God’s Voiceover

God’s Voiceover

Last night while lying in bed with the light on, I looked around my room. In the quiet comfort of home, I studied family photos on the wall. On my dresser stood a half-finished painting I started last summer—a landscape of a place I love. The feather comforter over my body felt light as a cloud. A fan gently droned in the corner. How easy it is to take it all for granted—to go to sleep in clean sheets, peace, and safety.

HandcuffedAcross the world from me in a Sudanese prison cell, a woman’s fate hangs in the balance. Though she has just given birth to a baby girl and has her toddler son with her, she is shackled like a criminal for being a Christian. She faces 100 lashes and death by hanging. But she will not renounce Christ. By the time this posts, I don’t know if she will be alive or dead.

Streetside Beggar PeopleI thought about that all day. It’s easy to pick up the concerns of the world. In my mind, it compounds very quickly. For instance, at this moment, thousands of children are crossing our southern border desperate to stay in America. Iraq is being overtaken with terror beyond belief. Many days it feels like I only have two choices: get overwhelmed or get numb. I’m not the ostrich type.

Yet as I laid in the stillness of my room last night, I wondered…God, where are You in all this? What on earth is happening? What kind of world will my children and grandchildren face?

I do feel we are living in a critical time of history with many unprecedented changes. The Lord is shaking the earth so that everything that remains is unshakable. Hebrews 12:27

But in times like this, what is our hope?

For years now, I can’t even count how frequently I see the number 722. On clocks, receipts, airplane tickets, confirmation numbers, license plates, you name it—722 comes up every other day. A pastor friend once said: when you see a number sequence more often than coincidence, search it out in Scripture. So I looked up every possible verse and read the context around it.

Though the study proved interesting, only one verse stood out:Continue reading

Paradoxical Keys

Paradoxical Keys

In the stillness, I heard the Lord speak.

I’d just returned from a restaurant and entered my hotel room. In some places, housekeeping staff can be snoopy or worse, so I used two tiny padlocks on my suitcases as a deterrent.

I opened the first lock and rummaged around looking for my phone cord. When I went to unfasten the other lock, the key was gone! I’d only laid it down for a second. How could it disappear? A frantic search ensued. Would I have to cut open my bag?

Finally, I entered the dark bathroom, took a deep breath, and prayed. That’s when God whispered. “I am going to give you a key.” It wasn’t audible. The phrase just floated to the surface of my mind. I paused to think. He meant something beyond the luggage key—another double meaning.

My spiritual antenna went up.

I returned to my suitcase and almost immediately found the little lock key. It had slipped out of sight between some folded shirts. I thanked God, but remained alert.

What are you saying to me, God? At the time, I felt very angry and unresolved with someone in my life. Still, nothing happened right away.

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The speaker had one word printed on it…

An hour later, I watched a movie on a laptop, using a small amplifying appliance to increase the sound. All at once, I noticed the brand name of the appliance: Edifier. Made by a Chinese company, Edifier International specializes in audio equipment. But the term is well known in Christianese because it’s used nearly a dozen times in the New Testament. (KJV)

An edifier, by definition, is a person who instructs in order to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. And God spoke this word to me with metaphorical emphasis through “amplifying speakers,” making His message loud and clear. The creative language of God is surprising and even funny at times.

She hurt me...

She hurt me…

However, it wasn’t funny to me then. To edify was the key—but it was the last thing I wanted to do. In essence God was saying, “Don’t rip into this person regarding her failures. Instead, remind her who she really is—the person I made her to be before all the disappointments.”

God was asking me to move in the opposite spirit.Continue reading

Key Things

Key Things

“She could die from suffocation.” My heart dropped.

My mother’s spine was slowly collapsing, disrupting the connection of brain to body. The parish nurse told me numerous scary results. I began to pray in earnest that she would not experience any of those frightening outcomes. “Please Lord, have mercy on her final days!” I pleaded. “Oh God, let her die peacefully in her sleep.”

You know…God listens.

He felt my troubled heart. While He cares deeply about the dying person, He also moves supernaturally to comfort those left behind.

Gold Key Necklace

The key was a looking glass into another world

So one day while praying, I had a brief vision: In my mind’s eye, I stood inside a planetarium with my mother. The space was dark, except for a spotlight, which shone down on her. She seemed radiant and serene. A golden key on a thin chain was draped around her neck. It gleamed in a mystical way.

Then I noticed something extraordinary. The circular loops at the top of the key had a sky-blue center. I lifted the key to take a closer look. The loops were actually tiny windows into different realm. And in that other place the sky stayed blue, though on earth it was dark. Just then, a panel in the domed ceiling opened, and through the slotted section I saw the starry night sky. The vision ended there.

A simple scene—a poignant message.

My mother had the key to heaven—her passage would be secure. The rounded ceiling of the planetarium symbolized her earthly life. The panel opened, signaling it was time for her to go. Perhaps she’d slip away at night. All was well. The dream laid a blanket of peace over me for the remaining months of her life.

But God didn’t stop there.Continue reading