The Trouble at Wal-Mart

Broken.  That's how my heart felt, sitting in the urgent care clinic with my baby girl with a swollen finger, possibly broken.

"What's wrong with your little one?" asked the receptionist.

"Minivan door.  It shut on her finger." Feeling dejected, I looked down at the clipboard and finished filling it out. Picking up my toddler, I returned the clipboard to the receptionist and sat to wait until our name was called. She sat on my lap and held her hand up with fingers extended. Her index finger on her right hand was twice as large as the one on the left.

It all had happened so fast. We were at Wal-Mart, just baby and me. I grabbed my purse and went to the other side of the van to get her out of her car seat. Sliding the the door open, I reached over to hit the automatic lock button, so it would lock up when I shut it.

After taking the baby out of her seat, I yanked on the door to slide it shut. As I turned to go, my daughter reached out her hand. Before I could stop it or pull her away, the door shut on her finger.

I was ready for an avalanche of tears, but she didn't cry at all.

Maybe the finger wasn't stuck in the door. A little tug. Oh, yes it was. My daughter began to cry. All the doors were locked. The baby's finger was stuck, and so was I. My key-less entry button on my keys didn't work, and there was only one way to open the doors once locked—the driver's side door—on the other side of the minivan.

My heart was racing. I couldn't calm down. I couldn’t think. I breathed in through my nose for a count of seven and slowly exhaled out of my mouth. I needed to be calm, to stay in control. I had to think. But, what could I do? She was stuck. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t put her down. Where her finger was pinned in the door, she couldn’t reach the ground.

Deep within me, came a cry, louder than I thought I possible. "Help, help!  My baby!  Please, somebody, help me!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man running toward me.  He was a young man with skin the color of brown sugar. I handed him my keys. "Please. My baby's finger is stuck ... I can't unlock the door on this side."

The man sped to the other side of the van and shuffled with the keys until he found the right one and tried it. I shook my head no. The door was still locked. He went into the van and manually unlocked it.

The door came free. I held my baby close. The young man handed me the keys as I was breathing a prayer of thanks. He smiled at me, then he ran off. I didn't even get his name or get to thank him. The way he sped to my rescue and then raced away, I wondered if he was an angel.

By now, my daughter's finger was swelling and so was her crying. Back into the van.  Forget Wal-Mart, we needed to go to the urgent care clinic. On the way there, my adrenaline level was at an all-time high. Little condemning thoughts kept on antagonizing me. 

It's all your fault...you're a terrible mother...she'll be scarred for life...

Then I remembered who I am. As a go to for when I’m struggling, I had been compiling all the new names that God gives us when we trust in Christ. Those names returned to me now:

You are Chosen, Accepted, Daughter of the King…

Breathing a sigh of relief, I parked the car at the clinic. Self-contempt doesn't have a chance with a heart resting in God's grace.

At the clinic, the doctor asked if our car had a door sensor that stopped it when it detected something in the way.

"No. No sensor." 

More condemning thoughts trickled in, but this time about others. Car companies care more about money than people's safety...big business is just corrupt like that...Aw, I shouldn't go there either. It would only steal my peace. Anyway, not all minivans had that sensor and ours was an older model. 

And, what about the guy who helped me unlock the door?  He probably wouldn't have been the first person I would have asked for help. I prefer asking a person who is in uniform. It feels safer. But, the person I least expected was my hero. And it turned out that my daughter’s finger wasn’t broken, and as she rested against my chest, she seemed to have recovered better than me. I was still panicky and unable to settle completely for some time.

The thing is, we're all broken people, living in a broken world. We'll never be in a place where something in our lives doesn't need fixing. And, though it seems like we're in control sometimes, we're really not.

If we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), knowing that the Lord is with us and there to help us, then eventually we will have peace. Sometimes right away, and other times, we have to wait for it.

One day Christ will return, and He will make all things new (Revelation 21). He will restore everything that has been broken in this world.

Until then, we can wait and rest in His grace, releasing control to His holy Sovereign will and thanking Him for the little things like an unsung hero at Wal-Mart and soft bones that didn't break.

Our New Names| 31 Ways Our Identity is Found in Christ

In searching the Scriptures, I have found at least 31 ways our identity is found in Christ. Each day of each month, I focus and meditate on each new name that God has given me. Believe me when I tell you this friends, knowing our new names is empowering, encouraging, life-changing. I have been able to face some of my most difficult challenges bowing the knee to my Maker and accepting the names He has bestowed upon me.

IN CHRIST

1. I am chosen by God who thought of me before even creating the world (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:4)

2. I am accepted by Christ to be in the holy presence of God (Heb. 10:19-22)

3. I am a Christ-follower, no longer submitting to the futile principles of this world (Col. 2:20)

4. I am empowered to do God’s work on earth through Christ who gives me strength

(Eph: 2:10; Philippians 3:14, 4:13)

5. I am a temple of God, a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and my body belongs to Christ

(1 Cor. 3:16; 6:13-19)

6. I am a vessel of the love, power, and glory of God (John 17:26; Rom. 8:30; 2 Cor. 4:7)

7. I am a citizen of heaven, called to do a heavenly work on earth. (Philippians 3:20; Heb. 3:1,2)

8. I am a prayer-warrior, who is strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might

(Eph. 6:10-18; 1 Jn 5:18)

9. I am a child of the King who can cry out to my Father in heaven for all my needs

(Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6; James 2:5)

10. I am fully alive and can flourish in Christ’s Kingdom that will never end

(Matt. 6:33; Luke 1:32,33; Col. 3:3,4)

11. I am a child of God, my heavenly Father, and I will resemble Christ when He returns

(John 1:12; 1 John 3:1-2)

12. I am redeemed from the judgement and wrath of God which will come against sin.

(Rom. 5:9; Eph. 1:7,8; 1 Thess. 1:10)

13. I am Spirit-led, only following the voice of my Christ, my Savior (Jn. 10:4,11; Rom. 8:14)

14. I am assured, having a mind and heart guarded by the peace of God

(Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:16; Eph. 4:23; Philippians 4:7)

15. I am contented, having all my needs supplied by God (Philippians 4:19; Heb. 4:16)

16. I am devoted to Christ, having been both crucified and raised with Him to live for His glory

(Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:22).

17. I am a saint, pure and blameless, having the righteousness of God

(Ephesians 1:1; 2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 10:14)

18. I am delivered from darkness, having been transferred into the Kingdom of God's beloved Son

(Colossians 1:13)

19. I am forgiven of my sins by grace through faith in Christ (Romans 5:8; Eph. 2:8,9; 1 John 1:9)

20. I am a priest of God, proclaiming the truth of the gospel to the lost (1 Peter 2: 9, 10)

21. I am self-controlled, having been freed from enslavement to my sin nature

(Romans 6: 2-7, 20-23; Gal. 6:14)

22. I am the bride of Christ, who waits for His return (Ps. 45:10; Song of Solomon 4:7,8; Rev. 19:7)

23. I am a gospel-carrier, and have been sent to be a light in a dark world. (Matthew 5:14-16)

24. I am a new creation with a new heart that longs to please God

(2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:24)

25. I am an over-comer and can live a life of faith in Christ who died and was raised again

(Jn 16:33; 1 Jn 5:4,5)

26. I am connected to Jesus and His love will overflow in me (Jn 15:5)

27. I am an heir with Christ, having been redeemed by Him and given an eternal inheritance

(Rom. 8:16,17; Col. 1:12)

28. I am beloved by God who gave His own Son to save me (Jn 16:27; Eph. 2:4-6; 1 Thess. 1:4)

29. I am secure, having been given a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Jn 5:4,5)

30. I am free from the need to take revenge against those who have hurt me

(Romans 12:19; Revelation 6:10)

31. I am an ambassador for Christ, entreating the world to turn to Him before He returns

(2 Cor. 5:20, Rev. 21: 1-8; 22-27)

Feel free to copy and print your new names in Christ.

Next week, I will share the 30 Names of God that have helped me to trust in Him in all things.  

May you depend on the will of God, be confident in the Sovereignty of God, and obey the Word of God as you hold on to the new names He has given you to stand against all the world, the flesh, and the devil has to throw at you. He who calls you by your new names is faithful.

Every Day With Jesus

Here I am on my bunk at summer camp trying to read my Bible.  It was a King James Version, and to me, it was like reading a foreign tongue.  But, despite that, I read on.

I was thirteen years old and in earnest.  I wanted to know who Jesus is.  It's like I had an unquenchable thirst to be forgiven and free from the burden of my sin. 

The problem was, I was deathly afraid of God.  I knew He was there, He was everywhere.  I had sensed Him all throughout my life and known that He had rescued me from some pretty difficult situations.  But, I couldn't pray.  I just knew if I did, something terrible would happen to me.

It's like the situation in one of my favorite books,  The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis. 

Near the beginning of the book, Jill, gets pulled into Narnia.  Guilt-ridden after a terrible accident and at the same time, dying of thirst, she ventures upon a clear stream of water, but there was a lion blocking her way.  She would die if she didn't take a drink, but she might die if she did.  Was the lion safe?  She did not know.

Like Jill, that's how I felt about God.  Was He safe?  I knew He wasn't; He was as wild and unpredictable as a lion.  But, I had to go near Him to get to the refreshing water that would save me. 

The last night of camp, as the speaker gave the invitation to pray to receive Christ, I couldn't stand it any longer.

"For He made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might have the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

I closed my eyes and envisioned Jesus on the cross, when He died for my sins.

And, after I prayed, I no longer had God-phobia.

It was gone.

I could pray to God my Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, and I knew that I was a forgiven child of God.

That year in school, I started feeling anguish in my heart for a boy that I teased.  He was from France and had a funny name.  A friend and I made fun of him the year before.  That's the extent of my bullying.  But, it was enough.  I didn't want to tease him ever again.  It was later on, as an adult, I was able to find him through facebook and apologized to him.  I'm not sure what he thought about that.  I don't think I was the only one who bullied him.

Then, there was the boy who bullied me.  He sat with me at the same table in homeroom in a shop class.  The next time he said a crude remark to me, I didn't feel ashamed or angry.  I looked right at him and shook my head, no.

It's as if I was saying, that's not you.  I think you'd make a better friend than enemy.  And, after that we were friends.  We played table football during homeroom for the rest of the year, and I remember those times with fondness.

As time wore on, however, I seemed to lose my connectedness with God.  I stopped praying, I gave up trying to decipher the King James Version of the Bible.  

As an adult, after college, after getting married, and after finding out I was pregnant with my firstborn, my faith was renewed.  And, it was in community.

Billy and I were invited to a Life Group that met in a pastor's house.  There were about six couples who met together to talk about passages in the Bible (in many different versions) and about following Christ daily, and then we prayed.  Something sparked inside of me during our prayer.  It's like my spiritual life was like a candle barely burning, but it was ignited to full flame in the presence and fellowship of other believers.

That was carried over into fellowship in women's Bible studies:

And, then in my own personal time alone every day with Christ.

And, so, I challenge you, my friends.  Do you know Christ? Do you have a fellowship that can fan into flame your faith?

I urge you to ask God to give you friends who know Jesus who can encourage you in your faith.

And spend everyday with the One who loved you so much He gave His life to save yours.

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save" (Zephaniah 3:17)