"I'm not sure I have the energy to make this post quite as eloquent as the one about angel-guy and reality, but as I witness the ongoing intersection between therapy and faith, I feel compelled to share.
I've noticed that clients seem reluctant to talk about their faith in session. I've had several who, just in passing, have mentioned something about God or religious beliefs, or some Christian song that they enjoy singing. Because I love Jesus and was trained at Regent University, I'm usually on that like a hawk. "Oh, are your beliefs about God important to you?" "Oh, do you enjoy singing Christian songs? What are your beliefs about that?" It is glorious when this occurs, like a sudden, unexpected beam of light shining down onto my therapy couch.
I'm always amazed when my clients seem surprised that I should ask. Those who have opened this door have turned out to identify as Christians, and to report that their beliefs are of core importance to them. How could such a person claim to desire healing without incorporating such a central component of their humanity? It blows the mind, really. Have we, as a field, professed so much hostility toward religion that our clients, the very ones for whom we exist, feel afraid to mention their love for the Lord?
One feels inspired to cuss. Or would, perhaps, if one weren't such a thoroughly sanctified girl.
I have one client in particular, whose name is startlingly appropriate to this story (we'll call her Faith, not her real name). She has been struggling with overwhelming guilt and shame related to her daughter's experience of abuse in the past. Faith has been stuck in a very deep depression for over a year, and to make matters worse, is somaticizing her distress as physical pain throughout her body. She feels little relief from her pain, even with medication and a sporadic exercise regimen. It is difficult for her to function from day to day because of the staggering weight of her guilt and sorrow.
I was trying to help her identify activities that lift her mood, even a little. She mentioned reading, and I asked what she enjoys reading. Her reading material of choice includes books about God, love, and becoming a better person. Choosing to believe that she was not referring to anything Olsteen-related, I asked about her interest in God. Does she have a relationship with God? Is this important to her? How has she experienced God since she learned of her daughter's abuse? Has she felt a disconnect between what she knows about God, and the way she feels her relationship with him is now?
Well oh my stars. If this woman didn't just light up at the mention of her God. We didn't solve world hunger, or even permanently do away with her depression, but we had such a conversation as has rarely graced a therapy room. It turns out she has felt very distant from God lately, and this is very distressing for her. She believes in Jesus, but it is incredibly difficult for her to let go of the guilt that comes from blaming herself for her daughter's abuse.
Does this not change everything about the way we will move forward in therapy??
In fifteen minutes we moved from a cold, stuck, barren place in which Faith has little hope for ever improving, to a warm, beautiful, living place in which Faith remembers her love for God, her passion for beauty, and her gift for writing poetry. Next time I see Faith, she will bring her old writings and we will speak of the only thing that is really True. Before she left that day, she smiled for at least five minutes and complimented my hair.
And all I did was agree with her that God exists, and He gives us good things, and that sometimes what we know about Him is very different from the way we experience Him. I gave her permission to speak about that which is Real in a way that her guilt and depression never will be. All I did was spot an unlocked door, and nudge it open enough for us to peer through together. And I do believe we'll be walking through it in the near future: the door to forgiveness and hope.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. With depression as significant as Faith is experiencing, progress tends to be slow and recovery is not always complete - i.e. some symptoms and/or some tendency to relapse will always remain. I blame the genetic component of mood disorders. But if we can reduce the heavy burden of guilt, I would imagine that we will see some level of improvement.
You know, it's interesting. That morning, as I laid in bed struggling to wake up and leave my warm (canoe-shaped...but that's a different post...) cocoon, I said a prayer for the clients I would see that day. Wednesdays are my full days, and I am there roughly 11.5 hours, so it takes a fairly strong kick in the pants to get me going. I find that it helps to minimize my stress and fear of exhaustion if I pray over that day's workload (go figure). And I prayed for Faith, who previously had been a bit of a frustration to me because of her stuck-ness. And lo and behold, the Lord saw fit to enter into the healing process that very morning.
I love my job."
The original post can be found here: https://everydaywanderer.blogspot.com/2009/10/god-and-psychotherapy-part-second.html
The Fictions of Our Healing
"Picture a room, large enough for two long tables pushed together on one side (for lunch, therapeutic recreation, and psychoeducation group) and a circle of a dozen or so chairs on the other. A noisy air conditioner in each of two windows stands silent, abandoned in favor of audible therapy. The air hangs heavy with the remnants of this morning's muddy coffee and the closeness of fellow sojourners about to bare their souls. There is one empty chair in the circle, and a girl jokes that her hallucinations have a place to sit today. This is a place where the lines between reality and non-reality tend to shift around a bit, and are sometimes ignored altogether.
Reality. For one weathered man, reality is a foreclosure, an abusive wife, and a suicide attempt two weeks ago. For the new girl, it's somehow picking up the pieces and her baby girl and moving on from the suicide of her live-in boyfriend. The quiet lady in the corner is "down" today; yesterday she was "up" and couldn't stop fidgeting, drawing, talking, drinking coffee. The other therapist and I value reality and work so that our patients are in touch with it; our patients, on the other hand, would sooner spit on it than live it. And they tell us so.
This is a tough crowd. A cynical bunch. What does a white-bread little girl know about reality? They want to know. I'm a no-fat double latte to their whiskey on the rocks. Oh they're kind, they let me sit in their circle and ask polite questions about their troubles, offer bland suggestions about deep breathing and challenging negative thoughts. As though I'd be coping just fine with the things they carry in those dark, tattered corners of their souls.
Enter a man with the name of an angel. He's fat, and he has a mustache and the kind of voice you'd pair with Steve Urkel if you didn't know better. He came to us for the first time yesterday from inpatient, after a brief stint in the regular hospital. Angel-guy has chronic health issues and attempted suicide by altering his meds. He's not cool by a long shot, and he hasn't been here long enough to know that the only people who talk about God are the schizophrenics with "religious preoccupations".
We had just begun morning process group, and it was one of those days when, in the words of my co-therapist, you just know you're going to haul out your crowbar and start playing dentist. Like pulling teeth, I chimed in, clarifying his metaphor, so that the more easily frightened in the bunch wouldn't be sent into full-blown panic attack mode. (That's not a joke. You never know whose meds were adjusted by the doc yesterday.)
Bless his heart, angel-guy stepped into the void of going first in group. His voice was shaky because he struggles with social anxiety (in this group, who doesn't?), but angel-guy took a deep breath and talked to us about God. Nobody else noticed anything amiss. The other group members probably (barring auditory hallucinations) heard a guy saying, among stutters and stops, that he knows God is still there, but it's hard to feel connected with him right now because he's so depressed. My co-therapist probably heard delusions teeming with maladaptive thoughts, a sick man so intent on connecting with a mythical deity that he won't be able to discard his unhelpful beliefs and focus on his own health.
Me? I watched the paradox of reality shattering un-reality before my very eyes. In this room, where supposedly the sane lead the insane, the craziest thing of all was happening. Suddenly the fictions of our healing were fatally wounded by the Truth. We were children offering each other jellybeans for our ills while one simple, pathetic man spoke of the Bread of Life, a sovereign God who has spoken peace once and for all if we would only take and eat. He knew that reality, true reality, was somewhere just beyond his grasp, if only it would find him again.
It was a moment that loses something in the translation. But in that moment I wondered what we were doing. In that moment, my soul wept bitterly, and even now mourns, for the lost who believe they are found by cognitive therapies and relaxation techniques. Our healing is dressing mortal wounds in pretty colors if we do not offer the balm of Gilead. Our foolish reality, ignorant of the eternal God, is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.
Oh, there is a place for our pretty colors and positive thoughts. I feel no less called to offer compassion and help to those who suffer in the prison of the mind. If we can liberate our patients from the chains of depression, anxiety, and psychosis, so much the better. But let us not delude ourselves into believing we have saved them from anything particularly important. Indeed, perhaps it is those with chronic and persistent mental illnesses (and other chronic health problems, certainly) who are not "cured" by our treatments and believe themselves to be beyond hope in this world, who are the nearest to understanding their true plight. And it is up to us to offer hope that is beyond this world.
Father, God, show me how you would have me serve as a psychologist for Your kingdom.
Make me an instrument of the peace that passes all understanding.
Where there is hatred, let me model unconditional love.
Where there is injury, may I speak of true pardon.
Where there is doubt, help me to show that there is Truth worthy of our faith.
Where there is despair, may hope be evident in my ministering.
Where there is darkness, go before me as the light that defeats all shadow.
And where there is sadness, may I demonstrate the joy that lies deeper than circumstance.
Lord, I encounter pain on a daily basis. It seems my caseload consists of Job after Job. Grant that I would not seek merely to treat superficial problems of thought and feeling, but that I would also seek open doors to conversations about Your reality, which is our true reality. Even while I am constrained by law and ethics, sharpen my intellect with discernment and poise my tongue to speak the truth whenever possible. Help me to remember that to love is to point to you.
And Father, when I am weak of heart, remind me of this man who was not afraid to speak your name into the darkness."
The above post was published about nine years ago on my before-motherhood blog, "Musings of an Everyday Wanderer." I just came across it afresh and, I don't know. It struck me. It seemed like something to share here. My world has changed so much since then. The day I wrote about was one of many, during my pre-doctoral internship at a largish hospital. I was on rotation in the partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient mental health program. Today, the Lord has put me in a work setting where I see a large number of Christian clients, and am free to speak the name of Christ and of God's Word. But it was not always so. This reminder of what it was like in another place is a gut-churning reminder to pray for more, more light in the darkness.
Let me know what you think?
You can find the original post, and other evidence that I used to be a more compelling author before children, here: http://everydaywanderer.blogspot.com/2009/09/fictions-of-our-healing.html.
Isaiah 35
"The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure." Isaiah 33:5-6
This stood out to me in today's Bible reading because I, myself, ride the waves of my emotions and reactions far too easily. As I pray for patience with my children especially, to be constant and steady for them, this was a blessing to read today. We can also take comfort that God is the stability of ALL our times - politically, emotionally, spiritually. We are not tossed about with uncertainty.
Later in Chapter 34, God says that during the exile of the Israelites, the hawks will come to nest in the ruins, each one with its mate. He specifically reiterates that not one of them will be without its mate, not one of them shall be missing. How much more does he care for his children, than for the birds of prey who roost during their time of discipline? Not one of us will be missing, not one of us will be without what we need in Christ, though the times be fraught with trials.
Moreover, Chapter 35 is coming! Isaiah is given the prophecy of the return of the ransomed, God's restoration of His people. This was fulfilled in history, and will be fulfilled ultimately in Christ's return to create the new heavens and the new earth, to dwell with us forever and be our light!
This stood out to me in today's Bible reading because I, myself, ride the waves of my emotions and reactions far too easily. As I pray for patience with my children especially, to be constant and steady for them, this was a blessing to read today. We can also take comfort that God is the stability of ALL our times - politically, emotionally, spiritually. We are not tossed about with uncertainty.
Later in Chapter 34, God says that during the exile of the Israelites, the hawks will come to nest in the ruins, each one with its mate. He specifically reiterates that not one of them will be without its mate, not one of them shall be missing. How much more does he care for his children, than for the birds of prey who roost during their time of discipline? Not one of us will be missing, not one of us will be without what we need in Christ, though the times be fraught with trials.
Moreover, Chapter 35 is coming! Isaiah is given the prophecy of the return of the ransomed, God's restoration of His people. This was fulfilled in history, and will be fulfilled ultimately in Christ's return to create the new heavens and the new earth, to dwell with us forever and be our light!
THEN
The eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
then shall the lame leap like a deer,
the burning sand shall become a pool,
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
and the thirsty ground springs of water....
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Is. 35:3-7, 10)
When Christ came, He literally opened blind eyes and unstopped deaf ears, healed the lame and proclaimed Himself to be the living water. Signs to authenticate His divinity, to prove He is God.
This is a picture too of the Holy Spirit's invisible work of opening eyes and ears and hearts to the way of salvation in Christ.
And ultimately, it's a glimpse of the perfect healing that God's children will enjoy in glory. What a treasure to know this awaits us, and that our loved ones who have "fallen asleep" are even now enjoying actual healing and perfection in the presence of the Father.
The multiple layers of beauty and hope that God gives us in Scripture!
This is our hope, friends. In the meantime, we call out for strength in our weak hands and feeble knees, to endure until the day of the Lord's return (or His calling us home). Trust Him for stability in all your times. He is the unchanging, eternal, faithful Father. Always, you have the grace you need to persevere. Tell this to your feeble hands and your wavering heart. Behold, your God will come!
The Year of Jubilee!
My word for 2019 is "Jubilee".
I'm excited about the word, partly because it's the first time I've chosen a word for the year and partly because the Biblical concept of jubilee is SO GOOD. (I originally mistyped it as "SO GOD" and you know what? It's that, too! It is SO GOD to command a time of rest and rejoicing for His people.)
This blog post is a testament not to my brilliance at coming up with the word, nor my faithfulness at keeping focused upon it - which is sure to be lacking in 2019. This is a testimony to God's perfect and timely Providence. His shepherding. This post is written with the earnest hope that you'll be caught up in the beauty of jubilee too, even in a small way, and that you'll look not at the author of these words, but upon the Author of jubilee, our Jubilee Himself, and worship.
Why Jubilee?
Because I spent the better part of last year chasing so many things that weren't God. They were all good things, full of blessings. But they weren't God. They were meant to serve God. God showed up all of the time in the things I was working on. But they weren't God. I tried to give every labor of my hands, every fruit, to the Lord. But they weren't Him. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with any of it, except that I felt spread so thin doing all of the good things, and had nothing left for the best thing.
This fall, God began to convict me of my pride in doing all the things. My prayer request at Bible study a few times was that I would learn that God can, in fact, run the world without me! I needed to take. a seat.! Who do I think I am, anyway?
Worshipping anything other than God is exhausting. Romans 1 tells us that exchanging the Creator for the creature and serving the latter leads to judgment (discipline, for the believer). God used my exhaustion, and things related to our children, to show me that I had begun to worship busy-ness, serving, involvement, control. I felt that if I didn't step up and do the things, then the things wouldn't get done. At least, not correctly! As if the body of Christ might be made up of an earlobe (am I an earlobe?) and nothing else. As if He couldn't raise up anybody else to do the things. As if the things were more important than the thing-Maker.
I poured my heart out to my sister over lunch recently. She is the best listener! She spoke words - Scripture - that were the answer I didn't expect. She didn't say, "You're doing too much! You deserve a break!" What she told me, tenderly and firmly, was this: "You have everything you need for life and Godliness." (There was probably more to it, but this. This was the arrow God fired at me.)
Full stop. Tears sprang to my eyes. Truth devastated my heart.
I felt drained, depleted, lacking - but that simply is not the truth about me, in Christ. What is true is that God's divine power has given me everything that I need pertaining to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to the knowledge of His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). What is also true is that I had not been stewarding His gifts well - time, talents, energy, His very grace.
Something needed to change. What? I know! A word for the year! #thereIfixedit
On a Friday, my sister spoke truth. On Saturday, I told her I was looking for an actual, single word of focus for 2019. On Sunday, at her church, a guest pastor taught us about the year of jubilee that God commanded His people in Leviticus 25.
Just like that: Jubilee
Yeah, my word for the year comes from the book of Leviticus. How's that for surprises?
Other words, up for consideration:
Focus
Simplify
Margins
Worship
Rest
Relationship
Jubilee encompasses all of this and more! I would actually love to blog through the eight elements of jubilee and how they all point to Christ. How jubilee is at the heart of God's desire for His people. Ever since I first learned about the year of jubilee, I've loved how it illustrates so much of the character of God.
I've NOT been living in jubilee! (In fairness, the jubilee was to be the fiftieth year; it was not an ongoing state of living for God's people. In this fallen world, we are not always able, or meant to be, in jubilee..but it does point to our eternal hope, our forever jubilee! This *is* what we are ultimately made for!) So in the way of seasons and years, after a long time of working and serving, God convicted my heart to Sabbath. Not only Sabbath, but Jubilee!
Here are the eight elements - and if I can make the time without sacrificing the greatest thing, rejoicing in the abundance of Christ and the blessing of my family - I will indeed blog through them because they are WORTH thinking about! May this tiny glimpse of jubilee lead you to worship our Savior, our King, our ultimate Jubilee!
The Year of Jubilee:
1. Began with Repentance - the year was to start with a trumpet on the Day of Atonement. The day the high priest would make atonement for the sins of the people. Of course, Christ did that for us once and for all on the cross! Being made right with God, through Christ, comes before any true joy! And ongoing repentance is key to true fellowship with our King.
Question: What are the sins I need to repent of as I seek the Lord's jubilee? Busy-ness, idolatry, pride, self-sufficiency...
*Note: This has to come first because of the unyielding holiness of God. But - look at how much blessing pours out after this first step of repentance!
2. Centered in Release - no Jew could be a hired servant during the Year of Jubilee. Christ, when He came, proclaimed freedom to the captives! We are free from the curse and mastery of sin and death!
Question: What am I serving that I need to release - or be released from - in order to love Christ better?
3. Restoration - properties would be restored to their original owners. The poor were given a fresh start because of this. In Christ, we are a new creation, given right standing and an inheritance.
Question: Where do I need restoration, emotionally, spiritually, and in relationships? How can I make this year a time of nourishment and replenishment?
4. Reunion - slaves returned to their families! Jesus brings people to God. We are not set free - released - to be on our own. We are released in order to be reunited to God.
Question: How can I enjoy reunion with God? Where can I cultivate the time and space needed to love my Savior more? How can I do the same in my most important relationships, especially at home? (See also: Release - let go of some things!)
5. Rest - the land was given rest from planting crops, and the people were instructed to rest from working the land. Jesus brings rest from our works, which could never save us anyway.
Question: Which of my "fields" needs to lie fallow this year in order to love Christ and my family better? I have been a "Martha" and need to rediscover the heart of Mary at Jesus' feet.
6. Reliance - because people could not work the land, and the Year of Jubilee was to follow a Sabbath year when they couldn't plant and harvest either, where would their food come from? The Israelites had to trust God for enough wild-growing food to gather for the year. Moreover, because they were not permitted to plant for the whole year, God would provide in the sixth year, enough for THREE years! The coming Sabbath year, the Jubilee year, and then for the following year while the nearly planted seed grew up for a harvest. When the people would sow seed in the eighth year, they would STILL have enough old crop to eat for that year. This amount of provision is staggering. Likewise, Christ provides all that we need and abundantly more, for salvation, for life, for Godliness.
Question: In what areas do I need to lay down my pride and self-reliance, and trust God to provide - for myself, for my family, for ministries and activities?
7. Remittance - all debts were forgiven among God's people. Christ brings forgiveness of all our debts, all our sins against God, freeing us to use our resources for worship, obedience, and service.
Question: Are there debts against me, or debts I owe others, that need to be remitted or forgiven? These could be emotional or tangible.
8. Rejoicing! - with all the release, restoration, reunions, rest, and relying on God's provision, can you imagine the amount of rejoicing there would have been! The jubilee!
Friends, Jesus is our Jubilee! Reminds me of a song that summarizes is well. It's a tune by our favorite "Christian Rock Star" (my daughter's declaration):
"Jubilee" (Michael Card)
The Lord provided for a time
for the slaves to be set free,
For the debts to all be canceled
so His chosen ones could see:
His deep desire was for forgiveness,
He longed to see their liberty;
And His yearning was embodied
in the Year of Jubilee.
Chorus:
Jubilee, Jubilee,
Jesus is our Jubilee.
Debts forgiven,
Slaves set free,
Jesus is our Jubilee!
At the Lord's appointed time
His deep desire became a man,
The heart of all true jubilation
and with joy we understand -
In his voice we hear a trumpet sound
that tells us we are free!
He is the incarnation
Of the year of Jubilee!
(Chorus)
To be so completely guilty,
given over to despair;
To look into your judge's face,
and see a Savior there.
How do we intend to pursue a year of jubilee at our house? Joel and I are both prayerfully considering this. The questions listed above are some of what we are thinking about. We are both journaling the eight elements, writing keywords or thoughts that apply to our lives. Under "rejoicing", I wrote "feast" as one of my keywords, because we have been in a food rut and I'd like to rediscover the joy of creating and enjoying meals together.
I think it will be a year of growing into the concept of jubilee, rather than starting with it perfectly laid out. We have already been humming the tune above to each other, with a wink and a smile, when we notice cranky attitudes or snappy words happening. Feel free to hold us accountable, if you are around us in real life!
That's not to say we expect it to be a year of ease and repose. It may well be a year of suffering, trials, and sorrow. The challenge for the believer is to "Count it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, my brothers! For we know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4). It's completely opposite of what the world expects, to have joy, to dwell in the jubilee of Christ, while life goes to pieces around you. In these times, may we lift our eyes to the Savior, into whose image we are being pressed.
Oh and: I need visuals. Has anyone seen any wall art related to jubilee? I'm sure those Leviticus verses are probably all over Hobby Lobby these days. #popular #shouldbe
I'm excited about the word, partly because it's the first time I've chosen a word for the year and partly because the Biblical concept of jubilee is SO GOOD. (I originally mistyped it as "SO GOD" and you know what? It's that, too! It is SO GOD to command a time of rest and rejoicing for His people.)
This blog post is a testament not to my brilliance at coming up with the word, nor my faithfulness at keeping focused upon it - which is sure to be lacking in 2019. This is a testimony to God's perfect and timely Providence. His shepherding. This post is written with the earnest hope that you'll be caught up in the beauty of jubilee too, even in a small way, and that you'll look not at the author of these words, but upon the Author of jubilee, our Jubilee Himself, and worship.
Why Jubilee?
Because I spent the better part of last year chasing so many things that weren't God. They were all good things, full of blessings. But they weren't God. They were meant to serve God. God showed up all of the time in the things I was working on. But they weren't God. I tried to give every labor of my hands, every fruit, to the Lord. But they weren't Him. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with any of it, except that I felt spread so thin doing all of the good things, and had nothing left for the best thing.
This fall, God began to convict me of my pride in doing all the things. My prayer request at Bible study a few times was that I would learn that God can, in fact, run the world without me! I needed to take. a seat.! Who do I think I am, anyway?
Worshipping anything other than God is exhausting. Romans 1 tells us that exchanging the Creator for the creature and serving the latter leads to judgment (discipline, for the believer). God used my exhaustion, and things related to our children, to show me that I had begun to worship busy-ness, serving, involvement, control. I felt that if I didn't step up and do the things, then the things wouldn't get done. At least, not correctly! As if the body of Christ might be made up of an earlobe (am I an earlobe?) and nothing else. As if He couldn't raise up anybody else to do the things. As if the things were more important than the thing-Maker.
I poured my heart out to my sister over lunch recently. She is the best listener! She spoke words - Scripture - that were the answer I didn't expect. She didn't say, "You're doing too much! You deserve a break!" What she told me, tenderly and firmly, was this: "You have everything you need for life and Godliness." (There was probably more to it, but this. This was the arrow God fired at me.)
Full stop. Tears sprang to my eyes. Truth devastated my heart.
I felt drained, depleted, lacking - but that simply is not the truth about me, in Christ. What is true is that God's divine power has given me everything that I need pertaining to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to the knowledge of His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3). What is also true is that I had not been stewarding His gifts well - time, talents, energy, His very grace.
Something needed to change. What? I know! A word for the year! #thereIfixedit
On a Friday, my sister spoke truth. On Saturday, I told her I was looking for an actual, single word of focus for 2019. On Sunday, at her church, a guest pastor taught us about the year of jubilee that God commanded His people in Leviticus 25.
Just like that: Jubilee
Yeah, my word for the year comes from the book of Leviticus. How's that for surprises?
Other words, up for consideration:
Focus
Simplify
Margins
Worship
Rest
Relationship
Jubilee encompasses all of this and more! I would actually love to blog through the eight elements of jubilee and how they all point to Christ. How jubilee is at the heart of God's desire for His people. Ever since I first learned about the year of jubilee, I've loved how it illustrates so much of the character of God.
I've NOT been living in jubilee! (In fairness, the jubilee was to be the fiftieth year; it was not an ongoing state of living for God's people. In this fallen world, we are not always able, or meant to be, in jubilee..but it does point to our eternal hope, our forever jubilee! This *is* what we are ultimately made for!) So in the way of seasons and years, after a long time of working and serving, God convicted my heart to Sabbath. Not only Sabbath, but Jubilee!
Here are the eight elements - and if I can make the time without sacrificing the greatest thing, rejoicing in the abundance of Christ and the blessing of my family - I will indeed blog through them because they are WORTH thinking about! May this tiny glimpse of jubilee lead you to worship our Savior, our King, our ultimate Jubilee!
The Year of Jubilee:
1. Began with Repentance - the year was to start with a trumpet on the Day of Atonement. The day the high priest would make atonement for the sins of the people. Of course, Christ did that for us once and for all on the cross! Being made right with God, through Christ, comes before any true joy! And ongoing repentance is key to true fellowship with our King.
Question: What are the sins I need to repent of as I seek the Lord's jubilee? Busy-ness, idolatry, pride, self-sufficiency...
*Note: This has to come first because of the unyielding holiness of God. But - look at how much blessing pours out after this first step of repentance!
2. Centered in Release - no Jew could be a hired servant during the Year of Jubilee. Christ, when He came, proclaimed freedom to the captives! We are free from the curse and mastery of sin and death!
Question: What am I serving that I need to release - or be released from - in order to love Christ better?
3. Restoration - properties would be restored to their original owners. The poor were given a fresh start because of this. In Christ, we are a new creation, given right standing and an inheritance.
Question: Where do I need restoration, emotionally, spiritually, and in relationships? How can I make this year a time of nourishment and replenishment?
4. Reunion - slaves returned to their families! Jesus brings people to God. We are not set free - released - to be on our own. We are released in order to be reunited to God.
Question: How can I enjoy reunion with God? Where can I cultivate the time and space needed to love my Savior more? How can I do the same in my most important relationships, especially at home? (See also: Release - let go of some things!)
5. Rest - the land was given rest from planting crops, and the people were instructed to rest from working the land. Jesus brings rest from our works, which could never save us anyway.
Question: Which of my "fields" needs to lie fallow this year in order to love Christ and my family better? I have been a "Martha" and need to rediscover the heart of Mary at Jesus' feet.
6. Reliance - because people could not work the land, and the Year of Jubilee was to follow a Sabbath year when they couldn't plant and harvest either, where would their food come from? The Israelites had to trust God for enough wild-growing food to gather for the year. Moreover, because they were not permitted to plant for the whole year, God would provide in the sixth year, enough for THREE years! The coming Sabbath year, the Jubilee year, and then for the following year while the nearly planted seed grew up for a harvest. When the people would sow seed in the eighth year, they would STILL have enough old crop to eat for that year. This amount of provision is staggering. Likewise, Christ provides all that we need and abundantly more, for salvation, for life, for Godliness.
Question: In what areas do I need to lay down my pride and self-reliance, and trust God to provide - for myself, for my family, for ministries and activities?
7. Remittance - all debts were forgiven among God's people. Christ brings forgiveness of all our debts, all our sins against God, freeing us to use our resources for worship, obedience, and service.
Question: Are there debts against me, or debts I owe others, that need to be remitted or forgiven? These could be emotional or tangible.
8. Rejoicing! - with all the release, restoration, reunions, rest, and relying on God's provision, can you imagine the amount of rejoicing there would have been! The jubilee!
Friends, Jesus is our Jubilee! Reminds me of a song that summarizes is well. It's a tune by our favorite "Christian Rock Star" (my daughter's declaration):
"Jubilee" (Michael Card)
The Lord provided for a time
for the slaves to be set free,
For the debts to all be canceled
so His chosen ones could see:
His deep desire was for forgiveness,
He longed to see their liberty;
And His yearning was embodied
in the Year of Jubilee.
Chorus:
Jubilee, Jubilee,
Jesus is our Jubilee.
Debts forgiven,
Slaves set free,
Jesus is our Jubilee!
At the Lord's appointed time
His deep desire became a man,
The heart of all true jubilation
and with joy we understand -
In his voice we hear a trumpet sound
that tells us we are free!
He is the incarnation
Of the year of Jubilee!
(Chorus)
To be so completely guilty,
given over to despair;
To look into your judge's face,
and see a Savior there.
How do we intend to pursue a year of jubilee at our house? Joel and I are both prayerfully considering this. The questions listed above are some of what we are thinking about. We are both journaling the eight elements, writing keywords or thoughts that apply to our lives. Under "rejoicing", I wrote "feast" as one of my keywords, because we have been in a food rut and I'd like to rediscover the joy of creating and enjoying meals together.
I think it will be a year of growing into the concept of jubilee, rather than starting with it perfectly laid out. We have already been humming the tune above to each other, with a wink and a smile, when we notice cranky attitudes or snappy words happening. Feel free to hold us accountable, if you are around us in real life!
That's not to say we expect it to be a year of ease and repose. It may well be a year of suffering, trials, and sorrow. The challenge for the believer is to "Count it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, my brothers! For we know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4). It's completely opposite of what the world expects, to have joy, to dwell in the jubilee of Christ, while life goes to pieces around you. In these times, may we lift our eyes to the Savior, into whose image we are being pressed.
Oh and: I need visuals. Has anyone seen any wall art related to jubilee? I'm sure those Leviticus verses are probably all over Hobby Lobby these days. #popular #shouldbe
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