Karen Rabbitt

A Sure Foundation

"That steel I-beam sure looks strong." My husband and I had just awakened this morning in the unfinished basement of my daughter's two-story house.

"It looks strong, but in a fire, wood would only char. That steel is like hard wax--it would melt. A beam of several pine 2x12s nailed and glued together would maintain its structural integrity, even in the flames."

"So even though the steel looks more stable, wood is better in a fire.

"Yup."

There's an image. What's our foundation made of? Do we look strong or are we really strong? Are we strong in ourselves or strong in the Lord? And how can we know, except in the fire?

Paul says, in 1Corinthians 3, there is one foundation--Jesus Christ. Maybe in our everyday lives, we're not so aware of our foundations. We manage a busy household, we perform well in a challenging job, and/or we get A's in graduate school.

But what happens when a child gets leukemia, a new boss fires us, or we sustain a closed-head injury?  Or even the lesser fires of the flu, a critical boss, or a bout of the blues?

What do we rest on then? What supports our weight in those flames? It's not our good looks. It is the surety of that Jesus-beam that undergirds us. He is the foundation that survives every fire. 

Lord, Isaiah 33:6 says you are "a sure foundation for our times." May we rest our weight on you.

Cherished Children

"He's adorable!" "Oh, how sweet!" "He's so cute!"

That's what we've been hearing a lot of around here as we admire our new grandboy, now just nine days old. Mom, Dad, and Grandma (that's me :)) keep touching his soft skin, chuckling at his funny faces, and rushing to pick him up at the first sign of fussiness.  As we meet his every need quickly and kindly, we are laying the foundations of his life.  I am so grateful that his parents are able to give him such a good start.

My foundations were roughly laid and missing a whole wall. Having little sense of how to help build a life, I screwed up my daughter's foundation. She, however, has worked hard to let God build his house in her heart. And she's now ready, by grace and with grace, to lay a solid footing for her son.

Many of us have been betrayed by those who should have responded to our needs. A father isn't there. A mother's attention is directed to an older sister. A grandfather takes advantage of us. No one told us we were sweet, cute, or adorable.

Except the God who calls himself Father, even Abba, Daddy. He thinks we're delightful. Fallen, broken, and yet, his cherished children.

Father, show us how to receive, again, or for the first time, your fathering.

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.

Pure Motives?

The other day my husband told me about a man who traded in his hybrid Honda Civic for a Prius, the Toyota hybrid. The Civic looked too much like a traditional car and he wanted the attention the Prius drew. In some quarters of American society, there’s a new kind of “green conspicuous consumption.” We brag about our gas mileage, we buy carbon offsets for our plane trips, and we are snapping up books on how to build and buy “green.” Do we really care about the poisoning of the earth or do we want the attention we get for going green? Hard to tell. The fellow who traded cars because he wanted the attention makes me wonder. Could be that he just wanted the opportunity to spread the gospel of green.

Someone once said a freeing thing to me: “No one has pure motives.” I’d been moaning to him that I’d wanted attention; that’s why I’d given a communion meditation in service that day. The thought was freeing because, like all perfectionism, purity was unobtainable. I could confess my impurity and ask God to purify my motivation, certainly, but I didn’t need to mope around, punishing myself for my mixed motives.

Only God, who has absorbed our guilt into his vast heart, is pure. He is working toward a glorious future that we can all be part of. He acts, not for selfish attention, but for selfless good. Actually, I can hardly imagine that kind of selflessness. I must confess, mostly I just like attention for my own good deeds, green or otherwise. Maybe you understand that. 

Oh, Lord, reorient our hearts, away from attention-seeking, toward your good purposes.