Around 10:30 a.m. on the morning of August 7, 1998, trucks heavily loaded with explosives parked outside the United States embassy in both cities of Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The trucks almost simultaneously detonated. In what was discovered to be a terrorist attack from a then little-known group called Al-Queda, over 200 people died, with over 4,500 injured people – mostly civilians of Kenya and Tanzania.
This tragedy took lives, property, and a sense of security from thousands. Billions of dollars of damage and years of rebuilding were required in the aftermath. Lives were changed forever.
Yet.
These attacks, while ostensibly creating the panic, chaos, pain, and loss they sought, did not result in the toppling the United States. Not the government, not the people, and not even the work of the embassies. This is because an embassy of any country, while being a physical property, is actually more of a symbol for the government of the nation it represents.
The actual embassy is the group of people entrusted with a mission to a sovereign or government, especially in reference to an ambassador and his/her staff.
Because of this, any place in which an ambassador dwells and works from can in fact be an embassy. So long as there is a ruling sovereign or government to represent, an ambassador and any other diplomatic officials appointed can still carry out their work.
In the same way, we who follow Christ have been given a mission: We too are called to represent Him and His Kingdom to the people and places we find ourselves stationed. We too are tasked with the diplomatic job of declaring the glories and policies of our King, creating connections and relationships that cause others to become familiar with our “Homeland,” our Ruler, and His important message.
Because we are the ambassadors, an embassy of the Kingdom of God is anywhere we live and work.
Each day we must be actively communicating with and listening to our King’s communiqués, training ourselves in the ways of our Sovereign, and seeking to most accurately and winsomely reflect and represent Him to others.
Each of us have been given a unique place to operate in and represent the Kingdom of God. We have also been gifted with certain abilities and strengths that were deliberately chosen for the mission we have been given.
Each of us will need insight, discernment, and an incredible amount of wisdom in correct protocol and interactions with others. Each of us are representing something and Someone much greater than ourselves – and we are strangely odd choices for the honor of these positions, with our brokenness, faults, and failings.
Yet in our dustiness and flaws, in our weakness, we have been given this incredible gift: we get to represent the most magnificent, powerful, and supreme Ruler in this and any universe. We get the astounding privilege of declaring the glorious, joyful assurance that our King has not only created a way for anyone who wishes to become a full citizen of His beautiful Kingdom, but that He wants to make every person who joins an heir-apparent, with the full rights and privileges of His own sons and daughters.
We have been chosen for this work, so that we might display our Sovereign’s beauty and love in a jaw-dropping way to the rest of the world (Ephesians 3:10-11).
And even when enemies come, even if my embassy is shaken or broken by attacks, pain, fear, and loss, even if I should lose my own life – I know my King and His Kingdom still stand, unshaken and perfect, for eternity.
This is our confidence. Our hope unshakeable.
My work, then, and yours – is to stay as closely connected to Him as possible, that we might represent Him the most accurately during the course of our sojourn here. And then – the mission’s end will be sweet, when we finally get to return to our real home, the one for which we have been homesick all our lives.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
(2 Corinthians 5:18-20, NLT)
Your Excellency, your assignment awaits.
– Maria
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But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
-Job 23:10, NIV
My Dear Lovebugs:
A couple months ago I had a really hard morning. Toddlers coloring with markers on their clothes and body (then wailing loudly because they demanded a bath to wash the brilliant blue off their skin), dirty diapers and kids with hacking coughs, siblings bickering, speaking nastily, and fighting over the best way to cut Valentine’s hearts (seriously!), and a kitchen full of dirty dishes, half-prepared lasagna pans, leftover breakfast mess, and a stove top splattered with tomato sauce. Then I found out that afternoon that a few of you had been sneaking and broke family rules while I was out running errands the day before, playing a video game by yourselves that was reserved for playing with Daddy only. In a word, discouraging. Not so much that you did it, but that only one of you was tender-hearted and conscience-stricken enough to confess to me that day, although all of you wept and apologized most sincerely after it was discovered.
But here’s the thing, chickies. It comes as no surprise to me that this world (and everyone in it, including you, my dearest punks) is tainted with sin. Life here on Earth is often a mess. People do the wrong thing and make hurtful choices, even when they don’t actually want to sometimes (Romans 7:14-25), because they aren’t perfect. (Shocker, I know.) The only perfect Being is our Father God, something you’ve heard so many times that you’re in danger of tuning out when you hear it again. But pay attention, because this is important: He is in the process of perfecting us, too, so you mustn’t lose hope or trust in Him, even when you let yourself down horribly. In fact, in Philippians we are assured that we can be confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to continue His work until the day Christ Jesus returns (Philippians 1:6). He is the faithful, true God of the Bible and He is the faithful, true God of you today.
God’s fulfillment of His covenant promise to Abraham about bringing the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and to their home in the Promised Land was not just to set them free from oppression and give them the freedom to thrive and prosper in their outer, physical lives. He intentionally promised Abraham specifically regarding their inner, spiritual lives as well, mentioned in Zechariah’s prayer-prophecy-song: “He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant – the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.” (Luke 1: 72-75, NLT, emphasis mine) We are promised holiness and righteousness in this life! We have been cleansed from our sin and guilt, created new in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for each of us (Ephesians 2:10). He created us in Christ Jesus to do good works – so that is now our purpose! What an encouragement to think about, especially when we stumble and blunder and disappoint others and ourselves.
It’s as if we were filthy, bedraggled, lice-and-disease-ridden, abused and cowering slaves of a cruel overlord. Not only could we not escape on our own, even if we did, we would have no idea of how to behave or survive without returning to the same broken mentality, because we knew nothing else and had no medicine for our diseases. By putting your faith in Jesus Christ, He paid the purchase price in full, hacked off the chains and ropes that bound you, and then took you to a healing spa where you were completely washed, exfoliated, cleansed, and doctored.
But He didn’t leave you there afterward, clean and naked, shivering and purposeless. He gave you some of His own shimmering, pure white clothes, smooth on your scarred skin and cooling on your bruises. And then He handed you an incredible job opportunity! A unique assignment, designed specifically for you, because as crazy as it may seem, the Creator-Emperor of the Universe decided to fulfill his purposes on Earth by collaborating with former slaves, choosing us to fill roles of great responsibility and worth. We are now ambassadors of His Kingdom, speaking on His behalf and behaving as his representatives on Earth! (2 Corinthians 5:20)
But how are we supposed to go about this astounding assignment? With the perfect, unceasing help from our untiring and faultless Counselor and Guide, the Holy Spirit, who is there with us, available for guidance, inspiration, and communication 24/7. “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” (John 14:26, NLT) He is there, available to us, but we must choose to draw on and applywhatever He teaches us. He is faithful, loving, truthful and tender, and cares too deeply about us to leave us as we once were. But again, it is our choice to pursue and implement the wisdom and leading that He gives!
Choosing to ignore or deliberately disobey His voice begins to muffle and hinder our recipience of His speech to us, like freezing a river’s flow or flinging sodden branches on a small fire. Water may still be trickling beneath the river’s icy surface, but with drastically decreased power and energy. The fire may still be flickering, but smoke and vapor decrease its visibility, warmth, and light.
We must unceasingly seek His guidance with humility and persistence, listening carefully and attentively. Each of you can trust that He walks with you on the unique path designed for you and the ambassadorship calling you alone have been given. Through this delightful partnership, He will bring the most glory to Himself and the most joy and fulfillment to you.
My chickadees, do you know what alchemy is? Alchemy was an ancient branch of natural philosophy, an extra-early scientific tradition practiced in many countries. While many people today understand it to be a form of pseudo-science that solely attempted to turn base metals into gold and was essentially a deceptive practice, alchemy was actually far more broad and less fraudulent in its aims.
Alchemists were trying to purify and perfect certain materials, creating something of greater worth from more base elements. Alchemy was based on the idea that there was an elemental substance within certain things that, if refined and reduced to its most essential state, would be so exquisitely pure and perfect it would be capable of transforming certain elements into something of highest value (in that era, gold). But most importantly, they believed that an ultra-purified substance like this (also known as a philosopher’s stone) would also be able to give rejuvenation and immortality to man – an elixir of life.
Fascinating as this may be to you, why am I referencing archaic and obsolete proto-scientific philosophies? Because, my darlings, I find alchemy to be a beautiful analogy for the work that the Holy Spirit is embarked on when He comes into our lives and hearts and begins to transform us into the likeness of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:49, Romans 8:29)!
Our glorious King is like a Great Alchemist – He is taking us, creatures of earth, each uniquely formed and each of us with our own special element that He placed in us from the first, and He works in us to bring the best outcome (Philippians 2:13). We are carefully, lovingly, painstakingly and unceasingly purified and cleansed. We are heated, cooled, and processed how He knows will refine us best and bring out that which is our most perfect and exquisite essence. Each of us reflects His beauty and glory in a different way – like a radiant jewel with flashing facets, each reflecting a different spark of light, each person in His Kingdom reflecting Him uniquely, wondrously.
As we allow this glorious work, as we surrender to this refining, uncomfortable, and often painful process, we can trust Him knowing that His expertise is irreproachable and perfect. Unlike the faulty and flawed human endeavors in alchemy, His work is fully a brilliant success. As Job declared in the midst of his suffering, “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.” (Job 23:10, NLT) Our choice is to agree with His work and yield to His superior understanding. You can be certain He is always guided by His deep love for us, and He will be faithful to bring to perfection what He began in you when you first asked Him to be your God and King (Philippians 1:16).
Surrendering to the flame, the crushing, and the suffering in the refinement process sometimes feels as though we are losing ourselves. My lovelies, please believe me when I tell you that when we willingly give up all of ourselves to Him, what remains after the refining process is only more intrinsically ourselves – what we lose is often the external crust, the dross, and the more fleshly parts of self that were obscuring His glory reflected in us. He is not trying to make you lose yourself – He is helping you become yourself, your true self as He initially intended for you to be from when He designed you from before the Creation of the world. “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” (Ephesians 1:4) You are most true to yourself when you are holding tightly to His Truth.
He loves and delights in each of you as the glorious, wholly unique and adorable person He made you, with your own quirks and personality, appearance, preferences, and mental processes. As you allow it, He is refining in each of you the unspeakably valuable essence you already hold – that which makes you most you is most beautiful and precious when it is in the context of His purity and purpose.
This is why each person is precious. This is why life is so valuable. Because each life, each person, is an irreplaceable, unrepeatable, uniquely beautiful opportunity to reveal another facet of God’s beauty and glory to each other. This is why those who believe in Christ should be so surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit personally that as we interact corporately, we are overcome with the light and glory we see in each other. The intrinsic beauty of each person’s God-formed essence should create a deep delight in us, both toward each other, and then upward toward our Father. And that should only inspire us to worship. “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6, NLT)
How I long for the day when I will know myself as the truest, most glorious version of me, when I am free from this body of dusty flesh and this broken world. The best is yet to come. We who love God and remain faithful shall come forth, like Job, as gold, and the whole of Creation waits in eager expectation of the glorious revealing of the sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:18-21).
In the meantime, in the days I have left here in this Earth, I shall not turn from the flame, nor from the slow process and the pain. I want to become what my Great Alchemist sees that I am. As the Living Water (John 4:13), He is my Elixir of Life, and as the Cornerstone of the Kingdom (Luke 20: 17-18), He is the ultimate philosopher’s stone. His Holy Spirit gives my soul immortality, His loving hand turns my dust to gold.
My most precious children, I pray that you will fiercely pursue our God with hearts of deep love and faith, no matter what circumstances come. “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:7, NLT).
(One of a Collection of Letters from Me to My Children)
My Dearest Loves:
Imagine a delicate, graceful and beautifully shaped
porcelain pitcher: slender handle arcing like a young tree, elegant details
carved around the opening. Picture an exotic lantern made of thinly hammered
metal, beams of sparkling light glowing through each intricate, carefully
designed aperture in the gleaming metal. Think about a perfectly balanced,
exquisitely forged sword, deadly but beautiful, sharpened so well that a piece
of silk falling on it would be cut with a sound like a whisper.
Picture anything put together, crafted, built, formed,
shaped, or created by an artisan. Would anyone ever exclaim in wonder over the
beauty or artistry of that piece and then behave as though the object itself
was responsible for getting itself to that state, or applaud the piece and
overlook the one who made it? Of course not. It would be ludicrous to even
think that the object deserved the credit of the artistry, wisdom, and skill of
the artisan. The object is beautiful not because it worked its own loveliness,
but because it accomplished its role of being yielding, obedient, and faithful.
Any piece of porcelain clay must be soft and willing to
yield and change according to the will and pressure of the hands shaping it.
But first, it is kept in the dark in a restrictive container. When it is taken
out, it must endure dizzily spinning in place for a time, having cold water
thrown on it at any given moment, and be pushed, pummeled, and shaped without
regard to feelings. It has no control over the artisan’s possible choice to
suddenly squash it all flat and start again. It is gouged and carved until
everything inside itself is emptied to make a hollow space available for
something else which it does not choose. Any excess is cut away, impressions
and borders are pinched and pressed. Designs are stamped, painted onto or cut
into its smooth surface without consulting it first.
Then it is placed in a kiln of incredible heat for a
time. Should it decide to hop out of the kiln, or manage to turn the knob down
on the heat to something far more comfortable, it would render itself far less
useful, as it would be untempered and unable to withstand the purpose which the
artisan designed it for. If the clay piece grew angry in the fire and refused
to endure the heat, cursing the hand that placed it there, disaster would
follow: it would shatter.
A piece of metal is heated and reheated also in a
restrictive container, any impurities bubbling up patiently scooped out under a
watchful eye and careful hand. Once solid, it is heated yet again and pounded
and molded between two unyielding surfaces, experiencing both the inevitable
thud of the mallet and the immobility of the anvil. If it is to be a weapon,
after the heating and melting, waiting in the fire, enduring the blows, it also
undergoes the grinding grit of the whetstone and the cold trickle of water for
another lengthy time.
If the metal object to be created is a lantern, it
endures being stamped and pierced, pieces of itself cut out. It is also bent
and formed into a shape it did not choose, hollowed and with an empty space. The
strength and usefulness of the metal comes from its lack of impurities and its ability
to endure both the heating and the beating. By the metal yielding to the
pressing and cutting, the scars where pieces of itself were carved out become the
apertures intended to show gleams of light. (Like the song from the group
Switchfoot: “The wound is where the light shines through[1].”)
Generally, my lovelies, the finer the quality and more
exquisite the beauty of a finished piece correlates to the greater the amount
of time invested and the more intense the workmanship put into it. At the
conclusion, the craftsman receives the honor of the outcome of his labor. His wisdom
and skill are applauded, and his creative genius is admired and found
inspiring, his work all the more valuable simply because he was the creator.
In the same way, you
each are an incomplete masterpiece in the hand of God. Whatever the Creator has
chosen for you to become, He has done so with an eye of flawless taste and a
wisdom beyond comprehension. He has chosen for you what will not only bring Him
the most glory and honor at your completion, but what will give you the most joy by fulfilling what you were created
to be. He is the great Artisan who knows precisely what riches He can bring
from the raw material we each start out as. The unique treasure we each will
become will not resemble another masterpiece, and there are no repeat works.
There comes a great freedom to my heart in recognizing
that there is a Master Craftsman at work, and He is not me. There is a joy and
a comfort in the peace of a trusting rest in His hands, knowing:
1. He is actively and creatively working on me. I am in
His hands every day as long as I choose to stay there. (Psalms 138:8; Philippians
2:13)
2.)
He is excited to make of me something uniquely beautiful and glorious. My part is not to seek that for myself, but
to yield to His purpose and design. (Romans 12:1, Romans 8:29) In Proverbs,
Wisdom speaks, describing how she rejoiced in God’s skill and presence as He
established the earth and created all things (Proverbs 8:30-31). We need to be
like Wisdom and also take delight and pour out our worship to God as we observe
Him working and refining both ourselves and others.
3.) He has already placed in me the essentials to fulfill
the purpose He intends for me. I don’t need to look to anyone or anywhere else
to find the fulfillment and meaning I need – only to Him. (Job 23:10, Philippians
1:6)
So guess what, my chickadees? All the hopes and big dreams and desires (large and small) that you have? You can take them all to Him, like a trusting little child pouring out a box of treasures in his daddy’s lap, and ask Him to go through them all with you, knowing He will not laugh or mock you, but will lovingly hold you and them, and talk interestedly with you about them. He made your heart, and He designed you to long for certain things, to hope for specific goals. It’s a sign of your own uniqueness and inherent qualities that He wants to use to shape you into the masterpiece He knows you to be. You can trust Him to hold your dreams and desires for you, and when you ask Him to help you decide which to keep as actual treasures and which aren’t as valuable, you can be sure He will gently guide your heart to making those decisions.
Even better, ask Him to give you more! Ask Him to give you the enormous, exhilaratingly huge dreams and hopes that only He could make real. Ask Him to increase your trust in Him, your understanding of His wisdom and power, and invite Him to take the wheel of your imagination for the wildest, most amazing trip of your life. Our God is the Giver of Dreams! He is the Creator with the hugest imagination ever! He gets giddy with joy over you (Zephaniah 3:17), and His plans for you are unsurpassed in wonder and beauty. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Our greatest joy and our deepest pleasure in life will
come, not from gaining attention, approval, or acclaim from others, but in
discovering our greatest purpose: an intimate, loving closeness with the One
who created us. And as we grow in the utter satisfaction and fulfillment He
gives, we will only continue to grow in our own unique beauty and glory as we
become more and more what He in His infinite loving wisdom made each of us to
be.
This is the end for which He has created and continues to
create us: to hold such an inexpressible joy and delight in God that we are
filled up and overflowing with such force and abandon we can’t help but influence
this world. He makes us to use us, to illuminate and pour out wherever we are,
showing the truth of His glorious, masterful wisdom, knowledge, and the
inherent Beauty He is.
My darlings, please remember: what you become is less important than who you become. A people who actively adore and thrill at the
nearness of their Creator, showing joy and peace while on the spinning potter’s
wheel or enduring the flame and the whetstone, singing to the hammer’s rhythm –
Such a people of God would be heart-stoppingly powerful in their faithful, glorious
revelation of a God who is worthy of such trust.
You and I are truly the living stones that build up the
temple of God, both separately and collectively, chosen to house His Holy
Spirit and reveal His character to the world (1 Peter 2:5). When we joyously
submit to His working in us, teachable and yielded to His design and plan, we display
His fingerprints on our hearts. We show His signature on our lives, declaring
we are His and He is ours, joining with the beauty of Creation in asserting
God’s mastery and craftsmanship (Psalm 19:1). I think His fingerprints on me
are more valuable and beautiful than inlaid diamonds, because it means His
hands held me and He formed me, and there is nothing more wonderful and
precious than that knowledge.
May you and I remain faithful in the flame, holding on to
the hope we have, delighting in the Artisan who delights in us. May you believe
the love in His eyes as He looks upon you, and rest with joy in the
nail-scarred hands that hold you, knowing you are His precious masterpiece
(Ephesians 2:10).
All my love always, Mom
[1] “Where
the Light Shines Through”, Where the
Light Shines Through. Vanguard Records. July 8, 2016.
