Sometimes you ‘ve just got to lay it all out there.

Literally.

I’ve always loved finding a story in the Bible that startles me and makes me say to myself, “Why haven’t I ever heard that before?”. Sometimes I think with all the years I’ve spent in church and all the Bible studies I’ve done, I must have come across every story.

And then God surprises me. Hidden in the 19th chapter of 2 Kings, I found one of those stories.

King Hezekiah had just received a very unpleasant letter from Sennacherib, the enemy King of Assyria. He told Hezekiah that his God couldn’t be trusted. Sennacherib said he’d destroy Israel just like he had destroyed other kingdoms. Their gods didn’t protect them and Hezekiah’s God wouldn’t deliver him either.

Just a little bit threatening, wouldn’t you say?

So what did Hezekiah do? He didn’t wring his hands and worry about how to respond.

“Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.”
2 Kings 19:14.

I stopped in the passage after reading that. And I wondered how much more powerful my prayers could be if sometimes I could take the actual thing that I’m praying about and literally spread it out before God. It’s a tangible act of submission and faith.

After spreading out that letter before God, Hezekiah worshiped and prayed and gave glory to God. And a little while later 185,000 Assyrians were dead at the hands of the angel of the Lord.

Shouldn’t we be doing the same thing?

What if instead of just praying about it, I spread out the certified letter I got from my insurance company notifying me that a neighbor is wrongfully accusing me of damage to her property? What if I spread out pictures of the people I’m praying for as I pray?

What if we spread out bank statements and doctor’s reports and any other things that threaten to destroy us? What if we said, “Here they are, Lord. I need your guidance and wisdom and intervention.”

Praying is powerful on its own. But could it be more powerful if we literally handed over these things to the Lord, just like Hezekiah did?

I think I need to clean off the area of the dining room table where I have my prayer times. I need room to spread out.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6

I didn’t realize cleaning off that old bulletin board I wrote about last week would yield so many life lessons. Here are two more:

I don’t remember exactly what was going on in my life when I cut those quotes out of a magazine and pinned them in a place of prominence on that board. I think I was looking for courage to do something, maybe courage to make a move either literally or figuratively, or say something that needed to be said to someone.

They aren’t Bible verses. They didn’t come from a great sermon or commentary. But I believe they reflect some pretty important Biblical principles.

Courage. Obedience. Faith.

God wants us to be fearless in the pursuit of the things He wants us to do. Sometimes He wants us to step off those ledges of faith and believe that He’s going to take care of us when the outcome is unknown.

This morning those quotes made me think of the story of Esther, and how Mordecai believed she was placed in that place, in that time, for God’s plan to rescue the Jews to unfold. She had a choice. She could take the risk, or she could allow fear to cost her the destiny God had for her.

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

God hasn’t called me to rescue a nation. But there are things I’m praying about. Things that could be risky and scary (to me, anyway) and make me wonder if I’m up to the task. And if God says to step out in faith, I can’t let fear cost me my destiny.

Or, in Biblical terms, I can’t let fear make me miss out on being right in the center of God’s will for my life.

I may play a very small part in God’s kingdom. But if I don’t play that small part well and God has to get His will done some other way, I’ll be the one who misses out on the blessing. God may ask me to take risks and step out in faith and be obedient when it’s uncomfortable or scary or uncertain.

But the greatest risk may be not taking one.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight. 2 Samuel 10:12

Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it. Ezra 10:4

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24

I got into some kind of cleaning frenzy yesterday. It was long overdue. I pulled the furniture away from the walls and put my vacuum cleaner through a workout like it’s never seen.

And in the process, I found some very interesting things.

For a long time I had a bulletin board hanging in my bedroom. I’d pin photos, ticket stubs, cards, quotes and all sorts of other things to it. Things I wanted to remember. Things that meant something to me. I had taken it down a few years ago and somehow it got stuck behind some furniture, which is where I found it.

Later yesterday afternoon, it was dark and stormy outside. Perfect weather to sit on my living room floor and take the memorabilia off that forgotten and dusty bulletin board. A memory lane for sure.

Here is one of the things I found:

It’s a plane ticket stub from a flight from Nashville back to West Palm Beach. In October of 2005, I was visiting friends in Nashville and Hurricane Wilma interrupted my attempt to return home. I got as far as Atlanta when they told me the airport in West Palm had closed. Fortunately, they could get me back to Nashville, where my little weekend trip turned into 5 days. Twice the airlines told me the airport had opened back up, only to find it really hadn’t. After three days and a few tears, I was finally given the OK to return home.

I was frustrated and worried about the fact that my home still had no electricity after the storm. I didn’t plan on being away so long. Didn’t plan on Hurricane Wilma tearing across Florida.

Sometimes our plans get interrupted. “Interrupted Travel for Virkler/Sharon”. When I found that yesterday, I laughed out loud. What a statement about life! How many times have we made plans along this journey of ours, only to have them interrupted? Interrupted by disappointment or tragedy, or things just not turning out the way we thought they would. Sometimes we’re interrupted by good things – love, new friendships, delightful and unexpected surprises.

Look at the ticket again. See where I was sitting on the connecting flight from Atlanta to West Palm Beach? Seat 6D. First Class. When everyone else getting on the plane turned right to go to Coach, I was directed left into First Class. I hadn’t even realized the airline had done that for me. So what started out as an interruption that made me worried and frustrated, ended up with me having an experience I’d never had before, and probably never will again.

God uses interruptions in our lives. God interrupts our travels through life to give us the opportunity to trust Him even when our best laid plans go awry.

I threw out a lot of the things from the bulletin board. But I’m saving this ticket. I may have interruptions in life. But God might just be about to bless me in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good… Genesis 5:20

I’m not sure when it became popular to use the sound of crickets to symbolize the dead space of nothing happening.

You’ll hear it on television ads and programs. Someone is expecting something to happen or someone to say something, and instead, all they hear is… the sound of crickets.

I hear crickets in my prayer life sometimes. I’m sure I’m not alone. I pray and pray for something and expectantly listen for the answer and…nothing.

Crickets. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

I think I’ve shared these quotes by Oswald Chambers before, but they bear repeating. For me, anyway. From his book, “If You Will Ask”:

“God’s silences are His answers. If we only take as answers those that are visible to our senses, we are in a very elemental condition of grace. Can it be said of us that Jesus loved us that He stayed where He was because He knew we had a capacity to stand a bigger revelation? Has God trusted us with a silence, a silence that is absolutely big with meaning? That is His answer. The manifestations will come in a way beyond our comprehension.

Are we mourning before God because we have not had an audible response? Mary Magdalene was weeping at the supulchre -what was she asking for? The dead body of Jesus. Did Jesus give her what she asked for? He gave her something infinitely grander than she had ever conceived – a risen, living, impossible-to-die Lord.”

“God has trusted you in the most intimate way He could trust you – with absolute silence, not of despair, but of pleasure because He saw you could stand a much bigger revelation than you had at the time.”

“His silence is big with terrific meaning that you cannot understand yet, but presently you will. Time is nothing to God. Prayers were offered years ago and God answered the soul with silence. Now He is giving manifestation of the answer in a revelation that we are scarcely able to comprehend.”

I can’t be bothered by the sound of crickets anymore after I’ve prayed and nothing seems to happen. God wants me to trust Him with the silence.

Crickets may just be the sound of God doing something. Something big.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. John 11:5-6

Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18

After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Hosea 6:2

Sometimes I wonder about the significance of my life. Why am I here? What does God want from me? What am I supposed to be doing?

I’m probably not alone in that. We want to know that our lives have a purpose.

I found something the other day that gave me a very unique glimpse into that purpose. It startled me and humbled me. But it made me smile as well. My Dad wrote a book many years ago titled, “Just A Moment”. Each chapter tells the story of something in his ministry or in his life, stories of God’s faithfulness and provision. I ran across a copy of that book the other day.

And one of the chapters is about me. When I was just seven months old, I became pretty sick. And almost died. Here is how my Dad tells the story:

Twice, my little girl was on the critical list. Once, after a severe relapse, she failed to regain consciousness. Ushering my wife from the hospital, I prepared myself for the worst.

That night, with her life hanging in the balance, I watched one of the top pediatricians in the New York area call other doctors. None had discovered any new treatment for “para-influenza”. That germ had wrecked Sharon’s intestines. Nourishment was impossible and dehydration was in a lethal stage. She was dying of malnutrition. So deteriorated was her tiny body that the veins were collapsing and artificial means of feeding were to no avail.

The doctor said, “We’re doing all we can, but it may not be enough. I can give you no real hope.”

That single night will forever be a monument in my memory as my little girl teetered on the threshold of eternity. While two specialists went into the minor operating room in search of a single vein in her weakened body, this evangelist telephoned a select few of God’s people, among them my own father. “Dad, ask people to pray, because if God doesn’t work a miracle, she’ll not last the night!”

Cradling the phone, I went into a small waiting room and knelt to yield myself and my daughter to the will of God.

At length, I heard a baby cry. The doctors had found a vein and my child was conscious. There was hope! Within an hour a Christian nurse stood at Sharon’s bedside to see her through the night. And with the help of private nursing my child inched her way back to shaky health. In the process she consumed 97 bottles of intravenous fluid, underwent two minor operations, spent five tedious weeks in the hospital and had lingered near death. Finally, we gathered up a weak but mending little bundle of life and took her home. Sharon would live.

But her body will always bear the marks of her brush with eternity. The two operations left cross-shaped scars on her ankles clearly visible even today. Only recently , she pointed to them and asked, “Daddy, what are these marks?”.

I answered, “Honey, you’re too young to know about it right now. When you are a little older, I’ll tell you the entire story.”

And what will I say? I’ll recount the anxious weeks, the bottles, the operations and the night of prayer. But those scars will receive special attention. I’ll remind her how they represent two Biblical themes: life and death. They are the marks of near death and at once the emblems of new life graciously given. And I’ll explain how she must refuse to live for herself; how ungrateful it would be to lead a self-centered life when her very breath depends on the mercy of God. And then I’ll turn in my Bible to Paul’s Galatian epistle and remind her that another man was branded; marked as she is. For Paul stated his dedication of life and singleness of purpose by saying in Galatians 6:17: “From henceforth let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”

Paul was eternally branded. How and where? The question had already been answered in Galatians 2:20: “For I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Those marks were Calvary’s marks. In conversion, Paul was branded as a special possession of Jesus Christ. These are the marks of death and life and every Christian is so marked in genuine conversion.

Then, I’ll apply those scars on Sharon’s ankles to a life-long reminder that she is not her own, but purchased with a price. Her allegiance must be to the God Who saved her life. She is truly, “a dead person on furlough”.

So there it is.

God could have taken me into eternity that night, but He didn’t. He has me here for a reason. And as Dad’s words reminded me this weekend, “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Those cross-shaped scars on my ankles are still visible today. Sharon, you’re marked. For Him. For life.

…always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:10

A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. John 14:19

Soaking wet firewood doesn’t light too easily. And if it’s really wet, it’s just about impossible.

No, this isn’t about camping. But it is about things that seem impossible.

I recently came across the story of Elijah and Ahab and the miracle on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Elijah had challenged Ahab to prove his gods were more powerful than the Lord God. They agreed to make sacrifices on piles of wood, and then Ahab would ask his gods for fire from heaven, and Elijah would ask his God for the same.

Ahab and his men made a spectacle out of themselves crying out and waiting for their gods to respond. Which, of course, they didn’t. Elijah, believing that his God would come through, decided to make it even more impossible in order to prove beyond any doubt that his prayers were heard.

And that’s when things got wet.

For Elijah, it wasn’t enough to just ask God for fire. He poured pots and pots of water all over the sacrifice and the wood and the water ran all around the altar. Oh, and he filled a trench, too. And all that impossibly wet wood didn’t make one bit of difference. When Elijah called out to God, “the fire of the Lord fell down and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench.”

Take that, Ahab.

You know, sometimes I feel like there has been water dumped on my prayer requests. Sometimes it seems that answers are improbable, if not impossible. Take, for instance, my prayers for a husband.

I wrote a book 9 years ago about waiting on God but I’m still waiting. SPLASH.

I work and worship in places where there are few single men my age. SPLASH.

The statistics aren’t in my favor. SPLASH .

But you know what? My God seems to love impossible situations. He loves taking soaking wet wood and making a roaring fire out of it. He doesn’t have to answer in the way I want Him to, but I know He could. It doesn’t matter how difficult or challenging or overwhelming things get.

So maybe instead of getting discouraged over delays or disappointments or things that get worse before they get better, we need to be reminded of the wet wood on Mt. Carmel.

Splash. Pour on the impossible. I’m watching for the fire.

Nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Jeremiah 32:17

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

He leadeth me! O blessed thought!
Oh words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

He leadeth me! He leadeth me!
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters calm, o’er troubled sea,
Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine;
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When, by Thy grace, the victory’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since Thou through Jordan leadeth me.

Hymn, “He Leadeth Me” by Joseph H. Gilmore, 1834-1918

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8

The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. Psalm 25:9

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6

It appears that some subscribers to this blog may have received an email link to the last blog (from 7/26) and found it to have the title “1964”, which made no sense at all in relation to the story! Lest you think I’ve lost my mind, I have no idea how that happened. The blog is titled “Saturated”, which makes perfect sense.

But hey, at least it made you think! 🙂

I read a book this summer about a woman who traveled to Alaska to find peace following the tragic deaths of her father and stepmother. She wrote that she wanted the Alaskan landscape to “saturate my eyes and my soul”. (North of Hope by Shannon Huffman Paulson)

I could relate.

Not about the Alaska part, although one of my dreams is to visit there someday. But as I was reading that particular chapter, I was sitting at the edge of Lake Ontario, with the breeze blowing, the sun sparkling on the water, the waves gently lapping at my feet, sailboats tacking across in front of me, and the sound of my nephew playing in the sand and rocks on the shore.

I wanted to drink it in. To somehow preserve it and let it become a part of me and let it saturate my eyes and my soul.

I think God put that desire in our hearts – to experience the beauty of His creation, to let it draw us closer to Him, to sense His majesty in the majesty of the landscape. Just read some of the Psalms.

But can we be saturated with other things when vacation days and breathtaking landscapes are gone for another year?

What if I sat in church on Sunday and intentionally sought to saturate my soul with the glory and privilege of worship? What if, as I spent quiet time with God, I stopped to let the Word and His presence wash over me, filling me, saturating me with joy and peace and truth?

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was that they would be filled with the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:19)

Sounds like saturation to me.

When I think back to that moment on the water this summer, I’ll let it remind me not only of an amazing vacation day, but of being blessed and filled with the fullness of God.

Saturated.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:5 (NIV)

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; Isaiah 44:3

It was on a July 19th more than a few years ago that a little girl was born. She came on her due date. And she’s been punctual ever since. God knew all about her, even before that summer night in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Psalm 139:15

And on that night, as she was taking her first breaths and meeting her parents and the world for the first time, God already had all her days planned.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16 NLT

God was there as she took her first steps, said her first words and most importantly of all, when as a child, she knew she needed Jesus in her heart.

But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Matthew 19:14 NLT

God was there as she grew up, went to elementary school, middle school, high school, Bible college, nursing school. And all through those years, He continued to unfold a plan for her life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

He was there when life didn’t turn out the way she thought it would, the way it seemed to be turning out for almost everyone else. But He gave her a new hope and a new word – Anticipatience.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:25 ESV

And so now, many years later, that little girl is all grown up, living in Florida, working as a nurse, still believing, and realizing how dependent she is on her Lord. There have been joys and sorrows and blessings and adventures and everything in between.

And God has been there for all of it. And I think that God is celebrating with her today on her birthday. He had a plan for her life.

He has a plan for her life.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6