standing in the gap
“This is not paradise, but we would really like it to be.” Richard Lints
Throughout Advent I met twice a week with a friend to pray for our families, our church and our fractured country and world. One of the weeks, as we struggled with the sense of frustration that we felt about our efforts to be good citizens and stewards, and as we prayed for the situations that never seemed to be healed, Tanya gave me this wonderful reminder: there will always be a gap between what we hope for and the way things are, between the “is” and the “ought”. We can greet this realization with sadness and discouragement and even anger, and frankly, that is where I usually get caught. But that is because I think that I am the one that has to stand in the gap. And as you can see by this picture of my husband in western New York state, we are inadequate to bridge the gap alone. The problems tower above us and threaten to crush our spirits.
But thankfully it doesn’t all depend on us. Jesus and His peaceable kingdom is our Hope for the future, but Jesus is also our Peace NOW, standing in the gap while we wait to see all made right. With Him in the gap my frustration can be replaced with patience as I wait for the world to become kinder, more caring, more compatible with humanity. With Jesus in the gap, my heart to seek and work for change is reenergized.
That point of view affects my prayers. For instance:
I HOPE for human agencies to find a way to reverse the negative impact we have on the world’s climate. But while strategies toward accomplishing that may differ widely, Lord, stand in the gap and be my PEACE while I wait and work for the earth to be restored.
I HOPE for a time when Jesus will reconcile nations and races and religions in His gloriously loving presence. Lord, stand in the gaping maw of unrest and be my PEACE while I wait and work to see people find the necessary common ground.
I HOPE for Jesus to heal mental illness and the effects it has on children who have violence perpetrated against them. Jesus, stand in the gap and be the PEACE that shields and protects while I wait and work for lawmakers and agencies to find solutions that bring violence to an end.
I HOPE for Jesus to curb the self-destructive habits and addictions that allow people to be enticed to use alcohol and drugs to alleviate their pain. Lord, stand in the gap and be our PEACE as we pray for those people and ourselves to not lose heart, waiting for their healing.
I HOPE for those who see their earthly days numbered by a terminal diagnosis. Right now, LIFE is a terminal disease. But one day all pain and suffering and death will be conquered. While we wait and work for that day, Lord, stand in the gap and be the PEACE to help us when our own last days are imminent.
Lord, I HOPE for so much and I do my best to work for the healing of the world. Be the PEACE to hold onto for those situations that I cannot control or impact.
Lord, thank you. For you are my HOPE for the future and my PEACE for the here and now.
And when my prayers fail here's one more dynamic prayer by Rev. Richard Daniel Henton: “HEAL! SAVE! LIFT! HEAL! Move oppression…Move obsession! Move Possession!”
AMEN!
Liz
“The bluster of the Holy Spirit is whiter than the piling cloud.” Walter Wangerin Jr.
Where is this beautiful rock formation?
In October we took a lovely trip to upstate New York. One of the kitschy stops along the way was a privately-owned tourist "trap" called Rock City. This is not the famous Rock City Gardens atop Lookout Mountain Tennessee, notable for the advertisements at one time painted on around 900 barns along 12,000 miles of highways in 19 states. This Rock City Park is much lesser known, tucked away in a rolling and craggy piece of property on Route 16 near Olean, New York. It is a prehistoric ocean floor consisting of gigantic boulders and deep crevices. I think our friends knew that we would appreciate the beauty and the bygone vibe of a tourist destination from another era.
