High Priest

Welcome to Unseen this week. It has been a wild week and I have been tempted to feel alone. I was reminded of an experience from my past that showed me the folly of that. Read on

High Priest

We do not have a high priest who cannot understand our weaknesses, but he was tempted in all things, just as we are, yet without sin.  Heb 4:15

    I was talking to my child the other day about sports.  I told him that when I was in high school the coaches would come out on cold days wrapped up in t-shirts; sweat shirts, quilted coveralls, jackets, gloves and hats.  We would come out in our sweats, and they would say, “Go run. It’s not cold.”  We always complained that of course it wasn’t cold to them in all their layers.  Off we would go, shivering and grumbling.  About half way around we would meet the boys coming the other way.  There was one important difference though.  Their coach was running right along with them. Dressed the same way and willing to undergo the same thing he asked them to, he would encourage us as well.  He did not let them get out of the workout, but he went through it with them.

    We have the same privilege.  We do not have a God who sits up in the expanse of heaven and shouts out rules to us.  He did not just start the world spinning and then watch to see how bad we would mess it up.  He came to earth, personally, in the form of Jesus.  He was tempted like we are. He felt the pain and joys we feel.  After leaving us a path to follow, he paid the price for our sin and shame. 

    I worked with a lady once who had problems, which had isolated her. She told me that she was complaining to God and said, “Lord, do you have any idea of what it is like to be rejected?” She said that in her spirit she felt that God was laughing, because of course he knew exactly how it felt to be rejected.

    Take heart when you feel alone. When temptation feels like it is too much for you, be assured, you have a God who has not left you alone.

The bigness of small

Welcome to Unseen today. When we live as unseen, it is easy to minimize the effect of our service ande our work. Read on for a lesson I learned on what is important.

The bigness of small

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Cor. 1:27

Every year when I was growing up we had the Peewee Track Meet. As I remember, it consisted of 2 races - the 50 and 100 yard dash.  Each class ran a heat and the four winners from each class ran a final. The parent cheered and tried to keep order among twenty five kids waiting in the March wind for their turn to run.  I ran my hardest every year, only to watch the rest of the class pull ahead of me one by one. After snacks on the football field we would go back to our classroom where the teacher would hand out the ribbons.  The six place ribbons were blue, red, white, yellow, orange and green. (Ugly green, by the way). Then she would pass out maroon ribbons with cartoon kittens trying to look ferocious. They were printed with the words, “I’m a Little Panther”. I have six “I’m a Little Panther” ribbons, each with a slightly different ferocious kitten but no other ribbons. By 5^th grade I tossed them all in the closet.

I have encountered obstacles to goals in my life and sometimes feel that no matter how hard I try still end up with an “I’m a Little Christian” ribbon and no successes. I haven’t achieved some of the big things my family has and often feel that my life and service to God is inferior. Recently a preacher prayed for me that God would continue to anoint me in my work with disabled people. It stopped me in my tracks.  Wasn’t anointing for the big things like preaching or singing? I know He has anointed my writing and my music, but what about my work? Does God care when I try to soothe tears of frustration or chase flailing limbs with socks?  Is he present when I coax a smile out of someone who is locked inside a broken, twisted body? Does it bring Him Glory when I show up with a smile when I would rather be home in bed? How about when I love a family member who is acting unlovable? Could it be that these things bring him as much honor as the “big things”?

Recently at our church we had a series on “Extras”, the minor characters in the Bible. Take the Christmas story. The major characters are Mary, Joseph and Jesus, but God chose to include a host of extras, to make the story richer. He included the innkeeper who gave them a place, although not the best place. He included the shepherds who the equivalent of today’s rednecks, the wise men who were foreigners with vastly different customs and beliefs and two elderly people in the temple who were waiting for Messiah.  The next time the enemy tries to tell you that your life or service is inferior, take the advice of Joyce Meyer. “Just stomp your little holy foot and tell him that he is a liar.