Bible

Cirque of the Towers

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The fourth year of summer backpacking trips, and this was maybe the best one yet! The Cirque of the Towers is a 23 mile loop in Wyoming, with two passes and endless lakes. This trail was a really beautiful place to spend a few days out of the heat and poor air quality that Colorado was experiencing this summer. It was definitely a trek to get there, but well worth it!

  • Packs on! Ready to rock and roll!

We drove to the trailhead on a Wednesday morning starting around 6am and made it to the trailhead before noon. We made sure to stop at the last gas station to get snacks and gas before we would be out of service for several days. (And we were glad we stopped for gas because we likely wouldn’t have made it back if we didn’t go with a full tank of gas.)

The first day was a fairly chill day of hiking, though it was a long day with a 6 hour drive. Once we made it to the trailhead, we hiked for about 7.5 miles. It was an elevation gain of 1,200 feet but it felt mostly gradual and flat. This took us about 4 hours to complete and then we went to work setting up tents, unpacking food, and making dinner for the night. The first night is always the hardest because you have to fit the most food back into your bear can and you are just not into the rhythm of setting up camp yet. So the set up of our tents and getting settled took a little longer than normal, but it was nice to be back on the trail and at a beautiful lake!

Campsite at Marm’s Lake the first night.

BUT THE STARS that first night were incredible! We have been lucky to have some really awesome sky views on several of our backpacking trips, and this was another great night! I highly recommend bringing a friend who has to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom so that they will wake you up and tell you to come look at the stars. It will be 1000% worth it. Promise. The pictures below are good but still don’t capture the magnificence of the stars in the middle of nowhere!

The second day was our easy day with a short 4 mile hike and a 500 foot elevation gain. So we took an easy and slow morning, and then spent the day chilling by our new home near Shadow Lake. We absolutely loved this lake! It was so peaceful! Plus, there weren’t a ton of people camping around that area, so we had plenty of space. We enjoyed the afternoon and evening, as we prepared for our big day next.

Day 3 was our hard day – 2 passes, 7 miles, and over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. …except that it ended up being closer to 9.5 miles and 2,500 feet of elevation gain. You see, the day started out well. We got all packed up and ready fairly quickly (for a crew of 7) and headed to the passes. We knew we needed to pack enough water to get over both passes because the water at the lake in the middle of the passes (Lonesome Lake) was not drinkable even with a filter. We also knew that we were likely going to have all sun and no clouds again, so we wanted to get up and over those passes sooner rather than later.

We made it to the base of the first pass at a decent time, but took a short break where we learned that there was a missing mom and 2 daughters somewhere. We thought we saw them with our binoculars but it turned out to not be them. (Long story short… it all turned out ok and everyone was found and reunited, but it did take some of our precious cool-air morning time. But we are so glad they are okay!) The first pass, Texas Pass, was definitely the hardest one. We spent a lot of time getting up and over this pass. There was a little bit of a snow field still left on the other side that we had to cross but it wasn’t terrible.

We made it to the bottom of Texas Pass and to the lake we couldn’t drink from. We decided it was time for lunch. We found a few shady trees and took a little bit of a break. It was getting really hot at this point so we really enjoyed the shade. Most of us put on more sunscreen and long sleeves after lunch so that we wouldn’t get too burned.

The second pass, Jackass Pass, was not as hard to get over though it was hot. Once we got over this pass, we headed down to Arrowhead Lake… and this is where things got tricky. There were two directions we could have taken: (1) up, around, and over the lake or (2) in the shade through the boulder field. We obviously chose the boulder field because we were so done with the sun at this point in the day. It didn’t look too terrible, but once we got into it, we realized there was not a way over the boulders with our packs on. This was devastating. We had spent so much time already over on this side of the lake and now we needed to filter more water and go the long way, adding another 2.5 miles to our journey. We were not excited.

At the top of Jackass Pass.

Once we regrouped and decided to go around, the only thing we could do is to just keep going. There was not another option and we needed to make it past this lake and the next lake before arriving at our destination for the night. It was long, and hot, and honestly really not enjoyable at all. But we made it… eventually. The only bummer was that by the time we made it to Big Sandy Lake, it was about 7pm and all the good camping spots were taken. So it took us a while to find a spot where we could all fit and ended up hiking to the far side of the lake.

Overall, day 3 was beautiful but also really long and tiring. I don’t know how we could have split it up any more than we did, but I am glad we made it. We were all so glad to finally be at the campsite. Plus it was finally a warm night (maybe even too warm). It was nice not to have to shiver all night in the cold though!

Our final day was a quick 5.5 mile hike out and all downhill. It was a very easy hike out which was nice. And then we headed straight to Big Sandy Lodge to get burgers! We loved that they had a lodge right by the trailhead because the next place for food would be several hours away. They were so kind and it was some really great food!

As a whole, I would recommend the Cirque of the Towers and I would do it again some day too! Some people do this trip in less time than we did, but I enjoyed getting time at each lake and time to slow down a little. Backpacking trips always make me so thankful to God, who created all of these beautiful places for us to explore!

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. — Psalms 19:1-2 (CSB)

Mountains & Valleys

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People often talk about the “mountain top experience” as the epitome of life. Its the best experience you could have! I think everyone will have a handful of these types of experiences where something incredible happens and completely changes your life.

But the reality is that most of our lives are actually spent in the valleys, in the mundane, in the everyday Tuesdays. And I think there is just as much beauty in the valley as there is on the mountain. Sure, the mountain gives you a new perspective, but you have to go through the valley in order to get to the mountain.

This summer, we backpacked in some of the most beautiful places in Colorado. As we hiked and hiked …and hiked… I contemplated this concept of mountains and valleys. Each time we got to a peak, I looked out and saw the valley we had trudged through. We had sometimes spent hours walking through these valleys that seemed to never end. Valleys that were often filled with a chilly wind that was relentless, or bugs that stuck to our faces and necks and arms without letting go, or rocks and uneven ground that was tedious, treacherous, and tough. But from up here, on the top of the world, on the mountain peak… the valley looked beautiful. It was wonderful and magnificent and perfect. We could see the green trees, lakes, and rivers and that was simply stunning! Sitting up here on the mountain, it seemed easy to forget the effort and endlessness of the valley which we had just traversed for a good portion of the day. We had made it to the summit!

And as we sat on the summit peak, I realized that sometimes you need to climb up the mountain just to see the beauty of where you were and how hard you worked. The view of the valley from the mountain top is what makes the mountain top experience so great. It’s understanding what it took to get out of the valley and up the mountain. That’s where the real beauty is.

The summit is never really the goal. (And I love myself a good summit!!) But the summit isn’t the end, in fact, the summit is typically only the halfway point. And each summit I reach there is a valley below that calls out and says, “Look how hard you worked to get here and look where you are now.”

The mountain top experience is about the person you are becoming as you climb. And for me, this is becoming a person who doesn’t give up, a person who knows that it will be hard and yet it will be worth it, a person who wants to learn how to be present even in the hardship and pain, a person who continues to lean on and trust the Lord even in the hardships of the valleys of life.

Last year held some difficult things for me, and in the moment they didn’t look beautiful. In the moment they seemed hard, and ugly, and painful. But as I catch my breath, as I continue to work at mental health, as I climb out of anxiety and depression… I can begin to see the beauty of the valley. And I can see where I was and the long hard road it took to get to where I am now. And I can see how God never left me alone in the valley, but rather continued to give me grace and rest each step of the way.

The Bible talks about the Christian life as being transformed one degree at a time. One degree is not a lot, but once you start to add these degrees up, it is much easier to see where you were! One step at a time. One degree at a time. That is the type of healing and the type of life that God has for us. Yes, he works in the big moments as well, but more often, he is simply with us in the everyday, long, and hard valleys of life.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

There is beauty in growth. There is beauty in hardship. There is beauty in seemingly endless seasons of anxiety. But sometimes, you have to keep taking one step at a time to get to a place where you are awarded with some perspective. Others might not see how hard you have worked or the valleys you have trudged through, but you have made it, dear friend. And the journey is not over at the summit. In fact, it is just getting started!

On Hope.

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Hope. We all hope for things in life. Some hopes come true while others do not. Often, when we use the word “hope” we mean the feeling of an expectation in life or the desire for a specific thing to happen. We use the word “hope” more like wishful thinking… hoping, wanting, desiring, wishing for all our dreams to come true. But the thing about hope on earth is that it’s never promised and never certain. Hope that is not fulfilled leaves you hurting, hopeless, and heartbroken.

Recently I experienced the loss of hope. Specifically, I had hope for a relationship to flourish. Instead, it felt like it was ripped from my hands out of no where. I was left confused, sad, and broken. Hope that is not fulfilled is one of the worst feelings in this life, and in its wake are broken hearts, sloppy tears, and sleepless nights.

And yet, as I sat and contemplated this loss of hope, I was reminded of a hope that is certain, unfailing, and sure. In this life, we have one hope that will never leave us unfulfilled, hurt, or abandoned. This is the hope of Christ’s return! 

“Our hope isn’t that nothing bad will ever happen to us. Or that everything that does happen to us is ‘the will of God.’ Our hope is that no matter what happens to us, Jesus is back from the dead, and anything is possible.”

John Mark Comer

The hope of Jesus coming back is something that is certain. It is sure. It will happen. It’s a hope that we can go to the bank on. We can bet all the chips. We can go all in. And this hope is good. 

We can be certain of this hope because of the person this hope is based on. This is a hope that is based on the one and only creator God. He is a promise-keeping God. His character proves that He will keep his word. He has never once left us unfulfilled or abandoned. He has never failed us and he never will. And because of who He is, we can trust that His promises are steady, certain, sure, and true. 

“To the Scripture writers, hope is the absolute expectation of coming good based on the character of God.”

John Mark Comer

And in this hope, we rejoice! We rejoice because in this world we will experience pain, loss, suffering, tears, and hurt. We will break promises and promises given to us will be broken. We will experience hope unfulfilled. We will be left wondering if God truly has our best interests in mind or if He even cares.

And friend, I can tell you… He does. He is good. In fact, all he can be is good. It doesn’t always feel like he is, but history and his word tell us what is true. Our God keeps his promises to the very end. And we demonstrate our trust in the promises of God when we put all our faith in this good God. He is faithful to the very end, and our faith is what holds this hope secure.

So go all in on him. He is for you. And in him, your hope is secure. 

Don’t lose hope because someday HE IS COMING! Our King is on the move. 

“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

“Now may the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

“Rejoice in HOPE; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

Hey Sis.

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I am now 29 years old and have been working with middle and high school students in a discipleship environment since I was a teenager. I remember being one of the few high school students in our small youth group growing up, which meant I was also a leader for our middle school groups. I remember having bible studies with neighbors and leading our middle school group when I was just a junior in high school, never imaging that God would allow me to be paid to disciple students, teach the Bible, and walk with parents through these crazy teenage years.

Over these years, I have met with dozens of girls for discipleship and I have seen them all come from a variety of places in life. I have also had the privilege of getting to know them and their families so well that I call them my little sisters. These girls are an inspiration to me because of the faith they have in Christ and the desires they have to live out the gospel in this crazy world.

This new series is written for all the “little sisters” out there who need some encouragement and guidance in this world. I may not know you personally, but if you are a follower of Jesus and desire to seek him with all your heart, then this series is for you.

My hope is that this series will talk about things that are relevant to the teenager of today, begin conversations at home and with friends, and encourage the sisters we have in the next generation to live counter-cultural. This world is really hard, and life can throw a lot of things at you. But lil sis, I believe in you. And I believe that you can stand up for God in a world that seems to hate him and ignore him. I believe that you are part of the generation that will have an incredible impact on history. And I believe that God made you for a purpose to represent and reflect him in all you do.

Prayer: God, you are good, wise, and loving. You know the state of this world. You know what the next generation of leaders needs. You know how difficult it is to follow you in this world. I pray that you would send your Spirit to guide, teach, and encourage all of the young girls out there who need to hear a bit of truth in a world of lies. Go before them, and make them a generation of courage! We love you and trust you! Amen.

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV)

The Book of Job

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The book of Job has been really intriguing to me recently. If you haven’t read this book before, or haven’t read it in a long time, here’s a quick summary. Job is a righteous man. He knows and loves God, and God actually says that he is “blameless and upright.” Job also has a lot of wealth. He has sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, servants, houses, and children. It seems like Job has it all! From here, we see Satan and God engage in a conversation, where God allows Satan to essentially curse Job. Job begins to lose everything… his animals, his houses, and even his children. Job’s health is also attacked and yet, in it all, he does not curse God. Several of Job’s friends speak into his suffering, trying to explain why this suffering is taking place. And for the most part, they believe he is suffering because of a sin he has committed. (There is a lot of dialogue here in the middle, and it’s important, but I will let you go read these interactions on your own.) Eventually, Job and God have a conversation where God reminds Job that he is not God. God affirms his own wisdom, justice, and sovereignty. And at the end of the book, God gives Job more than he started with!

As I have studied this book, a few things have stood out. First, as the reader, we know that Job has done nothing wrong or sinful to deserve what is happening to him, yet even at the end of the book, God does not explain to Job exactly why all of this suffering has happened. This reminds me that I won’t always know everything that God is doing or why certain things are happening or are not happening. And God does not owe me an explanation. Job is a really good example of living with integrity and faith. Job is tempted many times to curse God and yet, he continued to trust God and do what is right, even in the midst of the greatest suffering he has ever experienced!

Second, the book is not really trying to show that Job was righteous, we know that already. Instead, the book is pointing to the way to deal with suffering and how to hold suffering in line with a good, righteous, just, and wise God.

God’s wisdom is beyond any human wisdom. Therefore, we can trust that God is the one who does exactly what is right, in the right way, at the right time, to the right extent…always. This is what it means for God to be wise and to act in wisdom. And with this wisdom, God also acts with perfect justice. It is only because God is fully wise that he can act in perfect justice. “His justice must be deduced from his wisdom.” (Hill & Walton) We cannot fully understand God’s justice because we cannot fully understand his wisdom. God’s wisdom and justice go hand-in-hand.

God’s justice is vindicated, not by identifying a “legitamate” cause for suffering, but by demonstrating his great wisdom.

A Survey of the Old Testament by Hill & Walton

So if you are suffering, I pray that the story of Job would encourage you. We will not always know the cause of our suffering, but we can trust in a fully wise and sovereign God. God knows your pain, your hurts, your sufferings, your longings, your disappointments, your unmet desires, your heartbreak, your loss. God knows it all because he is fully wise and all-knowing. And in the midst of all of this hurt, God is still working. We may never know why certain things happen or don’t happen, and God doesn’t owe us any kind of explanation for any of it. But, I find comfort and rest in the fact that we have a God who knows us fully and loves us completely. And he does what is best, every time. I pray you can find that comfort too.

Citation: A Survey of the Old Testament by Andrew Hill & John H. Walton. Zondervan 2009.

The Pool.

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After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

John 5:1-9 (ESV)

This story get me every time. Let’s just recap this story and try to imagine what this would have been like. The man Jesus went to go see had been there for 38 years and had put all of his hope in getting into the water to be healed. Jesus saw him and he knew he had been there for a long time, and then asks the man, “Do you want to be healed?”

I can imagine the man thinking, “Well yeah! That’s why I’m here! Obviously, I want to be healed!” I’ve always thought that was a strange question for Jesus to ask a man who lived by healing waters in simple hopes that he would one day be the first in the pool to be healed. This was his reality for the majority of his life.

Anyways, the man explained his situation to Jesus in hopes that he will stay around and carry him in. He was essentially saying, “Will you carry me into the water?” The man misunderstood what Jesus was offering him. And I can imagine Jesus simply shaking his head, “no” and looking at the man with kind and compassionate eyes.

Jesus doesn’t look at the man and ask him if he wants help getting into the water. He doesn’t come to him and tell him he will carry him into the waters. He doesn’t even ask him if he knows that he is Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus is simply not in the business of helping us get things our way.

That is where I break in the story every time.

All this man wanted was to be put into the water so he could be healed. He did want to be healed but he had a limited understanding of healing, believing the only way he could be healed was through this water.

Yet Jesus said no because he had something better in mind. He knew that the waters would not truly heal this man. Jesus knew true healing would only come through him.

So he kindly spoke to the man. And instead of responding to him with “Well, I will take you to the waters” or “My disciples here will carry you to the waters” he says, “Get up, take your bed, and walk!” Jesus healed this man because He is God!

This man is told to get up, something he has never done, and to take his bed and walk. This is an indication that he is not to return to this life, he is not to return to this place to sleep. He has been healed and everything has changed!

And this is how we should be when we trust in Jesus. Everything should change. We are a new person. We have a new purpose. And we have a new hope. The man didn’t even know Jesus’ name and yet he was healed by him. 

God is kind to not give us everything we want. And he is kind to give us the things we want in ways we don’t expect. This is hard to admit though because I often feel like it is not kind when he withholds things from me or has another plan. I believe that my plans are the best and struggle to trust God in the unknowns. Yet, this simple story reminded me that sometimes God withholds things from us that seem good to us because he has something better in mind. In this story, I see Jesus withholding healing the way the man imagined being healed in order to show this man who he truly was. This was far better for the man and it is far better for us as well.

So today, I encourage you to run to Jesus with all of your trust and hope. He may not give you what you want, or he may give you what you want in another way, but we can trust that he is a good and faithful God through it all. Only in Jesus is true healing found.

The Wilderness.

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There was a time in my life when I felt abandoned, forgotten, and invisible. It was a series of events which led me to this place. This place was lonely and desolate. It was a wilderness. I felt surrounded by lies, false realities, loneliness, and sadness. 

And yet, in this place I met Jesus.

This was the hardest and driest season of my life. BUT GOD. He was with me in my wilderness. And each day, I remember coming to him…

Weak.

Frail.

Hopeless.

Needy.

Hungry.

Alone. 

Sad.

I remember coming to him because in his presence was the only place I felt true peace. In his presence I felt like I could breath again. In his presence I could finally rest. 

And day by day, as I came to Jesus for renewal, for life, and for daily sustenance…

He restored my heart.

He lifted my head.

He strengthened my lungs.

He gave me purpose. 

And then, one day, through the encouragement of some co-workers, I felt the Lord say, “Daughter, I see you. I care for you. I love you.” 

And when someone says they see you, and they really do see you for all that you are, both good and bad, both beautiful and ugly, both success and failure… you believe them, and you trust that their love for you is real. 

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

Genesis 16:13 (ESV)

That day, I felt the love of God pour out on me, giving me new strength to stand, and new joy to live into! I felt like I could finally breath again as the Lord picked me up out of my wilderness. 

And now, although I am fearful of going back into a time of wilderness, I know, without a doubt, that if that is where the Lord is, then that is where I want to go. Yes, even back into the hard, the lonely, the frail, the helpless…because I know that God will sustain me with everything I need.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)

Today, maybe you need to be reminded of God’s presence, his care, his compassion. Maybe you need to hear, “I see you. I am with you.” And maybe you need to be reminded, as do I, that wherever the Lord is, that place is far better than any other place or situation void of him. 

So run to him. He will care for you and give you strength to stand and help you breath again. He is a good good Father, who deeply cares for his kids. I know this love, but do you? 

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15 (ESV)

2021 : Present

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My word for 2021 is PRESENT. Not like presents that you get on your birthday, although I do love those too. Present as in being in a particular place and taking time to stop and enjoy exactly where you are.

I think we have a really hard time being present in our world today. It’s far too easy to turn on the television instead of having conversations, or put in your headphones rather than take in the sounds around you. Our world today has a problem with being present.

Yet, I also think that Covid-19 taught us a lot about being present and learning how to be exactly where we are. We had no option in 2020 but to learn how to enjoy a simpler life with those we live with directly. A year of a pandemic allowed many to start new hobbies and learn how to put down the phone for a moment to check in with a friend or enjoy making dinner at home. In fact, I think many of us finally had “enough time” on social media that it actually caused boredom instead of distracting us.

As I look through God’s Word to see what it means to be present, it’s hard not to think of Jesus who is “God With Us.” The Father literally sent His only Son to come and dwell among us, to be present with us. Jesus came to live life among His creation and then to die for us so we could be present with Him forever.

Jesus took time to stop and have a conversation with a Samaritan woman in John 4. He stopped to care for and listen to the children who came up to him. He sat on the side of a mountain and taught the people for hours in Matthew 5-7. Jesus was present with His people, which reminds me of His personal care and intentional compassion.

As we enter into 2021, I desire to continue to be present with those around me. Jesus is the ultimate example of being present with people, and I want to look more like Him this year by being present with others. I know I won’t always get it right, but I want to spend time focusing on this word so I can demonstrate more of the personal love God has for each person I encounter. I want to be the first to put my phone away when others are in the room. I want to be quick to ask others how they are doing when I see them. I want to take time to stop and enjoy days without my phone as I sit and savor more of Jesus.

“God will give you a place to inhabit, which means that you get to become attentive to what is there where you are. This means that to dwell knowledgeably and hospitably in and toward the place God gives you us to glorify him. God will give you a few things that he intends for you to do in your inhabited place and with those people. To do what God gives you to do is to strengthen the common good and to glorify him.”

Zack Eswine, Sensing Jesus

So, what’s your word for 2021? And how can you continue to practice presence with others this year? I pray that if the Lord allows us to be with one another this year, that you will feel seen and loved by the Lord as I get to practice being present with others.

Where is the Lamb?

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The story of Abraham is a fascinating one found mostly in Genesis 12-22. These chapters tell of the beginnings of this key character in the Bible. But here’s a quick run down.

Abraham is married to a woman named Sarah, though at this point their names are actually Abram and Sarai, but that gets confusing. Anyways, they are married and they are about 75 years old. They have no children. But then, God shows up and promises Abraham that he will have a child! Through this child their family will grow so large that they will be a nation, and God will give them a land, and God will bless all the families of the earth through this family!

[1] Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [2] And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)

This promise is called the Abrahamic Covenant and it is a key detail in the storyline of the Bible! This is a promise, given by God, to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. So it seems like a ridiculous sort of promise. How will a couple at the age of 75 have a child?! We see God reaffirm this promise in Genesis 15 and make a true covenant with Abraham. God is telling Abraham to continue to trust Him, even though it seems like there is no hope.

Time continues to go on, and there is no child. Abraham and Sarah try to take things into their own hands around chapter 16, but this is not the promised child. God is holding fast to His promise, even as Abraham and Sarah reach 100 years old.

Then in chapter 21, God gives them a baby boy named Isaac. He is the fulfillment of this promise that God gave to them. This is their promised son! They see that God is faithful by doing exactly what He said He would do!

Now, this would be a great story if it ended here! An even better story if this was in fact the one we were told about back in Genesis 3:15 (the first covenant God makes with us). God promised that a savior would come and defeat sin and death, but is this the one they were waiting for?

Genesis 22 reveals something extreme. God tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his son, his only son. This is the son who was born in the promise, who fulfilled the words of God, who Abraham and Sarah waited for 25 years for in their old age to have! And now God is telling him to go sacrifice his son!? WHAT!?

Abraham is obedient so he does as God tells him. Abraham and Isaac make preparations and head up the mountain. Then Isaac, the only son of Abraham, asks an important question:

[7] And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

Genesis 22:7 (ESV)

Isaac realizes they have everything they need except for the lamb. And at this point in the narrative of the Bible, I believe that we as readers should also be asking this same question: “Where is the lamb?”

God created the world good, but sin entered the world. Then God made a promise that a Savior would come and rescue us from Satan, sin, and death. This Savior would be the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world! And yet, this is not him. He has not come yet. Has God forgotten His people? Has God forgotten His promises? Where is the lamb?

Now, if you have read the New Testament before, you know that the lamb is in fact Jesus. We know the end of the story because most of us have God’s Word sitting on our nightstand or on a shelf somewhere. And many know the end of this story with Abraham and Isaac as well. As soon as Abraham raises the knife to kill Isaac, God appears to him and tells him to stop. Then God provides a ram for the burnt offering, and Abraham and Isaac walk down the mountain together.

What’s significant about this story is that God has always kept His promises. God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, their family would be incredibly large, and through them, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

And each of these promises came true. Hundreds of years after Abraham and Sarah, in a small town in the Middle East, a baby was born. And this baby was named Jesus. He was in the family line of Abraham and eventually died on the cross as the lamb who would take away the sins of the world!

So this Christmas, will you celebrate Jesus as the fulfillment of every promise of God? Will you celebrate that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sins of the world? Will you celebrate that God is a faithful God who always keeps His promises? This is the true story of the world. We have a faithful God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son down to earth to live and dwell among us. And that Son’s name is Jesus, or Immanuel, which means God With Us. God came to dwell among us and then die for us so we could be with Him! I pray that you will rejoice in the gift of Jesus this season as you trust in our ever-faithful God!

Hope in the Darkness.

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Frozen 2 may be one of my all time favorite movies. Cinderella (the real-life version) and Princess Bride definitely make my top three, but I think Frozen 2 is in my top 10 at least!

One of my favorite aspects of this movie is when Anna is in the cave, all alone. (Spoiler alert! But honestly, if you haven’t seen it by now, then you kind of deserve for this to be spoiled for you.) Elsa just pushed her away, both literally and figuratively, and then she froze. This causes Olaf to also evaporate and it seems like there is no hope left for her. It seems as if both Elsa and Olaf, her two favorite people, are gone forever.

Then she sings a song. And this song is why I love this move so much. It’s one of the few times you truly see a Disney character mourn, and mourn well. She sings a song called, ‘The Next Right Thing” and if you haven’t heard it, stop and listen to it now.

Here are the first few lyrics. Read through these slowly if you can.

“I’ve seen dark before, but not like this
This is cold, this is empty, this is numb
The life I knew is over, the lights are out
Hello, darkness, I’m ready to succumb
I follow you around, I always have
But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find
This grief has a gravity, it pulls me down
But a tiny voice whispers in my mind
You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on.”

The Next Right Thing, Frozen 2

You see, Anna felt like there was no more hope, like everything in her life was over. She talks about this empty, dark, lonely feeling that many of us have truly experienced. And for many of us, this year has felt like this song… dark, heavy, weighty, difficult, lonely. She talks about how grief and sadness are pulling her down, so much that it’s hard to go on.

And then she says these words: “Hope is gone.” That is a strong statement. And this is a statement that may seem true according to the world.

But you see, as Christians, hope is not gone. We have hope, even in the darkness.

The season of Advent is a season of celebrating the coming of Jesus. This coming is promised from as early as Genesis 3:15. We are told that a Savior will come who will conquer Satan, sin, and death forever!

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

But His coming didn’t happen for years and years and years.

God continued to give His people promises through people like Abraham, Moses, and David. These were promises that God had not forgotten His people and that He had a plan. Prophets reminded the people that Jesus was coming, yet the people continued to live in darkness. They turned to their own ways and ignored or forgot the sure promises of God.

Then, God was silent……….. for four hundred years. I would imagine they felt just like Anna did, without hope.

But then!!! God speaks. And He speaks by sending His very own Son, born as a human, in a small town in the Middle East. This Son’s name is Jesus and He is God with us. He is the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy spoken about from the beginning. He is the one who came to bring hope in the midst of darkness!

As you celebrate Advent this year with your friends and family, I pray that you will see that Jesus bring us hope even in the midst of darkness. Yes, there are hard things, difficulties, deaths, and times of hopelessness in our lives and in our world. We live in a really broken place full of disappointment and disaster. But, our hope is not gone. It has not left. And God has not forgotten His people.

Be reminded of that this season, and be filled with hope! Our God has come to dwell with us and redeem us from everything broken in our world. And one day, He will return to make everything right again and dwell with us forever! Look forward with HOPE this year, trusting in the sure promises of God!

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:3-4 (ESV)