Stand and See!

February 27, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 1 Comment

“Now therefore stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.”

1 Samuel 12:16

This verse, written on an orange note card dropped out of a messy pile recently.

It is one of my favorites and it was a perfect day to see it again as I was having a rough patch with one of my teenage sons.

It is a verse of hope.

I have often claimed this scripture while praying for my four boys.

My sons are great people, really. But they are sinful (like their mother), male human beings. My continuing prayer is that they grow into men whose hearts are all in for God. Yet some days in the midst of arguments, sarcasm, dirty socks and CHAOS, I see little evidence of that happening in their futures…

I landed on Planet Boy twenty-plus years ago, called to the task of civilizing a wild and testosterone-filled tribe.

Keeping them fed, clothed and housed is a huge responsibility. BUT influencing their character and guiding them spiritually is my most daunting mission.

God’s word is where I go to get my marching orders and daily doses of hope.

The twelfth chapter of first Samuel inspires me. In verse sixteen, we read that God demonstrated “…a great thing” before the eyes of His people. These words, spoken by Samuel the judge and prophet, came to fruition as he spoke his “Farewell Address” to his countrymen.

These citizens of Palestine desired a king, not a judge. Samuel addressed them with warnings, explaining what life would be like living under a king’s rule. Yet he also desired that they see God’s power released before their eyes.

In this scene, The Almighty brought thunder and rain in June. It came on a day of crystal blue skies in a season in which it never stormed.

Samuel proclaimed the crowd would “stand and see” a great thing. And indeed they did!

Stand and see

I too want to stand and see the Lord do GREAT things, don’t you?

I often claim Samuel’s words of hope over my sons. believing they will do GREAT things with their lives. I pray with hope that I will get to witness these great things with my own eyes. I assert these words even on days when my skies look blue in June.

What GREAT THINGS do you want to trust God with? Is there a dry land in your life needing a storm?

Is there a loved one or trying situation in your life that seems hopeless?

Get out your orange (or white or blue) notecards and write out this verse. Memorize it. Pray these words with hopeful confidence over loved ones and trials. Then STAND in hope, trusting and believing in the God who does GREAT things.

My friend, I pray we will see His power with our very own eyes. Until then, abide and abound in HOPE, no matter what planet you are living on.

“…ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.” John 16:24

PC: Unsplash

A Pattern of Hope

February 11, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 3 Comments

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,

My Savior and my God.

Psalm 45:3

Starry night

The nurse asked me to rate my pain level on a scale of one to five. One to five? Fifteen I screamed in my head! Then I breathed deeply and replied, “three”. A seemingly brave yet dishonest answer.

A simple surgery gone bad. A predicted one-week recovery turned into months of pain.

Yet another season of my life spent in physical pain and emotional defeat. Downcast and disturbed much like our favorite Old Testament shepherd turned king- David.

I love the Psalms. In the high and low turns of my life, I always go there. One-hundred and fifty Psalms written as poetry, prayers or music by fifty-seven authors.

Psalm forty-five, verse three is a repetition verse. These same words were spoken by David three times, refrains written by a hurting soul. When something repeats in scripture, I take notice. In this particular refrain, I see a pattern.

In the first part of the Psalm, David asked questions to himself, “Why my soul are you downcast…Why so disturbed within me?”

Me too David, me too.

To myself I’ve asked, “Why am I so down?” “What is wrong with me today?” To God, “God, why are you allowing me to suffer yet AGAIN?”

You too?

Life on earth is one big question mark.

And my friend, it is OK to ask. That’s what the people in the Bible did and so can we. Unload your heart to Him. We don’t have to be brave yet dishonest with our pain because He is the Mighty Counselor. He knows the pain you are experiencing is a fifteen and not a one.

But we must not stay here though, in this place of asking. It is essential to take the next step or bitterness and discouragement will consume us.

As we peek at part two of this Psalm, we see that David turned to HOPE and PRAISE after his time of questioning. “…Put your hope in God and I will yet praise Him…”

The Greek definition of hope is: confident expectation.

This is no willy-nilly kind of hope. This is a confident hope in knowing that our God is for us. We wait with expectancy, remembering He is there, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.

Next, after choosing to hope, David chose praise. Praise is my greatest comfort in trials. I call it “praise-therapy”. We praise Him not because He needs it but because we need it and He is worthy of our praise.

Matthew Henry said,

The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of mercies.

Amen.

David’s blueprint is one to follow. Let’s go to God with our pain and honest questions, then let Him lead us to HOPE and PRAISE. Keep coming back to it until David’s pattern is your pattern.

Oh and here’s a little free advice… when the person who can greatly reduce your pain asks you to rate it, be honest and tell her it’s a fifteen. Save the bravery for another day.

Exercise Hope

February 2, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer 5 Comments

“But as for me, I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.” Psalm 71:14 NASB

My sister Jeni LOVES to exercise. Rarely a day goes by without a workout, it is intrinsic to who she is.

Not me. Although I enjoy exercise, I have to work at working out. I need to plan it into my day or it won’t happen. Exercise is an exercise in planning and diligence.

As a child, Jeni hated exercise (we both did). I remember tears on hikes, sudden illnesses before the “100 Yard Dash” at school, and creative excuses made to get out of many torturous exercise events.

Because of continuous workouts over the course of decades, my sister is now a pro! She went from a little girl crying on hikes, to become a distance runner and has enjoyed a career in the exercise industry. As a result of habits ingrained over time, Fitness is now a part of her person.

Many of us are this way when it comes to praising God. It’s not inherent to immediately think and speak words of hope and praise when the storms of life come. Instead, we go to our default mechanisms. Some of my defaults come in the form of discouragement or questions like, “me again” or “why God?”

The Psalmist says in chapter seventy-one verse fourteen that he will hope continually and praise the Lord yet more and more. Hmmm… to continually hope and praise the Lord more and more. This doesn’t come naturally to my sometimes melancholy personality.

I enjoy reading about Christian Saints in history and in the Bible. It brings me comfort to know many of them weren’t natural “praisers”. It was something that they trained themselves to do through the power of the Holy Spirit and habit. Eventually, it became their default response, and they became people overflowing with hope and praise.

Like my sister, they did not begin as they finished.

Hope and praise can become deep-seated in us by exercising our faith muscles, as the Saints did.

Let’s begin with diligence and intention. Here’s a few practical steps:

~ Scripture memorization- chose verses that focus on Praise

~ Daily praise and thanksgiving- I use a journal to record mine

~Become intimate with those who walk in hope and praise- they will rub off on you

~ Dedicate yourself to God daily

~ Evaluate in prayer at night

~ Do it again, the next day and the next and the next… until…

It is you who are rubbing off on those around you in Praise and Hope.

So here’s to our first laps, knowing we will not end where we started.

A New Thing

January 22, 2015 By Kristin Saatzer Leave a Comment

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall bring forth…” Isaiah 43:19 NKJV

Snow

I begin this post with a disclaimer: I am grateful to live where I do and know that I am spoiled. Now let’s get started…

It is a sunshiney-75 degree-So. Cal-January day. The warm wind brushes my clothes as I type.

Sure, living here is almost ideal weather-wise. BUT there is something we have always pined for… that white, fluffy stuff called SNOW.

Our dreams came true when that white stuff came to call a few weeks ago on the eve of New Year’s Eve!

My family was giddy; it was pure magic to us. The entire town was downright delirious with joy.

God did a new thing for us.

In Scripture, we find examples of God doing a new thing in the lives of His children.

The last part of the Old Testament book of Isaiah is called “Book of Consolation”.

The prophet Isaiah is not only consoling the Israelites in their Babylonian captivity, He is also providing HOPE.

He foretells the captives’ upcoming deliverance from Babylon. But more importantly, tucked in this section too, is the prophecy of an unprecedented event, the coming of the Savior of the world.

“Behold, I will do a new thing…”

This promise was dramatic and exciting.

Sometimes when God does a new thing, it is swift, surprising and dramatic, a bit like our snow.

But in my life, God usually doesn’t work that way.

The Nation of Israel waited and waited and waited for Christ to come. Hundreds and hundreds of years after Isaiah’s promise, The Messiah arrived.

I have desired for God to do “a new thing” in my life for what seems like hundreds of years. This “new thing” I want God to do is so old now, it smells. The tears I’ve spilled over this issue could fill several buckets.

As a result, discouragement is a consistent companion.

Will it ever change?

The Nation of Israel waited for an interminable amount of time for the Messiah to show up. Yet He came through didn’t He?

He always does.

So, I press on in my season of waiting. Fighting discouragement is an ongoing task, so I stay in God’s word and renew my courage daily.

I grasp the hand of the God of Hope and discouragement shifts to courage. It always does, yet it almost surprises me.

Dear friend, what is your “old” new thing? Have you been waiting for what seems like hundreds of years? Have your tears filled buckets too?

I urge you to PRESS ON during your season of waiting.

Root yourself in Scripture, seek support and lay it down (again and again and again). Grasp the Hand of Hope. May He surprise you by turning your discouragement into courage.

Our God is mighty and surprising; He can even bring a Southern California snow.