Where's My Miracle?

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34

The Gospel of Mark.

A man with too many demons to count. Tormented day and night, he lives among the tombs. Written off. Alone. Yet at the feet of Jesus he is made whole again.

A woman plagued by bleeding for more than 12 years. She is drained – physically, emotionally and financially. With a touch of Jesus’ cloak, she is healed.

A ruler of the synagogue whose only daughter is at death’s door pleads with Jesus. Word comes of her death, but for Jesus death is no different than sleep. He “wakes” the girl and gives her back to her family.

These are wonderful accounts from the life and ministry of Jesus. The kind that make me wish I could spend just one day watching Jesus move mountains. The kind that make me stand in awe of the God of the universe. Faith. Healing. Resurrection. Great stuff!

Yet if we are honest, these accounts can leave a weird aftertaste. The kind of aftertaste that begs the question, “Where is my miracle?” or “Where was my miracle?”

Where was my miracle when my mother battled cancer for three and a half years? For that matter, where was her miracle?

Where is my brother’s miracle as he battles cancer today?

Where was my aunt’s miracle as her husband battled Leukemia?

Where are parents’ miracles as they watch their child slip away?

Where was your miracle? Where?

But caution is in order here. Miracles are part of the story, but they are far from the whole story. Is it possible that the miracles are there to show us who Jesus is – God in the flesh – but that the other details show us what He came to do?

Jesus’ day was no different than our own. It was often some kind of personal need that brought people to Jesus: One of life’s fearful storms. Relentless demons. A debilitating disease. A loved one on the brink. These were the things that drove many to seek Him out. Yet Jesus always addressed a deeper need – a spiritual one.

Let’s take a look at the woman in these verses. She has secretly touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and has been healed. The story could have ended there: Jesus keeps walking. She goes home. Great story.

But it’s not the end. Rather, Jesus turns a secret healing mission into a public confession of faith. He moves from something good to something great. He takes a temporary physical fix and leverages it for permanent and eternal significance.

Her mission may be finished, but His is not.

Jesus stops the whole procession and calls out, “Who touched me?” She tries to hide, but she knows He knows. And He knows she knows He knows. So He asks again, looking her way this time, “Who touched me?” The compassion and gentleness of Christ compel her. She can hear it in His voice and see it in His eyes. She squeezes through the crowd, falls before him and “tells him the whole truth.”

And what is the result? She is saved. For eternity. Jesus makes it explicit. Although it is often translated “your faith has made you well,” we could just as easily translate it “your faith has saved you.” In this case, it meant both.

She could feel the physical healing in her body (v. 29) and now Jesus brings spiritual healing to her soul. He pronounces “shalom” or “peace” to her, a term with fantastic significance for the people of Israel. It meant that all was right between her and God – wholeness, unity, a restored relationship. Shalom. He calls her “daughter” – a child of God (something her disease had convinced her she wasn’t).

As the text says, the woman told Jesus the “whole truth.” I imagine “this whole truth” was quite a story. We don’t know where her story began or how long it lasted, but we know where it ended – at the feet of Jesus Christ – testifying of her faith and His redeeming work.

Jesus offers that same shalom, that same salvation to us. And He offers it the same way. The Apostle Paul tells us that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

It’s a promise. And the miracles of Jesus are here to show us that He will make good on that promise.

"The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save." Zeph 3:17

"Who's Counting?"

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and
such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - yet
you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you
are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes"
- James 4:13-14

April 14, 2009. A fine spring morning in Bruning, Nebraska. Population: 221. My grandmother’s funeral was set to begin in 15 minutes. Familiar faces emerged from vehicles ever so briefly before disappearing behind the old church’s front door. So many people to see. So many thoughts and emotions racing through my head as my opportunity to honor my grandmother and glorify my God approached.

I don’t remember what, but I had something on my mind – either a destination to reach or a task to complete – when it happened. I was on my way somewhere when my uncle stepped onto the sidewalk and said “Hello.” He wanted to chat. I didn’t have time. I had a task. I had a destination. It was important, at least at the time. “Hello, how are you?” I asked before indicating we would have to catch up at the reception. He agreed and I returned to the pursuit of my destination.

I can’t tell you whether we talked at the reception or not. There were hundreds of people, dozens of conversations. Frankly, most of the reception is a blur.

However, two things are perfectly clear. The first… I essentially told my uncle that I didn’t have time outside the church that morning. The second… I spoke at his funeral yesterday. May 26, 2009. A cloudy spring afternoon in Bruning, Nebraska. Population: 220.

I didn’t see it coming. No one saw it coming. (Well, almost no one.)

I made a mistake. We all make mistakes. We all put the tyranny of the urgent before the things of true importance sometimes. We all put tasks before people on occasion. After all, there will be time for that later. If there’s one thing there’s always more of, it’s time, right? Right? Wrong. Often there is more time, but not always.

In his book, Hungering Dark, Frederick Buechner writes: “Intellectually, we all know that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever.”

And I would add that “we tend to live as if the lives of those around us would go on forever as well.”

But when death hits close to home, something changes. The way we look at things changes. The way we think about things and people and life changes. At least for a while. At least it should.

King Solomon, the author of the book of Ecclesiastes writes:

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.”

Taking it to heart means that we live in the light of our mortality. That we live in light of the mortality of others. That we realize not only that we will die some day, but that we might die to-day. In light of this fact, how do we live? How do we live in relation to our kids? How do we live in relation to our spouses? How do we live in relation to our God?

In light of this truth, I think we live intentionally. I think we live wisely.

David understood this when he wrote in Psalm 90:

“Teach us to number our days,
that we might get a heart of wisdom.”

How many more days do I have to show my kids the love of their father? How many more days to assure them of the love of their Heavenly Father? How many more days to teach them to live for others, to live for something other, to live with purpose?

Maybe for you it’s not your kids but your grandkids. How many more days do you have to show them what things are really worth living for? How many more days to pass on to them the wisdom you have accumulated through the years? How many more days to just be with them? How many days to leave the kind of legacy you want to leave with them?

Maybe for you, it’s not about kids or grandkids or a spouse or any of that. Maybe it’s about building God’s kingdom here on earth. Or about accomplishing the things He is calling you to do. Serving. Loving. Giving. Leading. Writing. Going. How many more days? How many more times will you say “next year,” until the "next years" run out?

Application… Think of the people you want to impact this week. Write them down. What is one thing you can show, teach or demonstrate to each of those people this week? Think of individuals, come up with a goal, a strategy for reaching the goal and write it down. Then check in a week later and see how you did. This is intentional living. This is wise living.

To live with a heart of wisdom is to live in light of the truth that no one lives forever and that those we love may leave us at any time. Only two things matter for eternity: God and people. Love those you love today, because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Wisdom of the Ages

"Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days."
Job 12:12

I have an exercise for you. Don’t get nervous, it’s not a physical exercise but rather a mental one. I want you to sit back and think for a moment. Ask yourself this question: Of all that there is to be known in this world, how much do I think I know? One helpful way to picture this might be to take a blank sheet of paper. If the surface of the paper represents all that there is to be known, circle the amount of its surface that represents how much you know. Remember, it is all that there is to be known. Humanity, astronomy, history, theology, geography, philosophy, sociology, psychology, literature, etc.

We live in an age in which more knowledge is more accessible than ever, but in the end it only serves to show how little we truly know. I recently watched “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” Based on my performance during this show, my circle would be no bigger than the size of a dime on a standard sheet of paper. If you’re getting ready to make a real big circle, think of the last time you watched “Jeopardy.”

How big is your circle?

Ok, we’re moving into part B of the exercise. I want you to think about all of the really important things you know about life. The things that really matter in this life. What you know about how life works. What you know about what makes people truly happy. What you know about relationships that work and ones that don’t. The things that have surprised you and the things that have disappointed you. And as you think about all of these things that really matter, I want you to consider how much of this you knew at the age of 13. Is there any more confusing age than 13? Ok, what about when you were 20? Or even 30? Some of us can go on… 50? 60?

When it comes to the things that really matter in life, would you trust the most important things to the wisdom you possessed at the age of 13? Or 20? Or even 30? Depending on where you are in life, the answer is likely a resounding, “NO!” to any age significantly less that what you now possess.

I vividly recall a defining moment in my life as it relates to this kind of wisdom. Shortly after college graduation, my girlfriend and I drove 23 hours from Flagstaff, Arizona to Omaha, Nebraska to visit my parents. There was one additional member in our traveling party: a 12 week old German Shorthair puppy named Jake. Jake was cute as a button, but he was hell-bent on wreaking havoc. It wasn't that he was a bad dog, he just had more energy and enthusiasm than he knew what to do with. He had been bred for physical stamina and determination and Jake was short on neither.

The defining moment came within a few hours of our arrival at my parents’ house. You see, Jake was used to being an indoor dog but visiting my parents meant that he would have to adjust to being outside in a yard most of the time. While Jake loved being outside, he really had no interest in being out there alone. He began to bark. And bark. And bark. My father showed patience and waited about 30 minutes before approaching me with some advice. I don’t remember his exact words, I only remember my response. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I had recently graduated with a degree in Psychology. I knew all kinds of things about encouraging and extinguishing behaviors that my dad didn’t know because they don’t teach you those things in business school. I respectfully informed my dad that Jake didn’t need to be punished, he needed to be ignored. If the behavior wasn’t rewarded, it would simply go away.

Jake was 12 weeks old when I visited my parents that Summer. When he was 18 months old I had to buy an electric bark collar to control his barking. Jake figured out how to manipulate the collar. When he was 3 years old, I took him to a dog trainer who was stunned at how determined this dog was to bark. It took smacking him on the rear with wooden dowels before he would stop. That dog barked until he went to his death several years later and, to be honest, I heard him barking in my head for at least a month after he was gone.

What went wrong? Somehow my training in psychology had failed me. It failed to account for the fact that this dog simply loved to bark. The joy and pleasure of barking was his reward. What psychology didn’t account for, the wisdom of my father would have – if only I had listened. Since Jake’s puppyhood, I have raised three other dogs to maturity. More significantly, my wife and I are in the process of raising four young children. None of them bark. I have decided to trust the wisdom of my father rather than the wisdom of the laboratory when it comes to discipline.

It was pretty silly of me to trust my wisdom at the age of 22 rather than my father’s wisdom at the age of 59. Sometimes we choose to learn the hard way. In my case, I spent the next 9 years of Jake’s life reaping the consequences of my decision. By the time I had chosen to do something different, it was too late – his behavioral patterns were as fixed as concrete. I just thank God that I learned this hard lesson on a dog rather than one of my kids.

My dad is 73 now and still much wiser than I am. Over the years, I have discovered three things about him: (1) he shares his wisdom out of love and concern for others, (2) his concern is shown the most on the things that matter the most, and (3) he is rarely wrong.

Whether you have an earthly father as loving and wise as mine or not, the fact of the matter is that you do have a heavenly Father that displays the same concern about the things that matter the most. Unlike my earthly father, your heavenly Father is never wrong. He understands the way you think because He formed your mind. He understands what ultimately brings satisfaction and what ultimately brings pain because He created you. He knows what your purpose in life is because he authored that purpose from the beginning.

God’s Word, the Bible, is full of the things God wants you to know about living, about being satisfied and about having a purpose. It contains the wisdom of the ages because it was authored by the One who was before the ages.

Truth be told, I don’t want to depend on the wisdom I possessed at 13, 20, or 30 years old. And as I look back on how much I thought I knew back then and consider how much I still don’t know today… how much experience and wisdom I still lack this much farther down the road, I don’t want to trust the wisdom of my present age either.

Knowing that God is much like my earthly father in his love and concern for me, ultimately I want to depend on the wisdom that surpasses any age. The wisdom that comes down from the One who knows me and who knows you and who knows Himself better than anyone else. I want to walk in the wisdom of my heavenly Father.

Two more questions and one assignment:
1. Why are you hesitant to trust the wisdom of your heavenly Father? Is it a heart issue? Or a head issue? Do you doubt that He truly cares for you?
2. In what areas of life are you ignoring the wisdom of your heavenly Father? Relationships? Finances? Forgiveness? What will the consequences be?
3. Pick one thing that you can do this week to exercise trust in your Father’s wisdom.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."

Proverbs 3:5-8