What late fine?

 In 2017, the Nashville Public Library did the unthinkable.  They eliminated overdue fines on library materials, not from that date forward, but retroactively, no matter how long ago it was borrowed.  Other urban libraries watched closely, sticking to their hard and fast rules.  The historical and ongoing attitude was that if there were no consequences, borrowers would never return books ever again.  

But this act of grace had an opposite effect.  As grace always does.

This past October, five years after Nashville, the New York City public library system resorted to the same protocol.  And while the income from late fines disappeared, treasures suddenly came to the surface.  The skeptical, rule-following librarians were astounded.  Books were returned, suddenly appearing at every library branch, floods of them.  Boxes of very late books were left on the doorstep, some books anonymously slid one by one through the return slot, some even with attached notes of apology and sentiments of how much that volume meant dearly to them over the years.  One book in particular had been borrowed in 1965.  In the Brooklyn branch alone, in the first four months, an incredible 51,000 books were returned, some so old and dated that they were no longer listed in the library collection.

But books were not the only things that returned.  With the fines absolved and patrons now forgiven --no longer feeling guilty and judged and shamed-- people returned to the library.  Whereas usage of public libraries had dipped some 20 percent in the past several years, patrons were now flocking back.  People were not getting away with negligence or rebellion or even thievery.  They were coming back into relationship.

In a recent article, the New York Times interviewed a young single mom with an eight year old daughter.  She was too ashamed to cross the threshold, banished and unable to check out any more materials due to the rules.  Forgiven of the burden of her accumulated $50 overdue fine, the librarian at the desk cheerfully welcomed her and her little girl back. 

Grace has a way of doing that.  When we let go of "you owe me," whatever the transgression or wounded pride or unreturned possession, the door to relationship opens again.  Grace is not getting away with anything.  Grace changes the world.  Grace says, "You are more important to me than that."

And that is the story of the Bible woven from cover to cover.

We cannot make up for lost time, but we don't have to live with regrets or grudges that multiply over time.  We still have a relationship.  Forgiveness presses delete.  What late fine?  Grace empowers us to do so.  

And as the New York Times article stated, "the treasures came pouring in."  In tens of thousands of ways. 

As grace always does.

 

Forgive us our debts

as we have also

     forgiven our debtors. 

                     Matthew 6. 12  

And you, who were dead in your trespasses...

God made alive together with Him,

having forgiven us all our trespasses,

by canceling the record of debt

that stood against us

          with its legal demands.

This He set aside,

            nailing it to the cross.

                         Colossians 2. 13-14

A Tenacious Grip

My grandmother was a gardener of impossible soils.  Wherever we lived, the land was stubbornly resistant to planting either for produce or beauty.  But whatever the defiant ground, she found a way around it.  In the bitterly cold winters of Chicago, she built an indoor planter by the windows in our rec room.  On a rocky sloping yard of clay in New Jersey, well, even in her 70s, she dug out those big stones, terraced the hill, and planted perennials.

Faithfulness sometimes requires the most creative efforts.  She faced her most challenging struggles with an attitude, "Now, what can I do with that?"  

She did not just work around the big rocks or complain about them, she did something with them.  

 

For this light momentary affliction 

is preparing for us 

an eternal wight of glory

beyond all comparison,

as we look not to the things

that are seen

but to the things that are unseen.

                     2 Corinthians 4. 17-18

It was all a part of her training program.  Through each struggle and challenge, she learned something new that helped her face the next difficulty.  In all she did, inside and out, she didn't see a barren landscape, but an opportunity.  She had a deeply rooted soul, nurtured in her faith in God and in His Word.  "If it were easy, would we still seek God?"  She had seen too much to question God in the hard stuff.  First and foremost, far beyond any circumstances, she trusted in the goodness of God.  And loved Him dearly.

And as a result, even though she was not planted next to rivers of water, she thrived even in sheer rock, not in her own strength, but in His, no matter where, how, and among whom, for His glory.  Not hardened by circumstances, but responsive to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even in what is hard and we cannot understand, we can rely on Him.  He is not about to abandon us now.  We are just getting to the exciting part of our story.  

As a grandmother, she modeled a lot for me in watching her thrive even on sheer rock.  Keep a firm hold, cling to, and adhere closely to the LORD.  God has a tenacious grip on each one of us.  Bring His beauty to it.  And in the process, grant hope to others.

Now let's see what He does with this.  Even this.

 

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

    who alone does wondrous things.

                             Psalm 72. 18

Even Then

 God is

     with us

     in it.

God is

     in it

     with us.

God is.

Even in this

    ____________,

fill in the blank

with trusting Him.

For I am doing a work in your days

    that you would not believe if told.

               Habakkuk 1. 5

 

Far beyond our vision,

far beyond our lifetimes,

far beyond our strength and understanding. 

The secret of endurance is not believing we have another gear,

      but knowing God is.

He is faithful.

He is good.

He is God.

The book of Habakkuk moves from questioning God 

to acknowledging Him

to trusting Him.  In it with us.  With us in it.

Even then. 

       God responds with His grace

       in unexpected ways.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet

I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;

He makes my feet like the deer's,

He makes me tread on my high places.

                          Habakkuk 3. 17-19

Remember

 When life looks like this, barren and bleak:

 

Remember that this is not the end of the story.

God redeems.

 

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

  and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

   and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet

   I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy

       in the God of my salvation.

GOD, the Lord, is my strength,

He makes my feet like the deer's,

He makes me tread

               on my high places.

                       Habakkuk 3. 17-19

 

Our hope is not dependent on circumstances or wishful thinking.  But on the Almighty who transcends what we can see and on Whom we can stake our lives. 

Sometimes we have to wait

       until everything is ready

      ... or we are ready.

Sometimes we just need

           to read the story backwards.

And remember God's faithfulness,

    spelled out in the seasons

and the chronicle of our lives.

Certainty and Uncertainty

This past week, I have sat down with my laptop to write more times than I can count.  It felt like a recurring dream when my ankles are bound with barbed wire.  Not unable to walk or run, but unable to write.  My heart has been so tangled in the images emerging from the Ukraine.  Over the course of the days since the invasion, I have been caught between a pressing need to write and an urgency to pray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even waking in thin hours of the night, I am so aware of the David and Goliath situation in the Ukraine, the tragedy, families with small children huddling in subway tunnels, the bombs, the tanks, and the sheer resistance of a noble people seeking freedom and peace. 

I feel so helpless to do anything.  But I can pray.  We can all pray.

Moreover, as for me,

far be it from me

that I should sin against the LORD

by ceasing to pray for you.

                  1 Samuel 12.23

If we don't pray, we will never realize the difference it is making in this time of tremendous unknown, for those we will never meet in this life, and not just for when it impacts us.  God calls us to be faithful and pray for one another. No exclusions. I cannot go about my daily life as if nothing on the other side of the world is going on.

In that crevice between possibility and impossibility, between expected and unexpected, between certainty and uncertainty, prayer fills the spaces and powerfully pushes back the darkness.  Prayer is the highest form of resistance.  Prayer aligns our hearts with His.  Pray continually for God's intervention in this physical and spiritual battle.  A lot of people's lives are at stake.

"There is a high degree of uncertainty about what will happen in the coming days," stated the New York Times this morning.  

But there is an even higher dimension of certainty about God, even right in the midst of the turmoil.  Our hope is not wishful thinking for a particular outcome, but on the Almighty on Whom we can stake our lives.  No matter the circumstances. 

For we are powerless

against this great horde

   that is coming against us.

We do not know what to do,

but our eyes are on You.

            2 Chronicles 20.12