Month: February 2018

Most nights after dinner we linger for a few minutes around the table for Bible reading and prayer.  When my kids have something they want to pray about, they usually wait until the end, and then jump in shouting, “Not amen yet!”  They mean, Not the end, I have something more to add.  Whenever they do it, it makes me smile.  I love that they want to get in on sharing their hearts with God.

A lot of us use the word ‘amen’ kind of like ‘the end’, a signal that the prayer is over and it’s time to eat or be dismissed or go on to whatever’s next.  But that’s not exactly how the word is used in the Bible.  At its root, ‘amen’ conveys the idea of certainty, firmness, assurance.  Something that is marked by confidence, truth.  Whatever it’s connected with is in its very nature trustworthy and reliable. It’s something you can believe.

Jesus often used the word ‘amen’ before making a statement that sounded impossibly outrageous to His audience.  Sometimes this is translated as ‘truly,’ ‘very truly,’ or even ‘I assure you.’  Amen I say to you.  What I’m about to tell you is reliable, credible.  It’s the truth.  You can be certain. It’s a firm foundation on which to build your life; it’s a strong and trustworthy anchor.

The apostles also used the word amen. Sometimes they let out an “Amen!” right in the middle of a paragraph. It doesn’t mean ‘the end’ because they keep going.  It’s more like shouting out, “Yes!  That’s the truth!”  Other times they use it as a kind of seal over what they’ve just said.  “This is how it should be.  Please let it be so!”

So what?  Why does it matter? Well because there will be situations in your life where it seems like ‘the end’ and it’s not a happy ending.  It feels someone said “this is the truth,” and it’s never going to be any different.  It’s all over.  There’s no hope.

Friend, can I say “not amen yet?”  That is not the end of the story.  It’s not the end of YOUR story.  The enemy says ‘the end’ when things are darkest.  But God says, “Not yet.” It’s not ‘amen’ yet.  It’s not the truth and it isn’t the end. God has not placed a seal over that situation because it’s not His desire, intention or will for you.  It isn’t what He wants for you. It’s not the way things are supposed to be.  It isn’t the truth. And if it isn’t the truth, then it isn’t from Him.

What does God say about your story?  “For I alone know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.  “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). God says there’s always hope. So if things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be, He has more work to do.  He has more planned for you.  There’s more in store for you.  It’s not amen until God’s future plans to restore everything, including you, are accomplished.  He will do it.  He is faithful.

I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. Philippians 1:6

“I am sure.”  Amen I say to you. God will continue His work until it’s finished. What He’s said He will do, He will do.  What He’s said will happen, will happen. It’s sealed. End of story.  Drop the mic.

What response can we give but amen?  Yes! This is the way it should be. Oh please, let it be like this.  Amen!

All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in [Christ].  That is why we say “Amen” when we give glory to God through Christ.  2 Corinthians 1:20

Several years ago we had the privilege of hosting four 8 year-old girls and their chaperone from the African Children’s Choir.  These girls came from absolute poverty, starvation.  One of the nights, we shared dinner while their chaperone attended a leaders meeting.  When I say that they devoured the food, it’s not an overstatement.  They ate an entire loaf of bread in less than five minutes.  I began to wonder if I would run out of food before they ran out of appetite.

I learned an important lesson that night – hungry kids eat. Those kids were so used to starvation, to never knowing when or where their next meal would come from, that they’d learned to eat as much food as possible when it was available. It’s made it easy for me to say no to an alternate dinner when my kids turn their noses up at something they’re served.  If they decide to walk away from the table “hungry” rather than finish their dinner, I know they weren’t really hungry.

This story came to mind last week as Lent began, the season on the church calendar marking the forty days before Easter. I grew up in a tradition that encouraged a Lenten fast – giving up something as a reminder that Christ gave up everything for us.  While I don’t regularly observe that tradition now, I couldn’t help but wonder, what if we were to think of Lent as a season of cultivating hunger, of developing a deeper longing for the feast that’s coming at Easter?

Most of us reading this don’t have any real idea what it is to be hungry.  Oh we know what it is to have hunger, to desire food, nourishment, replenishment.  But what about to be actually starving?  To need food so desperately that our very lives depend on it?

And yet this is exactly the condition that is best for our hearts.  To know true hunger, and to find that its every fulfillment is met in Jesus.  Jesus said it’s a blessing when we’re hungry and thirsty for right standing with God because we will be completely satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.  Psalm 107:9

Not too long ago I chose to fast because I wanted to be reminded to pray often over a difficult situation.  It was never far from my thoughts anyway, but when I felt hungry or weak, I used it as a cue to pause, to pray, to be reminded.

It wasn’t a quiet day – I still did life, maybe a little clumsily because my brain didn’t work quite as well by late afternoon. I don’t think God was more attentive to me because I went without food.  But I was reminded of how quickly we get hungry again.  How quickly we stumble if we don’t go to Him for nourishment every day. I want my thoughts to be as full of longing for God as they were of longing for food.

On Resurrection Day, God spread a glorious, nothing-held-back, no-expense-spared feast. He gave us the Bread of Life – Jesus.  Are you hungry for it?  Are you longing for it?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Psalm 34:8