Live Life Now

All I remember was a loud bang as the semi truck hit me.

I was on the last stretch of my journey home from Idaho last Sunday, crossing the mountain pass near our home. Night had fallen by then, and the mist rising from the partially melted snow reached for me like silver fingers in my headlights. I was following a semi truck and a utility van, the former of which was kicking up abundant amounts of sand which had been laid down to protect us from ice that had long since melted. Both the van and my truck were slowly coated with a greasy sheen of dirt. I was thankful it was still warm enough to use my windshield cleaner.

The semi truck was having problems going over 40 miles an hour up the steep mountain slope, and graciously he pulled over into a slow vehicle turnout to let us pass. The van hurried past him, and my truck reluctantly kicked into overdrive and sped up to 60 to match pace with the van. Headlights turned the corner in front of me, probably from some snow junkie making his way back down from the pass. 

Then I looked over to see the semi truck already coming back into my lane. 

I honestly don't remember much of what happened the next two or three seconds. I remember frantically looking ahead and realizing the semi truck driver was coming back over because he hadn't stopped on the slow vehicle turnout like I had assumed but was still rolling and maintaining a fair amount of speed. He had eaten up all the short space of the turnout lane and had nowhere to go but back onto the highway. I was only about two-thirds of the way past him as he was veering back onto my lane. The silver side of the semi grew closer and closer fast. My rear-view mirror folded in first. I remember oddly enough that it flashed in my face as the mirror rapped against my window. Then there was the loud bang as the semi hit me. 

I remember the oncoming car swerving to try and give me room and avoid the head on collision. I also remember there was no shoulder for him to get over onto, leaving most of the car still in the lane I was getting pushed into. I remember stomping on my brake . . .

And the next second, I was back behind the semi.

It took me a few minutes of shock and disbelief before I could process what had happened. I was shaking, both hands gripped on the steering wheel. And all I could manage to say, over and over, was "oh my goodness, oh my goodness." 

Which quickly turned into "Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord" as I realized just how close of a brush with serious injury or even death I had been preserved from. 

Moments like this, when the veils of how fragile life really is are pulled back, sure gives me a moment to pause and reevaluate what is truly important. Would I have been content to enter the afterlife just then? With no formal goodbye to my family and friends? What would I have had to show for my life when I stood before Jesus? So many of my aspirations are future goals. I will serve you when X, Y, and Z happens, God. When I finish my degree, God. When I am married, God. 

It was revealing just how little of my 21 years would have counted for eternity. 

In that moment, all worldly passions fade. I wanted to get home to my family and hug them all tightly and promise I'd be a better son and brother. I wanted to call all my friends and give them some encouragement. I wanted to share the Gospel with someone who needed it before I never had the chance to again. 

When eternity suddenly is a few feet away shining in the headlights of an oncoming car, you realize how every second here on earth is a blessing that should be used to the fullest. No more pointless pursuits. No more discontent and dreams for only the future. Material things like a brand new, gaping dent in your truck become a non issue. You realize it's time to live life now. Make it count. Leave your family and friends with no doubt that they were loved deeply by you. Be ready to stand before God and be content at the good works He was able to work through you while you still had breath on earth.  Your prayer becomes "Use me now, Lord!" 

Micheal W. Smith's song "This is Your Time" resonates personally and is a great way to sum up this post. May we all make every moment count and truly live in light of eternity!

What if tomorrow 

And what if today

Faced with the question

Oh what would you say

This is your time

This is your dance

Make every moment

Leave nothing to chance

Swim in the sea

Drink of the deep

Embrace the mystery of all you can be

This is your time

The Forgotten Cross

It sits there in the little balcony overlooking our hill. It should have been lighted all Christmas season long. All it asked of me was to plug it in. Its warm, yellow glow should have been cast across our home like a comfortable, familiar blanket you'd wrap around yourself to keep out the cold. Instead, the gloom of these short winter days crowd in relentlessly.

It waits for me still, but now I will come only to take it down. I'll fold down its short arms. Lower it to the ground. Store it away in the crawl space below our house to keep it safe for next year. It's my cross I made--A couple different lengths of black PVC roped with bright lights to shine the symbol of the Good News of Christ.

It's the cross I forgot about all Christmas season long.

It's true. It helped that for the first time in a while, my dad was the main Christmas light setter-upper this year. But still, I had time to haul the cross up there to our balcony . . . I just never remembered to plug it in.

I can't help but feel a similar parallel to my faith the past month. It's there--steady, never in doubt of falling. And yet, it isn't shining. It feels almost forgotten even, or at least neglected. My devotions have been almost non-existent. Men's Bible Study and Church have been like little islands of light and hope I robotically swim to, walk across, and plunge into a sea of apathy on the other side. I've let all the distractions this season offers deaden my faith.

The analogy holds: like the cross, I haven't been plugged into my power source. I haven't been consistently abiding with Christ, and the witness my life should be as a Christ follower has been very dim. In this dark, desperate world, I've slipped into a pattern of selfish distractions that has kept my light from shining. My faith is there, yes, but it hasn't been alive for others to see and benefit from.

Thank goodness, I am committed to a God who will never wander from me and loves me more than I can even fathom. Who but Jesus would stay in a relationship so one-sided? Would you, if you were barely acknowledged day in and day out? Would you love someone who hurts you day after day in so many ways through his sin?

I am so humbled by that thought alone, and it awakens my love and desire for the Lord. It's more than that, though. My Sovereign God aligned several things to strike me all at once on Sunday. The first was a timely message from one of our visiting missionaries, reminding me that every Christian life consists of peaks and valleys. The valleys aren't abnormal, but they can be escaped through praise, prayer, and consistent time in God's word.

The second was a devotion I read by Ray Comfort. I was challenged to consider how my life was showing how thankful I was for Jesus's sacrifice for me at the cross. Not much currently, I had to admit. At the bottom of the page there was a prayer to pray, thanking Jesus and committing to live in gratitude. I prayed that prayer full-heartedly, which led to a longer prayer pouring out my heart.

It was as if this sip of everlasting water showed me just how thirsty I really was. I couldn't drink fast enough.

The third hit me as I rolled into bed after midnight. A new year--an oft-realized chance for a fresh start. I committed then and there that priority 1# for the New Year was reviving my spiritual walk. No more apathy. No more spiritual dehydration. It feels so nasty when you start coming out of it, really. Like the Steven Curtis Chapman song says so fittingly: "I'm playing GameBoy standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon/ I'm eating candy sitting at a gourmet feast/ I'm wading in a puddle when I could be swimming in the ocean/ Tell me what's the deal with me/ wake up and see the glory."

So, here's my prayer for all of us in the New Year: May we take this time to recommit our lives to Jesus, that we will wake up and see His glory and live every moment for it. Let's not forget the cross. The distractions we can get wrapped up in are a pathetic, life-sucking trade-off in comparison. May we all make resolutions that will trim out these distractions and maximize our potential for Christ. He's given us each different gifts and desires to use in service of Him; let's not waste them! 

It's truly the only way to really live. 

The Eye of the Storm

The devastation of Harvey is almost unprecedented. The rainfall--43 inches in Houston, TX over only five days--completely shattered previously held records. The death toll is now at 70. It is close to, if not is, the most costly storm in our nation's history.

And yet, Harvey may have a challenger to some of those records already.

Hurricane Irma is bearing down on Florida. A category 5 storm, It's already decimated the Caribbeans, leaving at least 22 dead. It is expected to hit landfall late tonight in the USA, possibly still as a category 5 storm. Or, "at best", it will be a category 4 storm. By comparison, Hurricane Sandy was a category 2 storm as it approached New Jersey. By the time it hit the cold Northern air just before landfall, it wasn't even classified as a hurricane.

Hurricane Irma is poised to be very, very fierce. It will be deadly and destructive. It will make history.

As a reporter from ABC news puts it: "Whenever man and mother nature meet, it's a mismatch."

But that's the point, do we want to face this storm alone? We are hopelessly outmatched. We can't stop the storm. All we can do is predict Irma's destruction, flee from it, and come back to clean up the devastation when it's run its course. Without a hope of some higher force than the forces of nature--without hope of the supernatural--we are left to pick up the pieces, despondent and despairing.

But there is hope! Hope in a God who is mightier than any storm, hope in the God who created the universe with nothing but the breath of his mouth. As Psalm 93:4 reassures us:

More than the sounds of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, The Lord on high is mighty.

With God, we can face any trial or storm with confidence, trusting that He has a grander plan than ours, even in the storm. Yes, He could protect us from all storms, but in the end, do you think that would be best for us? We are fickle, wandering people. So often we turn from God in seasons of comfort and pleasure to our own desires and our own gods. Maybe God is orchestrating natural disasters in our nation to catch our attention again. Maybe He loves us enough to give us some hard discipline so that we might fall on our knees, repent of our self-serving, self-sufficient ways, and humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God. Can these trials strengthen our faith? Will our faith not only endure, but grow stronger through these storms?

I'm reminded of our ultimate example, Jesus, and how He stood up to the intense personal storm He faced right before His death. Jesus's last hours were a non-stop hurricane of intense drama and tragedy.An angry mob encircled Him; His disciples betrayed, denied, and abandoned Him; mock courts condemned Him; blindfolded, they beat Him; A spineless leader didn't have the guts to release Him; Romans whipped and degraded Him; crowds taunted Him even as He hung on the cross! And yet, through it all, Jesus remained utterly calm. You see, He trusted the Father's will and had completely submitted Himself to it. Jesus was the calm eye of the storm while the powerful forces of bitter rage and injustice swirled around him--and ultimately destroyed him, for three days at least.

Let me be clear, Jesus could have at any time stopped the storm. In fact, we catch a glimpse of this in John 18 where Jesus merely utters "I AM" and the mob sent to arrest Him are blown back to the ground. Tens of thousands of angels waited for the Lord to but utter the command, and they would have completely obliterated the opposition! But yet Jesus walked through the storm, knowing that the Father had a better plan, and look at what amazing good is in the world because of it!

We may be called to walk through these storms, but there is a way to walk through them with calm confidence. Hurricane Irma is still coming. We can't override God's will and stop it, but what we can do is put our trust in God. Let's humble ourselves, confessing all our anxious thoughts to Him. Let's repent and make Him the Lord of our lives! And please, join me in prayer for everyone in the path of the storm. Let us pray that these storms will turn our nation back to the only God who can save us, so that we can again be a nation who says fullheartedly, "In God We Trust."

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You, and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge. Until destruction passes by. I will cry to God most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.

Psalm 57:1-2

When Will You Bear Your Cross?

What is the cross?

So often in Christianity, truths become phrases, phrases become sayings, and sayings become clichés.  We’ve formed a whole set of “Christianese” thanks to the process. Just imagine how foreign it sounds to someone outside the church to hear about “being born again” or “being washed in the blood”. And yet, we Christians are so used to our Christianese that I wonder if we really stop to think about what we’re saying. This might be true of the cross.

Sayings about the cross are pervasive in our church culture. How often we sing about it in our worship songs and reference it in sayings like “That’s just my cross to bear”. Jesus himself mentioned the cross a few times. The first time we see him do so in the Gospels is Mathew 10:38:

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

It’s so clear that a cross, then, is central to our relationship with Christ! A cross is at the very center of our Christianity. Taking it up and following Christ is what it means to be a Christian!

So again, what is the cross?

It’s not the cute little ornament that dangles from our tiny chain necklaces. Nor is it the pinnacle atop every church steeple. It’s more than a symbol. In the disciples’ day, it was the reality of the most brutal execution imaginable. There was nothing cute about it; it was hell on earth. As John Macarthur notes about the cross:

“To [the disciples] it would have evoked a picture of a violent, degrading death. [Jesus] was demanding total commitment from them—even unto death.”

The same is true for us. Jesus perfectly demonstrated this violent, degrading death when he submitted to the Father’s will in bearing his own cross. His flesh was torn to shreds. He was beaten beyond recognition. He collapsed under the weight of the cross as he bore it to the very place where he would be stretched out and crucified on it. His own blood stained the cross where his hands and feet were nailed to it. This is what he suffered as he denied himself and was terribly persecuted by the world for his perfect righteousness.

And this is our calling as well.

Kind of takes the wind out of the sails of those “health and wealth” prosperity preachers, doesn’t it?

It would seem at first blush with this understanding of the cross in mind that true converts to Christianity would be few and far between. Who in the world would ever want an ending to their lives like Christ? Who in their right minds would even want a taste of the tortures of crucifixion?

But here’s an even more troubling thought. What if this cross—this terrible torture, this degrading death—cannot be escaped by anyone, believer or non-believer alike? You see, what else do we know about the cross? It’s the just punishment for sin. It was the death Christ bore for us when he became sin and was forsaken by God so that we in exchange could be righteous. The cross is a microcosm of hell.

It is a sample of the eternity unbelievers will spend apart from God.

If that is true, then the cross is something each and every soul on earth will have an individual encounter with, one way or another. So now, from a completely logical view, which version of the cross would we rather bear? Would we rather take it up and follow Christ in this world, or take it up and bear it in eternity apart from Christ? This is where the good news starts, because as we compare the two, bearing our cross now far outweighs putting it off till after death. Believe it or not, it can actually be a joy!

You see this theme of the benefit of suffering now for Christ as opposed to suffering for living in sin throughout First Peter. There’s almost too many verses on the topic in that book alone to list, but the highlights include:

“For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” 1 Peter 2:20

“But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.” 1 Peter 3:14.

“For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.” 1 Peter 3:17

“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” 1 Peter 4:1

“But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”1 Peter 4:13

This is one of the amazing paradoxes in the Bible. It is in taking up our cross that we can rejoice, because this suffering is for our good!! It helps cleanse us of sin. It drives us to rely fully on Jesus, who loves us and offers us a new, abundant life if we keep crucifying our old life and submitting to his will. We truly are blessed, even if we have to physically endure a cross! Have you heard the amazing stories of martyrs praising God even as they were brutally murdered? What kind of amazing life is this that even in torture we can rejoice?

It’s real, friends. Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and go ahead and shoulder that cross. It won’t be too heavy, I promise. It won’t be too hard. Look at Paul! He describes our afflictions as momentary and light in 2 Corinthians, the same book of the Bible where he lists his own afflictions, including, “Five time I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

Sheesh, if Paul can look at his own life and shrug his suffering off as light and momentary affliction, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Put that in mind the next time you are tempted to complain about your “hostile” work environment or that nasty Facebook comment slamming your faith.

It’s time for us to faithfully surrender our lives to Christ. No more putting off the cross. Accept what Jesus has done for you on that cross and cheerfully follow his example in bearing yours! Let’s lose our lives so that we can find them. It’s the only way to live a truly worthwhile life!

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wished to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mathew 16:24-26

A Glimpse of God's Care for Me in an Ordinary Worry

Has God ever given you a glimpse of His amazing, sovereign care for you, even in the little things? Have you ever gotten shivers as you realize that there is far more than just coincidence at play in your life? 

I was given just such a glimpse yesterday.

It started with something bad.

I was loading my mower into my trailer after one of my first few lawns of the day, slowly dismounting while brushing dust and grass clippings off me, when my eyes fell on a troubling little crack on my mower deck. I thought at first that it was just a bit of paint flaking off, but further inspection revealed that my deck somehow cracked all the way through in that one spot. And it looked like it could get worse.

This was not exactly a shiver-worthy God moment. More like a “God, I just spent $3,000 dollars on this piece of equipment; and it’s already developing a serious issue??” kind of moment. This concern was in the back of my mind all day long. I was imagining myself having to drill a couple holes in my deck and bolt down a piece of metal to hold the crack from getting worse. Nothing like a tacky hillbilly fix to a piece of equipment you were hoping would retain its value for a few years.

Fast forward to later in the day. My work done, I headed over that evening to a new customer’s place to get a bid in on the lawn. The man and his wife are super nice, both new believers and members of our church. It was so clear while talking to the husband, Doug, that his faith was real and impacting his life. If you ever need a pick me up, just get talking with a new believer, I tell you! It was really encouraging and refreshing.

But as good as this was, the real cherry on top and what really showed God’s sovereignty was this: On a whim, Doug asked to take a look at my mower. While I was enjoying showing it to him, somehow it came out that he loved to weld and fabricate metal. Almost out of the blue, he said he’d be happy to help me if I ever needed anything welded.

I must have stood blinking at him for a couple of seconds in shock that God had so quickly given me relief from my silly little worries. “As a matter of fact,” I blurted out, and showed him the crack in the deck.

And would you believe it, Doug’s eyes got wide with excitement, “like a kid in a candy store”, I said later to my mom as I related the story. He launched into a detailed description of how he could fix it no problem, “Like it never happened!” He then led me back around his shop and showed me his own lawn mower deck, where he had cut out a large spot of rust and welded new metal on. At least, that’s what he said he did. The deck looked brand new to me, he is that good.

All told, I had an offer to trade half a mowing for the quick welding job, and a free lesson in welding to boot. But even more valuable, I gained a new friend and look forward to some more fellowship with a great brother in Christ. I am confident that I just “happened” to notice that crack yesterday morning, that I just “happened” To be meeting Doug yesterday evening, and I just “happened” to show him my mower because God was orchestrating a chance for me to engage with a new disciple of His. I can’t wait to see what God wants from me in this new friendship!

God cares about us deeply and wants to be involved in our day-to-day, ordinary lives. He has far more than “just” saved us from eternal damnation, but has carefully prepared good works for us, his children, to walk in. He’s gone before and cleared the way through the tangled weeds of care and worry this world so often seeks to choke us with, and we can’t help but wander down this clear path. May we more than wander, but walk step for step with our Lord in what He has planned for us! And may we, even in the little things, be awed by His sovereign hand and give Him all the glory. Amen!

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

God Can Use You to Reach the World: The Inspirational True Story of my Sister, Caroline, and Forty Days for Life

Do you ever doubt that God can use you?

Maybe you are shy or insecure, like we all are at times. Maybe you cave under the pressure of your peers too often. Maybe you feel sin has too much of grip on you for you to ever break free. You admire the Christian heroes all around you, but you know you can never be one of them.

Well think again, because my sister Caroline is living proof that God will use you if you commit yourself to Him!

The beginning of this year, Caroline said "yes" to God in a way that would stretch her way outside her comfort zone. She decided to run a Forty Days for Life campaign--a peaceful prayer vigil to pray for the end of abortion outside our local Planned Parenthood clinic. While I really appreciated her heart to stand for the unborn, honestly my first thought when she told me she was going to coordinate a vigil was:

"Say whaaat?"

I have grown up with my awesome sister from the womb onwards. I know her very, very well, and so I knew leading a public event wasn't exactly her forte. She is a sweet, smart, over-all-very-beautiful young lady, but she is most definitely an introvert. She hates making phone calls. And public speaking. And confrontation.

And those things were kind of what being a Forty Days for Life local coordinator was all about.

Caroline knew all this. She knew how much it would stretch her, and yet her burning desire to serve God and stand for the defenseless compelled her. Her desire launched her into orbit in the vast unknown outside her comfort zone like some crazy, brave NASA astronaut trying to reach the moon. There was no aborting (pun not intended) the voyage, only strapping on her spacesuit--or in this case, her spiritual armor--and getting right down to work.

She had said "yes" to this journey because of her faith in God. What else could she do?

Now make no mistake, this courageous step of faith did not mean she suddenly became an eloquent, gifted public speaker and prayer vigil leader. It was almost painful to watch her worry about her first few phone calls and meetings with local pastors. She would always take a sibling along to her first few meetings, not to be an "Aaron" for her like Moses, but to at least provide some much needed moral support. She was still naturally timid--to the point where even speaking in front of our own church was too scary at first. She had our dad give the first few announcements about Forty Days for Life. At one point, after a particularly hard morning, the stress and worry overwhelmed her, and she cried in one of the back rooms of our church.

I was almost tempted to be mad at God for putting my introverted sister through all these struggles. I appreciated her heart so much, but still, didn't God see that she was not naturally gifted for a leadership role like this? Didn't He see that it was making her cry and breaking her down?

And yet, even at these low points, I started catching glimpses of the work God was doing, not only in the heart of my sister, but in the heart of our community. Caroline met fellow Protestant and even a few Catholic friends who vastly encouraged her and helped her to stand strong. The prayer vigil schedule started filling up with eager prayer warriors willing to make a stand for life. Caroline started giving the announcements at our church. She started reaching for the phone as soon as it started ringing, shouting, "I'll get it!!". She spoke for forty-five minutes in front of the small army of prayer warriors she had  gathered at the Forty Days for Life kickoff rally.

The prayer vigil started. Caroline trekked out to Planned Parenthood almost every day to get the vigil off on the right foot and to encourage her troops. She became  affectionately known as "The Little General" because of her knack at keeping her prayer warriors on track and committed to praying to end abortion.

She started meeting the "unfriendlies", those who thought she and anyone praying to end abortion were anti-women bigots. She didn't shrink from the challenge to show them differently. After long, emotionally-draining days in front of Planned Parenthood, you could find her back at the house studying up on the facts about Planned Parenthood, abortion, and the devastating effects both have on women. I have gotten to see this knowledge in action several times as we have been approached by "pro-choice" people in front of the clinic. She demonstrates her love for them, while at the same time standing strong for the truth and debunking a lot of the false pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-abortion arguments thrown at her.

Her resolve was demonstrated the most when a fledgling counter rally was organized against Forty Days for Life by several young ladies of the local college. They stand on the same street corner with us in front of Forty Days for Life, holding signs like "Pray to end judgement" and "Jesus didn't shame women, and neither should you". They often stand right in-between all of us prayer warriors who hold our "Pray to End Abortion" signs. It was almost a comical scene, though without Caroline's leadership and encouragement to love these ladies, it could have been a very volatile, emotional one. These ladies expected us to respond in a negative way. They assumed we would try to kick them off "our" corner. They were completely caught off guard by our appreciation that they were there and our desire to engage in friendly discussion about our differing viewpoints. They've thanked Caroline for being so "chill", as they put it.

And soon, Caroline and our family will be meeting to talk more with the woman who lead the counter rally and a pro-abortion man running for senator. We hope to be able to plant more seeds of truth in their hearts.

Then, on Friday, God took it one step further. Caroline got a call from the national leader of Forty Days for Life, the Shawn Carney as she put it. He asked her to speak in front of the national rally of vigil leaders, to share her testimony. This would have probably struck Caroline mute with terror but a couple of months ago, but last Friday she answered immediately, "Yes". No, "Let me get back with you" or "Let me pray about it". Just yes.

Talk about a transformation.

"I've learned that you just have to say 'yes' to God, wherever He takes you," Caroline told me yesterday. "He will be faithful to uphold you and see you through."

That's really what it all comes down to, isn't it? Can we trust God enough to lay our lives in His hands, to allow Him to do whatever He wants with them? Can we trust Him even as He launches us into orbit outside our comfort zones? Can we dare to dream that He can use us in mighty ways? Yes, yes, yes! I would say. I've seen it happen right in front of my own eyes. I've seen the way God has used my sister Caroline in mighty ways when she submitted her insecurities and fears to Him and took that leap of faith. It inspires me!

Someday when I grow up, I want to be more like my sister Caroline. Don't you?

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

Why God Couldn't Have Created Evil, but Yet Allows It

What is the most evil thing you can think of? Is it the myriad of pointless, Nihilistic shootings in our schools, theaters, and malls?  Is it the devastating destruction and resulting chaos and war of September 11, 2001? Is it Hitler's Holocaust or Stalin's Communism? Is it the systematic destruction of over 50 million little babies in what should be the safest place on earth—their mother's womb?

What is the biggest natural evil you can think of? Is it Katrina? Is it the devastating Tsunami in Japan, or the earthquakes of Haiti? Close to home for me is Mt. St. Helens, which blew on May 18, 1980. Praise God there was enough warning to evacuate the majority of people living in the surrounding area, or that natural disaster would have claimed more than the handful of lives it did.

There is absolutely no doubt that our world is sick. Even as I type this, thousands and thousands of people are starving. A young man, brainwashed into Jihad, is preparing to give his life in the bloodiest, cruelest attack he can conjure up. Another baby was just torn apart in the womb. What is more, evil has affected each of us personally. Cancer, a drunk driver, a stillborn baby, a soldier never coming home—how has it affected you? Our world is ripe with evil. There is no other conclusion we can come to.

So where does that leave us as Christians? What place does evil have in regards to our belief in an all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing God? It would seem that both can't be true, right? The God we believe in . . . how could He possibly be reconciled to what we have observed and experienced in tragedy after tragedy on this earth?

This post is devoted to grappling with the problem of evil and passing on the conclusions I have come to. Five questions will both flesh out the problem and bring the worthwhile answers I am confident we can come to. The questions are: 1) Is evil a thing?, 2) Doesn't God care enough to stop evil?, 3) What is our purpose in life?, 4) What other worldview can we run to?, and 5) Has God experienced evil like we do?

So buckle up. Here we go.

Is Evil a Thing?

There's a common argument for God that points to His existence because, "How could there be so much good in the world without our Holy God creating it?" That question could easily be turned on its head though. "Hold on a minute," a skeptic might say, "if I grant you that there is a God that created everything because of the good we see around us, doesn't that make Him the creator of evil too?" They might have even done their Bible study and point to Isaiah 45:7 which reads in the King James Version: ^"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

This skeptic's question would be difficult to answer if we believed evil was a thing that needed to be created. But is it? Is evil a thing? Of course, I don't mean is it a material thing, for our premise that God created good might stretch beyond the physical to abstract things too, like love, joy, and peace (though since these are a part of God's nature, and God is eternal, even these abstract emotions weren't created I would say. That would be an interesting topic to study more on, sometime! ). Closer study of evil, however, reveals that it is not a thing in and of itself, but the failing of the created. It is the lack or absence of good!

Let me attempt to explain it this way. Is your shadow a thing? Yes, you might say, because you can see and observe it. But what really is a shadow? It's only there because there is light, and that light happens to be at least partially blocked--partially made absent--by your body.  A shadow can't exist by itself. It depends on both the light and your body. Thus it is not an independent thing, but the result of two created things coming in conflict with each other. It couldn't have been created because, thank goodness, we don't have a bunch of shadows running around on their own.

The same with Evil. God couldn't have created it, and we don't even have to point to His Holy Nature to say that, though that is a great argument in and of itself. Evil is not an independent entity, but the failing of God's perfect creation. All of God's creation was "very good" Genesis 1:31, which means evil wasn't around for creation. It was only introduced later as a failing of what was very good, when Adam rebelled.

Our last task in this section, then, is to respond to Isaiah 45:7. In light of what we have discovered, how do we reconcile this verse? Well, context as always is key to understanding a verse! If you read further in Isaiah 45 you will find that God is warning punishment against Israel for their quarrels with their Maker (verse 9). He causes peace for the righteous, and brings evil (more accurately translated "calamity" in the NASB) on those who turn against Him. He does not create the evil Himself, but He is sovereignly using it to punish the wicked.

Now that we have defined evil and its origins, our next question naturally follows.

Doesn't God care enough to stop evil?

So why did God allow His universe to become less than "very good"? Christians believe in a God who is actively involved with His creation. It follows, then, that He's not aloof of the terrible rot of evil in our world. So why doesn't He stop it?

Is He somehow indifferent? That can't be. We can be absolutely sure of that. God Is holy: "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You". Psalm 5:4. Evil and sin are against His nature, and therefore abhorrent to Him. Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). We grieve the Holy Spirit when we sin. (Eph. 4:30)

So if evil grieves God so much and yet hasn't been stopped, are we to believe that God is not powerful enough to stop it? There are a few who have capitulated to this certain heresy, but read any of the lists of God's attributes and you will learn that He is indeed all-powerful. God is omnipotent. "Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?" Isaiah 43:13.

Further study reveals that God will indeed destroy evil one day (See Revelation 20 and 21). He is more than powerful enough to do so! In the meantime, He has provided a way to escape evil's power through believing in and accepting Jesus as Lord. We will still suffer during our lives on earth, but we can be comforted in Christ. We will still die, but death will not conquer us. Through the Helper Christ has sent us, the Holy Spirit, we have the power to overcome evil!

God is holy. He hates evil and will one day destroy it. His plan for the world is good. So we can trust that for whatever reason God temporarily allows evil in the world and our lives, it is for a good reason. A best reason. Exploring our purpose in life might help us discover this reason.

What is our Purpose in Life?

“To glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.” That’s the rote Christian response. It’s a good one, but do we take the time to actually investigate what it means, as we good little Sunday school grads repeat it verbatim?

What brings God the most glory? Isn’t it through the amazing demonstration of His mercy in that He would choose to save some of us fallen, willingly-rebellious people from the just penalty we deserve? (Romans 9:14-24) Think about it though. What if there was no contrast of God’s great mercy and lovingkindness. What if there was no evil to save us from. Would we even know His attributes? Would we even be thankful for them?

What’s more, what would our relationship with the Lord look like if we didn’t daily need Him to “deliver us from evil”, as Christ so famously taught us to pray in Mathew 6:13? Would we rely on Him in any meaningful way? Also, could we even call it a relationship if all we could ever do was glorify God, and never had a free will that could turn from Him? If I acquired a girlfriend by forcing her to love me, because she had no other choice, that wouldn’t be real love. It would feel really lame for both of us. It would be wrong.

What if we need the contrast of evil, then, to truly know what is “very good”? So often we American Christians tend to believe that God’s main purpose in life is for us to be abundantly happy and to have our whole lives go on without a hitch. We rage at Him if anything bad is thrown into our lives. We question His goodness. But what if we couldn’t be drawn closer to the Lord without experiencing the hard times for a season? What if we couldn’t truly choose to surrender our lives to Christ without having the chance to choose that which is in opposition to Him, evil?

You see, maybe the greatest good isn’t living a life without hardship. God is our heavenly Father, and He knows what is best for us.  Take my little Brother Wyatt. He thought I was terrible for forcing him to eat his coconut squash curry before he could eat his warm, buttery slice of bread. The best good he could think of would be to ditch ALL coconut squash curry in favor of all-you-can-eat bread and butter, and though I may have been tempted to agree with his sentiments as a mortal human being myself, was I wrong for having him eat what I knew would ultimately be healthier for him? Of course not!

God’s purpose for our lives is to draw us to Himself and for us to glorify Him through our lives. Like a good father, He knows what is healthiest for us, and He will lovingly put us through it whether we think it is best or not in our limited, human perspectives. Evil is a temporary consequence of this best way, and we can trust God through it. Perhaps, realizing this, we can even rejoice in the trials that come our way as a result of evil! (James 1:2-4)

What Other Worldview Could We Run To?

The last three questions have helped us investigate the Christian’s response to evil. How does it appear to you? Does it make sense?  Does it appear harsh? Can you make an adequate defense against the problem of evil from a Christian Worldview? If not, what is a better explanation for the problem of evil?

Every worldview has to answer the question. It’s not just the Christian Theists who need to be ready to make sense of the problem of evil. So, let’s look at how other common worldviews handle evil.

Worldviews are commonly grouped into four overarching categories: Naturalism, Transcendentalism, Post-Modernism, and Theism. Naturalism is the belief that all there ever was, ever is, and ever will be is naturalistic. There is no supernatural. No God that created us. No spirits that intervene in our lives. It is the religion of Atheists, Nihilists, Existentialists, Humanists, and the like. Their response to evil?

Tough luck.

Literally. There is no meaning or any purpose behind it. It’s a natural world doing what it does. It’s “biological, highly-evolved machines” (that’s us!) breaking down or attacking each other. Make the most of the life you’re given—play the cards you’ve been dealt—because that’s all there is for you.

Just makes you happy to be alive, doesn't it?

The Transcendental worldview believes that everything is spiritual. There is nothing that is material (what we think of as material is really an illusion or illustration of the supernatural). Transcendentalists are Buddhists, Hinduists, New Agers, Pantheists, Tom Cruise, Obi Won Kenobi, Oprah, Shirley MacLaine, and the likes. Their response to evil?

It is an illusion.

There’s no such thing as evil. There’s maybe two sides of the same—the black and white of the yin yang, or the dark and light sides of the force—but there’s no ultimate evil. Maybe, if you believe in Karma, the "evil" you experience is what you deserve for your past life. If you are a leper or have cancer, then you must have really messed things up in your past life. Or, alternatively, suffering is a consequence of your desires if you’re a Buddhist. You must learn to stop desiring anything if you want to escape evil. You see, in both these cases, what we think of as evil is really just, well, what we deserve. It’s not evil, we just think it is because it hurts. Badly.

Alternatively, we could forget about Karma or stopping our desires and just go with Shirley MacLaine:

“Until mankind realizes that there is, in truth, no good, and there is, in truth, no evil-there will be no peace.”

Yay peace, right?

Or you could go Post-modern. Post-Modernists believe that no one can know ultimate truth. Our truth is shaped by our experiences. So to them, evil is kind of hard to explain. What may be true for you about evil might not be true for me, but don’t worry, we are both right! There is no grand metanarrative—no “big story”—to give any kind of explanation or reason for evil. Make of it what you will. What’s more, if I believe my god caused you to suffer, I am just as right as you are in thinking it is an illusion. And what about the terrorist who kills as many as he can because of his beliefs? You may look at it as evil, but you have to let him live out his own truth, right? Talk about a convoluted mess. And it doesn't sound very peaceful to me, Shirley.

Lastly, there is Theism--the religions that have God central to them. Islam believes that everything comes directly from God’s (Allah’s) hands. He created everything, so He created evil too and uses it for His purposes. He creates it to make us aware of our devious ways, or to test us to see if our faith is really genuine. As I have already pointed out above, this differs from a proper Biblical Theist’s view of evil. Evil isn’t something God directly created, and though He may use it to test our faith, it’s to grow us deeper in our relationship with Him, not to see if we can take it or not.

Your last option other than Christianity is Judaism. The God of Judaism is the same as the Christian God, except that it is fuzzy just how you are supposed to overcome evil or escape it as an Orthodox Jew, because you deny Jesus Christ as the Messiah. You are still under the law, and the common understanding of evil is that it is a punishment for your breaking of the law. As the disciples asked Jesus in John 9:2:

And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"

Jesus’s response? John 9:3:

Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Has God experienced evil like we do?

Jesus’s answer to evil there in John 9:3 may seem rather harsh if you think about it. Maybe even more harsh than the disciples’ conclusion about evil. God let this guy be blind for all his life just so He could show His good works by healing him? That’s crazy! It almost seems . . . wrong, one might say.

We have to remember, though, who is the Lord of this earth and what our duties are as His creations. We are to bring Him glory. We need to stop feeling entitled to the idea that God owes us an abundantly happy, carefree life here on earth. Clay, meet Potter. God has the privilege to do anything He likes with us little lumps of clay. If He chooses to use even the evil—the evil that mankind has brought upon ourselves by our rebellion against Him—to bring glory to Himself, then that is His choice.

It might seem a little callous of God still, though, if it weren’t for the fact that He stepped into this world and experienced evil to the greatest extent so that we might live. He took upon Himself intense suffering and evil! He is not aloof in any way to the evil in this world. He is not indifferent towards it. He experienced it to the deepest extent, taking it all upon Himself in that moment on the cross. He offered His perfect self for rebellious, corrupted lumps of clay! He was willing to demonstrate the Father's glory in that way.

And He defeated evil.

Death has no sting for those who trust in Him. Sin can be broken free of. Evil can be overcome with good! One day evil will be completely done away with, after all peoples have had a choice whether to accept God or not, but until then, God knows our suffering in the here and now and can comfort us like only someone who has gone through our same pain can. He empathizes with us and intercedes for us with groans too deep for words!

As I have wrestled with these questions, evil has become much less of a problem for my Christian Worldview. In fact, I couldn’t imagine trying to make sense of evil without a Christian Worldview. As one of our favorite hymns go, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus/just to take Him at His Word/just to rest upon His promise/just to know, thus sayeth the Lord.”

I sincerely hope this post helps you as you process the question of evil and come to your own conclusions. It may not have fleshed out all the different arguments and defenses, but I assure you, many an hour was spent researching and thinking through what I have written! It is my prayer that you will be able to sing the chorus to this favorite hymn with me, more clearly and assuredly than ever:

“Jesus, Jesus how I love you, how I proved you o’er and o’er. “Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to know you more”

How Will You Sleep Through the Storm?

Two men sleep in the belly of their respective boats. They both are sleeping soundly, as if the hard wood planks under their bodies are a Sleep Number Bed (never actually laid in one by the way, but according to all the radio ads, they’re comfortable). It’s as if the continual rocking of their boats has lulled them to sleep—except the boats aren’t just rocking. They’re pitching wildly on the waves, and sheets of rain pummel the deck. These two men are sleeping in the middle of an intense storm.

It would be an almost absurd picture if it weren’t true. What could possibly allow these men to be sleeping in the middle of such a gale? They must be bone-weary! And indeed, if you were to study their faces, you could see the wrinkle lines of concern that have been worn into the corners of their eyes. There is a sense of sorrow in the curve of their pursed together lips. It looks like they haven’t slept in a long, long time, and that the reason they are sleeping now is because it would be physically impossible for their bodies not to be.

But yet, as you study their faces closer, you realize there is fear frozen in the features of the first man. It’s not fear at the storm, because the sleeper as far as you can tell is completely unconscious to the peril of wind and weather. He’s been running from something or someone, running and running. His flight has been what has made Him weary.

In the face of the second man, however, there is peace frozen in his features, not fear. He has been running a lot too, you think—not from anyone or anything, though, but to them. He’s emptied Himself in some grand service, and he’s fully content. You almost envy such serenity. How can a man be so weary and yet so fulfilled by his life that he could sleep so peacefully in the storm?

The first man is Jonah, and he is selfishly fleeing God.

The second man is Jesus, and he is willfully surrendered to God.

Yes, they’re both sleeping in the storm, but for vastly different reasons. As I thought about the differences between their two stories, it brought to mind the question, how will we sleep through our storms? Now, I doubt many of us will live through a storm on the high seas, but we all go through storms just the same in our lives. Health issues, the loss of a loved one, broken friendships. We all go through lots of hurt; we all are tossed in tumultuous seas of conflict and pain.   

Will we run from God, even in the storm? Will we refuse to wake up and surrender our lives back to him? To flee from God, Jonah went down. He went down to Jopa to find a boat. He went down into the belly of the ship. He was cast down into the sea. He was swallowed down the belly of the big fish, and he was carried down into the depths of the sea. Without God, his storm consumed him.

Not so for Jesus. At all times, he fulfilled God’s will. There was not once where he said “not your will, but mine be done, God”. So, that night when he was going through his own storm, Jesus was wearied in a good way—not from fleeing God, but from serving God! He could sleep through his storm, content, because God was using him. In fact, he conquered his storm.

Which scenario sounds better to you? Wouldn’t we rather conquer our storms then be consumed by them? Let’s always let God’s will be done in our lives. When we abide in Him, we can be absolutely secure in any storm. It reminds me of Paul when he went through his own storm in Acts 27. He faced it with unshakeable courage and wisdom, because he was fully trusting in God. We may be wearied from our service to the Lord at times if we truly commit our all to him, but that will just make sleeping through the storm that much easier.

Why not surrender?

My new little brother Wyatt has been having such a hard time obeying my parents. It's been such a struggle, and we keep finding ourselves asking "why???" with each new infraction and subsequent trip to timeout. My parents want only the best for Wyatt, and they are trying with all they've got to give it to him. Life would be so peaceful and awesome for him if he would be content to obey. But yet Wyatt oftentimes won't receive their love, because that would mean surrendering his will to theirs. He holds on to what he wants, wanting to control his own little life. He gets to--we can't make him submit; we can only put him in timeout--but it's miserable.

As my mom and I talked about it tonight, we were both struck by the powerful parallel of Wyatt's adoption to ours as children of God. God loved us unconditionally, while we were yet sinners, and died for us to bring us into His family. Yet, so often we are completely ungrateful for His loving fatherhood over us. What's more, we think it is oppressive!! We push forward with our own will and ignore God's. We break His commandments daily.

We do this because we selfishly want to keep control of our lives. And yet, if we would but surrender to God's will, we would truly live and experience the abundant life He has for us! It would be a life so free of conflict and worry. With each new day God gives us, we would find purpose and experience true joy as we walk in the plans He has for us.

But yet, like my little brother when he is sent to his room for timeout, here we are so often, alone at the dead end of our selfish will. Just as true, though, is that like my parents, God is waiting on the other side of the door for us. He's ready to wrap us up in His loving arms and tenderly guide us towards a life worth living. If we would but surrender to Him and trust His perfect plan for us, life would be incredible. Every day would be filled with purpose. Every moment would be full of His peace that surpasses understanding, even in the hard times.

Let's face it. we really, really suck at trying to live a life of meaning on our own.  So why not? Why not give over the driver's seat of our lives to our all-wise, all-loving Heavenly Father? I pray Wyatt will be touched by the love of his family and will learn to trust and obey my parents, so that his little life can thrive. Even more so, I pray for all of you, that you will do the same with our Heavenly Father. And please, please, pray the same for me! 

 

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Mathew 16:24-27

 

Amen!

Idol Dreams

Have you ever had an idol dream? And no, I do not mean the idle wanderings of a subconscious mind, but an idol dream—a desire that burns its way into your thoughts till it consumes your energies and passions. No mountain is too high to scale to attain your dream, and soon your every decision in life is affected by it. Our culture glorifies your pursuit. Disney tells you to believe in yourself and make it happen. No dream is impossible, if you just believe! (Especially if you are willing to sacrifice just about everything else in your life to have it.)

As a Christian, you are sure that God has given you this dream, and that it must be His perfect will for your life. He wouldn’t give you this burning desire if He didn’t want you to fulfill it. You find yourself having a hard time praying “if it be your will” or “your will be done” when talking to God about your dream, because there are no “ifs” about it! It is His will, and all you need prayer for is on how to wisely attain it.

But then God takes it from you.

It hurts. Really, really badly. Broken dreams can be devastating, stealing away the joy you thought you had and leaving a hollow, empty spot inside you. Life loses a sense of purpose, and you find yourself barely going through the motions. Your mood swings dangerously all over the place, from apathy to anger to regret. You find ways to medicate the pain, and rarely are any of them good. In the middle of another sleepless night, you ask God why over and over again.

But then, searching through the rubble of your broken dream, you make a discovery. It wasn’t the breaking of the dream that left you feeling so empty, but the dream itself! You realize the hideous idol you have fashioned. No wonder your life feels so empty now, because you have ripped things like joy, contentment, and purpose from the place in your heart where they belong and made them the very cornerstones you built your dream upon!

We are without excuse for the idol dreams we fashion. In fact, we are in some ways worse than the pagans of old (and present!). Whereas they fashioned idols out of wood and stone, we go beyond the material and make idols out of a piece of our soul. Isaiah 44:9-20 is a candid, revealing look at the foolishness of idolatry. Idolaters toil so long at their work making a god that is both pleasing and fulfilling to them, a god they believe will deliver them! And yet “no one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!’” (Isaiah 44:19)

How silly! But how much worse are we for the idols we make of our dreams? I confess that I am guilty of such foolishness. The last season of my life I spent chasing my own dream rather than seeking first God’s kingdom. I didn’t even notice the idol my dream had become, until God took it from me. And for a while, believe me, I asked Him why over and over again! But now I am so thankful for my broken dream. My great God, the Lord of Lords and the only one to be praised, loved me too much to let me run after my own will away from His. Gently, He broke me from my idolatry and turned me back to Him.

Thank you, Lord!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You see, Moses’s calling to God’s chosen people in the Old Testament is the same to us chosen, redeemed Christians of this day. Listen to these words, as the Jews would in the Old Testament! “Hear oh Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

God wants all of us. He deserves all of us, if we really do believe His Word. He has created us. He has called us. He has sent His only Son to die for us. He shed His own blood for us. He is risen and is preparing an eternal home for us. What more could we possibly do but live only and always for Him?! How could we not give Him all the hopes of our hearts, the desires of our souls, and all the energies of our might in light of what He has done for us?

I am not saying that we should turn from every desire we have ever had. That is both impossible and would leave us with literally nothing to do but sit around like a vegetable and wait to spoil. I do believe God has given us certain desires in accordance with His will. Nate Saint had a desire to become a pilot, and God used him mightily because of it. C.S. Lewis had a desire to be a writer, and God used Him mightily as a writer. Must all of us single folk have a desire to be married, and God uses that desire to bring about righteous families that will live out their days for Him. Don’t think that I believe dreams are wrong. What is more, if we would but commit all our works to the Lord, our plans would be established (Proverbs 16:3), because they would look like what our Lord wants for us! If we delight ourselves in Him and Him alone, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4), because they too will be His! We only get ourselves in trouble when we cannot submit our dreams to God and let Him use it or take it from us however He wills.

So, when you look at your life, at your priorities and the attention of your heart, soul, and strength, can you say with utter assurance that the Lord has all of you? Have you surrendered every dream and desire you have to His will? Or, like me recently, have you let a dream claim too much of your attention and priorities than it should? Does a desire of yours have any piece of your heart, soul, or might that should belong only to God?

God, the jealous guardian of your heart, wants all of you. Will you come? Will you let go of the why, and instead choose to trust? Will you live your life to glorify God and further His kingdom, even if that means letting go of a dream you really wanted to pursue? God would say the same to you as He did the nation of Israel after that passage on the folly of idol worship. You can read these verses in Isaiah as if God was speaking directly to you!

“Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Isaiah 44:21-22

I am so content to be God’s servant. It is so much more than anything I could hope for or imagine on my own. Break me of any idols in my life, Lord, that I may live completely and wholly for you, all the days of my life! I don’t care if it hurts, I’d rather have you! Thank you for wiping away my sins and letting me live for you! I can shout joyfully with all the Earth for what you have done! Show forth your glory in me!

And I pray the same for you, friends, each and every one of you who will read this! May you live wholly for Christ and be a living testament to all creation of God’s redeeming love. May the same be said of you as of Israel:

Shout for joy, oh heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, o forest, and every tree in it; for the Lord has redeemed Jacob and in Israel he shows forth His glory!

Isaiah 44:23