting outside on the steps one Sunday after a church service. He looked rather unkempt and down on his luck and, as my friend passed nearby, he asked her if she knew of somewhere he could stay for the night. She told him she didn’t but that she would ask someone who might and suggested he come with her. She soon found their community worker and said to him, ‘This gentleman needs a bed for the night. Do you know anywhere he can go?’ As it turned out, the community worker did and immediately took care of the poor man. However, what seemed to touch this man most was one key word my friend had chosen to use. ‘She called me a gentleman!’ he told their community worker, his voice filled with wonderment.

Would I have thought to use that word? Would I have even helped this man?

The second instance sounds less dire, yet things could well have escalated. One evening, our daughter received a pleading text message from our grandson at his first ever school camp. He has ADHD and was never allowed on school camps at primary school because of his behaviour. Now, in Year 7, he had finally made it to camp. But alas, his message informed his mother that he was starving as the food was terrible – could she please bring him a ‘care package’ that evening after work?! Now this demand is not as selfish as it sounds – our grandson truly has trouble tolerating foods with certain textures. Besides, his mother knew that, if he did not eat something, his behaviour could well be adversely affected. So, she did what he asked, driving over an hour to the campsite in the dark and another hour back home, in order to take him whatever healthy snack food she could lay her hands on quickly.

Would I have bothered to do that? Would I have helped our grandson?

Then I read the story of the Good Samaritan which impacted me more than it ever has on previous occasions and left me feeling even more challenged. To put it mildly, this Samaritan did a lot for the poor, half-dead traveller who had been robbed:

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:34–36

Would I have offered all the next level care he offered? Would I have even seen that poor man?

Go and do likewise, Jesus told the expert in the law who asked who his neighbour really was (Luke 10:29, 37b).

I wonder if this expert did what Jesus said. I wonder if I will.

Held

I wonder if you are the sort of person who likes to receive warm hugs. I can appreciate some people are not – and it is important to respect any boundaries they choose to have in place. Perhaps they are shy. Perhaps they may feel they do not know us well enough. Perhaps they have been hurt in the past in some way that makes it difficult for them now to hold or be held by others.

On the other hand, over the years, I have met with several women for whom this was an essential part of our time together. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the long, warm hug before they left was equally as healing and affirming for them as all the words I might have spoken throughout the one or two hours we met.

It can be a wonderful experience too when we see a friend or family member again after a long absence and can hold them close. And I find those warm hugs from our grandchildren when they arrive for a visit priceless too – especially those from our grandson who may appear aloof at times yet underneath has such a warm, caring heart. Those arms around us tell us the other person is pleased to see us again, that they love us and that they value our presence in their lives.

Imagine then being held close by the God of the universe! Imagine what that tells us about God’s heart of love for each one of us, about the value God places on us and about God’s deep desire to care for us and do life with us in general. I sat and pondered all this recently, after listening to an online devotional that focused on Moses’ words to the Israelites, reminding them how God led them on from Mt Horeb, through the desert and right to the edge of the Promised Land and how he himself as their leader had responded when they refused to enter:

Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.’ Deuteronomy 1:29–31

Just as God carried those Israelites long ago, as a father would carry his child, so God still lovingly longs to carry each of us today, holding us close, protecting and providing for us. As I reflected on this beautiful image, I remembered too a small, cardboard plaque that hung on my bedroom wall as a child and that I always particularly liked, even though I did not fully understand what the words meant back then:

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

Whenever life overwhelms me, I am so grateful that, as God’s child, I can run to my heavenly Father, receive his warm hug and be held close in those loving arms that will always be there for me. And right now, whatever is happening for you, may you truly sense God’s loving arms holding you close too.

In the heat of the moment

I am sure I used to be calmer under pressure. When put on the spot, I could usually manage to string together a few words that kind of made sense. But these days, I sometimes find such scenarios a little more challenging. If I am not careful, my brain can seize up and I can lose the thread of what I truly wanted to say.

Take being interviewed on radio, for instance, when I do not know what the next question will be – something I have experienced three times in recent weeks in connection with my latest book, Swansong. Thankfully, such interviews are often pre-recorded, which reassures me a little and also gives the presenter leeway to cut out anything later. Yet, I found it quite a challenge each time as I sat at my desk, talking with a gentleman I had never met via video or phone and hoping my responses to his questions made sense.

When Jesus himself spoke anywhere while on earth, especially when challenged in the heat of the moment, he did not hesitate. Whatever the risk, he spoke out with such clarity and authority – the authority given to him by his heavenly Father. On one occasion, Jesus explained this again to his disciples when seeking to comfort and reassure them who he was and where he was going:

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. John 14:10

Earlier on in his ministry too, when sending his twelve disciples out, Jesus gave them authority to heal and drive out demons but also warned them in no uncertain terms what would happen when challenged:

But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19–20

Now I am definitely not Jesus. And, as far as I know, I am not about to be arrested for anything I might say during a radio interview about my latest book! Yet, in those moments when I too may grope for words to express what is in my heart, I am so grateful that, if I focus on God, even for a brief moment, I am reassured I am not alone. God’s Spirit is indeed with me and in me at all times and will help me find the right words to say that will make sense and impact others in a positive way. Instead of giving in to fear then, I can take a deep breath, centre myself in God again, relax – and enjoy the wonderful opportunity I have been given to put my words out there and trust that God will use them in some way to bless others.

As God’s people, all of us, whoever we are, can find ourselves in those ‘heat of the moment’ situations at unexpected times, with opportunity to share about our faith in God. May we take a deep breath, listen well to the Spirit, then step out and speak with confidence and joy!

NB To find two of Jo-Anne’s radio interviews about her book Swansong, please click here.