by Ginger Gann | Aug 10, 2016
Have you ever loved someone so much it made your face hurt? Someone you get heart-happy over just spending time with, talking to, or thinking about -and you can’t help but smile?
There are several someone’s fitting this description. But one particular someone comes to mind, as I write, and that someone is my Maddie.
I have five grand-kiddos, four boys and one girl. This girl-child, our first grand, holds a bond on my heart which I struggle to describe.
Some say, I don’t treat my other grands in “the same” way as I treat Maddie -and even go as far to say, “You like her best.”
A recent phone conversation confirmed our time-tested bond still holds secure. She calls me. I’m thrilled.
We talk, laugh, and carry-on (the way we do) for a good long while. As our conversation comes to an end and we disconnect, I hear my heart say, “that child is the apple of my eye.”
My immediate next thought … did I really just say that child is “the apple of my eye”? I have never put these eight words together to form this particular phrase, in my entire life! What is this? 1960?
What would prompt me to use these words -in this context, order, tone, affect and intonation? Curiosity fueled my quest to find out exactly what these words even mean.
What I discovered made me smile. Maybe it will make you smile too.
This particular phrase originates from the Bible. Matter-of-fact, these very words are mentioned in four different books of the Bible, with the first mention sited in Deuteronomy 32:10.
“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”
Just a surface reading of these verses tell us:
- He found
- He encircled
- He cared
- He kept
I like this. Four verbs easily aligned with a loving parent – especially so, when considering the heavenly Father. These are all good things too. But, this verse metaphorically, also gives the idea of being hand-picked (out of all the possibilities), to be chosen, and loved (to the exclusion of all others) as if the only one.
- He found – him
- He encircled – him
- He cared – for him
- He kept – him
So, in light of this Biblical example (in Deut. 32:10) of a hand-picked exclusive love, some might go as far as to accuse God, right alongside Maddie’s Nana, of blatant and unashamed favoritism.
Come on now, you all know you have seen it too. The obvious examples of partiality exhibited by God, happening all around you:
- as our Heavenly Father rescues his other children.
- as our Heavenly Father protects his other children.
- as our Heavenly Father cares for his other children.
- as our Heavenly Father is faithful to his other children.
We witness God’s obvious preference toward others, as we wander about in our need. We feel abandoned, while watching our father attend only to his others – as our hearts loudly cry out- “you like her best!”
You just don’t love me “the same.”
But you know, things are not always how they appear. What if a more in-depth look into the scripture, through the lens of the original Hebrew, can offer a new perspective?
What if loving differently is actually the most elaborate love God can give. What if God really IS showing favoritism. What if by NOT loving us all “the same,” he loves each of us in a more personal customized way – exclusively (as if we are each the only one).
Being the apple of God’s eye (as a parent), He is so close to you (his child) He can see HIS own image reflecting in your eyes.
According to Theologian John Gill, reflecting in the light of God’s eye is exactly where we want to be. Gill explains “the apple of the eye” (the center) is where images are initially formed – in the retina. The images formed by “the apple of God’s eye” however, are formed by the retina of the heart. Images formed in the center of God’s love shape his perspectives, values, morals, and ideals. Shaping you, and me into the image of his precious child.
Beautiful.
We, each one, are the “apple of his eye”.
God is not a neglectful, abusive, or an absent parent. He is always present, always attentive, always loving – all of His children.
Even still …he does NOT love us all “the same”. He is much too wise to do that.
He instead, blatantly loves us equally!
Like a good, good Father, he gives us what we each need (differently), just exactly when we each need it.
- Disciplines – him
- Graces – him
- Forgives – him
- Rebukes – him
- Rescues – him
- Accepts – him
- Strengthens – him
- Blessings – him
- Loves – him
When I stray, He finds me. When I fear, He encircles me. When in need, He cares for me. When in doubt, I am continually but differently kept by him. I see my reflection in the center of His unfailing love “as the apple of his eye.”
Equal yes, but never, ever, “the same.”
“My son, live according to what I am telling you; guard my instructions as you would a treasure deep within you. Stay true to my directives, and they will serve you well; make my teachings the lens through which you see life” (Prov. 7:1-2).
I knew it … He likes you best!
by Ginger Gann | Jul 27, 2016
Have a face-to-face conversation with any adult, tune your T.V. to any news channel or talk show program, log into any area of social media on your smart phone, and within minutes you are hit with the numbing reality of our times. The current events reported over and over again through video, or a verbal play-by-play, literally leave my head spinning.
The horrific circumstances occurring all around us (almost on a daily basis) is bad enough, but then we must endure the aftermath of opinion and comment from the entire world. Ears, eyes, and hearts are subjected to cruel, unrelenting comments of sheer outrage, complete with ample name calling and racial slurs thrown in for good measure.
Back and forth banter, which you know good and well, would not be happening with this volume of wrath and fury if these people were sitting across the table from one another. But, if you find yourself offended or don’t agree, wait just a moment because the temperature is quick to change. In record time outrage gives way to shoulder-shrugging apathy, with a complimentary meme display certifying “This is me not caring about your life-crushing grief.”
What is causing this pendulum swing of the heart? How do we, the people, go from outrage to apathy in warp speed?
May I suggest two possibilities: Overload and lack of control.
Both come from the same place, in my opinion: A place of helplessness.
Our circle of influence, our “watch,” so to speak, has gone global.
How do I celebrate my 7-year-old son’s winning soccer goal while sitting in the bleachers reading an Amber alert? How do I share the Daddy-Daughter Dance photo, in the same trending space, detailing the fact that every 30 seconds another child is forced into slavery, due to human trafficking? How do I tag Ann Voskamp to my Facebook post about my loving husband being one of a thousand “daily gifts,” when there are recent widows who no longer have a husband, or father to her children, because he was shot down in the streets while protecting “we the people”?
We respond. Outraged!
We feel helpless to make any change using our own resources. We feel helpless to turn back the tone-setting tide of big government. We feel helpless to redirect the constant influence of the media flooding our mind with doom and cynicism. This is just too much. In our effort to live our life, we numb. We become justifiably apathetic.
We respond, “Meh.”
Recently, I watched a replay of Canadian Dave Meslin’s Ted Talk from 2010. Melsin suggests we feel helpless and are not beneficially engaged for the same two reasons I suggested above. Therefore, we don’t see ourselves as leaders or world changers, and even if we did, we are not equipped.
He equated it to being the super hero, and we don’t have the (super) power to affect change. So no matter what is happening around us… this is not our rescue.
I beg to differ.
Here are two things we can do to counter the helplessness we feel as we ride the rising tide together.
- Self-monitor your exposure and input in reference to information about tragic events. Counter your emotion-driven response by taking charge. Spend equal time in the positive. Spend time in prayer, with encouraging people, and with God. Refuel! Then utilize the influence of the Holy Spirit to inspire your output.
“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things” (Phil. 3:18-21. Phil. 4: 4-9).
- Move toward what matters, get up and make a difference where you can.
“My dearly loved brothers (and sisters), understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:19-27).
Balancing our input allows us to take care of ourselves (like putting your oxygen mask on first in the event of an emergency) then while doing what we can-where we can, we offer a breath of life to others.
You are not powerless!
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).
You ARE chosen and called to proclaim, so demonstrate the light of His mercy, as you respond “well” -during these turbulent times.
Be encouraged – shine on!
by Ginger Gann | Jun 28, 2016
Saturday afternoon is made exclusively for “balancing”, according to five-year-old little me. Back then, on any given Saturday, there I’d be with both arms stretched out on either side teetering up and down like a seesaw, while balancing for miles along fence tops, curbs, and any other flat surface in my path.
One day, after hours of balancing, I took a rest in the seat of a playground swing. Pumping my little tan legs and propelling myself up and back and back and forth -a particularly high back-swing took me high enough to catch a glimpse of the metal bar that forms the top structure of the swing set.
“Hmmm, could I …” I asked myself? Climbing to the top of the swing set and proceeding to the middle of the bar, I sat down. “Hmmm, could I balance my body by only the tops of my feet?” I wondered.
Firmly gripping the warm metal bar with my knees, my belly muscles tighten to slowly lay my body backward, until the daggling shadow of my fingertips almost touch the ground. Rocking back and forth, my hair defying gravity, I gather all my courage to release my knees and grab the bar with all the strength the tops of my size one little feet can muster.
The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with two black eyes and a nose I no longer recognize. Many years have passed since the day I escaped both a broken neck and my mother “wringing it,” yet I’m still obsessed with balancing.
Although I don’t spend much time at the playground these days I’m still swinging back and forth, attempting to balance. These days, I am balancing things like trust and control, joy and worry, thanksgiving and disappointment. After all these years, on any given day, here I’ll be with arms stretched out like a teeter-totter trying to balance the raw reality of my life, with the hope and promise of my future with God.
How do I balance both my responsibility to daily remain steadfast and trusting, with the ever-present inclination to doubt God when He delays, and then run off on a path of my own making?
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).
The obsession, the challenge …balancing the ever-present tension between transparent, authentic, real day-to-day living (and we all know what that feels like) on one hand, while continually standing on, holding onto, and relying on the hope, promise, and prevision from an Almighty– God (El Shaddai) on the other hand.
Let’s agree maintaining balance is hard!
In 2012, Nik Wallenda became the first person to safely cross Niagara Falls by walking a tightrope. This was not an easy feat. According to wikipedia.org, Wallenda wore a microphone for the event which allowed the public to listen in throughout the walk. Wallenda’s chosen path took him 1,800 feet across the widest part of the falls. He slowly inched his way across the slippery wire, praying out loud and praising Jesus Christ as he went.
Wallenda’s walk resembles our walk with Christ. Our walk is also a balancing act where our faith is concerned. When walking a tightrope of faith, to maintain firm footing, the walker must hold confidently onto a similar balancing beam — God’s word. The walker must also remain focused, as loss of focus is a loss of balance.
The loss of balance can send us into a spiritual free-fall quickly destroying our faith, resulting in the death of our joy, hope, trust, patience, peace, love, and forgiveness.
The Bible puts it this way in Proverbs 4:25-27, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths of your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
“Great advice…” my right side says.
My left side says “but this balancing act is hard, this life is scary, and this world is dangerous”.
I teeter- I totter.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes as I continue to walk, my feet get really slippery.
The particular tightrope crossing Wallenda set out on is considered by the critics to be one of the most dangerous stunts of all time. Mr. Wallenda’s promoters concur and demanded Wallenda be fitted with a safety harness throughout the crossing, for the first time in his career.
Our Promoter, our God, knows the challenges we face daily as we walk. He whole heartily agrees life here on Planet Earth can be difficult. Not only do we have the balance beam of God’s word (and His promises) but, like Wallenda, we also have been fitted with a safety harness. The Holy Spirit, the safety-net which firmly guides our feet as we walk step-by step with Him.
2 Corinthians 5:5 says, “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”.
What this means for me and for you is we can rest in the assurance that even if our foot should slip, no matter what knocks us off balance, God’s got this! He won’t let us fall!
Blessings of balance as you walk with Him.
