A Bendable Bride

I woke up this morning at 5:30 to the wonderful NPR station. I left it on for a while, mostly awake, but completely understanding the gist of all of the news I was hearing. The underlying theme in our nation right now is "panic and fear." They were of course talking about the gasoline issue, and then they were interviewing some people in Texas that had been victims of the storm. I guess there's extended power outages down there. One woman was talking about how the power went out for a whole day, and all of the food in her refrigerator went bad, costing her $500 worth of groceries. I thought, "who buys $500 worth of groceries!" which is completely besides the point of what I'm trying to get at. I was troubled when I shut off the radio. I didn't really know why. As I began talking to the Lord about the situation in America, I realized that if I focus on the downward spiral that seems to be happening in our economy, I don't really know what to pray. So, I'm praying for the Church in America, instead of the situations that present "panic and fear."

What a perfect time for the Church to awaken out of sleep and bring peace to those that are being tormented (and probably don't even know it) by fear and anxiety. The Kingdom of God must present itself to the world in such a time as this, and the culture of our Kingdom must prove to the culture of this world that our God and Lord Jesus Christ reigns over all. The elements of this culture cannot touch the Church of Jesus Christ. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, and everything that makes up His kingdom is our inheritance. I pray that the Church in America will awaken to their inheritance, and release it into the culture in which we are temporarily assigned to.

I was also thinking today about what it really means for the Church to become more and more bendable. What I mean is this: Eph. 2 talks about how the Church is being fit together for a dwelling place of God. So, how do we really fit together? (If you haven't guessed yet, I ask lots of questions! I love questions, and I love answers even more!) As I pondered this with Jesus, and how glorious it will be when we are actually fit together, I saw how unbendable and unflexible the Church is right now. We get disgruntled when our comfort zones are interrupted! I have been such a partaker in this disgruntling too - I won't lie! But there is hope. I've seen parts of the Bride reshaping herself in order to be fitted together with others. And I believe we will be seeing it more and more. The Bride is so beautiful - how much more beautiful when she bends and becomes flexible so that she can become connected to her counterparts! This is my hope - the fullness of Christ. I am ruined more every day for the glory of the Lord. Anything that takes away from that glory, I will go after in love and truth. We were made to be the praise of His glory. Reveal places in Your Bride, Lord, where there is stiffness and unwillingness to bend. Fill us with Your wisdom to speak gracefully to the stiff places, that Your Bride may become soft, bendable, and willing to go wherever You need her to, and to do whatever is necessary for Your glory to be revealed in every people group in every place.

The Lord sees the desires of our hearts. My heart longs for the family that I haven't even met yet on the other side of the world. I don't know why, but sometimes it overwhelms me, like it did tonight. As I hear a song inspired from Hosea being played over the people in Turkey, and as I hear about all that God is doing in Lebanon (the nation, not the city in TN), I think about the simplicity that I had the honor to experience in Nepal. I don't know if simplicity is the mark of every nation except America, but I long for the simplicity that I've once experienced to be present here. I experienced it in the pure, innocent worship from a group of teenagers that love to laugh and have fun. I experienced it as I watched little Emmanuel (the boy in my photo) banging on a drum and singing praise to God, even though he has no idea what he's really singing or playing his drum to. I experienced it when an acoustic guitar or just a few bongo drums were the only things keeping the rhythm to our songs, and yet ushering in the presence of the Lord. God reminded me on my way home tonight that I am His vineyard. "I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day" (Is. 27:3). He delights in giving us the desires of our hearts as we feed on His faithfulness. He tends to us every moment, guarding what He's put in our hearts for His glory, and watering the hope of His calling in each one of us. He is faithful, and He is good. So good.