Karen Rabbitt

Who Will Stand?

Americans now know, with gas at more than $4 a gallon, what Europeans have known for years. Energy is precious. We are learning deliberation. “If I drive to Meijers, across town, I need to stop at the library, Ace hardware, and Sam’s on the way.” I ran out of ink yesterday. Knowing I’d be near Wal-Mart today, I didn’t run out for ink. Ridership is up on mass transit and bike sales must be picking up. That’s just the first layer of effects.

The second economic effect is how the increase in gas prices increases consumer prices. We’re beginning to feel those pangs, too. The local whole wheat flour I buy for bread-making has increased $.12 a pound. Our trash bill went up recently. We’ve yet to see the full effect of increased transportation costs. Some effects are predictable—increased food pantry demand—while others remain to be seen.

World economic pressures add additional uncertainty to the mix. China and India, with their rapid development, increase demand for clothing, cars, and building materials. And why should America remain on the top of the heap? What gives us the right to use so much of the world’s resources? But what a painful slide it will be. Some American middle-class folks will slide right into poverty. And what will the poor do?

When I turn my eyes from the gas pumps to the scriptures, I see Jesus. After foreseeing people “fainting from terror” because of the events of the end, he says:   “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28 (NIV) Are we near the time of the end? I don’t know. But as prices squeeze us, let’s look up to Jesus’ promises, more precious than any fuel. When the end comes, only he, and those who hold his hand, will stand.

Jesus, may we feel the pressure of your hand today.

Join the Dark Side?

“Join the dark side.” That was the bumper sticker I saw this morning. Yikes. Why would anyone consciously want to join with darkness? Many have made an unknowing contract with the dark of night, for example, when they allow themselves to be addicted to drugs. But, a well-thought-out choice?

I can think of three reasons: 1. They’ve never seen the light. 2. Darkness promises power. 3. They want to be with someone who lives in darkness. “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all,” John says. (1John 1:5, NIV)  With no experience of God’s multi-splendored light, the light that illumines the colors of life, the dark side may feel like the realistic side. Then, the dark side promises the ability to achieve your own purposes. To join with God is to put aside our own desires and to work with him to bring the rule and reign of King Jesus. And, it’s easy to slide into darkness if people depend on others who have already chosen the dark side.

But those who join with darkness do not foresee the consequences. They see only the glittery promises of personal power or the comfort of connection. The dark one hides in the shadows, around the corner, behind the shed.

Even for those of us who walk in the light, the darkness sometimes entices. For most of us, drugs are easy to recognize as lightless. Pride, prejudice, and greed are not so easy to see, crouching in the shadows. Let’s keep asking King Jesus to shine his light into our dark passages. We need his power to see the consequences of darkness. By his grace, we will choose the light of day, every day.

Holy Spirit, come illumine the hidden corners of our hearts.

Face to Face

The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.  Luke 22:61 (NIV)

What sort of look did Jesus give Peter when he heard Peter’s third denial? The answer we instinctively give to that question tells us a lot about our view of Jesus. Was Jesus’ brow knit above hard eyes? Was his intention punishment?

Was his mouth turned down? Was he shaking his head? Did Jesus mean to let Peter know just how disappointed he was in him?

I doubt he was either angry or sad. I think his eyes were soft, his face relaxed. Jesus had previously told Peter the truth about himself: “You will deny me.” Now, I think Jesus was both calling Peter to account and pouring forth his compassion.

Peter didn’t know his own weakness. Jesus knew. Peter’s denials were no surprise to Jesus. But it looks like they were a surprise to Peter, himself. The text gives the impression that Peter hadn’t quite realized what he’d done until Jesus looked at him.

And isn’t that how it is with us? Only when we get face to face with Jesus do we see our sin clearly. We can go blithely through our day, reacting to the people around us, not thinking much about eternal realities. And then God breaks in and we suddenly see what Jesus sees. We see the tired Walgreen’s clerk through Jesus’ compassionate eyes. We see our toddler’s frustration as a cry for attention rather than an intentional interruption to our reading. We see in our own hearts all the subtle ways we deny Jesus’ reality—in our small faith, our weak hope, our cold love.

Oh, Lord Jesus, may we once again, come face to face with you—your clear-sightedness and your compassion.

Wanting What We Don’t Want

In a March, 2001 quote, Christian philosopher Dallas Willard says, “One of the hardest points to get past in spiritual formation is that in order for me to be spiritually transformed, I have to want to not want what I now want.”

I thought of this yesterday when I realized that a part of me thinks it’s okay not to lose the three pounds I gained on our March vacation. I thought I was all in agreement about losing. If I don’t eliminate them now, I’ll gain three more when I go help my daughter with the birth of our first grandchild in June. Not until yesterday morning, when I stopped and thought more seriously why my efforts over the last few weeks haven’t been working, did I notice her hidden in the corner.

Lifting her nose, she said:  “My clothes still fit, my lipid panel numbers are okay, what’s the problem here?”

I pulled her out into the light: “Oh, no you don’t. If I don’t lose these pounds now, I’ll gain more in June. I won’t be so mindful of my eating then. I am not going there.” 

Sometimes, even as Christians, we fully want to disobey in a particular area. But aren’t we usually of two minds? Part of us wants to do the right thing; part of us wants what it wants and doesn’t want to change. Part of us wants to read the Bible, the other part says, “Oh, what’s the use?” Part of us wants to tithe, the other says, “I need that money myself.” One part says, “Don’t even look,” while another part says, “Just one glance at that X-rated site won’t hurt.”

With renewed prayer, I managed to reduce my portions yesterday. By grace, I’ll do it again today. Jesus is Prince of Peace. He is the one who exposes and settles our conflicts. Only he gives power to change our wants.

Lord, we come to you, just as we are, conflicts and all. Please grow our internal peace and unity.

Unshakeable

Twenty to five in the morning, April 18, I was awakened from sleep by the shaking of my bed. Wind? No. Earthquake. Nothing else shakes a bed inside a house. Just as I wondered if I should climb under the bed in case the ceiling fan fell, the jarring stopped. I jumped up to see if my husband, in his bedroom, felt it. We grabbed each other in the living room.

“Did you feel that?” I said. 

“Oh, yeah. That was a big one. Turn on the radio, let’s see where the center was.” For central Illinois, it was big. Centered 150 miles south, it was 5.2 on the scale.

In Reno, USA Today reported yesterday, “Residents here are being shaken, literally, by an ongoing series of earthquakes, which experts warn could be a precursor to a major seismic event.” Sandy Jung, formerly a California resident, says, she’s used to the ground shaking, but not “swarms of them. Not day after day after day.” Unsettling, scary, irritating at best.

And many of us are enduring financial earthquakes. Foreclosures. Job loss. Food and gas prices.

It is time to cling even more tightly to the unshakeable kingdom. The writer to the Hebrews says, “ ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”  Hebrews 12:26-29 NIV 

To cling to the Creator-King does not mean our worst fears won’t come true. It means, even if they do, the God who is with us will carry us through. Jesus’ grip is unshakeable. 

Father, Jesus, Spirit, we worship you. We cling to you. You are our hope, our faith, and our life.