bringing up baby

WARRNING: seriously rambly post. read at your own risk.


Alright, a new post. And I don't actually have a clear idea of what exactly I want to write about---so what you're reading now? Those past two lines? Will probably have been deleted and rewrote in an effort to sound more pithy, charming,entertaining, etc.

I'm sitting in my room at the hostel right now, listening to the shabbat service of a messianic church that is taking place downstairs. The best part? The chorus of tiny children singing "Yeshua!" over and over again.

Faith like a child.

I'll be real, these past five and half weeks in Israel haven't been some cake walk. My friend David was laughing at me as I was trying to articulate in a not-so-whiny way that I was sick of being physically, emotionally, or spiritually challenged.

"Well what did you expect Rach?"

...to which I shrugged my shoulders and grunted (in a delicate way, of course) to say that this is in fact what I imagined more or less. Less falafel at least.

Here's my heart, blogosphere: I've been confronted, maybe for the first time in a large-scale way, to own up to my faith. To stand firmly on what I believe. To holdfast to what is True and not be tossed about by the wind, by peer pressure, by the flighty-ness of my emotions...and I think that I often adopt the mindset that I'm in this all by myself and that I've got to have everything figured out before I can come and worship the Lord.

Yet, Jesus was no stranger to suffering. He resisted the devil in the wilderness, he experienced the pain of losing friends and family that he loved dearly, he was beaten, bruised, kicked, nailed to a cross and then hung paying a price so great that we cannot even fathom it- a life without God? He felt that. How Deep the Father's Love has a line that says "the Father turned His face away"...

We don't have to feel that.

Woah.

So when we--or I, or you, or however you want to think about it-- have these heart-gripping, attitude wracking, anxiety bringing doubts, about who God is, and what we're doing here, I don't know...can't we look at what happened at that cross and think, "hot dang! this love is real!"?

Yeah, we can.

And then everything begins to make sense. This is why God is Love. This is why we go to the far corners of the earth to share our hearts and the beauty of the gospel. This is why we're plauged with fear and doubt- because tricky Satan wants to deceive us to believe that we're crazy for believing that God would love the world so much, that he would provide redemption to pay a price that calls for more righteousness than we'd ever know.

Makes that other line, in that children's song, "I stand alone on the Word of God" pretty powerful stuff. We stand only on the Word and power of God because when the hard growing stuff comes, then comes fruit.

Faith like a child. Encouraging.


How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocing voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that helf Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I knoww that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast inJesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom