Yesterday was a pretty prayerful day. They were short prayers. There was somebody I love and am trying to help through an illness, and I cried about the prognosis and the direction the illness is taking. A family that’s dear to me had their whole worlds rocked by the actions of one of their children. Another dear friend has come right up to finding out there’s adultery in her marriage. My crown popped off my tooth and had to be replaced yesterday and I visited the chiropractor yesterday, as well, because I have a lingering “crick” in my left neck and shoulder. I took one of the grands with me and another one cried and cried because I could not take her, too.
It sounds crazy, but I’m so thankful it was podcast day! In between all the big and little challenges, there was a faith-building theme going through my mind and before me on the pages in the waiting spaces. It was the theme of a Holy God. It was that I’m going to a throne room that is Holy, in which the title Holy, in triplicate, was shouted, in vision, to Isaiah, as one seraphim cried to another “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts and the whole earth is full of His glory!”(Isaiah 6:3ff).
It was the knowledge that He shakes out from His garment those who fail to keep covenant and trample His courts (Is. 1:12-15) but that He has saved His ultimate Holy place, the church, for me today through the One whose lips knew no guile (Is. 53); that Holiness, personified and incarnate, dwelled among men and became the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. It was that He sees the tears of every person with whom I spoke yesterday and, if he can move the sundial, He can move the things in my world that are obstructing His glory (Is. 38).
It is also that, as late 2009, the bulla (seals) of someone named Hezekiah, the king, and someone named Isaiah, prophet, were found only 10-15 feet from each other just off the temple mount in Jerusalem. Throughout the day, I just kept thinking about this Holy God and how the external evidence just keeps coming in—that His Word is authentic, preserved and potent.
It was thinking about the rigorous details of dress and washing and service of the high priests of history from passages like Leviticus 16, when the animals were offered for cleansing and the scapegoat was sent away for atonement; and then suddenly realizing that it was Caiaphas, the high priest, who handed them over to those who spat on the Lamb, mocked Him and slapped His face. They slapped the face of the Holy One. It was the high priest who facilitated the suffering and death of THE lamb of God.
What would I do without Digging Deep? On days like yesterday, I’d probably lose the focus that keeps me going through the challenging stuff. Oh, I know I could dig into the Word without the organization and accountability that the study gives me, but would I? And would I remember that I am undone and of unclean lips before His holiness? Digging Deep constantly makes me see my need before Him.
I didn’t intentionally launch the Digging Deep study, but I’m so glad God has let me be a little part of the applications of His holiness through the wonderful blessing that is Digging Deep. I hope you will joins as the brand new study begins on September 1st. I hope you will invite someone else who needs the Word. (That’s any woman you know who is not intentionally in it, already!)
It’s set for May 20th. It’s for girls– junior high and up. This day will include fellowship, service, and singing. But, most importantly, it will remind and convict your daughters of their worth; the “why” of their resolve to be set apart from this world. Even the terms “holiness” and “righteousness” have an archaic and awkward ring in the ears of teen girls today. They live in a world that’s largely antagonistic to their commitment to Christ. This reminder of how much they are loved by the One who assigns ultimate worth will be valuable in decision-making to your daughters over and over again. There will be practical sessions for moms and mentors while the girls’ sessions are happening. The Bible will be at the heart of every part of this day.
I know that the devil has always been alert and prowling and sly and…well, just very busy, since that day at the tree. I know he is unrelenting and unfeeling and would rather throw a nuclear bomb than a grenade. He is smart and powerful. I also know, though, that “greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1Jn 4:4). I know.
At the risk of being a pessimist, let me say this: While my conversations in recent days with other Christians have included some things that are bleak and hard to discuss, they have also included evangelism at work, the beginnings of a Digging Deep study within a denomination, the excitement of upcoming assemblies that will include thousands of worshippers, the value of Christian education, tiny children who are learning all of the books of the Bible and many passages for recitation, and during the last two weeks, the opportunity to be with happy Christians and hear many lessons in programs that were extremely, over-the-top encouraging. There are lots of busy people and congregations still peacefully and zealously taking His grace and truth to their communities.
I’m just going to say one more time that, in a society that has lost its moral way, Christian women today have to be more than a little different in our entertainment choices. Entertainment is optional. I can go to heaven without watching a single movie or attending a single play. Thus, if the language, portrayal of sex and the blasphemy in a movie or play is antithetical to the Biblical values system, Christians should choose some other form of entertainment.
Last night, Glenn and I ate our supper on an outdoor patio at an outdoor mall. In the midst of that dinner where we had already commented about the vulgarity of some of the passersby– immodesty in dress and speech, (We were really taken aback by the extreme lack of and transparency of clothing all around us….Glenn even commented, “Do you think soon it’s going to be acceptable to just go without clothing, entirely?”)– we overheard a young couple at the table beside us. The high school or younger college-aged man said to his female friend, “I know. I’ve really been praying about that.” One overheard comment about our God, in a world of messiness from the father of lies, was amazingly encouraging to us. We found a moment later to encourage them. I’m determined to say his name, speak of prayer and blessings, and pass out my little invitation-to-worship cards more consistently. We need to speak 
Once, in an attempt to justify making sinful choices, someone said to me, “God is not a robot.”