I’ll leave the light on for you

(from a mother's heart) 

 

I have just discovered yet another term for the season in which I’m living.

I am in my ‘lighthouse era’.

It’s a strange place to be. And although I have technically been partially in this era for 12 years, it’s really beginning to hit home right now, in just the past week or so.

If you know our family at all, you will know that we have 5 amazing daughters. But with daughters comes emotional times. Not just from them as they grow into young ladies and adulthood, but also from their mother.

One of the hardest parts of being a parent, is letting go.

We have just seen our 4^th daughter get married and the 5^th one is very soon to be stepping into the role of wife as well.

Time has flown by and I’ve gone from having 5 little giggling girls dancing around the kitchen in dress up clothes, helping me bake and clean to young ladies all grown up and mature and making their own way in the world, walking beside the one they’ve chosen to do life with, excited at the prospect of a happy future full of dreams and hopes.

And this is where something I read recently really resonated with me and helped me change my perspective a little and gain some insight in my ever-changing identity.

I am in the lighthouse era of motherhood.

Let me explain.

When your children are little, they are in the boat with you. You spend your days making sure they are safe inside the confines of the boat. You steer the course. You carry them through every wave. You keep them safe. They rarely leave your side.

But one day, ever so slowly and sometimes, without you even realizing it at first, they begin to build boats of their own. They begin to venture farther from the shore. They start charting their own course. Making their own decisions. They learn to navigate rough seas on their own.

And for the first time, your job is not to climb into the boat with them every time a storm is near, grabbing hold of the wheel to steer them from the rocks and adjusting the sails.

There is a shift in the dynamic.

Your job is to leave the light on.

Your job is to be the steady light that helps them find their way when the waves tower overhead and the shoreline begins to disappear.

Your job is to be the place they know they can always look for when life gets hard. The voice that whispers, “I’m still here.” The arms that remain outstretched, the home that always welcomes them back.

It is one of the hardest transitions of a mother. It’s not learning to love them less, it’s learning to love them from the shoreline. It’s being the light in the darkness. The welcoming warmth and beacon for them to look for and their safe place.

I have cried tears of sadness at seeing them go but also tears of happiness for the joy I see in their eyes as they walk down that aisle, with eyes full of love and excitement, dreaming of the life they are about to build.

It’s hard to look at the empty rooms. The spot in the yard where their car no longer sits. Their place at the table that is now vacant. The clothes on the line that don’t belong to them. The dark window as I look across the yard and see no light peeking out from the curtains.

But, as hard as it is, it reminds me of what I need to be. A lighthouse. They don’t need me like they used to, but one thing is for sure, I am here when they do.

We are so blessed that our children still want to come home. They still want to visit and sit around our table and laugh as we sip coffee and share what’s going on in our lives. They want to bring the grandchildren home to Grandma’s house to get spoilt. They want to see if there are any tasty delights in the fridge and any chips in the cupboard.

And I am determined to keep shining my light for them. I want them to be able to come to me for guidance and advice and prayer. I want them to know that although I’m not in the boat with them anymore, they are in my heart and in my thoughts constantly.

When things are looking dark and the waves are threatening their boat, I want them to see the lighthouse. I want them to know the light will always be on.

 

 

 

Roll it over onto Him

 

Proverbs 16:3 KJV - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

For some reason this verse in Proverbs will not stay out of my mind. It floods my thoughts. It invades my wakeful hours in the night watches. Certain words pop out like a flashing neon sign as I read them randomly in other contexts. It is a well-known verse and one that I have quoted numerous times along with its related verses.

And so, here I sit, pouring over it once again. Straining to find any hidden meanings. Looking for any sparkling gems or treasures that lie beneath the surface. I dig a little deeper and begin to look into the Hebrew meanings. I read the verses surrounding it, but Proverbs is unlike any other book of the Bible.

There is no particular plot or storyline found in its pages. There are no main characters in the book. What stands out is wisdom. It takes center stage. It is a divine wisdom that spans all peoples, cultures and history. What we read is just as relevant today as it was over 3000 years ago.

I love that we have such a bounty of resources at our fingertips from men and women who have studied and researched and written for our benefit the things they have learned in order that we can better understand the Word of God. I am still and always will be a student of the Word of God. I am not an academic and I don’t even pretend to know the mysteries that lie in the pages of the Bible, but I try my best to interpret scripture correctly through my own study and through using the helps that are easily accessible.

And so, to that end, I want to share what I have learnt as I have dug into this verse a little deeper. I know it is not exhaustive and I encourage you to do your own study.

The very first word in this verse has had me praising God and rejoicing in the word choice as it conveys so much more meaning than a cursory glance.

Commit.

The Hebrew word used here is galal. For years I have treated this verse as a transactional verse. Almost like a gentle suggestion to include God in my planning. And if I did, he would help guide my paths.

But the Hebrew verb is so much more. It carries the physical image of rolling a heavy stone. It holds the meaning of rolling your burden off yourself and onto someone else. This is lifting what is too heavy for you and physically transferring it.

It’s not a transaction. It is a man, literally at the end of his strength, pushing a stone he can’t carry any longer, rolling it off himself and onto something or someone else. This word commit assumes you are already crushed. It assumes the weight is real. The burden is heavy. It is desperation meeting a God big enough to handle what you can’t.

You were carrying something. It was crushing you. And you found solid ground to roll it onto. God. The solid rock.

We see this Hebrew word galal used again in Psalm 37:5 - Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And again, in Joshua 5:9 where we read that the Lord ‘rolled the reproach of Egypt off the people’. It Genesis 29:3 it literally says that they ‘rolled the stone from the well’s mouth’. Same word. Galal. Commit.

Are you getting the picture yet? By committing our works to the Lord, we are rolling our burdens onto him. We are entrusting them to a God who is bigger and greater than everything we find too heavy to carry. It is a total surrender of our plans and actions to God, trusting him with the outcome.

These works that we are committing can be many things. They can be our everyday plans. Our never-ending to-do lists. Our future dreams and hopes. Our labours. Our endeavours. But all of these things can become weights that we are not able to bear. They can become heavy stones that need rolling over onto a God strong enough to carry them.

Make sure you keep in mind who it is we are to commit our works, our pursuits, our achievements to. Not a what, but a who. Commit thy works unto the Lord. He is the only one that can be fully entrusted with our lives.

And when we do, what is the promise?

Our thoughts will be established. Our plans, our purposes, our intentions, our imaginations. They will be established.

Established.

This is the Hebrew word kun. It has many synonyms and uses throughout the Bible. Fixed. Firm. Stable. Prepared. Made ready. Settled. Strengthened.

This is not a guarantee of success in every human endeavour, but rather an alignment of our plans with God’s will leading to our fulfilment. This goes along with Matthew 6:33 when we seek God first, he brings blessing.

When we roll over our plans onto God, he gives stability to what otherwise might ‘wobble’. He brings peace where there would be anxiety. He causes fruit to grow where there was barrenness.

When we commit our ways to him, he shapes, steadies and brings our plans to completion that serve him and align with his perfect and holy will.

So, are there some practical steps we can take to help bring some clarity to this verse? I believe there are.

1.        Acknowledge the burden or work you are needing to roll over onto God. The first step is to recognize and admit you have something that needs handing over to God. Acknowledge you are in need of divine assistance. Psalm 55:22

2.        Pray with faith. You need to ask God in faith, believing that he will do what he promised. In Philippians 4:6-7, we are reminded that if we bring our requests to God with thanksgiving, he will give us his peace. But we must believe that he is capable of handling the heavy burden we carry. We must pray in faith.

3.        Trust in God’s promises. This goes along with faith. We have to trust that God will fulfil his promises to us. We have to trust that what he says in his Word is true and faithful and he will come through. Proverbs 3:5,6.

4.        Meditate on Scripture. God’s Word brings comfort and guidance. When we saturate our lives with God’s Word, when we read it daily, when we commit verses to memory to think on them throughout the day, we are better equipped to walk through life with confidence. When we are in the Word, we learn more of God and when we learn more of his character, we are more able to fully trust in him. Psalm 119:105

5.        Seek fellowship and support. Here’s where I jump onto one of my hobby horses. Christian community should be a source of support, strength and accountability. We need each other. In Galatians 6:2 we are instructed to bear each other’s burdens. If you are carrying a heavy load, not only do you need to roll it over onto the Lord, but you need the support and encouragement of brothers and sisters in Christ to help you to stand firm and keep on going when life gets hard.

6.        Practice gratitude. I can’t emphasize this one enough. I have seen it work over and over in my life. Gratitude helps to shift our focus off our burdens and onto the blessings we have been given. The simple act of thanking God for at least 3 things each day, writing them down and praying them back to God in thanksgiving is life changing. Try it and see if I’m wrong. Gratitude will give you an attitude adjustment and change your perspective. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

7.        Release control. This is not an easy one. This means we have to let go of the outcome and the future we have planned in our head and surrender it to God. We have to surrender to God’s will and his perfect timing, no matter how senseless it may seem. In Psalm 46:10, we are told to be still. The Hebrew word for ‘still’ is the word raphah. It doesn’t mean to sit quietly with your emotions. It doesn’t mean to sit in silence. It means to LET GO. Release your grip. Let it fall. Stop striving. Stop trying to control what you were never meant to carry.

8.        Rest in God’s sovereignty. We have to rest in God’s supreme rule and absolute authority over all that exists. We can rest in the knowledge that God is orchestrating all things for our ultimate good. We need to learn to trust and rest in the knowledge that God knows all things and is in control of all things and is a holy and just God. If we can do this it will bring more peace in our lives. Just knowing who God is and what position he holds can help to settle us and we will be more able to roll our burdens onto him. Romans 8:28

So, if I can encourage you today to do just one thing, to take one small step in the right direction, it would be this.

Take that ‘work’, that heavy burden, that ambition, that pursuit, that labour, take the stone that you’re carrying that is too heavy for you, the weight God never asked you to carry and roll it over onto him. Commit it to him. Trust the outcome to him. Don’t continue to let the burden of what you’re carrying crush you. He is able to bear it.

Commit it to him and let him steady you. Let him give you a firm footing. Let him bring his peace to your mind and soul.

1 Peter 5:7 KJV - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

 

 

 

The Never-Ending Mercies of God

 

This past month has been hard. I’m not gonna lie. The busyness has seemed at times overwhelming. I will admit that I have not been as diligent in my Bible reading and study as I usually am and I could blame it on this busy season, but honestly, that’s a pathetic excuse.

But what has struck me this past week, is the fact that God’s faithfulness does not depend upon mine. No matter how unfaithful I am, he still remains faithful. He still loves. He still cares. He still provides. He still comforts. I am so glad that God is a faithful God.

A few years back, I wrote this article on the never-ending mercies of God. I felt that it needed revisiting. I pray that it will be an encouragement to your heart as it was to mine.

 ***

Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV - It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

There is a beautiful chorus, written a few years ago, that comes to mind every so often and I find myself singing it and playing its lovely melody occasionally as I sit at the piano.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new ev’ry morning, new ev’ry morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord,
Great is Thy faithfulness.

The song is based on the verses found in the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations.

The book of Lamentations is not a book I read often, with its woeful descriptions of Jerusalem’s downfall, and yet it holds great hope for God’s people. It was written by Jeremiah, often called the ‘weeping prophet’ (Lam. 3:48-49), because of his passion for the people and their city and the many tears he shed on their behalf.

It is a book of laments (a passionate expression of grief or sorrow) over the fall of Jerusalem caused by the sinful condition of Judah. Lamenting is something we avoid and not a word we use commonly, but in ancient times, it was a very real thing.

The people of Judah were experiencing God’s judgement because they refused to turn from their sin back to God.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations in a time of grief and mourning after the once great city of Jerusalem fell to Babylon. God allowed the Babylonians to plunder, burn and destroy the city of Jerusalem because of their unwillingness to repent. Even Solomon’s temple, which had stood for 400 years, in all its splendour and glory, was burned to the ground. (2 Kings 25:9)

As you read through the book of Lamentations, the tone is that of despair, weeping, captivity, persecution and desolation. It’s not a pleasant book to read. And yet, as we make our way through the misery we read verse after verse, we finally come to chapter 3 and verse 21. And there, right in the middle of the book, like rain after drought, like the dawning of a new day, we read a beautiful passage of confidence and hope.

Jeremiah’s despair turns to hope.

Lamentations 3:21 KJV - This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

After all the expressions of sorrow and heartache, we begin to see a glimmer of hope. Jeremiah, even after all he’s seen, hasn’t given up on God. He still has hope.

Skip down to verses 24-26, and we’ll come back to 22 and 23 soon.

Lamentations 3:24-26 KJV - The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

These verses, in the middle of the book, are a statement of faith. The faith of Jeremiah standing strong in the midst of surrounding darkness that shines a beacon to all those suffering under the consequences of their own sin.

Yes, the book reminds us of the heavy price we pay when we choose to sin, but it also gives hope to those who choose to repent.

As we know, later on God restored his people to their land and blessed them once again.

The beauty of this book of Lamentations is that even the most sinful person can find hope in God who is willing to pour out his abundant mercy and grace on any who come to him in repentance.

And for the Christian, as we live our daily lives and we falter and fail, God is willing and able to forgive.

Now, back to the most familiar verses in the whole book of Lamentations and the verses the little chorus is based upon.

Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV - It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

In some Bible versions, the word stedfast is used to paint a picture of God’s firm, immoveable, unchanging love.

We know that God’s love abides even in times of trouble and in times of judgment. God never once stopped loving Israel, despite their sin. It was God’s great love that spared the people from being utterly wiped out by Babylon.

When you grasp the fact that God’s love is never ending and unchangeable, you will understand more about God’s mercy. Mercy is a byproduct of God’s love. Since God’s love will never end, neither will his mercy.

God’s mercy, put simply, is God’s goodness, compassion, lovingkindness and favour. Though we deserve punishment, God reaches down and extends his arm of blessing.

And so, it is because of God’s great love and mercy that we are not consumed, destroyed, finished, given up on.

It’s nothing we have done; it is all that he has done. On our behalf.

We are told that his mercy and compassions ‘fail not’. The Hebrew word for this is ‘kala’. It literally means finished. Completed. Worn out. Failed. Perished. Used up. Exhausted.

Think about it like this.

God’s mercy towards you:

Will never finish

Will never be gone

Will never fail

Will never perish

Will never be exhausted

Will never run out

Will never fail

Will never grow weary.

And just when you thought this promise was too good to be true, keep reading, there’s more!

“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

So, if you thought that God’s mercies would tire, Jeremiah reminds us that they are new every morning. In other words, every morning is a new beginning.

God gives mercy for each day, and it is refilled and refreshed every morning.

It’s not just about availability; it’s also about access. Regardless of how often we have to rely on his mercy, which in reality is every day, you can always come back for more.

It’s not a license to sin but it is a promise to those who walk in obedience to him.

The last line of verse 23 ties it all together. “Great is thy faithfulness”.

The reason we can depend on God’s mercy and compassion, is because of his faithfulness. It is God’s faithfulness to his Word and the promises we find there that ensures us new mercies each morning.

We are told in Psalm 138 that God honours his Word above his name.

Psalm 138:2 KJV - I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

(interestingly, the word for lovingkindness is the same Hebrew word used for mercy)

God is true to his Word. He never breaks a promise.

There is no expiration date on God’s mercy. With the dawn of every day comes another store of compassion made available to us. His stores are infinite.

No matter which side of the bed we get up on, we will find God’s mercies awaiting us.

Don’t neglect the conditions on your way to the blessings though.

Lamentations 3:25 KJV - The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

We are granted new mercies, but we are reminded that God requires us to wait on him (patiently) and also to seek (follow) him.

We need to repent quickly. We need to keep short accounts. Recognize the value of his mercy and don’t let it be an excuse for sin. Instead, let it be the reason you come running to him in repentance.

We also need to renew frequently. Regardless of the sins of yesterday, we need to come to God in repentance, renew our commitment to him and begin each day afresh. When we fall on our face and fail him, we can reach out our arms to him, letting him set our feet on solid ground once again and bathe in his forgiveness and love.

And we need to remember to rejoice continually. Because of God’s stedfast love, we don’t have to wonder if God has changed his mind. We can live with the assurance that his mercies are never-ending and that they will always be accessible. This should give us cause to rejoice each and every day.

The Lord Jesus, the God of creation, is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will never change. We can rest on his promises and hold fast to his Word.

Hebrews 13:8 KJV - Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.