The past few
weeks I caught glimpses of the Olympics on televisions around Addis. I
was in a cafe when an Ethiopian female runner, Tiki, surprisingly won
gold in the women's marathon. The applause when she crossed the
finish line first was deafening and deserved. My eyes stung with tears every time after that I saw the replay of it.
I remember well
running my first (and last, ha ha) full marathon. It was 2003, the
race- the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee. My running
partner was my sister, Noel. We had trained, we were ready. I
sincerely was finished after about mile 3. But my competitiveness
with my sister- had me hang tough until about mile 22. That's when I
remember my will power ran out, my legs became jello. What kept me
going wasn't the country music playing those last four or so miles-
it was the crowd- cheering.
Sometimes as
we're finishing or we cross finish lines...we hear the crowds cheer.
Races, sport games, birthdays, graduations, weddings, even the final
days of someone- people gather to cheer- a job well done, a game well
played, a life well lived.
God wants us to
encourage one another.
But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today"...
One of my
favorite parts of youth ministry for five years in Ohio was Grad
Weekend. When I got to stand on stage and shake the hands of all the
graduates...telling them WELL DONE.
Through various
positions I've had working with short term mission teams, I've loved
welcoming them home from mission trips. I knew God was clapping.
Those who were willing to go and risk, to be uncomfortable,
stretched...God applauds.
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| It's been fun running into my sister in Africa...welcoming her from the Czech Republic :-) |
“How
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Sometimes
though, you end chapters and begin new ones- and maybe when you
listen for some applause or a "well done"- you hear
silence.
But be assured,
OUR GOD SEES.
Several years
ago, I worked for a foot doctor when I was trying to get through
seminary. This was an interesting assignment for me. I had no
medical background and was not a fan of feet, but it was that post
that God called me to for that season. Every day I struggled with
feet and with some of the staff. After one year of working there, I
was driving to work, feeling like I had done my best to be
obedient...but no one was clapping. I drove to work questioning if I
had really been a good example at that work place, if God had really
used me there. That's when I saw something that made me pull over.
The pastor of our home church always had this certain way of giving
his approval of something. If someone was singing or testifying or
something, he would be so moved that he would stand up and cross his
hands over his chest, like a standing ovation.
 |
| Pastor Tim Walden, Victory Temple, Fairborn,Ohio |
Well, as I was
driving, as I was questioning myself....I looked up at the sky...and
the clouds parted and I saw what looked like a big throne, and
someone was standing up, just like my pastor. I remembered in
scripture it says that Jesus is "sitting" at the right hand
of the Father. That day, when I saw that, tears poured from my eyes,
because I felt like Jesus was giving me a standing "O" for
my one year. You may think I'm crazy, but it was a holy moment for
me. I pulled over and felt the deep love and appreciation from
heaven of a season passed through. God sees.
Psalm 33:13-15
From heaven
the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place He
watches all who live on earth—He who forms the hearts of all, who
considers everything they do.
The past few
weeks, I've seen or have known many people who have crossed finish
lines. From here- I've applauded. God has applauded. He says: Well
Done.
Here
in Ethiopia- our staff and students crossed our 2nd
semester finish line. It was painful- the last few miles. But- we
made it through. 
In reflecting
on finish lines crossed and crowds cheering...I've found it
interesting that in God's Word those who deserved applause in God's eyes..often many of them heard no applause this
side of heaven....
All these
people were still living by faith when they died. They did not
receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them
from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on
earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a
country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they
had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they
were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for
them.
And of course I
think of Jesus. When he crossed his earthly finish line, he heard no
applause. The only clapping he heard was the thunder. His finish
seemed like failure. But we know of course, His death, brought us
life.
He grew up
before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his
appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected
by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from
whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we held him in low
esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we
considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But
He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by
His wounds we are healed.
Jesus..."Who, being
in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to
be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God
exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Sometimes we
end or transition from things- and we might not hear applause.
Sometimes what looks like an awkward end or a bad exit- an
incomplete- might be just God being at work. If you've obeyed and
have given it your best...one day- you will hear Him say- Well Done.
It's HIS
applause we should desire most. That we live to honor Him- that we
bless Him. It's His applause that matters!
As I have
finished this school year this past week, instead of being applauded-
the One I want to applaud...is our God. He's been faithful. In
weakness, He's been strong. In stumbles, He's been a steady hand to
hold. In darkness, He's given light. When the water ran dry, He still
sustained me. In fatigue, He's given strength. In frustration, He's
been the peace. In the fear, He's been the courage.
I'm so grateful
for Him!!!!
Running On Here...keeping
these verses in mind...
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
Isaiah 43:1-19
But now, this is what the Lord says—... “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true." “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. I am the Lord your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King. This is what the Lord says—He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked
out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of
faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider
him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not
grow weary and lose heart.
May we run on to to hear Him say at
our finish...
"Well
done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21)
-Our school
year officially ended this past week!
-Our water pump
broke again, but it's working now.
-My friend Mary
in Louisville had surgery and has recovered well, we give thanks!
-Several
mission teams and workers have left the fields for home- we give
thanks for their courage and willingness to go and bless the nations!
-Thankful for
some "down" time in the days ahead.
-I will have at
least one month off, maybe two from school. I'm praying about
when-if to come stateside during this time and also about where God
can best use me in the days ahead. I trust His leadership.
-I'd like to
get a draft of my book completely written- and if I do get stateside-
to try to get it published
-I feel on the
verge of a great new season and I'm trusting God's provision and
guidance.
-Please pray
for the students and staff here- that their break will be a good one
and that new staff needed will be recruited
-Continue to
pray for dear brothers and sisters globally waiting for their next
job assignment to open up.
-Pray for
Ethiopia overall- that the shackles of poverty will be broken and
that the hope and love of God will be understood and embraced.
-As I take a
"break" from school, many are actually just beginning a new
school year. May God give His favor and grace to all.
Thank you for
being on the journey with me!!!!
Blessings from
Ethiopia
Holly
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