Karen Rabbitt

Winter Sustenance

Like ‘50s farm women who canned corn in August for January sustenance, we can store up God’s word in the cellars of our hearts. Such stored wisdom can carry us through our spiritual winters. When tragedy and disappointment threaten to overwhelm our trust in God’s goodness, those summer-stored words can nourish us.

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job’s words strengthen my faith as I contemplate tragedies around me— the California wildfires, the untimely death of a friend’s child, the catastrophic losses in China and Myanmar. If Job can hope in God in spite of his immense losses, we can too.

Job’s testimony of hope was called up from a summer’s reserve. He didn’t grow that trust as his children died, his servants perished, and his crops failed. That faith had grown out of his intimate friendship with God before those reversals.

Sometimes we find God in suffering but the road is smoother if we’ve gathered up sustenance ahead of time. We don’t have to leave the path to find food if we carry it with us. What scriptures carry you through? What wisdom is tucked away in the cool basement of your heart?

Here are two more from my storeroom:
 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.” 2 Ti 4:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Ro 8:18

Jesus, please help us store in summer what we'll need in winter.

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.

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.

Dignity for All

In 1968, in the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith won the 200 meter gold. He was the first man in Olympic history to run it in record-breaking time for the medal. He is still the only track and field athlete to hold eleven world records simultaneously. I didn’t know that until I read his autobiography. All I knew was what I’d seen on T.V. I was a teenager in the Midwest, watching as he ascended the victory platform with his bronze medal-winning teammate, John Carlos. During the national anthem, they raised their black-gloved fists, creating an enduring image of the quest for dignity for every person.

In his book, Silent Gesture, Dr. Smith describes the prices he’s paid and continues to pay for that single act. At the end of the book, in the acknowledgments, he writes:

“First and Foremost: to my Heavenly Father who chose me to be a vessel in this season, thank you for giving me the opportunity, the strength, and the knowledge to Stand Up for Peace, Love, and Equality for ALL.” (1)

The story goes in many directions: the costs of the gesture, the social consequences, the history, the courage, the kind of man he was. He says his head was down while his fist was raised because he was praying. He feared for his life.

One act never tells the whole story. When a friend doesn’t call, maybe they feel rejected. When we glance out the backyard window and see one child tugging on the other’s toy, perhaps we need to hear more before we jump to conclusions. If a person of a different ethnicity does something we don’t understand, perhaps its time to listen, and learn.

Jesus on the cross was God’s nearly silent gesture. That image, too, leads in many directions: the costs, the consequences, the history, the courage, the nature of Jesus and of God. There’s always more to understand.

Jesus, thank you that there is always more. And thank you for those who have contended for dignity for all and most especially, for your sacrifice, which confers dignity on all.

(1) pg. 259, Silent Gesture, Tommie Smith with David Steele, Temple University Press, 2007

Structural Support

Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today show reports this morning that the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a structural failure. Several people are dead. Families are weeping at the bedsides of critically injured spouses and children. Others wait without hope for news of the missing.

A chief engineer, whose name is not yet public, signed off on the most recent inspection report. He made a decision. His decision was wrong. The consequences will haunt him to his own death. For the next few days, many other experts will second-guess that choice.

Decisions have consequences. Not just for ourselves, but for many. Unlike the engineer, most of us do not have immediate responsibility for thousands of people. Our decisions do, however, affect our spouses, co-workers, and children. Kindness leads to emotional connection. Complimenting a colleague’s report builds confidence. In a conflict, speaking calmly with our husband models peaceful resolution for our children. 

May our words build up rather than tear down. May our decisions today require no after-the-fact analysis.

Father-God, please give powerful words that will build strong supports in other’s lives.

Danish Cartoons Perspective

For a penetrating perspective on the current furor over the Danish cartoons that dishonor Muhammad, read this essay on desiringgod.org:

Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ’s Work, Not Muhammad’s

By John Piper. ©Desiring God. Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 888.346.4700.

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