the lovely unexpected

strength for all things.

"I can do all things 
through Christ 
who strengthens me." 
Phil 4:13

We’ve all heard that verse a million times right?? People frequently use it to find motivation & inspiration: to do something hard or start something scary. It’s a “nice verse” to put on a T-shirt or coffee mug.

We all want “strength” for “all things” right?!? Who wouldn’t?!

But when I read this verse in context it gives a very different picture than my usual understanding of this verse… in the verses prior Paul says:

"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low & I know how to abound.
In any & every circumstance,
I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger,
abundance & need."
Phil 4:11b-12

So wait a minute… Paul is talking about being CONTENT in all circumstances:

Content in humiliation.

Content in hunger.

Content in need.

And he completes this thought by saying “I CAN do ALL things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.”

As I look at the life Paul it was NOT one of ease or comfort. Just read 2 Corinthians 11:23-31 for an overview of the sufferings he faced which include imprisonment, beatings, stoned, shipwrecked…and the list goes on!

As I look at Paul’s life it was defined by surrender, strength in the Lord & a deep contentment with God’s will for his life. And when I examine my own heart it causes me to ask the Lord to give me strength to rest & trust in Him amidst difficulty and suffering. I see that it’s ssooo easy for me to rely on my own strength for things that I want to do or even to do good things; like ministry! I can muster up strength to push through & persevere through many things, even while under the pretense of doing it “in the Lord’s strength,” but one of the greatest tests as to whether or not I’m relying on the Lord’s strength is when something unexpected happens. . . something that is beyond my control and far out of my ability to change. In moments of stress or frustration the Lord reveals who I’m really relying on: myself or Him.

That is why suffering plays such a necessary role in the life of the believer: Jesus never promised to spare us from suffering, but He has given us His Holy Spirit to TRANSFORM us THRU suffering. Have you realized that those in the Bible who God mightily worked through always endured great affliction? It’s because Jesus purifies & refines us in trials. Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…”

We know life is frail and that everything that is on this earth is delicate and temporal but it’s also easy to live like we’ve forgotten that. . . sometimes it takes a crisis, or a pandemic, for us to remember & refocus. To realize that I’ve never had any strength and that any power I think I had was really only an illusion, I had deceived myself into believing I was in control. The reality of the gospel is that it reveals the selfishness & rebellion in my heart and brings me to the feet of Jesus where He changes my heart.

When we read that God gives us strength for all things we want to tell God what we want strength for: to get the promotion, to earn the achievement, to receive the award . . . you know, we want to have the strength to do things that are “glamorous” or “show-y.” I’m pretty much saying that I want the strength to do the things that I want so that in the end I can proclaim, “I did this through Christ’s strength! Pretty amazing huh?!”

But Paul talking about BEING CONTENT in all things: including humiliation, hunger, and need.

Woah.

But that doesn’t make me look strong or impressive, in fact, that goes against the false “gospel” that says Jesus wants you to be successful, rich, and prosperous.

But what if the desire of Jesus’ heart is for you to walk through a season of something you’d never have chosen for yourself?
What if that’s how He wants to demonstrate His strength in you?

What if He’s asking you to go thru something you know is impossible because then ONLY HE will get the glory? If Jesus is truly my Lord and Savior that means He gets to decide how I will give Him glory. The walk of faith is one of worshipping God amidst the ash, before the beauty. Much like Job, in the middle of despair and grief declared: “The Lord gives & the Lord takes away: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Jesus wants to create in us a heart that will surrender, worship, & glorify Him in all circumstances. He's looking for a vessel that's empty of itself so He can fill a heart that declares: "Lord, I want to give You glory in what You have prepared for me."

I don’t want to look back on my life one day and realize that I spent all my effort trying to stay strong while all along Jesus was trying to show me my own weakness so He could be my strength.

If Jesus faced humiliation, hunger, & need how do I expect to be spared from those things? Luke 9:58 say that Jesus had “no place to lay His head” and when we pray: “Jesus, I want to be more like You” we’d rather bypass the suffering, pain & sorrow.
But the fact is that Jesus promises tribulation in John 16:33! He says: “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

It’s easy for the world to have happiness, peace, & joy when everything seems care-free & easy, but the moment things go off the rails their happiness is also gone. Jesus has given us His Holy Spirit to give us the FRUIT of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) AMIDST trial & suffering. He does the impossible in us because when we’re at our weakest we can rejoice that He is our strength. We, like Paul, can say: “I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me…I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

“God is our refuge & strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth gives way…”
-Psalm 46:1-2

sanctuary.

What do you imagine when you think of a sanctuary?

A couple words that come to mind are: safety, worship, rest, surrender, security, release, grace, atonement, holiness. . . I see a place where God is welcomed, honored & worshipped with no reservations.

In the Old Testament God’s presence dwelt in the temple but after Jesus came, died, & rose again God sent His Holy Spirit to live within us so His presence is no longer confined to a building with walls but now WE ARE the sanctuary where He dwells!

1st Corinthians 9:19 says: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” and 2 Corinthians 6:16 says: “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them & walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’”

Jesus died so He could inhabit the hearts and lives of His children and so we could once again enjoy relationship with our Him. Just like God walked among the garden of Eden with Adam & Eve God says “I will dwell IN them & walk among them.” Thru His Son, God made a way for us to do what we were created for: relationship with Him. Now the sanctuary of our hearts is filled with God’s Holy Spirit where idols, bondage, & sin once chained our hearts causing ruin & destruction. That’s the wonderful reality of the gospel ♥

Jesus sent His Holy Spirit so our hearts could once again be a sanctuary.

“I will give you a NEW HEART & put a NEW SPIRIT in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone
& give you a heart of flesh.”
— Ezekiel 36:26

With these verses in mind I think of Ezekiel 47 where Ezekiel has a vision of a river — a river whose waters bring life & healing to everything it touches:

“When it [the river] reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
And it shall be that every living thing that moves,
wherever the rivers go, will live.
There will be a very great multitude of fish,
because these waters go there; for they will be healed,
& everything will live wherever the river goes.
Along the bank of the river, on this side and that,
will grow all kinds of trees used for food;
their leaves will not wither, & their fruit will not fail.
They will bear fruit every month,
because their water flows from the sanctuary.
Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
-Ezekiel 47 : 8 – 12

Pretty remarkable right?!? What do you envision as you read that!?!? I picture a dry, barren, & fruitless land with a river penetrating thru the parched ground. As this river penetrates the land healing comes: plants begin to grow, fish once again inhabit the water & trees begin to bear fruit. Life is brought back to a land that was once useless & unprofitable.

All because of one river.

But did you see where this river flows from?? Verse 12 tells us:

“their water flows from the sanctuary.”

Much in the same way Jesus tells us in John 4:14 that when He comes to inhabit the sanctuary of our hearts we will become a fountain of living water:

“whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him
will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life.”
— John 4 : 14

The moment Jesus comes to invade the sanctuary of our hearts His very presence brings healing. His Word is like a healing balm and His touch brings comfort & restoration. He is the fountain of living water. This is a fountain that cannot be produced from human effort or striving, this living water can only come through Him.

“To worship God in wonder & awe
opens a fountain of life within you,
empowering you to escape death’s domain.”
— Proverbs 14 : 27

God sent His only Son so our relationship with Him could be restored.
So rivers of living water could spring from our once barren, thirsty souls.
So sin no longer has dominion over us.
So death is no longer our end.
So bondage is no longer our identity.
So healing could replace destruction.
So we are no longer slaves but free.
So we are redeemed from the curse of sin.
So our hearts could once again be a sanctuary —

Like a river that changes everything it touches, may the healing He’s brought into our hearts impact those around us.
Like an overflowing fountain that cannot be contained, may our lives be spilling over with the grace, truth, & love we have in Jesus.
May we be those who live ever-aware of His in-dwelling presence.
May our hearts be a sanctuary where He is honored & adored. ♥

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice & untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free & break every yoke?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
& your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
& the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday…
The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
– Isaiah 58:8, 10 & 11

“When you pass through the waters
I will be with you
And the depths of the rivers
Shall not overwhelm
When you walk through the fire
You will not be burned
I am the Lord, I am the Lord.

And there is nothing to fear,
Nothing to fear.

For I am with you always
In the depths of your sorrow
I wept beside you
When you walked through the shadow
I drew you near
Yesterday, today, tomorrow
Always the same
I am the Lord, I am the Lord
What can separate you
From My perfect love?
Do not fear
Do not fear.”

– “Nothing to Fear” by Porter’s Gate

b e h o l d .

/bəˈhōld/

a. to see or observe (a thing or person, especially a remarkable or impressive one)
b. to perceive through sight or apprehension
c. giving a peculiar vivacity to the style by bidding the reader or hearer to attend to what is said: "Behold! See! Lo!"
d. when a thing is specified which is unexpected yet sure

Leading up to Christmas the word “BEHOLD” was repeatedly on my heart & mind. It’s a word that we don’t use in our everyday vocabulary anymore but it was used frequently in the Bible especially by God, Jesus, & the prophets. As a matter of fact, “behold” appears 593 times in the NKJ version of the Bible!

Think about it: “BEHOLD!” — it’s a word that creates emphasis & causes the listener to pause so they can be fully attentive & grasp the full extent & implication of what is about to be shared, even to the point of visually imagining. It expresses that there is something life-altering coming (good or bad) so it is crucial for the listener to contemplate & comprehend each word and take action as a result of what they have been made aware of.

Many times the word behold evokes imagination and causes us to paint a picture in our minds-eye with what is being said . . . It’s more than just listening — it calls you to ponder & consider the ramifications of what is being said because it has a future consequences: something that is not yet seen but will certainly occur.

Throughout the years leading up to Jesus’ birth God spoke thru the prophets to tell His people about the coming Messiah: Behold! Their redemption was coming! Their salvation was near! God did NOT want His people to miss what He was doing through the birth of His Son.
The word behold was frequently used in reference to Jesus’ birth & life:

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and bear a Son, & they shall call His name Immanuel,”
which is translated,
“God with us.”
-Matthew 1:23

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
-Matthew 21:5

It’s so easy, especially during Christmas time, to get pulled into the distraction & chaos around us that we forget to stop, remember, and ‘behold’ what God is doing in and around us. Our spiritual sight can quickly be blinded by physical distractions.

And it is much like the days that Jesus was born into: Bethlehem was crowded with people coming from everywhere for the census, it was loud, and the inns were filled. It amazes me that GOD CHOSE for His Son to be born amidst this scene, it’s like He was saying to the world:
“What are you going to set your eyes on?
What is going on around you or what I am doing?
BEHOLD: your salvation has come.
BEHOLD: what I spoke thru the prophets is coming to pass.
BEHOLD: what manner of love I am lavishing on you!
BEHOLD: My Son. Wrapped in cloth & laying in a manger.”

And God does not want us to miss what He is doing today…

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”
Isaiah 12:2

“I am He that liveth,
and was dead;
and, behold,
I am alive for evermore…”
-Revelation 1:18

“Behold, I am coming quickly!
Hold fast what you have,
that no one may take your crown.”
-Revelation 3:11

As I look around during Christmas-time I see how Western culture wants to sell us a very shallow & superficial version of Christmas: one that’s filled with fluffy sayings, spending sprees, sometimes stressful gatherings, Santa, and false expectations. All for one day that comes and goes . . . People sing “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” — but let’s be honest: when you look around it certainly doesn’t feel like that. During the holidays grief & loss becomes more apparent than ever & it can feel impossible to celebrate.

Sadness & heartbreak do not go on vacation, sickness does not take a leave of absence, and pain does not have pity because it’s a ‘holiday.’

And yet, in the midst of all the hustle, I am reminded that Jesus came for the poor, the broken-hearted, the captive, & the prisoner. He didn’t ignore our sin or seek to cover our mess: instead He entered into our broken world to become our Savior.

“the LORD has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
& the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”
(Isaiah 61:1)

We were not created to settle for a sparkly, superficial, & synthetic Christmas that disappoints and leaves you empty on the 26th. That version of Christmas comes and goes with decorations — but the joy that comes from rejoicing in God coming to bring everlasting life is a joy that sustains through the deepest sorrow & most devastating loss.

As I behold the reality of our world’s brokenness it’s easy for cynicism to invade but I am reminded more than ever that THIS IS WHY Jesus came. HE ENTERED into our world, to put on flesh, & experience humanity so He could sympathize.

We can celebrate God’s demonstration of love for us: Him sending His Son to save & redeem. Jesus came to take the sting & power of death so we can have eternal life. The good news of the gospel is for all people, no matter where they are or how they got there.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
but made Himself of no reputation,
and took upon Him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men…”
-Philippians 2:5-7

On this side of eternity we are not excused from the consequences of sin in this broken world but we are redeemed & know that He is working is all things together for the good to those who love Him & are called according to His purpose. While we still feel the weight of darkness He promises that the darkness will not overcome the light. He is the Light in the darkness & our Joy in the sorrow. While darkness & sorrow are still present He gives an incomprehensible peace and unexplainable joy.

“In Him was life, & that life was the light of all mankind.
The light shines in the darkness,
& the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:4-5

What a wonderful & awe-inspiring thing to BEHOLD!

“The empty filled, the wounded healed
The broken back together
The poor are blessed, the weary rest
We will dance forever
The blinded see, the chained are free
The doubtful now believer
The outcast known, the orphan home
You are my Redeemer
Behold, Behold, Behold what love can do
Behold, Behold He’s making all things new!
The lost returned, the voiceless heard
The mourner now rejoicing
The mountains shake the world awake
Creation all composing
The sad untrue, the earth renewed
The song has found its singer
The darkness light, the dead alive
You are my Redeemer”
– “BEHOLD” by Taylor Leonhardt

the break of dawn.

This verse in Psalms encouraged me tremendously over the summer & now, as I find myself looking back, it brings me such comfort to reflect on what God has done & is continuing to do.

Maybe you can relate to walking thru seasons that feel ‘dark.’ Seasons when you wonder what Jesus is doing or where He is. Seasons that test your hope…

Are you in the middle of something where it feels like day will never come?
Has the night been too long?
Have you doubted if you’ll ever see the light of day?
Have you been disappointed: thinking the prayer should’ve already been answered?
Are you close to giving up?

O heart . . .
don’t lose hope —
day is dawning.
light is breaking.
the sun is about to pierce thru.
— and it will change everything . . .

But what if it looks different than you expected?
. . . are you ready to receive that?

Maybe your situation won’t change but you’ll realize that Jesus has been with you all along.
You have not been lost.
You have not been alone.
He is right by your side: guiding you with the light of His presence.

Often times we pray for seasons suffering or waiting to be removed because we know that God is all-powerful & can change our circumstances in an instant. So we struggle to trust Him when when our prayers seem unanswered and our faith is tested when nothing changes.

Many times we think our faith will be strengthened when the suffering is removed… but true faith is produced when we pray for God’s will to be done amidst the storm.

Maybe the greatest miracle isn’t a change of circumstance
but a change of heart.

God changes our hearts & refines our faith in the fire & thru the storm: we learn to walk by faith when we cannot see what’s ahead. We learn to trust His character when we don’t feel His presence.

We can trust Him in the dark: because He is the light.
Dawn is breaking.
He is in your midst.

"There is no other name but the name that is Jesus
He who was & still is, & will be through it all
So come what may in the space between
All the things unseen & this reckoning
I know I will never be alone

There'll be another in the fire
Standing next to me
There'll be another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
How good You've been to me
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me"
-Another in the Fire, Hillsong