Tag: Greece

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Crying Out to God

A dilapitated door with a hole in the middle that shows a dilapidated building 
Psalm 31:21-23 (ESV)—Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.

Her distress tolled like a battle cry in the airplane cabin. A few hours into a ten-hour flight from Chicago to Athens, the toddler sitting behind me bolted from her seat into the aisle, screaming, “I don’t want to go to bed; I want to walk around!” Though her parents sat her back down and tried to console her, she resisted bedtime with resounding cries and rambunctious seat kicks.

And she’s not alone in her feelings. In Psalm 31, David remembered feeling abandoned while in a “besieged city” and recounted his initial response: “I am cut off from your sight.” His fear assailed him like the despair a child felt when not sleeping in her own bedroom.

Thankfully, hopelessness and alarm do not have to rule over us. An honest, open relationship with God places us in the protection of his grace and mercy. We can pray to him and know he’ll hear and respond.

Because of this knowledge, we do not have to hunker down in fear of the besiege happening around us. Our alarm is not a signal to dive for cover; it is a sign to call out to God. Our prayer can be “I want to walk with you” rather than “I am cut off from your sight.”

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Laughing in the Rain

1 Peter 1:20–21 (ESV)—[Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

I can personally attest, Athenian sidewalks enjoy tripping tourists. Marble pedestrian concourses laugh as sandal-wearing tourists pitch forward. Tile sidewalks buckle for the thrill of watching visitors stub their toes. Even better, cobbled walkways dole out laughter:

The rain began while my husband and I left the jazz club to search for gelato. We stepped with care, reaching the slightest decline in elevation. My husband slipped, arms flailing, but stayed upright. I laughed, of course, and slowed my pace…only to lose my foothold and land on my butt.

Like the sidewalks of Athens, God’s path includes trials that pitch us into harmful circumstances or cause us a world of pain. Peter’s message to “elect” followers of Jesus told much the same story, with an added bonus: faith has an inexplicable power to produce laughter in the rain.

Such a foothold of faith induces rejoicing that aids us in harmful circumstances. This allows God’s abundant peace and grace to flow through us, and through these he supports us.

Indeed, our faith in him allows us to stand even when we fall on our butts. In fact, when butts hit the ground, our response of laughing in the rain cements our faith and strengthens our hope in the living God.

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Aligning Our Expectations

In the foreground old wooden boat in on top a white-washed building. In the background, white-washed building stretching to the edge of a cliff, the town of Oia on the island of Santorini, Greece. 
Romans 8:18 (ESV)—For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

When telling family and friends of my trip to Greece, I heard widespread appeal for travel companions: “Can I be your assistant?” “Do you need a bodyguard?” and “Can I travel along in your carry on?”

These responses made me wonder, what draws people to this place? Is it the travel magazines showing white-washed buildings perched on cliffs or the travel films boasting of ancient ruins? Does the Mediterranean diet attract the droves of tourists?

I think, yes, these do play a role. Yet I also see their part in building expectations, enticing us with a taste of what’s possible . . . a possibility that may let us down (say, when we realize the metro doesn’t run super early in the morning and we need another mode of transportation to the airport).

However, not all expectations disappoint, according to the Apostle Paul. He preached to the Romans of the expectation of meeting Christ in his Kingdom one day. When he noted God’s promise to free creation from the bondage of sin as a reward for their faith, he encouraged expectations aligned with God’s plan.

As such, Paul’s message suggests expectations play a role in our life. Our earthly expectations pull us back from seeking God’s promises, whereas our heavenly expectations draw us closer to aligning our plan with God’s.

Though we may suffer today, the future holds hope, a hope that seeks God’s inheritance rather than despair, a hope that seeks God’s guidance rather than stagnation. With the knowledge of God’s promise of a future free of sin, we can align our expectations with his plan. Drawing on hope puts our hardships into the perspective of Apostle Paul’s: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:19, ESV).