by Alaina | Apr 11, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6 ASV
Last week was Easter Sunday. Leading up to it I was reminded of a sermon by our pastor from a little while ago; he was talking about prayer and fasting. When was the last time we prayed and fasted over something? An issue, a situation, a health scare- when was the last time we sacrificed in order to focus on bringing something before God. This is something we are repeatedly told to do, yet how many of us practice this discipline? Why do we not practice it regularly? Are we scared of the answer? I was reminded of the story of Esther in the Bible and how she prayed and fasted for God to save her people and give her strength to go before the King and ask for them to be spared. The end result turned out favorably for Esther but not so for everyone who prayed and fasted in the Bible.
It was the night before the crucifixion. Jesus took 3 of his closest disciples out to the garden of Gethsemane to pray through the night. Even being the Divine Son of God there were still things Jesus didn’t want to do, and He did not want to hang on that cross. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to know what a grisly death was so soon to befall you. When they get to the garden Jesus leaves the 3 disciples to go off to another area of the garden to pray privately. He prays so fervently that there are little beads of blood, rather than sweat, running down his face because He is so stressed. (Incidentally sweating blood is something that can occur only when the body is under such stress that the body can barely take it.)
Jesus pauses praying for a minute and goes to check on his disciples, and what does He find? They are asleep! How could they?? Talk about having friends you can count on! He wakes them up, rebukes them and then goes back to praying. They didn’t know what was coming, But Jesus did. He prays this cup pass from Him, but not His will but the Father’s will be done.
We all know the end of this story. Jesus does have to endure a grisly death so that we can live eternally with him. Jesus plead with His Father and still had to endure the cross for us. This didn’t mean that His prayers were wasted, they drew Him close to the Father when He needed it most.
This is something we all can learn from- I know I certainly can! It isn’t about the outcome with prayer and fasting. It is about being faithful to the commands we are given and that even if life doesn’t go the way we want it to,being faithful to our God who is always faithful to us- even to the point of sending his Son to suffer on a cross so that we might live eternally with Him.
END
by Alaina | Mar 28, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Matthew 21:9
I grew up in a little house on the banks of the Allgheny River, in rural Western Pennsylvania. It had a been our family camp until my parents decided to escape city life and we moved up there full time. I loved it. Still do. I spent long summer days growing up reading in the warm sun on our deck that faces the river. In the middle of summer the water level would go down and a small sand bar would appear partway out into the water, would drag my beach chair and book down to the river and sit on that sandbar and read for hours. Then I would paddle around in the water, floating on my back and think that I had to be one of the luckiest girls in the world.
Now instead of living in a valley by a river, I live on the top of a hill, in a house that faces east and west, surrounded by a few neighbors, woods and horse pastures. I look out my sliding glass door early in the morning and watch as the sun crests the far off hills and paints the sky with all the glory of the morning colors, I look at the horses slowly eating grass as the morning fog burns off and I think, surely I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world. Then in the evening I get to watch as the sun again colors the sky to the west as the sun set and I ask; how do I get to enjoy such splendor every day?
I love to travel and to see different places, to learn about the history of different cultures, but I’m always glad to walk through the doors of my home. I love being in the place that is my home. But this world isn’t my real home, not my forever home— it’s easy for me to forget this.
Today is Palm Sunday, the day we commorate Jesus’s coming through Jerusalem on a young donkey and the people crying out “Hosanna, Hosanna!” how it must have broken Jesus’s heart. Today the people loved Him and praised Him, but He knew this wouldn’t last. I can’t imagine knowing that the very people who were welcoming you would also be the ones to call for your tortuous death in just a few days. How did He manage to show grace to them? `
Perhaps it helped Jesus knew the end was in sight, He knew that in a week He would be returning to His real home— Heaven. For Him this earth was never His home, and perhaps that helped Him endure the horrible events that were to come.
This is just one small lesson of many for us to remember on days when life is so very hard— it gives us hope. But this is also a lesson for us to remember on days when life is good too. If this world can feel like, home, if the days here can be good, yes many of them even great; filled with joy, and laughter, and fun; how much better will our real home be?
by Alaina | Mar 21, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NIV
We have a Red Lab named Rosie- let me rephrase that: we have the most adorable dog on the planet, her name is Rosie, and we love her very much. My husband and I may or may not talk to her more than we talk to each other; but hey to each their own!
One of the cutest things about her is that she has a toy rope that she is obsessed with- if she isn’t laying at our feet then she can usually be found chewing on her rope.
If we see her walking around without her rope and we ask her,”Rosie, where is your rope?!” She stops, looks at us, looks around and then goes running off to find her rope. Sometimes it takes her a couple minutes to find but typically she comes running back with a “smile” on her sweet face, rope in mouth ready to play! Occasionally though, we see her laying down trying to grab it from under the couch- her precious rope just out of reach, then we have to get down on hands and knees and help slide it out for her. If we don’t do this she will be there for a very long time, perhaps taking a break to come up to us and try to lead us over to where the rope is stuck. She does this, continually, trying to get our attention until we realize that she needs our help! She will try to grab it but once she sees she can’t she comes to us for help liberating her rope!
I think our journey of faith can be much the same. God will plant a passion in our hearts, leading us on a path, but that doesn’t mean the path will always be smooth. We will run into roadblocks and try as we might we may not be able to get around it and solve the problem on our own. I notice though, at least for me, even though I know that I can do nothing without Him I end up trying and trying to do the thing He has set before me, banging my head off the wall, trying to do it on my own. Ultimately I have to remember who placed these desires in My heart to begin with. He never intended for me to do it by myself! Just as my dog needs our help to retrieve her toy, so we also need God’s help to overcome any obstacle in our lives. We try so often to solve things on our own and in our own way, when if we would only surrender sooner and ask God for help He would come to our rescue and deliver us.
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by Alaina | Mar 14, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders.
Psalm 119:18 The Message
Moses parting the Red Sea has always been one of my favorite Bible stories. It is amazing. Can you even imagine what it must have been like??? The Israelites are finally allowed to leave the land in which they had been enslaved for years. I like to imagine the excitement bubbling in the air as they made their way out of Egypt. They had been told such a day would come and now finally it had! But, of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. Pharaoh changed his mind and the Egyptian army comes after them as they are camped on the edge of the Red Sea. They start to panic—knowing they will all be killed or taken captive once again. Then God works a miracle. Moses stretches his hand out over the water and the water parts—an enormous wall on either side and, miracle of miracles, dry land appears in the middle! The wagons will be able to come through!!! Everyone makes it to the other side and just as the Egyptians are trying the same trick, the water comes crashing down.
We all know this story; indeed, most people who are not even Christ followers know this passage. It is hard to miss. But there is another passage like it that we do miss. After making it out of Egypt, safely crossing the Red Sea, and after wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites are finally allowed to enter the promised land. For them to do so, God must part the water of the Jordan River for Joshua just like He did for Moses all those years ago. (Joshua 3) A second body of water was parted! We miss it though. We have heard about it being done before so we hardly take time to notice this second parting of a large body of water. We are numb to the miracle.
Why is this? Why is it so easy for us to overlook this miracle? And if we overlook this one, how many other hidden miracles do we miss? How many miracles happen in my life that I miss or take for granted? What day-to-day events do we dismiss as nothing when a miracle actually happened right before our eyes? The car that was speeding around the bend on the wrong side of the road that should have hit us. The medical scare that the doctors re-examine and are unable to find. All of these are miracles. But we dismiss them as nothing. We are skilled drivers and averted the accident. It was a misdiagnosis and that’s why the doctor couldn’t find anything. How many opportunities to honor and glorify God do we miss out on by discounting the miracles He puts in our path on a daily basis?
Yes, I know miracles are considered miracles because they aren’t supposed to happen all the time—or are they? The definition of the word miracle is: “a surprise and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” (From Oxford Languages) What if instead of dismissing miracles as something God only does in the Bible, and maybe once per century now, what if we reveled in the event that turned out surprisingly good for no earthly reason we can credit. What if we looked at everything, not through the lens of what is comprehensible to our human brains, but rather through the lens of heaven, seeing all the times and chances that He protected us from threats we didn’t even know were there?
by Alaina | Mar 7, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, ”you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42
Martha. I can’t help but feel bad for her. If you don’t know the story—Jesus had gone with His disciples to His friends Mary and Martha’s house who were also the sisters of Lazarus. While there, Martha was busy trying to make sure everything was ready for her guests: preparing a large meal for 13 men (not an easy feat in any day let alone in Bible times!) and generally running around keeping the house tidy and welcoming so that her guests would feel comfortable.
Mary, on the other hand, had plunked herself down right at the feet of Jesus and was hanging on His every word and not doing a thing to help Martha in the kitchen. If Martha was anything like me, I imagine her casting side long glances at Mary and grumbling to the servants saying, “We talked about this . . . Mary said she was going to be better at helping this time.” And then Mary wasn’t and Martha had had enough.
When there’s a break in the action, Martha goes to Jesus—she figures He would be sympathetic; Jesus has always been just and seems to favor the underdog. I can just imagine Martha saying, “Jesus, will you please ask Mary to help me? I have been so busy preparing a nice dinner for you, and Mary said she would help, but she hasn’t. She’ll listen to you if you tell her to help me. Please tell her!” But, much to Martha’s dismay, Jesus defends Mary! Oh the injustice of it! He does have a point though—the work will always be there. He would only be with them for a little bit. I imagine Martha sighing, putting the last few touches on the meal, and then coming to sit by Mary and having one of those visits where you totally relax and lose track of time, enjoying the company of friends and family.
I wonder how glad Martha was a few years later that she did that—when Jesus had been crucified and she knew their days of long chats were gone for good. She probably never obsessed over all the details when she had company over again, learning that time spent with company was what was important.
This story reminds me of an event in my life several years ago. It had been a crazy, busy season: work was crazy, there were extra events eating up my weekends, and I was frantically getting ready to leave on a mission trip in less than 2 weeks! It was Father’s Day weekend. I was so overwhelmed. I remember discussing with my parents the possibility of moving our Father’s Day get-together with them and my grandparents so that I could check a few more things off my to-do list. Ultimately I relaxed a little bit and we proceeded with our plans for the day. I spent several wonderful hours really relaxing with my parents and grandparents and we had a great visit. Then, less than 2 days later, my grandfather died. I was so grateful I had one last really good visit.
We never know when the last visit will be. We aren’t privy to how much time anyone gets on this earth. We look back and wonder how Martha could have ever chosen housework over sitting at the feet of Jesus, but Martha didn’t know the end of the story like we do. We can’t live our lives expecting the worst and in scarcity, grabbing at any opportunity to see loved ones out of fear that we may never see them again; but, we can live with eternity in mind—filtering our decisions for today through the lens of what will matter in eternity.
by Alaina | Feb 28, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,”
1Thessalonians 4:11 NIV
Ambitions. We are all about them in our current society. Everywhere I turn I see advertisements about chasing your dreams, building that big 7- figure business, to be a face everybody recognizes, and to go, go go. That has never sat right with me, I have never aspired to fame. What about you? What if that fancy life never felt right to you either? I’m tired of the message that if we aren’t doing everything we can to build the biggest business we can, that if we aren’t leading massive non profits, then we are then wasting our potential. I am tired of it even as I partially agree with it.
I agree that God has packed so much potential into each one of us that we will never reach the end of it in our lifetime. I believe that subtle restlessness so many people feel and ignore is not a sign of being discontented,(though of course it can be!), but rather a sign that there is something, even a subtle change that could be made in one’s life.
But. I also believe that not all of us were designed to build huge businesses, travel all over the world, and be gone from home more often than we are home. Maybe that is your calling, but it isn’t mine. I heard the verse from 1 Thessalonians 4:11 when I was probably around 12 and it struck a chord within me. It is my ambition to lead a quiet life.
Ambitions are great, we need people who aspire to build big businesses, we need the people who talk to large audiences and inspire thousands, and we need the people who only ever aspire to impact life in their community.
You see a quiet life is nothing to be ashamed of, and a quiet life does not mean that we are not working with everything we have to further God’s kingdom. Instead I believe it means participating in a small group, opening your home to others, going out of your way to be a support for someone who has no one else to support them. It means helping out with the youth group, making meals for the family that just had a baby, visiting the elderly, and helping out the homeless in your city.
You see if we all were called to the big things in life there would be no one left to do the little things. My ambition has been to lead a quiet life, what about you? Are you restless? What is the source? Might you need to lean in a little closer to home and start serving your own community in seemingly insignificant ways?
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