What do we do when it’s pouring, and we can’t locate a rainbow, no matter how hard we try?

My thoughts bounced around until they landed on the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego found in the third chapter of Daniel. The three exiles remained faithful to the god of the Israelites by refusing to worship the golden image set up by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar.

Incensed and threatening the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar demanded, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, “O, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But, if not, be it known, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up.”

The outcome didn’t matter to the them. All that mattered was they served the One True God.

I pondered the exiles and their faith in the line of fire; and as I pondered, I recognized Nicole C. Mullen’s voice singing “I Know My Redeemer Lives” over the radio.

I realized that regardless of the outcomes of my burdens, I serve Jesus Christ, the One True God. This was the reminder, the rainbow I was seeking.

So, what do we do when it’s pouring, and we can’t locate a rainbow, no matter how hard we try?

We turn up the music and sing “I know my Redeemer lives!”

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For many of us, the word piety has a negative connotation. Like Jesus, we have witnessed one too many hypocrites of the faith. Today, I want to shift our focus from negative-to-positive examples of piety, starting with Scripture and ending with a present-day story..

An Old Testament Example of Piety

One of my favorite Old Testament characters is Noah, not because he was a great shipbuilder, but because he models piety in a way I understand.

Genesis 6:8-9 says “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

The favor that Noah found in the eyes of the Lord was grace. Noah responded to God’s grace by choosing to walk daily with God in a relationship, like a marriage.

Did you notice the word blameless found in this passage? It caused me to stumble, because I believed that it meant having to be perfect. Then, I learned blameless means “whole” or “complete” in Hebrew. Noah loved God with his whole heart, plain and simple.

A Present-Day Example of Piety

Four weeks ago, I witnessed a demonstration of piety, which brought tears to my eyes.

I was serving on staff for Grand Camp, and it was my turn to offer the morning devotional. For those of you who haven’t heard of Grand Camp, it’s a five-day camp for grandparents and grandchildren, ages six to twelve.

I chose Proverbs 3:5-6 for the morning devotion. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”

I wanted to model a trust-walk before we unpacked the verse, so I invited a grandfather and his twelve-year-old granddaughter to the front of the room. I asked the granddaughter if she agreed to be blind-folded and the grandfather if he agreed to be her guide. They agreed.

After blindfolding the granddaughter, I placed her by the windows at the far side of the room. I intended for her grandfather to find a spot, directly across from her. My heart sank as he went to the opposite corner of the room. She was going to have a tough time navigating blindfolded around the rows of chairs.

I complicated matters when I instructed the remaining grandparents and grandchildren, seventy-five in all, to create a din with animal sounds.

The trust walk began when the grandfather called, “Sweetheart, listen to my voice and follow my directions.”

I watched in amazement as the granddaughter fixed her ears on her grandfather’s voice. At one point, she got stuck trying to navigate her way around a row of chairs and down an aisle. To make things worse, she couldn’t hear her grandfather’s voice above the mooing of cows, neighing of horses and bleating of goats; so, she stopped moving, waiting patiently until she heard his next set of directions.

“Move two steps to the left.”

She took two steps to the left.

“Now, walk straight down the aisle,” he instructed.

She followed her grandfather’s instructions, implicitly.

When she reached the end of the aisle, her grandfather called above the barnyard noises, “You’re on the last stretch. Walk home to me.”

Tears flooded my eyes as I watched what happened next. The granddaughter didn’t walk to her grandfather; she sprinted and collapsed into his arms. Her relief was visible to all of us who were watching.

True Piety

I want to practice true piety. I want to listen to my Father’s voice and follow His directions through prayer, study and worship. And during those times when I can’t discern His voice from the world’s clamor (and those times do occur), I want to wait patiently until I clearly hear Him direct my steps.. Finally, when my life on earth is complete, I want to run joyfully and leap into His arms, glad to be Home.

Yes, that’s the piety I want to practice.

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His words “Mom, are you doing anything important?” was my second clue.

A pit formed in my stomach, as questions swirled in my brain. Why was our son calling me in the middle of the afternoon? Shouldn’t he be on the way home for his best friend’s wedding?

I ignored the lengthy to-do list glaring at me from the kitchen counter in order to give him a cheerful answer. “I’m not doing much. What’s up?”

“My truck is being towed,” he said with a sigh. “The mechanic says it will take days to procure the broken part.”

I pictured our son stranded with his black, Labrador puppy on the side of the road four hours from home, halfway between one township and the next.

immediately, I announced, “I am on my way!”

He repeated his original question. “Mom, are you doing anything important?”

I squinted my eyes at the to-do list, just daring it to grumble.

“You’re my son, and there’s nothing on my to-do list more important than you.”

When I hung up the phone, my heart soared. I love it when God affords me the opportunity to tell my children or grandchildren that they are more important than anything on my calendar, even when the opportunity begins with a broken-down truck!

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She’s never truly alone, however. Shame paid its initial visit after the failure of her first marriage and increased its visits, one marriage after another. Now, five marriages later, shame is her constant companion.

The woman is surprised to find a man, a Hebrew, at the well.

The man asks, “Will you give me a drink?”

Her reply is curt. “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan. How can you ask me for a drink?

This man isn’t like other men she has known. He doesn’t leer at her with lust or look at her with disgust. His words, in fact, offer her mercy and grace. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

She stands at the well with Jesus.

***
Can you identify with the Samaritan woman described in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel? Your trip to the grocery store is a bullet point on your list of household chores. You postpone the trip until your neighbors leave for work, because you can’t handle one more question about your husband’s unemployment, daughter’s divorce or grandson’s arrest.

You grab your grocery list and head out of the door, unaware there’s an appointment scheduled for you on the LORD’s calendar, an appointment for you to meet Him at the well.

The LORD creatively chooses a sundry of places, times, and circumstances to meet you. He transcends everything, from your busy schedule to the hardened areas of your heart. He soothes your wounds and refreshes you with Living Water, and for the first time in what seems like an incredibly long time, you experience indescribable joy.

Many of these blogs are extensions of entries from my Jesus Journal. As these blogs unfold, I humbly pray that you are blessed by profound and poignant encounters with YAHWEH, our covenant and healing God.

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According to Mark, Jesus spoke these words to the disciples during their walk to Jerusalem. The baptism to which he is referring here is a baptism of suffering and death.

Our women’s Sunday school class took a look at the baptism of suffering and death in our own lives.  We narrowed our discussion to one specific verse:

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”  (Matthew 16:24)

What is God calling me to deny?

The season of Lent begins this week for those of us believers who observe a liturgical calendar. During Lent, we talk about denying ourselves chocolate, cigarettes, and diet sodas. The list is endless. Five years ago, when our oldest son was working on the tenth floor at the Medical University, he denied himself the privilege of riding in the hospital elevator.

These are tangible items. But what about denying ourselves those things that are intangible and a bit more personal? Things which may cause a bigger pinch than chocolate or cigarettes or even elevators.

For example, what about denying ourselves the right to have the final word in an argument or denying ourselves the need for an apology before we are willing to forgive? What about denying ourselves the guarantee of success before we step out in faith? What about denying our need for control in the face of fear?

These are questions that I plan to ponder in the coming days of Lent.

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