Karen Rabbitt

The Hardest Step

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision the people perish” KJV

Mother Teresa said if she had not picked up the first destitute person on the streets of Calcutta,she would never have picked up the 30,000^th. To be the sort of person who publicly picks up dying people, she had to put on a new identity. Her comment suggests a discomfort at leaving her old life behind. When we seek to change our life, how do we gather the courage to take that first step?

Recently, I talked to a fellow writer who is struggling. I asked her what vision kept her going. She said she had a number of experiences that pointed towards writing. I didn’t think of it then, but I wonder if she was faltering because she was not aiming toward a clear vision. We get stuck unless we know where we are going. And to know where we're going we need a vision from God. Before she ever moved to India, Mother Teresa undoubtedly saw herself leading a hospice for the poor. We too, need to aim toward God's image of ourselves.

We must see ourselves as a mother, before we take the step of getting pregnant. If we get pregnant without that and want to be good mothers, we must develop that vision. If we believe God wants us to run a company we must see ourselves in the boardroom presiding over meetings. What vision has God given you? Remember, the first step may be the hardest, because you are leaving the old, comfortable identity and taking on God’s new identity. 

Father, clarify the vision and give us courage to take the first steps.

Calm Fight

One of my favorite hymns is “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Martin Luther wrote it in the midst of enormous spiritual pressures. Satan wanted to destroy him, as the Catholic monk worked to spread the revelation of grace that led to the Protestant Reformation. One night, Satan attacked him so strongly that Luther threw an inkwell at him. The stain of the ink remained on the walls of Wartburg Castle, where Luther lived, for centuries.

Something about that image, of an ink-stained wall that way outlasted Luther’s life, captures me. Something about taking Satan so seriously that he threw an object at him. Something about the image of the man, cloistered in a castle, fighting for his life and the life of God’s people.  

Martin Luther took spiritual realities seriously. The hymn speaks of Satan’s power and God’s greater power. “One little word shall fell him,” referring to the power of the name of Jesus against the enemy’s small power. When we are involved in spiritually sensitive activities, we can be the enemy’s target. I’m involved in planning for a city-wide prayer meeting. Tuesday night, driving home after small group, lights suddenly flashed behind me. The young policeman told me I’d run the stop sign. I thought I’d stopped. He gave me a written warning. I thanked him, went home and slept.

Was that Satan’s niggling attack, wanting to upset me in the face of the upcoming prayer meeting? Seems like it. But Jesus is victor. When we face various trials, in Jesus, we can, as 1 Peter says, “count it all joy.” We can count it so because “God has willed His truth to triumph through us.”

Come Holy Spirit. Reveal the spiritual realities around us, especially your great power and love that triumphs over all the arrows of the evil one.        

 

To See the Father's Hand

"Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
John 5:19. NIV

I want to do what the Father is doing. Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing. I can see my hand in front of my face. I can see cheesecake. But my eyes don’t seem to see what the Father is doing.

A couple of weeks ago on my morning walk, as I passed a downtown bar, I noticed a folded up $20 bill on the sidewalk. My eye was drawn to it immediately. I have a gift for recognizing money. Even folded into quarter-size, my eye discerned the color, shape, and value of the object.

What would it be like to have such sharp eyes for the Father’s work? To recognize the nuances of his presence? I knew a man once, a long time ago, who could see the Holy Spirit on unbelievers. During an evangelism event on campus, he pointed out a woman sitting on the quad, listening. 

“God is speaking to that woman. Why don’t you talk to her?” 

I approached her and had a good conversation about the reality of Jesus. 

I have been in other groups recently where people say they can see the Holy Spirit doing the work of the Father. So far, that’s not something I can see. Can you? We have been trained to see $20 bills. Maybe the Father, if we ask him, would gift us with the ability to see the color and shape of his hand at work. Then we too, could do what we see the Father doing. 

Father we need gifts of discernment. We want to see your hand at work so that we can do what you are doing.

Remember

They forgot what he had done, the wonderful miracles he had shown them. The miracles he did for their ancestors in  Egypt, in the plain of Zoan. Psalm 78:11, NLT.  

How is it that we can forget miracles? Not only the ones God has done for our spiritual ancestors, but also those he has done in our own lives? One of the spiritual disciplines is remembering. Jesus poignantly says at the last supper, “do this in remembrance of me."

As if we could forget the Lord of the universe come to earth. Which, of course, we do, every day. We forget his great power and love—even what we’ve personally experienced.

Without reminders, I forget he healed my hearing. I take it all for granted! How can I do that? Because I’m a fallen creature. Unfallen creatures—angels, seraphim, cherubim, and others—worship and thank God constantly. God does great things for me; I thank him and go on my merry way. I forget my fear of losing my hearing. I take him for granted. I need to be reminded. 

Re-reading my journals is a way I remind myself of all he’s done. In that record of Jesus’ touches, I read about the time in 1987, when two pastors prophesied over me. I remember the day we paid off the house on the same day we took our daughter to college. I remind myself of the courage he provided as I struggled to fit into the suit of a professional, after growing up on the farm. Journaling is obedience to the command to remember.    

What do we need to remember today? What touch from God are we forgetting? What do we need to make records of? 

Holy Spirit of truth, bring to our remembrance all you’ve done for us.