A WOMAN'S VIEW ~ Lenore Buth

Take another look at your life

How do you see yourself?

Do you often think or say," Well, I've never done anything special. Probably never will. Makes me wonder sometimes what's the point of going on?" 

Just in case nobody's told you this lately, letting that mood hang on is like trying to camp out on quicksand.

Still, dealing with difficult family situations or health problems or simply growing older can feel like too much to bear at times. 

Or maybe your daily grind is grinding you down and you can't see a way out.

What's a person to do?

Why not try on a new perspective?

Some years ago Andy Andrews wrote a book, The Noticer, that became meaningful to masses of readers. Here's a brief summary of what the main character, Jones, tells a hopeless individual about the reasons why they are still living: 

1.  God has a purpose for every single person.

2.  You won't die until that purpose is fulfilled.

3.  If you are still alive, then you haven't completed what you were put on earth to do.

4.  If you haven't completed what you were put on earth to do, then your very purpose hasn't been fulfilled.

5.  If your purpose hasn't been fulfilled, then the most important part of your life is still ahead.

6.  You have yet to make your most important contribution.

(Chapter 6, pp. 83-85.)

You already meet this author's most important criteria

As long as you and I are still breathing we have not yet fulfilled our purpose, at least, not all of our purpose. This makes every day vitally important, doesn't it?

It doesn't matter if we look back on the past with yearning. It doesn't matter if we feel unsure about today or tomorrow. Our moods do not determine the value of our lives. Our down times do not cancel out the good we have done--and are doing. 

Those of us who are Christians see a larger purpose in what we're able to accomplish during our lifetimes, even when we're just being faithful to do what's expected of us and see no fine, lofty and lasting purpose in our days. It puts meaning into our days--and our deeds--when we remember what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Let's take it a bit further

As Christians we're meant to look at life differently. Take worry, for example:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   --Philippians 4:6-7

How do we get through those days (and sometimes weeks, months, even years) when life seems more than we can handle?

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.   --Isaiah 41:10

We believers can safely trust that we will have the strength to meet whatever challenges may come up. God says so, in Deuteronomy 33:25:

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be."  

What will tomorrow bring? None of us can say   

So if today is "one of those days" and we're at a low point, it's time to look up from the pits and look past our problems.

You are alive and so am I. We cannot know how God already is using us in someone's life. We cannot predict how He will use us tomorrow, but we can trust that He will.

Dear reader, I pray you may know the truth of Romans 15:3:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Lenore

Can we still speak hope when the unthinkable happens?

When a large part of our inner sense of security crumbles--as it did after 9/11, what are we to do? 

Or when a family or relationship problem shakes our personal world to the core?

How do we cope? What do we tell our kids?

We may feel a gaping emptiness inside and long for comfort for ourselves, but feel we have nowhere to turn.    

Even in the day-to-day of life we may have people we care about who regularly (and more so in a crisis) look to us for reassurance and for clues on how to deal with life. 

All the while we may be thinking, I have nothing left to give.  

That's when we do what moms and wives--and dads and husbands--have done since the beginning of time. We give anyway. 

We take our thoughts off what was lost and focus on what is left.

Although we feel drained dry, still we can speak the hope that comes from beyond ourselves. Hope that's based on more than what we see and think and feel. Based on faith in God and the deep-down conviction that when we trust in Jesus as our Savior, "hope" becomes 100 percent guaranteed certainty.

That's because it rests in the One who promised to be with us, no matter what, no matter where and to be our strength, even when we have none left within ourselves.

How do we protect our children in this scary world?

We can't, not really. We can hold their hands so tightly it cuts off their circulation and follow them around like bird dogs, but there's no way to absolutely ensure they will never hurt, never be disappointed.

We watch over them, of course. We hug them and comfort them and speak the love we feel because nobody ever gets too much love and encouragement.

Through it all, good times or not-so-good, every day we commit our loved ones to God's protection, asking Him to watch over them.

How do we model living in faith?

I used to think at some point I would arrive at a more, um, exalted state of being. That I would somehow "graduate," that is, to be always at peace.  

Perhaps you've wished and prayed for that, too. Let's face the (humbling) truth: We are human beings living with never-ending announcements of yet another reason to feel shaky. That's the world we live in, yet we need not cringe in fear. 

My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep.  Psalm 121:2-3  NLT

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.   Jeremiah 29:11

Come to think of it, isn't that more than enough?

Always, there is help available and it's as close as our nearest Bible.

I've found when I'm running on "empty," the best way to recharge and refuel is to spend time in the Word and in prayer.

Sounds good, but where do I start?

Answers may vary--and that's okay, because each of us is an individual. Like many others, I find it helpful to mark Bible verses so I can find them more easily. 

Verses like these, which I've had marked in my Bible for years:

God is my refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea . . . The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.      Psalm 46:1, 11

The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.   Psalm 29:11

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.    Psalm 9:9-10

Living in the world

You and I can't stop the evil in the world--and yes, there is evil in the world. Every year the 9/11 remembrances proves the point.  

It didn't stop with 9/11--and it won't. Ever since Eden, the power of Satan--evil--is with us. 

Evil will always keep trying, but it will never win. In Jesus, the battle is already won. 

Our best strategy for survival--for enduring--is to stay planted in the Lord and keep filling our minds with truths from God's written Word. 

Then when our loved ones turn to us, we'll be ready with love and with strength that comes from the Lord, who will never turn away from us.

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.   Psalm 121:2  

Whatever the disaster, little or large, in Jesus Christ we find the strength and stability to not only make it through, but also to speak peace and hope to those around us.

All this comes not because of who we are or because of our great internal spiritual resources, but always, only because of the One who lives within us.

Trusting, too,

Lenore

Let the Light Shine in Your Heart Every Day

Every one of us runs out of optimism and hope once in awhile.  

Or is it just me?

I remember one day of despair as vividly as yesterday. Warm sun coaxed forth spring blossoms and leaves on all sides and life was good, yet that day I couldn't see it or feel it--and I couldn't have told you why.

I drove home along a beautiful tree-lined boulevard, glad no one could hear me screaming.

At God. The same God I've loved and trusted since childhood. The One who said in Scripture his plans for us are good, plans to give us hope and a future. Right then He seemed cold and distant and I felt abandoned--and guilty for even thinking that way.

Do you ever have times like that? 

That's why Easter matters 365 days of the year

Easter means we don't have to beat up on ourselves because we blew it. Or questioned. (Or screamed at God.)

How can that be true? Because Jesus paid for all our failures on the cross.

That's not all. He conquered Satan--the devil, the author of despair and failure--when He rose from the dead. 

What's more, Jesus came back to earth and showed himself to His followers several times, fully alive and fully human, as all four 
Gospel writers recount for us. These sorrowing believers touched His human flesh and were overwhelmed with rejoicing. He walked with them and talked with them and ate regular food with them. Jesus' presence transformed their depression and fear into joy and renewed faith.  

Because of Easter you and I can have hope, even in our lowest moments.

Because of Easter God will never turn away from us when we get discouraged or feel we've let down everyone we love.

On our dark days we can clutch onto these promises from Scripture and hold them close to our hearts:

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life... Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   -Romans 5:1, John 3:16, Rom. 5:5:8  

It's not about how good we are or whether we checked all the boxes. The Good News of Easter is that when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, God looks at us through Jesus and sees us as if we were perfect, like His only Son. 

It is all because of Jesus that our Heavenly Father counts us worthy of love, no matter what.

Even "heroes of faith" sometimes get discouraged  

The Apostle Paul often is labeled this way because of all the suffering he endured in his life. Yet he was human. Just like you and me, he asked God, "Why?"

For example, he pleaded repeatedly with God to take away his "thorn in the flesh," that mystery problem or medical condition that dogged him.

Each time God answered, "No."

Paul could have given up in despair, but he responded this way:

But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."   -2 Corinthians 12:9 

Whatever it was, that "thorn" troubled Paul all through his life. Every day Paul counted on the Lord's strength, not his own, to get him through. 

Paul's humble, teachable spirit enabled the Holy Spirit to use him to spread the Gospel widely and with power. We call Paul's letters "Epistles" and they constitute 14 of the 27 books in the New Testament. We believers still count them precious.

Doesn't this prove that God will not turn away from us if we dare to ask, "Why, God?" Or when we sometimes give in to despair?

Easter means we don't have to stay stuck in our pit of gloom

His grace is sufficient for you and me, too. In our times of weakness we can count on God's promises and by faith, find courage and strength to go on. 

Many of us know by experience how these words of Paul still bring strength, whether we say them in our minds or aloud--as often as needed:  

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  -Philippians 4:13                  

Easter is our guarantee that we are not abandoned. Easter is our reason for hope and our comfort in despair. 

It's all because the tomb was empty

Our pastor makes sure even the young children know that. Every Sunday when they come forward for the children's message, he asks, "How do we know Jesus loves us?"

Somebody always says, "'Cuz He died on the cross for us."

"Did Jesus stay dead?"

They always answer with a shout, "NO! He rose from the grave! He's alive!"

Then he asks the kids, "So where is Jesus now"

With one voice they answer, "He's in our hearts! He lives in our hearts!"

That's exactly what Jesus told His followers when He came back to be with them for just a little while. Here's Matthew 28:20:  

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

He is alive! Now. With us, living in our hearts. We're not in this mess alone and despite our failings, he never gives up on us. Never. Never.

Let's consider that light for our dark days!

My friend, may you know the truth of the Apostle Paul's words. They are Truth for you and for me still today--and every day. 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Lenore

*"B.C." cartoon by the late, great Johnny Hart

You can find real freedom in any situation

It's the time of year when flags and fireworks and patriotic songs remind us we live in a free country. 

It's a good time to ask: How about you and me? Are we living free?

Each of us will answer that question differently. 

And real freedom has very little to do with the circumstances of our lives. Keep that in mind as you read these words from a man diagnosed with cancer:  

    "I'm a forward-looking person but also a living-in-the-moment     person So I wake up every day expecting to have a good day. It     may sound trite ... but life as you get older is about 20 percent of     what happens to you and about 80 percent how you react to it."                                                                                   --Nick Charles

You've probably heard that sort of thing said before. I have, too, but never with more power. 

Nick Charles said it when he was close to death--and knew it

Whether he was a Christian I don't know, but he spoke truth that applies to every one of us:

How we react to what happens to us determines our lives.

It's like that old advertising slogan: "It's what inside that counts." How we react and respond flows out of what's inside us, in the core of our being. 

I confess it took me way too long to really grasp this truth, but I gained a new understanding when I read an old book, Man's Search for Meaning, by the late Viktor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D.

Before World War II, Frankl, his wife and his parents lived the good life in Vienna, Austria. Then the Nazis invaded and like almost six million other Jews, they were sent to a Nazi concentration camp and immediately separated.

Viktor Frankl never saw any of them again

Right away the Nazis took away everyone he loved and all Frankl's possessions, even his wedding ring. At losing that precious reminder of his "before" life, he thought for awhile he could not go on.

Then as if a light bulb went on in his mind (a gift he later felt came from God) a great truth became clear to him and from that moment on, Viktor Frankl knew he would survive Auschwitz.  

Although he remained a prisoner, Frankl realized that no matter how the cruel guards mistreated him, only he possessed--and would possess as long as he breathed--the power to control his thoughts.  

He summed it up in this statement 

"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."    

Viktor Frankl in a death camp. Nick Charles close to death from cancer. Both of them very much in crisis mode, yet both expressed the same point:

We cannot control everything in our lives, but we do control what we think about it.

What we think about the circumstances of our lives dictates how we respond to what comes our way and to the people in our lives.

Knowing that gave them new courage to face what came next.

As usual, the Bible said it first 

For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he ....   Proverbs 23:7  KJV

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.    Isaiah 26:3  ESV

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.       2 Timothy 1:7  ESV       

Reread those verses and think what God gives to each believer to empower them to live fully and live free. 

It's a bit sobering to realize what that means

It takes just three words to sum up this principle: It's our choice. 

WE hang the labels on what happens to us.

WE choose to park our minds in a lousy place or in a good place.

WE decide how we will respond to what comes into our lives and to the people in our lives.

It doesn't matter whether we are young or old, rich or poor, in or out of crisis. Once we know this and really believe it is true, it can change our life.

As Viktor Frankl put it, it's the one freedom no one can take from us. It's the way each of us can "live free," unhampered by the idea that we are prisoners of circumstance.

And for those of us blessed to be living in the Land of the Free it's like the icing on the cake.

May God bless America, our beloved Country, now and in the future!

Praying, always,

Lenore

How shall we get through this? Speak hope

Is the steady drip, drip, drip of negative news getting to you?

If you're like me, you're nodding your head in agreement.   

TV newscasters constantly proclaim new reasons to panic--or at least be fearful. We "little people" struggle to distinguish between what's true and what's just another deceptive suggestion. 

Here's a tip to save your sanity. For decades the maxim in the news business has been:   

If it bleeds, it leads.

Obviously, politicians and wannabes live by this slogan, too. That's why so many of their speeches feature "If __, then __ ." 

Conjecture soon is reported as fact by everyone who stands in front of a TV camera and then repeated by every broadcaster.

Soon the rest of us are saying to each other, "Well, it must be true because that's what I hear on all the TV channels." 

Always, we get to choose. Will we panic or will we breathe deep and hang on tight to a realistic perspective? 

What if it's real? What if it's close to home?  

Certainly, this worldwide pandemic is real. No wonder we're nervous, maybe even running scared. Everything keeps changing, from one report to the next. All we can do is follow instructions and try to live healthy. 

That may not be the whole story. We may face a serious problem or a scary illness. Or perhaps someone we know and love is having a hard time. We don't know how to help. We can't go where they are and just hold them close. 

No matter what the situation, you and I still have the power to speak hope. To shine a ray of light into the life of a person who feels overwhelmed,  whether in our family, our church or our community.

How? By staying in touch. By sprinkling words of hope into our texts and conversations. As we tell others to look on the bright side, we'll be encouraging ourselves, too.  

This may not seem like much, but it can be huge

Our words matter. Think of tossing a stone into a pond and watching how the ripples spread.

Many great national leaders of the past understood that. 

Take President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, elected in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression. Love him or hate him, it took courage for FDR to say in his inaugural speech:  

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

No doubt many thought he was mad. Yet his words lifted hearts all across the country and became FDR's most-remembered statement.

The effects of the Depression lingered for years. Then, nine years later, came Pearl Harbor and World War II.

The Brits were already at war and they needed hope, too

They got it from their prime minister, Winston Churchill. He regularly broadcast to his nation and his defiant words put iron in British spines.

Take his slogan, "KBO." That stood for, "Keep Buggerin' On." 

That's exactly what thousands of Londoners did during enemy nighttime bombing raids. I knew a couple of those Brits. For months on end they spent every night in the city's subway tunnels, trying to sleep--on benches, on the floor, on the platforms. Every morning they dragged themselves topside and looked around at new destruction and piles of rubble. Then they dug in and cleared away wreckage and buried the bodies of those who were killed. All this besides keeping at their work, doing whatever it took to keep the country going. 

In Brit-speak, they kept buggerin' on.

Another of Churchill's famous statements has hung above my desk for years:  "Never, never, never give up!"

Throughout WW II, FDR and Churchill both held out hope and it shone as brightly in the gloom as a miner's lamp in a coal mine. No wonder people clustered around radio sets and hung on their every word. 

Hope is as necessary for life as oxygen is for the lungs

Every day you and I broadcast to an audience--our loved ones or people around us--usually one person at a time. Do we more often speak words that lift that person's spirit? Or do we simply add to their load of discouragement?

Let's be prepared, ready with hopeful Bible verses that reassure. (If they speak to our hearts, chances are they will to another, as well.) Here are three for starters:

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. -Psalm 62:5

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.  -Psalm 40:31

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -Romans 15:13 

The Bible is a treasure trove. Why not keep track of verses that speak to you so you can pass them on?

And no matter what comes, let's smile and "K.B.O."

Lenore

Holding onto Hope while we Hunker down

Are we a nation of wimps or what?

It's as if we assumed our technology and enlightened thinking guaranteed our society wouldn't have--shouldn't have--big challenges that dodge easy solution.

That's understandable, I suppose, since for quite some time now, we've been strutting around feeling proud of all we have achieved. On our own.

This Corona virus, also known as Covid-19, has knocked us off our perch and brought us down to reality with a deafening thud.

Here's the shocker: As amazing as we may be, we are not in control.

This is not the first and it won't be the last time disease and disaster show up out of nowhere. We live in a sinful world, remember?

For example, in 1347-1352 the Bubonic Plague, a.k.a., Black Death, ravaged Europe and killed 25 million people, which was 30% to 60% of the entire population.

No treatment existed. A person who contracted the Plague either lived or died.    

It didn't stop there.

Step back into Wittenberg, Germany, in the year 1527

You are Martin Luther and the dreaded Plague once again is barreling toward your town. 

There's nothing to do but wait. And read your Bible. And implore God to keep you and your loved ones safe and alive.

Luther was known for spending hours in prayer and reading his Bible. During this time he pored over texts like Psalm 46 and drew on it to write, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."  

Here are the first two verses:   

"A Mighty Fortress is our God"

A mighty fortress is our God,

A trusty shield and weapon;

He helps us free from ev'ry need

That hath us now o'ertaken.

The old evil foe

Now means deadly woe;

Deep guile and great might

Are his dread arms in fight;

On earth is not his equal.

 

With might of ours can naught be done,

Soon were our loss effected;

But for us fights the valiant One,

Whom God Himself elected.

Ask ye, Who is this?

Jesus Christ it is,

Of Sab-a-oth Lord,

And there's none other God;

He holds the field forever.

This hymn speaks to our fear and uncertainty, as well 

After all, what can we do other than obey the Government directives that come out and try to stay healthy?

We Christians read our Bibles. We pray most earnestly that our loving Lord will watch over us and our loved ones.  

Just as surely, we pray God's protection over our Nation and the world, and that he will keep medical personnel and caregivers safe.

And please, may we unite in prayer that God will guide all our leaders, whoever they are, in every level of authority.

Here are a few verses from Psalm 46  

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. ...

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.           Psalm 46:1-3, 11  ESV

Dear reader, I pray that you know the truth of these words and that you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

And when fear wakes you in the night, call this verse to mind and be at peace:  

"For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'"   Isaiah 41:13 ESV

Despite the unknowns you and I can choose to place our hope--our certainty--in the LORD. Today. Tomorrow. And for eternity.   

Trusting, too,

Lenore