Tagged: covered glory

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Since the LORD has prevented me from having children, please sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” Abram did what Sarai told him. Genesis 16:1-5 Can we be so attached to God’s promises and the way we interpret their meaning that we try to make them happen on our own? In serving the Lord among the nations for over thirty years, I have observed something fascinating: God’s heart is always for the nations. That promise-invitation I was given about my future when I was nine, sitting in a small country church in the Appalachian mountains, was… Read More

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5 In many parts of the world today, shame and blame still haunt the families of people born with disabilities. Nida and her family are just one example. Their story of shame and blame is excerpted… Read More

You have made us a byword among the nations;     the peoples shake their heads at us. I live in disgrace all day long,     and my face is covered with shame… Rise up and help us;     rescue us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44: 14, 15, 26 Shame is not a foreign concept limited to countries where women are hidden behind the hijab, men commit honor-killings, or children with disabilities are forced to leave the villages of their birth. At the time of this writing, shame has shrouded the United States. We are a shame nation and the world is watching. We see shame differently than almost two-thirds of the world. (See the Global Map of Culture types here.) Shame is not the primary lens through… Read More

 Is being unknown such a bad thing? The thought of being known can be terrifying if we don't like what we know about ourselves. The possibility of rejection looms large and threatening, and sometimes, like during a global pandemic when we are forced to distance ourselves anyway, we wonder if being unknown might be a good thing. It's nice not wearing makeup, working from home in pajamas, just coming as we are to life, nobody watching and judging what they perceive to know about us. But it's not actually being truly known that poses the problem. It's the pain of rejection that may follow being known. So we work hard to protect and groom what is known about us. My Muslim friends are very good at this. So… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank Arresting in their beauty, her brown eyes were gracefully framed by long eyelashes and a carefully drawn line of kohl along the upper lids. I momentarily forgot I was at a surgical clinic, my team’s purpose to repair facial deformities. I saw no deformity in this beautiful young woman. But she had not yet removed the cobalt blue scarf that draped over her hair and face, hiding her complete visage from view. “Peace be upon you and may God give long life to your parents,” she said in greeting. “Could you have mercy on me and see me alone?” I sensed the shame and urgency in her… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank   This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Ratna hummed to herself as she washed the dishes. The kitchen was small and sparse, but it was bright with sunshine today and it was hers. Recently married to a kind, gentle man, Ratna was the mistress of her own home. Her heart swelled with joy as she daydreamed about a little baby boy with dark curly hair like his daddy’s. Crack! The glass she was scrubbing slipped out of her soapy hands, glancing off the edge of the… Read More

To read Part One of When You Are Tested on the Very Truth You Declare, click here.  Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.Luke 22:31-32 There is a time in the walk of discipleship when we are tested on the very truth we declare, the promises that liberated us. The truth set us free. We know it is real. We have seen its fruit in our lives and others’. We have secured our identity in what God says is true about us. Perhaps we even built our life work on proclaiming it to others that they might be free, too.… Read More

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.Luke 22:31-32 When we are tested on the very truth we declare, we really should not be surprised, but we often are. I wasn’t thinking about this on the day I met Hamida. She had traveled for days from the desert to reach our clinic, and her shyness was tangible as she sat before me, eyes averted and hands fluttering nervously in her lap. The flowing orange melhfa she wore barely covered the ugly scar that dripped down her face. “My mother-in-law did it with boiling oil,” she murmured, pulling aside the cloth to… Read More

thanks, Edie Look towards him and shine with joy; no longer hang your heads in shame.Psalm 34:5, New English Bible Hello, readers. I am breaking tradition today and sending you this post a day early. According to the National Day Calendar, today is Save Your Photos Day. In a recent conversation with a friend, I was reminded of the power of shame to blot out our faces, to erase the photos where we once smiled and laughed. The photos where we belonged to a group of other smiling people, arms draped safely and comfortably around each other. Or the photos we didn’t take because we just didn’t think we were worth it. The first yearbook I remember receiving was in elementary school. I will never… Read More

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart…You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, keep… what you have promised to him saying, “You shall not lack…” (2 Chronicles 6:14-16). I am thinking deeply these days about how my Father gives us a job to do, then promises He will help us do it, then with His own hand completes it.  Covered Glory, releasing in just two days on August 20, is such a promise kept. Like Solomon after the completion of the temple, I have set my heart toward… Read More