The Hero: Seeing Jesus in Infinity War and in the stories around us

The lights flicker in the empty train station. A man has fallen, while the woman beside him pants as she faces their two mysterious attackers. They have put up a good fight, but they are almost spent. It's only a matter of seconds before their enemies kill them.

A whistle blows, and a train whizzes by. The four people squint; is that a figure in the shadows, its image flashing between the train cars?

It is. As soon as the train is gone, Captain America steps into the light.

The audience erupts into cheers—they can't help it! This hero is beloved, and his timing couldn't be more perfect. He strides in and deals some well-aimed blows that send the enemies crawling.

I've watched this scene twice so far, and every time, tears follow. Something stirs within me as I see elements of the real Hero: Jesus Christ. Our story, The Story, is about Him, and He doesn't fit into our molds. Yet we so easily forget and assume that we are the main characters.

This mistake comes from forgetting who Jesus is. We see this in the Gospels. The Jews didn't recognize their Messiah, not because they weren't looking, but because they were looking for something that He wasn't: a warrior who would overthrow their physical oppressors. Even some who loved Jesus thought He was just a great prophet. Many walked and talked with Jesus without realizing who He was!

How much more might we fail to see Him?

Jesus is the Hero, fully God and fully man. If you ever wonder how different a cult, religion, or worldview is from Christianity, find out what that belief system says about Jesus. It might sound pretty good at first, but if it denies Christ's true identity, it's displacing Jesus as the Hero.

He calls Himself “the cornerstone” for good reason. The whole Story rests on Him.

I have had some good conversations about Jesus with a friend. He loves Jesus—or thinks he does. We have discussed faith and agree on a lot, but this friend denies that Jesus should be Lord. He can't accept that crucial detail, and he lives in fear as he tries to be the hero himself.

Even if we recognize Jesus as the Hero, our ideas of Him are often inaccurate. Jesus may have emptied Himself to put on flesh, but that doesn't mean that He steps into our perfect little boxes. He is God! He is supposed to stump us! Our faith is reasonable, but that doesn't mean that the infinite God of the universe has to always make sense to our puny brains.

Recently, a Muslim friend showed us a YouTube video of a former Christian who had converted to Islam. This convert had tried to convince Muslims of the Trinity's plausibility.

“God is like an egg,” the man argued.“He has a shell, egg white, and a yolk, but He is all one.”

“Then what if you have a double yolk?” His Muslim contenders asked.

So the Christian tried again: “God is like water. He is liquid, solid, and gas.”

“But then He couldn't be all three at once,” the Muslim apologists argued back.

With arguments like this, the man's “faith” broke. He converted to Islam because he couldn't come up with a small, concrete analogy about an infinite God. There are better analogies out there, but the video made me want to laugh. 

If we could reduce God and His mysteries to a petty analogy, wouldn't He be a lot less great?

Jesus didn't come to make God more understandable. He came to turn our thinking upside down—or really, right-side up. People didn't listen to Jesus and say, “I get God now.” Instead, they heard Jesus talk about feasting on His flesh and declared, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60, ESV)

Recently, after discussing theology with some Christian friends, I found myself reading the Bible to find supporting evidence for my side of the discussion. But the Spirit convicted me of this. We need to read God's Word to know who God really is, even if it means pushing past our preconceived ideas of Him and how we think He works. In the end, knowing Jesus is all that matters, and I'm pretty sure that, like in the book of Job, God is going to show up in the end and tell us that we were all wrong about Him in some way.

Finally, even when we start to get who Jesus is and that He is bigger than our ideas of Him, we forget that our Story is about Him. In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan says that we are like extras in a movie. The back of our heads may appear for a second, but Jesus is the star of the film. But for some reason, we act like the movie is about us.

We're wrong.

The Scriptures point to Jesus (Luke 24:27). “[F]rom Him and through Him and to Him are all things”; no wonder we can't know His mind or expect to be the star! (Romans 11:33-36)

God is setting the stage. No matter how bad things get, everything is building to that moment when we'll see that dark form flickering behind the train. Everything is building to that moment when the Hero will step into the light. And when Jesus shows up for the final throw-down, no one will doubt who the real Hero is. As He descends from heaven with a cry of command and takes His throne in glory, all eyes will be opened, and we will all recognize Him (1 Thess. 4:16; Matt. 25:31).

Better than Captain America, our Hero will return to make everything right. And when He does, perhaps we will put our hands over our mouths. Perhaps we will burst into cheers and tears of joy. Or perhaps we will fall down at His feet at last.

Click here to listen to Andrew Peterson's song, "Rise Up"

Rise Up

Every stone that makes you stumble

And cuts you when you fall

Every serpent here that strikes your heel

To curse you when you crawl

The king of love one day will crush them all

And every sad seduction, and every clever lie

Every word that woos and wounds the pilgrim, children of the sky

The king of love will break them by and by

And you will rise up in the end

You will rise up in the end

I know the night is cruel

But the day is coming soon

When you will rise up in the end

If a thief had come to plunder

When the children were alone

If he ravaged every daughter

And murdered every son

Would not the father see this?

Would not his anger burn?

Would he not repay the tyrant

In the day of his return?

Await, await the day of his return

Cause he will rise up in the end

He will rise up in the end

I know you need a savior

He's patient in his anger

But he will rise up in the end

And when the stars come crashing to the sea

When the high and mighty fall down on their knee

We'll see the sun descending in the sky

The chains of death will fall around your feet

And you will rise up in the end

You will rise up in the end

You will rise up in the end

I know you will

Hearing God's Voice: so I had a dream about who I should marry...?

If you're interested in hearing the voice of God, you should check out Robert Morris's series called "Frequency." Or you can start watching it on YouTube.

Listen to "Frequency."

Watch "Frequency."

God used this series to show me how to listen to God when He was telling me who I should marry. I also learned that, as exciting as it is when He speaks through dreams, that isn't always His first choice when communicating on who our future spouse should be.

First, God speaks in many ways. He speaks through...

• dreams
• visions (Joel 2:28)
• people
• nature
• songs
• stories
• sermons
• books
• thoughts

But most importantly, He speaks through the Bible. Nothing God says will ever counteract what He already told us in His written Word. He is still speaking, but His character doesn't change.

"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (Numbers 23:19)

Concerning Dreams and Visions:

 I believe that in accordance with Joel 2:28, God can communicate that way. If He did it with Joseph in the New Testament, He can do it with us today, especially since we have the Holy Spirit. He has communicated to me that way a few times, and it was pretty clear that it was Him when He did. However, I only knew these dreams were from God because they lined up with His Word and they were confirmed later to be so.

For example, over a year ago, I dreamed that a couple I knew was going to have a baby. I hadn't seen this couple for some time and had very little interaction with them. I had no idea they even wanted children or that they had been told they couldn't, but someone encouraged me to share the dream with them and they were very blessed when I did.

Three months later, this couple found out they were pregnant. Today, their little boy is alive and well.

Clearly, that was God, not me. 

Other times, I have had dreams that brought comfort and taught me something about God's care and character. They also lined up with His Word and were just what I needed to hear to grow closer to Him. Because of this, I'm sure those were from Him too.

However, I caution everyone from acting too quickly on dreams about who you should marry. 

Not that God can't speak on this subject through dreams. He can. He probably has. I'd love to hear from anyone who married someone they had a dream about, assuming he/she wasn't already interested in that person before the dream.

And that's just it. The human heart is deceitful, or at least, easily deceived. How can we know that the dream is really from God? 

I say this because I had dreams about who I was going to marry someday too, and I believed them. They were shockingly similar dreams, actually, and I was convinced that I didn't invent them myself. 

Why did I think these dreams were from God?

I believed these dreams were God-sent because I didn't believe I was interested in those people before I had the dream.  If anything, I thought those people might even dislike me, so I assumed all the more that the dream was from God, not me.

I say "people" because this happened more than once about three years apart from each other. 

And so I waited, confident that one day, that person would most likely be my husband someday.

Looking back, I am so glad I was wrong. But I recognize three things:

1. As much as I THOUGHT those dreams were from God and not part of my subconscious, I was most certainly wrong. 12-10 years later, I can see specific, seemingly unrelated events in my life around those dreams that increased the likeliness of my being interested in that person. 

For example, I had convinced myself for years that I didn't like different people because I was convinced that one of my friends liked that person. The instant I got the hint that my friend might not be interested in that person after all, presto! I had a dream from "out of the blue." 

And I was convinced that this was a coincidence, somehow. 

Psychologists would probably talk about repression and stuff, and they'd probably be right. I repressed a lot of feelings then, and crushes were one of them. 

For crying out loud, I never breathed more than a whisper of my crushes to my own mother (who was my best friend) until I was 20 years old. 

And by the way, when I did tell her, I was super glad and liberated. Practicing openness with someone trustworthy frees you to go to your darkest corners with the knowledge that Love is always with you and everything will be okay. That's when growth happens. This openness is also great preparation for marriage and helps us learn how to be honest with ourselves too, which I clearly had a problem with. Thus, honesty with ourselves and others really does help ward off self-deception, as well as regular deception.

2. Crushes aren't wrong, and I certainly don't regret having those "dream inspired" ones. It's what you do with those feelings that matters. 

But for the grace of God, I could have done a lot more stupid things. 

But with the grace of God, those dream crushes taught me the invaluable lesson of regular surrender. I laid those dreams on the altar on a regular basis through the years, and it helped me to start developing the habit as I've learned to surrender other things. 

I'll probably be learning the lesson of trust and surrender for the rest of my life, but that certainly laid some groundwork. 

3. Nothing else supported the dreams I had except my own wishful thinking. Nothing in the Bible, from people, or anything whatsoever confirmed what I heard in those dreams. If there was "confirmation," I don't remember it and I'm sure I made it up. 

But honestly, I wasn't really interested in confirmation anyway or anything that would pop the giant, rainbow-shimmery bubble I claimed that God had given me. This obsession with my prize dream is probably one of the many reasons God taught me to give it to Him, even if I had to do it a myriad of times. 

I know that a lot of people claim to have dreams and visions about their future spouse. And I share my earlier experiences and examples from the Bible to show that I'm not knocking that. God can and probably does speak that way. 

But if you're 16 or 19 like I was and/or don't have a regular practice of communicating with God and recognizing His voice, be cautious. There are other spirits that can use dreams too.

If you've had a dream or any other indication you believe to be God telling you who you should marry, follow Robert Morris's suggestion and ask for confirmation, like Gideon did.

And remember...

• God always confirms His word
• He uses godly counsel (not just people who will say what you want to hear)
• He uses circumstances
• He uses peace
• He uses signs in nature
• He uses the Bible
• Don't be afraid to ask for confirmation (Gideon did it over and over again!)
• Know that God won't say anything through someone else that He won't also say directly to us. In other words, just because someone ELSE believes that you are meant to marry him/her, wait until God tells you that too. If it really is from Him, He will. 
• If we ask for confirmation in humility without having already made up our mind, and we're willing to do whatever He says, God will answer. (Isa. 66:2) Maybe He won't answer on our timetable or in our way, but He will answer.
• His plan for us is always better than ours. 

How do I know this? 

Because I have seen God do all this with my own eyes. 

And later, I hope I can give you more details of how all this played out.

Jesus is truly amazing, and He loves to communicate with us. 

Coming to the Well: Learning to see in Pain and Cynicism

"He answered, 'Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'" -John 9:25

I mentioned in an earlier post that I left blogging to write on social media more. As I look back on what God has done in my life and the Story that He is writing, I want to share some pieces I wrote elsewhere because they are still true and I hope they will encourage you.

On March 24, 2016, I wrote the following (I have only changed the spacing and a few minor word choices):


I grew up in the emotional wreckage of a church split. One year, the pews were bursting; the next, I wondered where many of my friends had gone.

Try explaining that one to an eight-year-old.

I'm almost twenty-five now, and while I will never completely understand the pain of both parties, I understand a lot better why so many people left. For awhile, I only heard the reasons. Now I understand some of the reasons for myself.

Oh yes. I have wrestled with doubts about my church and experienced cynicism when I see a seemingly legalistic mentality or the glorification of a leader or church. An organization is only as perfect as the people who run it.

However, I have learned to plunge into the well of God's love, and when I do, my eyes are washed so I can see people as God sees them.

I don't see cross drill sergeants; I see passionate men who make mistakes, but whose hearts are aflame for God.

I don't see bitter people sputtering hurtful things about my great-great-grandfather and Family; I see beloved brothers and sisters who heard the same damaging lies that I heard about performance and church glorification, lies that left me bruised and exhausted.

If God had let me go far away to college, I might have experienced deliverance and then left my church, never to return again.

But He didn't. He told me to stay.

And when I really listened to the heart of God and the hearts of the men and women around me, I realized something.

None of those lies were coming from God or the people around me.

They were coming from the Enemy of our souls. This is the Enemy who seeks to divide the Body of Christ because he sees what a force it can be and fears it.

Like the guy in John 9, I was a person born spiritually blind. Jesus healed me with mud and spit. But it wasn't fun getting dirty or having people disregard who I am in lieu of whose child I was or whose last name I bore. I am of age. Ask me!

I don't know what I think about my ancestors, but I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!

I see a great and loving God.

I see men strong and fearless, no matter how many insecurities they may have.

I see women tall and beautiful, no matter how many worries they may have.

This past year, I have stared spiritual blindness in the face and have been overcome by grief again and again. I'm tempted to hate the blind face, but when I see with God's eyes, I can only feel compassion. I was blind too and am probably still blind in many areas.

So, like Katniss Everdeen, I have been repeating these words to myself:

"Remember who the real Enemy is."

I know that sometimes churches must split and people must move on. God uses these things. But before you make that decision to cut yourself off, please remember that, occasionally, that's exactly what the Enemy wants.

And never forget that, while you are the one leaving, the Body behind you might still be bleeding. An arm or an eye might be dispensable, but that still leaves the Body without an arm or an eye. Every joint supplies something valuable. This is because every person is infinitely valuable.

Jesus Christ proved it by dying for each of us.

The central message of Christ's life was the Kingdom of God--a thing so mysterious to most of us.

Put simply, Christ's Kingdom is a kingdom of hearts where Jesus is King, followers are in community, and everyone is in tune with the King because each one has an intimate relationship with Him that is fueled by His Spirit.

As followers of Jesus cultivate this relationship with Jesus and make Him the center of their lives, absolute and harmonious unity among followers should be the result, no matter their nationality or individual doctrine.

Where does resentment in the wake of church splits align with Christ's Kingdom unity?

It doesn't.

And so, I confess my own cynicism--of my church and of others. But I refuse to listen to the Enemy's divisive lies. Instead, I choose to plunge into the Well that never runs dry.

Only by throwing ourselves onto the grace of God can we be saved.

Only by allowing the messy Love of God to touch us can we see and be utterly transformed.

Only by seeing each other with these healed eyes can we be one, even as Jesus and His Father are one.

I love you all madly.

Finding Life in Grace and Truth

After King David sinned by sleeping with Bathsheba and murdering her husband, God said...

• I anointed you
• I rescued you
• I gave you the house where you once were a servant
• I gave you people to love
• I gave you two kingdoms
• I would have done more.

"So why have you shown such contempt for the word of Adonai and done what I see as evil?" (2 Samuel 12:7-9 summarized)

Contempt for His word?

First, notice that this doesn't say contempt for God but contempt for His word. They are the same but we often don't realize it.

We can't say we love God yet deliberately go against what He says.

King David slept with someone he wasn't married to while pretending to love God. He plotted murder, not directly but indirectly. He didn't do it with the intent of spitting in God's face, but in order to satisfy his own pleasures, to look good, and to not get caught, he spit upon God's word.

What things do I do to look good instead of honoring God's word, and consequently, God?

Evil in His sight?

Second, God didn't just call David's actions evil but evil in His sight. 

Is there a difference?

Why, no.

If something is evil to God, it is evil. Yet I think God might have worded it this way because He is less concerned with what we perceive as evil and more concerned with what He perceives as evil.

God's perspective is the only one that counts. His opinion is the only one that matters.

"If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart." (1 John 3:20)

Yeah, what about the other guy? What is that to you? You follow Me! (Jesus in John 21:22, paraphrased by me)

The first mistake

Lastly, notice that David sinned because he focused on what he didn't have instead of what he did. God had blessed him with much and would have done more. But David focused on what was over the wall instead of what he had.

Didn't the first sin in the Garden start this way?

Gratefulness is one way to avoid new sin. I don't say that it's the antidote or the prevention. The blood of Jesus Christ (what He did to pay for sin) is the only antidote and the grace of Jesus (His undeserved favor, power, and victory) is the only prevention. We cannot earn either. 

But gratefulness is also a grace and a gift. When we are enraptured by our gifts and most especially our Giver, what more can we want?

Margaret Mauro, a 22-year-old poet, summed it up well in her poem, "The Young Christian":

Farewell—Henceforth my place

  Is with the Lamb who died.

My Sovereign! While I have Thy love,

  What can I want beside?

Thyself, blest Lord, art now

  My free and loving choice,

In Whom, though now I see Thee not,

  Believing, I rejoice!

Shame on me that I sought

  Another joy than this,

Or dreamed a heart at rest with Thee

  Could crave for earthly bliss!

These vain and worthless things,

  I put them all aside:

His goodness fills my longing soul,

  And I am satisfied.

Thankfully, David's sin is not the end of the story, and it never need be with us either. He did an about-face away from his sin and continued in an ever deeper relationship with God, and God called him a man after His own heart. Still, the beauty in the truth and grace that God showed him is incredible.

That truth and grace are available for us too in Jesus. (John 1:14)

Heavenly Daddy, help us to be satisfied with You. Help us to see things from Your perspective and to love Your Word honestly. Yet thank You that when we mess up, Jesus' sacrifice is always enough. 

Update: Where have you been?

 "But what if I don't believe in God? It's like they've sat me in front of a mannequin and said, Fall in love with him. You can't will feeling. 

"What Jack says issues from some still, true place that could not be extinguished by all the schizophrenia his genetic code could muster. It sounds something like this: 

"Get on your knees and find some quiet space inside yourself, a little sunshine right about here. Jack holds his hands in a ball shape about midchest, saying, Let go. Surrender, Dorothy, the witch wrote in the sky. Surrender, Mary. 

"I want to surrender but have no idea what that means. 

"He goes on with a level gaze and a steady tone: Yield up what scares you. Yield up what makes you want to scream and cry. Enter into that quiet. It's a cathedral. It's an empty football stadium with all the lights on. And pray to be an instrument of peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is conflict, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair hope... 

"What if I get no answer there? 

"If God hasn't spoken, do nothing. Fulfill the contract you entered into at the box factory, amen. Make the containers you promised to tape and staple. Go quietly and shine. Wait. Those not impelled to act must remain in the cathedral." -Mary Karr, Lit 

Anyone who has been here before knows that I have been silent for over three years. That's a long time.

So where was I?

First, over three years ago, I underwent some of the most painful, intense spiritual growth I have ever experienced. I spent lots of time in the cathedral just to cope with my circumstances. And many words came to me as I listened to Jesus, words I knew I was meant to share.

My blog was a natural choice, but at the time, I didn't think my blog would reach as many people as social media. Surely it was better to reach people already browsing Facebook who know me than a handful of die-hard friends and disinterested strangers (no offense).

So for the next year or so, I wrote there. Quite a bit, actually. Perhaps I will even share some of those writings here.

Second, I started a wonderful journey with the man who won my heart and became my husband. The past three years have largely been filled with going from friendship to courtship to engagement to marriage to partnership in ministry, all the while growing and getting to know each other more deeply. 

Perhaps I'll share more of our story later.

Third, besides getting married, my husband and I uprooted from our home of New England and relocated far from family to the very different state of Florida. We've had a lot of adjustments, a lot of joys, and a lot of discouragement with all of those changes.

And finally, I haven't been writing much at all for the past two years. My life has been consumed with many actions until fairly recently.

• Wedding preparation
• Sifting, downsizing, and moving for the first time in my life
• Finding my niche in a new church as an assistant pastor's wife
• Figuring out how to be a wife
• Writing endless thank you notes to the hundreds of generous people who came to our wedding
• Joining others in welcoming internationals and refugees to our country through multiple outlets
• Spearheading social media for our church organization
• Leading a Girl's retreat for teenagers
• Making friends in a new area
• Hosting people in our home
• Taking strides in my health (which took a bad turn late 2016) through more exercise, sleep, and nutrition

The list could go on! But ultimately, I didn't write because no words had been given to me, and I was happy the way I was, busy but not too busy.

But earlier this year, after a bout with some depression and loneliness, my Savior tugged my heart back to the inner cathedral with Him. We must do the practical work He sets before us until He calls us to something else, but we must also never forget our highest calling: to know Christ. 

Relationships take investment and time, and I have been re-learning how to make that time with Jesus more of a priority again. I don't mean just reading the Bible, but talking and listening, really listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say.

Writing helps me pray and hear, and that's why I may now start including snippets of my prayers here after I have written and prayed them. These are not an attempt to make myself look more holy, but a desire to share a glimpse of my heart and what God can do for you. 

Perhaps more on this sort of prayer later as well, though I make no promises.

And that, my friends, is where I have been for over three years: searching, learning, growing, writing elsewhere, experiencing major life changes, quietly making the containers I promised, and learning to come into the cathedral and surrender again.

And, very slowly, like a spring slowly filling up a lake, the words are starting to come again.

Perhaps more on that later.

And why am I bringing these words to the blog instead of social media this time?

I am tired of a platform that is designed to addict you, generate toxic emotions and harsh debates that you would never say in person, and get you concerned about people's opinions. Even an emotionally healthy person can be taken in by notifications and the allure of counting "likes," but someone with an old addiction of performance and fear of people's opinions can become proud or crippled by it.

I am guilty of both.

Which is why I come here this time. The road by my blog might be less worn and traveled, but at least if you are here, you hopefully want to be.

I don't crave your comments and approval so much here (though I welcome sharing of experiences!), and I hope this space is like coming to a safe, cozy den to sip tea, share what God is doing in our lives, and encourage each other to love and good works.

I like sharing my story and song through writing because I think and express myself best that way, but I share pieces of it here as though you are my friend curling up in a stuffed chair across from me. Steam plumes upward from our mugs and the fire crackles in the background.

Or if you're somewhere like Florida, we'll sip sweet tea under a ceiling fan and listen to the ice cubes clank in the glass as we swap stories of God's goodness.

Because I want to remind myself and you that He's got both of us covered. 

And there's always more Love and Life to be had.

How do we find and reflect abundant Life?

"'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. The Parush stood and prayed to himself, "O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . ."

"'But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!"

"'I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.'" -Jesus (Luke 18:10-14)

There are many ways to exalt oneself and many bad ways to humble oneself that are really exalting. I used to think that if I beat myself up and said I was nothing, then I was humble.

But that was really the most insidious kind of pride.

Pride is not debasing oneself. Pride is putting the focus on ourselves in comparison to others instead of focusing on God. Everything else falls into place when we orient ourselves with Him.

It is so easy to point fingers at others and how wrong they are (or how much "better" they are!), but it is far better to look at Jesus and see, without Him, how unworthy we are. His grace is the pillow upon which the humbled fall, and with His grace comes Life. (James 4:6-12)

Jesus, help me to always throw myself on Your mercy. Protect me from the sins of pride and comparison. You alone are holy. You are the Giver of Life that courses through my veins. Let my thoughts, words, and actions reflect You and Your Life. 

Inescapable Love: what do I do when I don't feel Love?

Sometimes, life just sucks the life out of us. We may be bursting with feelings of Love and Adventure one day and scattered in pieces on the floor the next day, like the fragments of a shriveled balloon. Yet while our feelings may change, the truth doesn’t:

Love endures.

The start of a new year is often bursting with hope and optimism. Mine was no exception. But as the final strains of “Auld Lang Syne” die out, we’re left with a New Year’s hangover that has nothing to do with the amount of alcohol we did or didn’t consume.

• Taxes must be paid
• Insurance must be renewed
• Laundry awaits
• School break draws to a close
• The needs of the people you care about tower around you like the Himalayas

And while all the unknowns may have seemed exciting one day, they start suffocating us the next:

·       What will I do after school?

·       What jobs or colleges should I apply to?

·       What should I do this summer?

·       Where shall I move?

·       Who should I marry?

·       How can I afford X?

Oh, and if you’re a parent, the questions get even more complicated and exciting. It seems as though the more people we care about, the more opportunities we have to worry.

As it happens, I also have a lot of unknowns coming into this year. I love my college, my job, and my hometown, but I’m graduating this summer and the neon words “What next?” have been flashing over my forehead for a few months now. And I’m ready for a change. Maybe even a drastic change.

But when the questions of the unknown pound all around us and we only focus on everything we don’t know, all we can hear is noise, noise, noise, noise, NOISE!

No wonder the Grinch hated Christmas if noise was all he could hear.

That’s where I was yesterday. Oh yes, happy new year to me—a year with a ton of unknowns that are all clamoring for instant decisions.

But then, a still, small voice whispers. . .

“He will quiet you by his love.”

What was that?

I flip through my Bible. Weren’t those words in Habakkuk? Haggai? Nope, Zephaniah. I like how the New Living Translation puts it:

“With his love, he will calm all your fears.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

With his love, he will calm all your fears.

His Love. Hmm. I take a deep breath, and the voices in my head gradually quiet down.

Love is a funny thing. Some days we feel it and some days we don’t, but it’s more than a feeling.

It’s a fact.

God spoke these words through a guy named Paul:

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

‘And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

‘No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39, NLT; bold mine)

After bringing this passage to my attention yesterday, the speaker at my church added, “God’s love is like air. You can’t get away from it.”

Oh.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting my brother and his family. As I was journalling on my bed one Saturday evening, my two-year-old niece decided that she wanted to join me. Seeing me with an open book, she heaved my green and yellow Life Recovery Bible onto her lap. Holding it upside-down, she started flipping through the pages and "reading" the Bible me:

"God will give me some presents," she read.

She turned a page.

"God. God. God--loves me."

She turned another page.

"God loves me."

She turned another page.

"A prayer. More: God loves me." 

We may not feel the Love, but every day, every breath, and every page of Scripture points to this inescapable truth: God loves me.

It took a two-year-old to teach me that.

I had been listening to the noise of the unknowns and starting to wonder where the Love went.

Love goes nowhere. We don’t have to feel it for it to exist. It is a thing that surrounds us and helps us to draw each breath because it is the very air we breathe.

So when the unknowns scream for attention and make the future look like Mt. Doom, our job is to focus on what we know.

We know that God knows the future.

We know that God has good plans for us. (Jer. 29:11)

We know that nothing can separate us from Love.

With our feet firmly fixed on Love, we can hang up on the noise before cheerfully saying, like Walter Mitty, “I can’t really talk right now. I’m on my way to a volcano!”

Then we pedal forward and do the next thing.

Even Mt. Doom can be an Adventure when we remember the truth that Love will always surround us. This is the Life that Love offers.

Here's a clip from one of my all-time favorite movies, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:

Watch Walter say, "I'm on my way to a volcano!"