Maker's Day

Celebrate and sing with a smile on your face. Praise God for who He is and all that He has done. Joy comes from knowing we are redeemed on the day of God’s judgment and just beginning our journey of discovery as we live for Jesus. 

“Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day…when they looked for him, he was not to be found…he has hidden himself among the supplies.” They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people…the people shouted, “Long live the king!”1 Samuel 10:1-21

Who is the hero of the story? Is it Samuel the faithful prophet who listened to God and anoints Saul King?  Is it Saul who is changed when he encounters the spirit of God? I would offer it’s the person who was never named in the story. The hero was Hannah, the praying mother who trusted God and was faithful. Had she not worked behind the scenes, then there would not have been a Samuel nor this encounter with Saul. 

So often it is the person behind the scenes. It is the person who is faithful and praying for others. It is the mom who does the work without any praise, cares without any accommodation, encourages and follows her call to love with all she has that transforms the world by allowing love to flow through her. God empowers ordinary people and transforms by His Spirit. Hannah is the hero just like so many moms today. 

Do you feel special? You should. God made you. Saul, who became King over all Israel did not see himself as special. He was hiding in the supplies. He felt small even though he was quite tall. God wants to change how you see yourself. He wants to change how you see Him. Just like a parent who delights in a child, God delights in you and wants you discover who you are made to be. 

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

Psalms 96:1-13

What would happen if every day we chose to live out this psalm? How would that change you? How much time do you spend singing, praising, exalting, worshiping, and being joyful in the Lord? Each day, you get to make a choice. You get to choose whether or not you will sing a new song. Jesus did not die just to make a slightly better version of your old self. He did not die just so you could conform to certain standards. He died that you would live and become a new creation. You get to choose whether you will be full of the spirit and set out on your journey. You get to choose whether you will worry away your life or embrace worship as your lifestyle. 

The truth is God is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of being exalted. He is worthy of our worship. All creation sings His praises. Will you? When people see you will they see how thankful you are for all that God has done? Do you glow with gladness? Do you reflect His righteousness? Do you light up with His love?

God wants to put a smile on your face and help you experience the joy of your salvation. The joy of the Lord is our strength.  God is joyful and just. Righteous and really incredible. There is an interesting tension at the end of this psalm. David says we should be joyful about God’s judgment. I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally get excited about judgment. 

David invites us into an insight that is profound and personal.  He says you can have joy in God’s judgment because of God’s faithfulness and righteousness.  He says it has nothing to do with your performance, but everything to do with how your personal Savior has already prepared the way for you to stand firm on the day of judgment. He has sealed you for all eternity by sacrificing himself for you. The truth is this is what parents around the globe do every day as they sacrifice and serve so that their offspring can see how much they are loved. 

David says celebrate your salvation. The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua, the very word that is the name of Jesus. Salvation turns our sorrows into smiles because we are saved. Are you full of the joy of your salvation? Following Jesus is not drudgery or doing the daily grind. The kingdom life is learning to celebrate and sing of the goodness of God as we experience the Spirit at work within us, flowing through us, and transforming us as we join in the songs of all creation. 

“Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come…Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many…banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body” Ecclesiastes 11:4-10

Don’t you love how personal God is? Isn’t it amazing that on Mother’s Day we read about how you were formed in your mother’s womb and how motherhood points to the Maker? It is both Mother's Day and Maker's Day. We were made in the image of God and formed in our mother's womb.

What makes a mom or the Maker proud? A child who finds meaning in the work of their hands and learns to enjoy each moment. None of us were made to simply exist.  God gave us a spirit of strength that we might sow our seeds in the morning and see how He will multiply our might. You were uniquely designed with strengths and gifts. How will you use them? Where do you feel most energized? Your passions were planted in you by the Sower of Seeds.

What work has God given you to do? Are you in a season where you were trying new things or are you settling into old routines? Solomon says it is best to live by faith and to always hold fast to a holy curiosity. We are meant to try new things, sing new songs, and see what how God will multiply our offerings as we explore the world He has made. 

So often we want to only do things we are good at and live in safe places.  We can get caught wanting to stay in our comfort zones and let our lives shift into cruise control. The cruise control life does not honor God. When David sang of living a life full of praising, worshiping, exalting God, He is declaring the same truth as Solomon in this passage. The kingdom life is full of praise for the King and passionate work by the King's servants. 

God wants to turn your worry into wonder. How could wonder help you wander into a new world of discovery? We were made to create, invent, explore, and experience God. When Solomon says ship your grain across the sea, there is no guarantee on the return, but there is a guarantee you will feel alive. You will wonder and wait with expectation. We were meant to live in a way where God gets the glory and grain gets shipped. What dream has God placed deep within your heart that He wants you to get back? What small step of faith could you take today towards your God sized dream? Your very life was once a dream within a dream within your mother’s womb. 

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity…I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.” Zechariah 13:1, 9

The Scriptures point to Jesus. David said we should sing of Jesus, our salvation.  The prophet in this speaks of one who will cleanse us from all sending an impurity.  But do we read the second half of this text and hold onto our call to become the people of God? Think of how Saul was hiding in the supplies.  Have you been hiding? Have you been running from really becoming who God made you to be because you do not want to go through the refining fire? 

The truth is Jesus set us free from sin so that we could be equipped by the spirit to serve, plant seeds, and ship grain across the waters. We were not set free to sit back and sink into a life of monotony. When you chose to follow Jesus, you did not choose a life of safety. You chose the fire. You chose the flame. God wants to get rid of all the things in your life that keep you from pursuing your kingdom, calling and understanding your true identity. Don’t think for a minute this road is going be really smooth. 

Think of the connection to parenting. There is nothing more meaningful than raising a child. There is no joy greater than the joy you get as you experience the love of family. Yet the truth is there is nothing in your life that will require more sacrifice, more service, more effort, and cost you more than being a parent. Following Jesus holds fast to the same truth. It will cost you everything to follow Him including your very life, but the new resurrection life you will find will be so much greater than you anything you could ever ask or imagine.  Have you counted the cost? Are you ready to step into your calling? 

“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Revelation 9:1-21

The sound of the trumpet in revelations can be quite scary. The day of judgment is not a day of joy for those who do not choose to follow Jesus. Even then, God gives us signs of salvation and offers us the right to repentance. He warns that those who do wrong would find the right way to Him. Unfortunately, God knows the hearts of all mankind and He says that many people will make the wrong choice. 

The good news is the promise that all people who have been sealed by God by the blood of the lamb will be saved. You will be saved.  You are sealed and set apart by the Holy Spirit. God’s desire is that all people would turn to him that they might learn to live in his grace, but He lets people choose. Just like parents have to let their kids choose which path they will take, God lets us choose. 

Mother’s Day is a day to smile and celebrate. Maker's Day is a day to rejoice. The heart a mother reflects the heart of God. He is patient, loving, faithful, and sacrificial. Mothers sow seeds that they may not fully see bloom for years. And so it is with God. He is sowing seeds in your life right now that He is hoping and waiting for you to passionately pursue with the best of your ability. He wants to help you grow and give you a courageous heart full of the His joy as you walk out your salvation. 

Today the call is to praise God by being present, being thankful, and pursuing a life worthy of your calling. It is the small steps of obedience each day where you are planting your seeds, setting sail to your grain, giving God all the glory, pouring into other people, and letting the Spirit empower you that will help you sing a new song. So smile and celebrate Moms in your life and the Maker for making this day.