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- Written by: Don Goulding
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) (NIV)
Dani and I met a missionary couple, who’s story changed us.
“I wanted to attend Bible college in Europe,” blonde Californian Leah said. “But I had a brain tumor. Churches around the world prayed, and a torrent of God’s peace overtook my heart. I wanted it to swallow me. I told my doctor I would forego treatment and trust God. He told me I was foolish.”
Leah enthusiastically sold her belongings in preparation for college or death.
Balazs took over the story with his Hungarian accent. “I was forced to drop out of college because I had testicular cancer, with less than a ten percent chance of survival. Hundreds prayed for me, and peace filled my heart also. I didn’t know Leah. But I knew the same peace.
“When treatments were no help, I discontinued them and waited to see when I’d go to be with Jesus. The doctors called it suicide and fought my decision with legal actions.”
Back in America, Leah’s doctor raised his eyebrows over her latest test results. The tumor had disappeared. As a result, he became a Christian and left for the mission field.
Leah left for Bible college in Hungary. Leah met Balazs. They had a lot in common, including God’s peace and a miraculous cure that later came to Balazs as well.
“Then he asked me to marry him,” Leah said.
After his parables, Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His point was that some stories are meant to change the listeners. Like this one.
Prayer: Prince of Peace, reign in my heart above all else.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The LORD will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life. The LORD will protect you in all you do,
now and forevermore.
(Psalms 121:7, 8)
At his orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, a big-eyed boy glided a shard of broken mirror through the air, complete with sound effects. A wedge of glass isn’t a safe plaything, and I considered taking the fragment away. But I couldn’t confiscate his toy without deflating an entire universe of souls desperate for rescue by the heroic Shard of Mirror.
I also live in a make-believe world. In my fantasy, I take up a shard of life’s brokenness and pretend it protects me. I’m so busy playing with fragments of human acceptance and pieces of financial security, that I don’t notice demons are handing them to me.
We all have our shards—those consolations we imagine will complete us. Mine make perfect sense to me. It’s yours that seem make believe.
“Wake up,” Jesus says. “You don’t need your invented remedies. You have me.”
He’s right. Because I said yes to his love, I have him and he has me. He is in me and around me 24/7, 365 days a year. My spirit thrives under his protection.
At the end of our week of construction at the orphanage, we gave real toys to the children. The broken mirror was replaced by a safe gift. The orphan boy happily traded in his shard.
Now it’s my turn to exchange my fragments for the real protection offered only in Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I trust in your care over my life.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. (2 Samuel 6:21-22) (NIV)
In West Africa they use a method of collecting offerings I call boogie for bucks. The worship band cuts loose with a beat that would make a Buckingham Palace guard tap his foot. Men, women, and children in bright Sunday finery form a Conga line and dance past the offering box, where they drop off the goods.
On a Sunday forever etched into my memory, I visited a church that added a twist to boogie for bucks. Eager to demonstrate my grasp of their culture, I joined the line, money in hand.
It was somewhere past the box, as I shook my bootie in place, that several observations stole over me. First, compared to the other worshipers, I was painfully rhythm challenged. Second, everyone watched me. Third, the men were still seated and only the women danced with me. There was nothing to do except boogie all the long way around the church and back to my chair, and enjoy my lesson in humility.
Whether it’s boogie for bucks or singing hymns, one of the richest gifts to earthbound saints is corporate worship. I may exalt God privately all week but I still love to gather with believers for celebration. It’s like a sip from the throne room in heaven.
What matters during group worship is not if our service is traditional or contemporary, but if it is genuine. Nothing is as boring as false liturgy or fake ecstasy. I’d rather be moved by the King of Kings until I transcend caring what others think. That’s dignified worship.
Prayer: Mighty God, help me lose myself in worship of you.