Spying the Marvelous
I shouldn’t be surprised that my thirdborn is honing my vision and inviting me to spy Jesus in the ordinary moments of our days. God began using Hannah to adjust my eyes even when she was still tucked in the safety of my womb. Hannah was the first of my last three holiday babies. Though Hannah arrived just in time for Thanksgiving, she felt like a Christmas baby, nonetheless. I’d been rather compulsive about having my Christmas to-dos done before she’d arrived, so sadly, I was near holidayed out before we even carved the turkey that year.
Thankfully, the Lord intervened, and in the final weeks of my third pregnancy, He invited me to glimpse the sacred season through His eyes. I’d love to take the rest of the week to share with you what I learned from a bulging belly and two excited preschoolers.
Those of you who have faithfully read my blog for the past year may recognize this story. I hope you don’t mind a repeat. A brief version of this eye-opening tale also appears in Proverbs 31 Woman Magazine this month. If you’ve never met the inspiring women behind the P31 ministry, check out their offerrings at http://www.proverbs31.org/
Meanwhile, I wish you eyes to see the Marvelous in the days to come….
“You should try looking at things through her eyes for a change,” God seemed to whisper as I sat in a long line of traffic and half-listened to my daughter’s gleeful chatter. I stashed the thought in the back of my mind until I had unpacked the groceries, cleaned up the lunch dishes, and settled my two little ones behind closed doors for a midday rest. As I settled onto the couch to elevate my swollen feet, I picked up my Bible and paged through the Psalms. A simple verse meticulously underlined in blue ink tugged at my heart. “The Lord has done this. It is marvelous in our eyes!” (Psalm 118:23).
Lizzy’s breathless voice rang through my head, “You won’t believe it…!”
I gazed down at my bulging belly and suddenly felt humbled and a bit ashamed. How had I allowed the Marvelous to become shadowed by the must-do’s? Of all the Christmas seasons, this should be the one that I cherished most. Like Mary, I had much to ponder in my heart. In just weeks I would welcome a holiday miracle of my own. While my third-born would be far from holy, my babe would enter the world with a high-pitched cry just as my Savior had entered a humble stable centuries ago. If the Miracle of Christmas eluded me this year, when would I ever grasp it?
I did not consider the impact of that simple exercise until months later when I was having tea at the home of a Muslim acquaintance. We had little in common outside of our roles as mothers, but our eldest children attended a small preschool together and that provided an adequate springboard for comfortable conversation. As we compared pregnancy stories, I asked my hostess how she had chosen her daughter’s beautiful name. At that point, Elizabeth, who had been playing Barbies on the floor beside us, jumped into the conversation.
Looking the lovely young woman right in the eyes, my daughter asked, “Do you know what my name means?” Befuddled, my acquaintance shook her head as Lizzy continued, enunciating each syllable as if it were golden. “My name means ‘CON-SUH-CRAY-DUD to GAWD.’” Then, in hushed tones, as if not to embarrass our tea mate, Lizzy asked, “Do you know what consecrated means?”
Shocked by my three-year-old’s verbiage, the young woman responded in broken English, “No, Miz Liz, I done know dat word.”
“Oh!” Lizzy responded, thrilled with the opportunity to expound, “It’s just a big fancy way of saying that when I was borned, my mom and dad gave me to Jesus!” Then, climbing up on the sweet woman’s lap and leaning in close to whisper in her ear, Lizzy compassionately asked, “Don’t you wish you were an Elizabeth, too?” I couldn’t contain my grin as the eyes of my hostess sparkled with uncharacteristic laughter. And as I quietly sipped my tea, I could think of no name more fitting for my first-born girl.
If the simple meaning of my daughter’s name could minister unaware to a young woman in need of a Savior, surely the very name of Jesus can minister to the unspoken needs of our own frantic hearts. His birth announcement, written by the divinely inspired prophet Isaiah seven centuries before the angels proclaimed his arrival, predicts a few of the names Christ would carry: “…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace….” (Isaiah 9:6). Sound satisfying? That is just a small sampling of the smorgasbord of heavenly titles our Savior has been given. Hundreds of other names can be found for Heaven’s King throughout scripture. In The Power of a Praying Woman, author Stormie O’Martian reminds us, “Each of God’s names in the Bible represents a way He wants us to trust Him. Do you trust Him to be your Strength (Psalm 18:1)? Is He your Peace (Ephesians 2:14)? Is He the Lifter of Your Head when you are down (Psalm 3:3)? Is He your Refiner (Malachi 3:2-3)? Your Wisdom? (1 Corinthians 1:24)? Your Counselor? (Psalm 16:7)? Your Resting Place? (Jeremiah 50:6)….”
What do you need most this holiday season? The One whose Christmas birth we celebrate has a name to meet your need. In between the lengthy lists of holiday preparations, why not take some time to savor the list of our Savior’s names. Grab a concordance (the one in the back of your Bible will work) and look up “Names of God.” Or peruse the Psalms and note all the ways that the Psalmist refers to the Lord. King David, a man after God’s own heart knew his Creator by countless titles. In fact, David’s deep faith seemed to grow out of his first-name relationship with God. “Those who know your name will trust in you,” King David tells the Lord in Psalm 9:10. If you’re ready to bolster your faith this Christmas, check out the many names for the One this season celebrates. As you do, you might be surprised to find a name that was chosen with you in mind.
The Overflow: “The Lord has done this. It is marvelous in our eyes!” (Psalm 118:23).
