Hammer on Anvil '

Hey, there. My name is Sarah. I'm a graduate of Missouri State University. I have two brothers, one sister, and a stepbrother and stepsister. I also have two nieces and three nephews, so far. I like to knit and crochet, go to concerts, collect Pez dispensers, and watch TV and movies. Watching bad movies with my best friends is one of my favorite things to do. Most of what I write is short and sweet, like me. I also make bad jokes.

I'm working through a Bible study with an amazing group of Jesus-loving folks. Seriously, I adore these people. We meet in the home of the teacher and his wife. I love everything about their home...the aesthetics, the coziness, the evidence of toddlers found in every corner of a room, and the very foundation on which it was built -- Jesus.

We are a diverse group of various ethnicity, churches, and backgrounds yet have everything in common in Jesus. We represent a people who have stepped out in obedience to answer God's call to the Harvest (Matthew 9:37).  Jesus calls his people to be disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Our time together is rich, God-breathed, and sacred. The Bible says that when two or more gather together in the name of Jesus, He is also present (Matthew 18:20).

Several weeks into this study now and we have found ourselves in the deep waters of the Scriptures (aka Holy Bible, the Word, the Gospel). God's Holy Word -- God-breathed, sacred, mysterious, revelation and Truth. Hebrews 4 says that the Word of God is alive and active. Amen. We are learning how to share God's Word with others in a more authentic, personal, and loving way. It is evident that when sharing the Gospel with others it is imperative to interlace our own experience of Christ's power in our lives with the Scripture truths.

For me, sharing my past struggles helps me relate to the other person. It lets her know that she is not alone in her pain. My vulnerability encourages her to be vulnerable before the Lord because He is a safe place to find refuge. He is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17). This kind of relational evangelism is displayed for us in the life and teachings of Jesus. He is a personal Savior.

Jesus showed us how to share our scars with others in a very literal, authentic, and practical way. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples. He greeted them, "Peace be with you!" (for Jesus, the Prince of Peace who had paid for our sins and conquered death, was now with them) Then he showed the disciples his scarred hands and side.

Just like that.

His scars (stripes) on full display. Oh my soul, I want to be that type of Christian! What an impact we could have on the lost if we all lived so transparently. People need to know that even though we will suffer injustice in this life...painful, unbearable, hurts...Jesus has overcome. The worst of pains...even death...will be only a scar if we surrender it all to the power and authority of Jesus Christ. In Him alone we find a hope and a future.


My paraphrase of John 20:19-29...

"Peace is with you now for I am the Prince of Peace! I have gone through the worst torture and death for you. So what may seem so unbearable and heartbreaking in your life today, know that I have conquered it. I am the Resurrection and the Life. You will live beyond the pain of this circumstance. See my hands...my side? There is hope. Disciples...my dear, doubting Thomas...believe in me, your resurrected Savior. There is hope."


Ask God to reveal to you who needs to see your scars. Relieve them of their loneliness and doubting. Lead them to the Gospel of Truth...to a hope found only in the Savior Jesus Christ.

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”-Luke 2: 10-12

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

This Sunday, I will have the wonderful privilege of singing praise to my Lord in my church. As I have prepared for this event, I struggled, as always is the case, with choosing the right piece. I want my choice to have meaning for me personally, but also to translate for the congregation who will witness. 

Throughout the Christmas season, I have fought to keep my eyes where they belong: on Jesus. Being bombarded with the cultural version of the holiday on TV, radio, and nearly everywhere I go makes it difficult to focus. There has never been less of a struggle to buy into the commercialization of Jesus's birth, but it's challenging to find peace with all the noise.

As I have walked through this time, I once again have returned to the idea that Jesus is not only important in December. He's not only important on that one weekend in the spring. He is the most important thing ever-every day of the year. My whole life is about Him. When I fail to remember that, all aspects of my life are negatively affected. 

My choice of music for this Sunday is a reflection of that truth. It's my reminder to myself not to let go of the wonder I experience when I think of all the miraculous things about Jesus. Here are a few of the lyrics; I hope they serve as a reminder to you as well.

In the Old Testament story of the exodus of the Israelites lies a retelling of a miraculous event. God redeemed His people and broke them out of bondage to Pharoah. He led them away from Egypt and even saved them from a last-ditch attempt by Pharoah to reclaim them. But even these great miracles and the signs that came before them don't carry the significance of God's provision of manna.

This was not a greater miracle than those that came before it. Manna was, however, a direct test by God of His people's trust in Him. This was the Lord's teaching moment in regard to relationship. Each morning, the people were to gather enough manna for ONE day only, except for the day before the Sabbath. That first week must have been tough.

Exodus 16:20 recounts the people's first response to the one-day rule: 'But some of them didn’t listen to Moses. They kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and smelled bad.' Can you imagine that first Friday (the Hebrew Sabbath was on what we now call Saturday)? The one time they tried to store up food, it went completely rancid overnight. Now the Lord was telling them to keep leftovers. Talk about stepping out on a limb!

Security is measured very differently today than in generations past. Sure, we still worry about safety from physical harm (criminals, natural disasters and the like) but there are so many other areas in our lives where we can become fearful of hurt. Divorce, identity theft, and bankruptcy are all in the forefront of our society, and the terror of "it could happen to me" wreaks havoc on our stress levels. Our security today is measured in dollars and watchdog services as we watch marriage become a disposable commodity.

The miracle of manna reminds us that security is not found in our savings account or our super-secret passwords. God is the only reliable watchdog in our lives. The catch is this: God doesn't always provide us with tomorrow's needs today. Sometimes, when our circumstances are uncertain and we feel the most fear, it is then that God is saying to us, "Trust Me."

The Lord doesn't promise an easy life. Some of the troubled times we face are God's tests. What our Heavenly Father does promise is that He will never give us more than we can handle, and that He will never leave us. That's the kind of security we can take to the bank.

Can you smell it? Everywhere the air reeks of motivation and willpower. The gyms are packed. The bakery is slow because diets are just beginning after the holidays. What is that rampant aroma? January!

In ancient times, the Romans had a god called Janus (or Ianus), who was god of doorways, gates, and so the god over beginnings and transitions. When he is depicted, it is always with two heads, one looking forward and one back. (see right). It is for him that the month of January is appropriately named.

After having ushered in a New Year, we look back on the previous with.... regret or contentment? relief or longing? Then we look forward to the year to come with hope possibly. Maybe you feel something else. I will not encourage anyone to make or not make resolutions. If anything I'm looking forward to people breaking their diets so the bakery gets busy again. What I do suggest is to take the time this month, the month of Janus, the month of looking back and forward, to consider your own life.

As I ended last week's post, what do you see when you look at "The Wanderer"?

I've been poring over some verses in Jeremiah this week, wondering how God wants me to respond to them. As I read Mike Johns' blog 'drifting', I was once again blessed at being witness to the way He works in our lives. So, without any foreknowledge of what Mike was planning to write; I'd like to submit a follow-up to his words.

Jeremiah 3:12-14a
"Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. Tell them, 'Come back to me, wayward Israel,' says the Lord. 'I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. For I am merciful,' says the Lord. 'I will not be angry with you forever. However, you must confess that you have done wrong, and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God. You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree, and have not obeyed my commands,' says the Lord. "Come back to me, my wayward sons," says the Lord, "for I am your true master."

I love the tone of these words. There is so much love in this message from God to Israel. It doesn't matter to Him how far they've drifted, or for how long. He only wants them back, in His arms. The message is one of pleading: "I won't even be mad. Just don't stay away!"

It's the same with us today. We drift away from time to time. We allow ourselves to get distracted, and we slide into sin without even realizing it. Despite this tendency, God loves us. He knows we're going to wander off and get lost. That's why He pursues us. He shouts our names, calling us back to Him, and all He asks in return is that we confess that we've let ourselves get off track. That we acknowledge we have hurt Him, and ask for Him to forgive us.

God is the parent of a billion prodigal sons. "All of us like sheep have gone astray, seeking our own way. We've left the shepherd's care again." Like the father in Jesus' story in Luke, our Father shows His delight when we return to Him. "Paddle back, my beloved son."

So I've pretty much figured out that I can't write a short post. It takes me a while to get from the question on the table around the subject to the resolution God reveals to me. My husband would say that I just like to make short stories long. Maybe that's true, and maybe there will come a point where I'm all "narrated" out. For any of you wishing for something shorter, keep paying attention--but don't hold your breath. :) - Misti


What constitutes a trial in the Christian life? How serious does our trouble have to be before we can acknowledge and suffer it without feeling like selfish fools? What level of torment earns the right to be referred to as "the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23: 4)?

Recently, I've been feeling the pressure of some trials. Work has been extra stressful, my house is a mess, finances are tight, my kids are transitioning into grown-ups, and I've just recently heard that someone I love may be moving pretty far away from me.

As I've struggled with the increasing weight of these things, I've also been experiencing another layer of stress: Can I really justify feeling pressed down by this stuff? I'm alive and healthy and so is my family; I have a roof over my head and a job to pay for it. There are people in the world suffering with cancer, struggling with addictions or living on the street. Nevertheless, these things feel like trials to me, and realizing my life could be much worse does not remove the sadness and frustration I feel.

So what do we do with the "little" trials of life? Do we have to try to handle them alone because they're not as big as other people's problems? The Bible's answer is "No!". "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" Matt. 6:26. I am so glad God cares about birds! It reassures us all that He is a God of details. Actually, all around us are clues to this aspect of His nature; the intricacies of a spider web, the variety of colors of fall leaves. Just think about all the minute details that have to come together for our bodies to work properly!

God cares about all the things that we face. So, what we do with trials, big and small, is that we put on our boots, pick up our backpacks and walk through them. No matter the size of the trial, though, we can't do it alone.

Arriving home from a meeting the other night, I found my husband watching "Apollo 13". I sat down just in time to catch the scene where Tom Hanks' character looks out the window of the space capsule and sees the earth so far away. He holds his thumb up to the window and closes one eye. As the audience is granted his perspective, the enormous earth seems to be completely blocked out by his tiny (in comparison) thumb.

Perspective is the key to peace. God is bigger than anything we will ever encounter, but focusing on trials can make them seem larger in comparison. My favorite podcaster, Brian Hardin, (Daily Audio Bible) spoke some words straight from God to me this morning. He said, "Hopefully you are having a great day, but even if your day has gone in a way that you were not planning, this is the time to center ourselves around God's Word. This is the thing; this is like a game-changer." God's Word helps us gain proper perspective. When we focus on Him, we realize, like Paul did, that our "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18. It isn't as easy as it sounds, but it is the most important thing we can do when facing trials.

Besides, Paul was beaten, imprisoned, exiled and the like, and Jesus suffered on the cross and died for us, so what do we have to complain about anyway? :)

Ivan Denisovich Shukov is a character in a novel by Russian author Alexsander Solzhenitsyn. Denisovich was a laborer in a work camp in post World War 2 Russia that was taken in part from some of the real life experiences that Solzhenitsyn had himself while living in the Russian gulags and work camps. We get to see one single day in the life of this prisoner during the course of the book. Nothing extreme, nothing extraordinary happens on this day, but it certainly gives a person a good idea about what it must have been like if only on the very good days, to put it mildly he doesn't live an easy life even on these "good days".
Towards the end of the book one of the other prisoners, Alyosha, observes Denisovich at the end of a long day offer a sort of generic prayer,
" Glory be to Thee, O Lord. Another day over. Thank you I'm not spending tonight in the cells. Here it is still bearable."
…
Alyosha heard Shukov's whispered prayer, and, turning to him: "There you are, Ivan Denisovich, your soul is begging to pray. Why don't you give it its freedom?"
…
"Well, Alyosha," he said with a sigh, "it's this way. Prayers are like those appeals of ours. Either they don't get through or they're returned with 'rejected' scrawled across 'em."
Alyosha goes on to encourage him, "But, Ivan Denisovich, it's because you pray too rarely and badly at that. Without really trying. That's why your prayers stay unanswered. One must never stop praying. If you have real faith you tell a mountain to move and it will move…"
Ivan retorts that even with his faith and praying that the political turmoil and war still found Alyosha in the same work camp as himself trying to imply that his own prayers weren't effective at all. What good has it gained him if it could not save him from the same fate? Alyosha replies that that is not what they prayed for, but instead simply for our daily bread.
"Our ration, you mean?" asked Shukov
…
"Ivan Denisovich, you shouldn't pray to get parcels, or for extra stew, not for that. Things that man puts a high price on are vile in the eyes of Our Lord. We must pray about things of the spirit--that the Lord Jesus should remove the scum of anger from our hearts…"
Ivan goes on to talk about the hypocrisies and corruption of his old home town priest and how horrible of a person this priest was.
"Why are you talking to me about priests?…It's because their faith is unstable that they're not in prison."
Ivan continues that he's not really against God, but why should anyone be filled with the idea of paradise or hell. Why do you take us for fools? That even still however much Alyosha were to pray that it doesn't shorten his term in the work camp, that he is still very much here in the same condition as himself.
"Oh, you mustn't pray for that either," said Alyosha, horrified. "Why do you want freedom? In freedom your last grain of faith will be choked with weeds. You should rejoice that you're in prison. Here you have time to think about your soul. As the apostle Paul wrote: 'Why all these tears? Why are you trying to weaken my resolution? For my part I am ready not merely to be bound, but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.'"
Shukov gazed at the celiing in silence. Now he didn't know either whether he wanted freedom or not. At first he'd longed for it. Every night he'd counted the days of his stretch--how many had passed, how many were coming. And then he'd grown bored with counting. And then it became clear that men like him wouldn't ever be allowed to return home, that they'd be exiled. And whether his life would be any better there than here--who could tell?
Freedom meant one thing to him--home.
Alyosha was speaking the truth. His voice and his eyes left no doubt that he was happy in prison.
"You see, Alyosha," Shukov explained to him, "somehow it works out all right for you: Jesus Christ wanted you to sit in prison and so you are--sitting there for His sake. But for whose sake am I here? Because we weren't ready for war in forty-one? For that? But was that my fault?
They're interrupted for a time, but then Ivan continues shortly there after. - Alyosha returned. Impractical, that's his trouble. Makes himself nice to everyone, but doesn't know how to do favors that get paid back.
Denisovich allows the distraction to jolt him out of introspection and writes off what Alyosha had to say because he thinks his impracticality discredits the message. He lets back in the realities of his everyday habits and struggles. Granted these are genuinely what he must face each day, but the message of something greater beyond these toils he cannot bring himself to hope for. He fails to recognize that Alyosha's hope in Christ is the most practical thing of all. "Exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful"-GKC
Has our freedom cost us our souls? No one has it truly easy, but for instance relative to those in the gulags and work camps certainly our lives are quite easy. Has our easy living cost us something we didn't even realize we were paying such a high price for? Our constant distractions, busy lives, material possession; have they lessened our focus and our attention on the truly important teachings of Christ?
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”