Honestly Mourning

Mourning

I used to think Mourning Doves were “Morning” Doves.

They seemed super cute and happy.

Aww, they come out in the morning to introduce everybody to a new day! Adorbs. Sunshine and rainbow sprinkles.

But…”mourning”? That like goes opposite on the “Yay” scale.

And that, in somewhat-dramatized essence, has been my approach to sadness from the beginning of my life until (and occasionally including) fairly recently.

Tbh, watching Inside Out definitely helped. Such a great movie.

But, so did reading John 11 today.

We’ve talked about Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She’s one of my favorite people in the Bible. Her purity and divine see-through-it-ness has captivated me for a while.

In John 11, her brother dies.

Keep in mind, this happens after Mary has used expensive perfume to anoint Jesus, prophetically hinting at His upcoming death.

So, it *almost* goes without saying that Mary knew a thing or two about Jesus. I feel like she’d been given a good glimpse of the vastness and unmatchability of His story and power. I bet there were a lot of God-whispers in her life that she fully heard, embraced, and obediently followed.

So, when Lazarus was sick and the sisters sent word to Jesus about it, I bet you Mary knew full well that Jesus, somehow, could totally heal her brother.

But Jesus didn’t come.

And Lazarus died.

And Mary mourned.

Mary didn’t shy away from expressing her sorrow at her brother’s death. No, a ton of family/friends actually came and mourned with the girls.

And, when Martha had finished greeting Jesus, who’d finally arrived 4 days after Lazarus had been laying, dead, in a tomb, Martha went back to Mary and told her that Jesus was asking for her.

And John 11 says that Mary “got up quickly and went to Him”.

Isn’t the inclusion of that adverb (that’s the “ly”-thing, for all of us who’ve been out of English I for a few years) interesting?

It becomes even more “Oh!”-esque when we continue reading in the next verse, which talks about how the people who’d been mourning with her thought she must’ve been going to the tomb to mourn there, since she got up so quickly.

So quickly.

My emphasis comes from a place of admiring Mary’s faith and her resolve to embrace the mourning, but also to embrace the truth of who Jesus was/is.

We will all go through/have gone through times of mourning. It might look different for each of us.

You could be mourning the loss of a person, a sin you’re embarrassed to have committed, a friendship no longer strong, a part of yourself you feel is no longer there because of the actions someone else took…the list goes on. Point is, mourning doesn’t just mean someone died and you’re crying about it.

When I’m mourning, say, a sin I extra-wish I hadn’t committed, am I really going quickly to Jesus to make things right?

And, am I rushing to Jesus when a very dear person in my life is not there anymore?

Sometimes the devil tries to step in and throw shame/guilt/confusion/hopelessness our way.
The one Person that we receive unequaled healing/grace/peace from is the One that the devil tries to steer us away from…

~~You don’t deserve it.~~ When we stood guilty and undeserving of grace, Jesus died for us. He says we’re worth it.

~~You can’t be helped.~~ Tell that to my God who raises people from the dead. (Oops, spoiler-alert)

…Don’t let him.

So, what does Mary do next?

She reaches Jesus, falls at His feet, and says (I bet she was actually cry-shouting),
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

No shame, no filter.

Just a broken, young one saying it how she knows it is.

And Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”

Mary knew He could do it. But she was still broken, eyes and nose sore from crying, and she told Him what she felt.

Mary was just really real with Jesus. And He didn’t yell at her for that. He saw her precious heart, and He met her where she was, in her faith and trauma and all the nasty, sad stuff.
Actually, her honesty nudged Jesus to tears. Literally, Jesus wept. (According to the shortest verse of the Bible. #Bibletrivia)

Thankfully, Mary’s story doesn’t end there.

Jesus, still probably pretty emotional, goes to Lazarus’ tomb and loudly proclaims, “Lazarus, come out!” And, sure enough, out walks a previously-dead man, still wrapped in his grave clothes.

And a dead man is no longer dead, because of Jesus.

As a result, many Jews believed in Jesus. Because, um, he just brought a dead person back to life.

If Lazarus had been sick and Jesus had hurried back to Mary and Martha’s house to whip out a quick Hello Kitty bandaid and kiss his bloody knee (*slight* misinterpretation of “sick” here), would the people have believed? Maybe some. But, as many as believed after he did something they’d surely never seen before? I think not.

So, whatever reason you’re mourning for, whether it’s something you did or not (those are very different, p.s., and I don’t say that lightly), let’s both learn from Mary and embrace the mourning, be honest with the Dead-Raiser, and keep the faith that He is who He says He is.

The mourning won’t last.

Go to Jesus in prayer. Quickly. I don’t know what He’s going to do about it, but He knows about it. And He’s got this. (His actions literally defied death on multiple occasions…you’re in the right Hands: the Hands that shaped the universe and the people who live in it.)

No Matter What

Here’s a story you prolly don’t hear everyday.

(That’s a sure-fire way to begin a blog post, innit?)

What is this…language? So much happening in so few words.

Today, we’re diving into the story of two men who were imprisoned and then, suddenly, divinely set free.

Open your heart and your minds, friends. This is a good one.

Setting the scene:

Timing: Not long after Jesus died

Location: Philippi (Greece)

Picture a little girl. She’s enslaved to human masters, but she’s also enslaved to a demon that allows her to predict the future.

One day, several guys who believed in Jesus, two of whom were Paul and Silas, were walking to the place of prayer. The little girl started following them, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

At this point, the Bible does a little time hop and jumps immediately to several days later, when our little possessed gal is still proclaiming this truth about our boys.

The Bible (Acts 16) says Paul “became so troubled” that he, in Jesus’ all-powerful Name, commanded the demon to leave the girl.

“In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!”
At that moment the spirit left her.
Acts 16:18

That’s a pretty awesome work of God, right?

And that’s not even the part we’re going to really focus on today–that’s just for context.

So, apparently this girl’s demonic power was a big selling point for her (can you even imagine? That sentence was so awful to even write.)
Important enough for her “owners” to get super ticked off at Paul and Silas for taking away her “power”.

So much compassion, amiright? #causallydemonfree

Long story short, our disciples end up…

getting thrown into prison.

in an inner cell.

with their feet fastened in the stocks.

And, when Cinderella was about to be turned into a pumpkin in some other dimension (translation: “Around midnight”), Paul and Silas “were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

(Can I just say I really like the details included in Acts 16? K, thanks.)

Our S&P boys (S + P = Silas and Paul…keep up, yo) were letting their bright, inner lights shine for all around them to see.

Regardless of their probably still-bleeding skin (see Acts 16:22-23), these men chose, no matter what, to remember God. And to take advantage of their situation by ministering to the people around them while praising God.

Love it.

A super cool thing happens next:

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
Acts 16:26

I know I continue to keep you in suspense for “the part” or “the moment”…

Well, get ready, because here it comes!

The prison has, miraculously, just fallen apart.
Literally, all the prisoners were as free to go as…dementors.

giphy-1
(That was cheap, I know. But you know I had to fit Prison Mike in here somewhere.)

What do our praising-God boys do?

Well, the camera actually shifts to the jailer—-the man who was “commanded to guard them carefully.” (Acts 16:23)
This is a great day for the prisoners.

Not so much for the jailer. Right?

I mean, his job is literally to keep people in jail.

Granted, the prison breaking open was out of Mr. Jailer’s control.

But who’s about to get blamed for it?

giphy-2
Yep, that’s right:
Mr. Jailer.

(Also, S/O to me for fitting in two *not-super-well-placed* The Office gifs. That’s a new record.)
(*cue “Celebrate” song*)

K, time to take the *attempted* humor down a notch. This next part warrants our serious attention.

The jailer knows he’ll have to take the fall for the jail break. For him, that probably means death. And his pride tells him it’d be better to end his life before his boss does.

He’s about to do just that when he hears a voice.

He squints through the probable dust and sees the two biggest culprits to whom he was assigned.

They’re still there.

Yes, their doors are open. They most definitely could’ve left.

But they’re still there.

The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

Acts 16:27-34

Paul and Silas were still there.

Because, no matter what, the thing Jesus had planned for them was more important than their own agenda. Even if their own agenda looked pretty unselfishly like leaving a dirty jail to go tend to their wounds.

But that’s not what God had planned.

The jailer’s life was more important to God.

And Paul and Silas chose to honor that.

God sees you. Whether you feel more like Paul or more like Mr. Jailer, your life is insaaaaaanely important to Him.

Why?

Well, for tofu’s sake, He invented you! You didn’t exist before He drew you up on His perfect sketch pad.

Believers are His masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

You were even created in His image. (Genesis 1:27)

Did you know that both Paul and the jailer were equally loved by God?

Let’s jump back to the story and see what Paul and Silas do.

When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

Acts 16:35-40

Did you catch that ending? Paul and Silas (is it worth ADHD-ly mentioning that basically every time I write “Paul and” I end up writing “Paula”? #themoreyouknow) were Roman citizens, which means they were entitled to a fair trial, not just jail time.

However, Paul and Silas went to jail.

Maybe because they knew it’d be an epic opportunity to praise God, and to see God at work in a little, grimy jail with a lost jailer.

Reminds me a little of the lost sheep parable Jesus tells in Matthew 18. One sheep in the one hundred total sheep was so.important. that the shepherd went to find it.

We are the one.

God is our shepherd.

You are loved. And I am, too.

Rest in that today, friend.

When have you felt God go “out of His way” to search for you? #mysearchandrescue

Our Biblical Yearbook: Meet Joseph

Hear that? It’s the school bell ringing. Grab your backpack and get ready to shake some hands, because we have some new classmates to meet.

See the cute new guy over there in the fancy coat? Yeah, that’s Joseph.

Girl, I see you smirking. Relax, I’ll introduce y’all today.

As for the rest of our new classmates, we’ll meet them soon.

. . .

Time for a new, non-food series? Yes? K, cool.

I’m excited for this one! Bible people are so cool, especially the more you look at them in a human light and not just a “Oh, they existed? I thought they were just some person in the Bible”-way.

Ya know?

So we’re gonna dive into the stories of a bunch of cool Biblical people, adding them to our lil’ Bible yearbook along the way.

Today’s gent is a hero in my book. Maybe he’ll be in yours, too.

Friends, meet Joseph.

Who’s Joe? Check out Genesis 37.

For a Quinnterested (and hopefully God-inspired) summary, put on your reading goggles, because here we go:

Joe was one of the youngest of a bunch of Jacob’s kiddos. And he got special treatment because he was a son of Jacob’s fav wife. #familydrama

(Honestly, doesn’t that kind of sound like a Bible-times reality show? Mmm it does. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.)

Joseph’s probably best known by modern peeps for his dreams. Or his dreamcoat. I guess they go hand-in-hand, in a way, like two lil’ tykes, walking down the sidewalk, who are planning their wedding at 7 years old. (AGAIN with the analogies, Q. I thought we’d covered this??)

The dreams: Joe started having these prophetic dreams from God. He told his bros about them, and they got angry, because the dreams made it sound like Joseph was better than the rest of them (See: “We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it” in Genesis 37:7)

The dreamcoat: A fancy robe Joseph’s dad gave him to show his favor for Joseph. (Can you see the steam rising from Joe’s brothers’ heads? It’s palpable. #coolword)

What happens when bros be jealous? Well, in Joseph’s case, the bros turn to murder.

Yikes.

Long story short, Reuben, Joe’s eldest brother, manages to turn his trigger-happy brothers to a slightly more reasonable solution: Sell Joseph as a slave.

Seems like a good solution, right?

Not to be too critical of the brothers, but, no, not the best solution, me thinks.

Nevertheless… (yay for words that look like a hashtag minus the ‘#’)

…sold Joseph gets.

(A little Yoda never hurt nobody.)

What happens next? It’s probably a bit of a blur for Joe, but, basically, the people who initially bought him sell him on to Pharaoh’s captain of the guard: Potiphar. Pretty big deal.

Not that being a slave is ever a good thing, but, as far as being a slave goes, this wasn’t the worst of options for now-enslaved Joseph.

Happy days are here again?

Not yet.

Handsome lil’ Joe innocently gets roped into a sticky situation with Potiphar’s horribly scheme-y wife. She’s super into him (Yo, you’re married, bruh), and Joseph’s like, “No way.” (YAY Joseph!)

Let’s “pause” this ever-expanding reality show.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present Exhibit A of why Joseph is hero-material: This probably attractive Potiphar’s wife lady is arguably tempting to Joseph, but he says “No.” In fact, he says, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (See Genesis 39:8-10)

LOTS of non-sarcastic respect for Joseph and the man God made him to be right there.

Good guys are so cool.

Okay, “play.”

Joseph (he’s so cool, you guys) doesn’t do anything shady with this lady. This lady’s arguably (sorry for the repetition, but *shrug*) a little kooky in the head and definitely hungry for attention, so she blurts out that Joseph did a thing that we know he did NOT. She says he did, though.

Do the important people believe Joseph?

They sure don’t.

Or, if they do, they don’t act like it, because Joe gets sent to prison. Specifically a prison where the king’s officials are sent. (You’ll see the importance of the “king” detail later.)

It’s v important to note that, through all of this, we don’t hear any despair (or even mild complaining) from Joseph.

To illustrate the amazing-ness of this point, let’s recap real fast:

Joseph:

He was…

-born

-the fav son

-hated on by his brothers

-sold (by said bros)

-taken from home by strangers and sold to other strangers

-(wrongly) accused of adultery

-thrown into prison

…Did I mention he didn’t complain?

To be fair, not everything that happened in life was recorded in the Bible. Yay for obvious facts, I know, but I’m just diplomatically saying that it’s not like we have any conclusive evidence that Joseph definitely did not complain. No Joe-body-cam action goin’ on.

But here’s what we do know: We know Joseph’s character by his actions (and, occasionally, his recorded words.)

He seems to have a pretty black-and-white sense of what’s right and wrong, and he seems to faithfully follow-through on those convictions.

Here’s another thing we know:

“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered…” (Genesis 39:2)

“…the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did…” (Genesis 39:3)

“…the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.” (Genesis 39:5)

“But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” (Genesis 39:21)

“…the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” (Genesis 39:23)

Um, this is SO cool.

One more thing before we move on:

The prison warden loved Joseph, just like basically everyone else did, so he gave Joseph lots of responsibility. That might sound weird, since you’re like, “Aww, thankssomuch, but how ’bout we get outta prison?” Right, I know. But our Divine Connector-of-the-Dots God was planning out Joseph’s amazing legacy in prison. And before then, too. But particularly in prison, because God was doing stuff. Behind-the-scenes preparation. And one of those preparation elements was the leadership training Joseph received. In humble circumstances, yes. But…maybe that’s part of leadership training? Mmm, yes, God. Love it.

Anyway, point is that God was miraculously NOT wasting any of Joseph’s time, very a-la-God-style. (If you could read and comprehend that Quinnterested-lang sentence, I’m impressed.)

Something happens in prison that changes Joseph’s life. It’s not the leadership training, though that contributes to it. Like I said, it’s a connecting-the-dots type thing.

Remember when I said that detail about “king” and the prison thing would be important? Here’s where we start to see its relevance.

Joseph’s not the only one in prison. Two of the king’s peeps are in there, too. And, guess what?

They both have dreams that need interpretation.

We’re all given spiritual gifts (for a great, relevant read, see 1 Corinthians 12).

One of Joseph’s was the gift of interpreting dreams. Remember his childhood dreams that loaded the gun for his jealous bros? Another time of preparations (with major, seemingly negative results).

Back to prison.

The king’s people need interpretations, and Joseph (via God’s divine knowledge) gives it to them.

“Pause” #2.

Ladies and gents of the jury, I present Exhibit B of why Joseph is hero-material. Joseph clearly had gifts. Can we all agree on that? If we can’t yet, skip ahead several chapters and see how those dream interpretations work out. But do it on your own time–no spoilers here.

It’s obvious Joseph was gifted. What’s SUPER cool is that he knew it, too, but not in a prideful way. Sound impossible? I kind of grew up thinking that, too. How can you not be prideful while freely stating that you’re gifted?

Here’s how: By believing that the God of the Universe, your Creator, hand-crafted each human on this planet creatively and intentionally, giving each one gifts for a reason.

You can believe that and give glory to God by believing that. In fact, not believing that is kind of an insult to your Creator, right? (S/O to my sweet little sister-in-Christ for sharing that concept with me! So good.)

The line not to cross is when you take God out of the equation. Always remember that “every good and perfect gift comes from above.” (See James 1:17) We don’t give ourselves these gifts. It’s our free-will duty to use and hone them, totally. (See “Parable of the Talents” in Matthew 25) But God gave them to us, to use for His glory. So let’s do that.

Comment if you have questions about this, and we can keep thinking about it and referencing the Bible together for answers. It’s a tricky idea for some people, at least for me!

Back to the jury.

Joseph had a gift that he wasn’t afraid to use. He was confident in his gift, 100% because God gave it to him, and Joseph trusted God to use the gift for His glory. Heroes don’t have to applaud themselves. They should be worthy of applause. Partly because of their insistence of applauding God and not themselves.

“Play” in 3…2…1!

The king’s prisoners who dreamed said dreams are eventually released from prison. Both Joseph’s interpretations come true. (Unfortunately for the one who Joseph predicted would die…)

When Joseph shared the interpretations, he asked the receiver of the positive interpretation (whose title was “Chief Cupbearer”) to remember him (Joseph) when he (Chief Cupbearer) was released, and to help him (Joseph) also get out. (Pronouns can be confusing…)

Long story short, CC (our chief dude) didn’t.

Fast-forward to 2 years later. Joe’s still in prison. Pharaoh has a dream. And CC suddenly remembers Joseph.

*Praise hands*

Guess what? Pharaoh needs a dream interpretation, and nobody else is able to give it to him. So CC comes through after all, suggesting Joseph to be the man for the job.

Make way for God.

*Not for Joseph, for God.*

You know what’s coming. God gives Joseph the divine knowledge he needs to give an accurate interpretation, and Joseph does so with humble aplomb.

Here’s when this story goes to a whole new level, and God lets us peek a little behind His wizard-like curtain.

Here’s the scene that follows Joseph’s correct interpretation:

So Pharaoh asked them [his officials], “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

At this point, do you kinda feel like God is lovingly, and maybe slightly meloncholy-ly, with a smidge of sneaky, but cool, cleverness, winking at you?

Like, He knew this would happen all along.

But don’t think for a second that He was winking and smiling while a teenage Joseph was shaking in fear while his new owners brought him to a new land. I’m sure that broke God’s heart.

But He saw that from the perspective of knowing what Joseph didn’t know in that moment.

Goosebumps? Just now?

Me, too.

There’s more to the story–way more. But I feel like this is a really sweet spot. So let’s settle here, and you can pick up the Bible and read the rest on your own. (Also, shameless plug for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical–besides basically completely omitting God and His MAJOR involvement in the story, it’s a pretty accurate depiction of Joseph’s story…maybe minus an Elvis-like Pharaoh. And brothers that change accents like four times. It’s fun, y’all.)

. . .

Girl, stop shaking his hand. You’ve been shaking it this whole.time, and it’s getting weird. I think Joseph has to go…

Glad y’all got to meet! Looks like y’all are already becoming friends.

I’m very excited to introduce you to another of my very favorite Bible heroes, Esther, next week. There’s a really interesting similarity between Esther and Joseph: the Lord gave them both overwhelming favor with their peers. Fascinating. Really cool stuff.

Praying you feel God’s hand on your life like it was on Joseph’s (and is on yours.)

You are loved ❤