There Will Be Tulips

 Dear Christa—

Yesterday Jay turned on the sprinkler system. So, tonight as I sat here in quiet for the first time in a long time, the water kicked on. At first it startled me because I didn’t expect it. Then as I watched the droplets of water shower down on grass that’s trying to revive out of winter’s deep sleep, I thought of how satisfying a drink of water can be, and how often the refreshing of the soul is linked to water imagery in Scripture.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. (Isaiah 58:11)

For all the years that I’ve lived in Colorado, I still miss the spring that never comes. A couple of weeks a go, I pushed back some mulch and scratched around in the dust, looking for a sign of the tulips we’d planted last fall. Disappointed, I figured the bulbs I’d bought on sale just weren’t any good. Then, with a single day of rain last week, suddenly they were there.

There will be tulips. It might be June, but eventually they will bob their little blooms in the air. And suddenly, it will be summer. But before then, when the sky withholds the rain, Jay will help them along in his well-watered garden.

I love flowers and gardens, and I love this verse. I think the hot, dry wind of the Southwest can sometimes suck the very life out of you, and life’s struggles can weigh us down. So, it’s good to hear the voice of the Lord in Isaiah. He will guide; He will satisfy; He will strengthen.

Winter is over, and it’s time to drink deep—deep into the Word of God. Hear Isaiah’s voice once again, settle back, take a deep breath, and find strength in His Word:

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

From Genesis to Now: Judgment

Dear Christa—

From Genesis to Now: Judgment

I wonder when Jesus stopped being Mary’s son and became her Lord. It did happen. There had to have been a change, slow or fast, when Mary no longer looked at Jesus as a child she bore and raised and recognized him for who is was and is—Creator God.

As children grow, we parent less and less in many ways, but this was different. Jesus never was really Mary’s. He was God, and she was just a vessel—a vessel used to bring redemption.

There came a time in history when God brought severe judgment on the earth, not just a nation or region, but the entire earth. Those who peopled the earth were mighty and strong—“heroes of old”—legends that perhaps became myth. Mighty though they were, they were not godly. They should have recognized God for God, but they did not. And then came judgment.

People don’t like to talk about judgment these days. We’d rather view Jesus as Mary’s son, a child. And it is true that Jesus did come as a child, but by the time He agonized in Gethsemane, this was no mere mortal, even in comparison to the heroes of old. This was God, very God. And all those things Mary had pondered in her heart years before surely came back to her again. This was not her son. This was her God.

And even though Jesus brought redemption, He is still a God of judgment. Power and prestige will not remove us from the eyes of God. Redeemer on one hand, judge on the other.

Mary was a vessel—a vessel who recognized her God. We should do no less.