For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. Hebrews 12:7 ESV
Maybe the phrase, “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you!” is imprinted indelibly in my memory, because it always preceded several well aimed smacks on my behind. It was not that I questioned the truth my step-father’s intentions, it was simply the fact that I never listened to any of the words that came after, and “This is going to hurt!” So when I first came to this passage in Hebrews my mind slipped back in time to those moments of discipline and I inwardly cringed as I waited for God’s punishment to fall.
But, as true as the fact that we need to be disciplined by our heavenly Father, is the reality that it really did hurt God far more than it hurts us. After all, God is correcting us for things we have done wrong but Jesus went as an innocent lamb to the cross to pay for our adoption into His family. Like Thomas we worry that we have been left out of blessings that we think we deserve. But the good news is that Jesus came even for a doubtful Thomas and as showed him the marks of the nails in his hands and the scar from the spear in His side. It’s as if He looked lovingly into Thomas’ fearful eyes and said, “Stop your doubting and just believe. This really did hurt me more than it hurt you, but it was worth it because I want you to be my son!”
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 37:4 ESV
You need to know that I have never seen an angel, but I believe in them. Yet the entire concept of angels seems pretty strange to me. Why would an all powerful God who can command light into existence and who holds every atom in the universe together by the power of His word, want to use angels to do stuff? And yet, the Bible tells us that, God chooses to employ angels to take care of us.
When our kids were still in diapers and credit cards were only issued to folks who didn’t need them we struggled financially. Though we had enough to pay for our groceries, rent and the electric bill, by the end of the month, there was nothing left over. Each morning as I got the car, glanced at the front tires, which were daily growing balder, I breathed another prayer and put the key in the ignition. Every afternoon when I pulled back up into our parking spot, I racked my brain trying to figure how we could squeeze a few dollars together, then put it out of my mind, picked up my lunch box and trudged back up the stairs to our apartment.
Though we didn’t have much mullah, we did have plenty of friends. One of those was a confirmed bachelor named Bob and my wife insisted that we invite him over for dinner at least once a week. She worried that otherwise he would never eat a decent meal. Bob became like an uncle to our boys and they loved nothing better than running full speed and jumping onto his lap unexpectedly, then laughing hysterically as he let out a loud groan. Regularly, Bob would remind me about those tires, and regularly I would tell him that we would get to it next month. But whether it was an unexpected doctor’s visit or a new pair of shoes for our growing boys, it seemed “next month” never came.
All the time I worried about those bald tires I never once thought about praying for new ones. Not that I doubted God, but it simply never occurred to me to trouble the almighty with mundane issues like tread wear. He probably had important stuff to do like taking care of orphans in Africa or rescuing beggars in India. But one day I discovered that God isn’t too busy to notice even the tiniest problem we face while He is taking care of folks with bigger issues. He sends angels to camp out around us, to help in every struggle we face.
It was a Sunday morning and just as always we scrubbed up the boys and squeezed them into their church clothes then headed off for the 11 AM service. I put my worry about the tires into the back of my mind convinced I could only pray about life threatening issues. Yes I know I should have prayed but I am glad that our Father in Heaven doesn’t always do things according to formula. I have no idea what our pastor preached that morning, but engraved forever in my mind was the miracle of two brand new tires sitting at the top of our stairs on our return. Yes our angel that day actually was named Bob, but I’m pretty sure that he was enlisted into the service of the ones with wings. What was best of all was the astonishingly wonderful discovery that God knew and cared and sent angels to take care of every detail like stubbing our toe or getting a flat. God wanted me to know that whether He was washing my dirty feet, leaving tires on our stairs or dying on the cross for my sins, that He loves us all completely, in every detail and forever!
Two Tires On the Stairs by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2021 Use by permission only, all rights reserved.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 ESV
Okay, so along with most guys I am pretty convinced that Valentine’s day is a gigantic scam concocted to manipulate us into buying chocolates and flowers one more time for our wives or girl friends. But I confess it is actually a lot of fun seeing her opening up my annual offering and who doesn’t love a good love story? Whether it be Cinderella and her slipper or Snow White and the Prince’s kiss we are all delighted when it gets to the wedding and happily ever after part. Though at first glance, it may not seem very romantic, the greatest love story of them all is in the Bible. Today’s verse points out that unlike the beautiful princesses, in the fairy tales, the ones God rescues are not innocent beauties. Instead, God has fallen in love with a bunch of scruffy, sinful and selfish human beings – yup that’s you and me!
Wondering why God would ever do this is a great question for another day, but for now, let’s just look at how God went about making us His own. Our verse begins by saying that, just like Cinderella God rescued us. We were also prisoners, except that we were in that condition not because anyone tricked us, kidnapped us or put us under a spell but because we chose to live a selfish life. But amazingly, God didn’t just leave us there, instead He came to our rescue. And the verse goes on to say that next God redeemed us. Just like going into the pawn shop to buy back something that we put in hock, God found us, and willingly paid the price for our sin, by the cross of Jesus. Now we are His because He bought us with His own blood. Then comes the happily ever after part, when God brings us home, and rather than punishing us for our selfishness and sin, He forgives, washes us clean and sets us down by His side to live forever. Now who doesn’t think that living in Heaven with a God like that is not the greatest love story of them all?
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