God’s kindness – Erin Ulerich

We Were Made to Hear His Voice

When our older daughter was just over a year old, she began having ear infections. We took her to the doctor for a hearing assessment. I held her on my lap in a room that had rectangular speakers on different sides of the room. She was supposed to turn toward the appropriate speaker when she heard her name being called.

“Margaret” the voice boomed through a speaker on the left side of the room. She did not respond.

“Margaret” the voice boomed again, on the right side of the room. Still, no response.

Panic welled up inside me She’s going to fail this test! I’m a horrible mother! How could I not know she couldn’t hear! Until one clear thought pushed through.

“Wait!” I yelled toward the speakers. “We call her Maggie. She doesn’t know the name Margaret.”

The test went quite smoothly after that.

We were made to hear God’s voice, but sometimes we don’t hear His voice because we don’t recognize the name He is calling us.

Beloved. Loved. Precious One. Friend.

We expect Him to use words like: Mistake. Failure. Oh, it’s you again.

Sometimes we don’t hear His voice because we haven’t really met Him.

The best introduction is His Word because that is the place where who God is and who we are can be clearly seen. His Word is more than a book. It is God’s words of, “This is who I am, this is how much I love you, and this is what I’ve made you for.”

Through His Word we find this beautiful truth.

We are made by God. We are loved by God. We were made to hear His voice so that we can know Him.

So, what does His voice sound like? When we hear His voice, we can be sure it is His when:

There is love and conviction, not condemnation and guilt.

When we keep things in the darkness, fear and shame grow and overrun us with thoughts like, “God would never forgive me.” These thoughts keep us in the darkness, away from God. These thoughts are from the enemy of our soul who wants to distort our perception of God—His character, His love, His actions. The enemy constantly throws up smoke and mirrors and keeps us off balance.

His voice is kind and constant, even when He is dealing with our sin. He will not sweep our sin under the rug or pretend that it does not matter. He will bring it out into the open to deal with it because He sees our misery.

“God doesn’t point out our sin to condemn us. God’s purpose in lovingly revealing our sin is to encourage us to acknowledge it and confess it so He can change us. The Enemy’s voice brings condemnation. You will know condemnation because it will bring guilt and offer no clear means of relief. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit brings conviction that always provides a road map out and away from a specific sin. His aim is always to lovingly steer us in the direction of His grace.” (Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God Speaks by Priscilla Shirer)

When God speaks to us His words will not heap judgment on us. He reveals our sins to lead us to repentance, but this revelation is buffered with the hope of His grace, love, and another chance. He has already undergone the punishment for our sin once and for all on the cross.

His voice points to His character. It points us back to Himself.

“One of God’s greatest desires is to make Himself known to us and lead us into a more intimate relationship with Him… He wants us to know Him.” (Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God Speaks by Priscilla Shirer)

The place to get to know God is in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, His love, His desire for relationship, and His dealing with sin to restore relationship are described on every page.

If we were made to hear His voice, why don’t we? What keeps us from hearing His voice? There are three main reasons for this:

1. Noise. Our lives are noisy. Our phones ding with every email, text, and reminder. TVs are always on with some new drama (real or fiction) unfolding. There is always something to do, somewhere to go, someone to talk to.

2. Locked elbows. Deep down we are afraid to let God get too close, afraid that knowing Him might mean changing things in our lives that need changing. We say, “I want to know you,” but we keep our elbows locked and our hearts closed so that He stays at a safe distance. I’ve been there, and I’m so thankful that God was not content being on the outer edge of my life. He patiently drew me closer through His love and grace.

3. Not recognizing our name. Like Maggie’s hearing test, we miss hearing his voice because we don’t recognize the name He is tenderly calling us.

“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me.” (Psalm 42:8)

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

When was the last time you pictured God singing over you with joyful songs?

You bring Him joy. You bring a smile to the face of God.

His voice is not in the media storm of the day. His voice is not in the rushing news feeds on our screens. His voice, clear, constant, and quiet, is in His Word. The more we read His Word, the more clearly we will hear His voice.

-Excerpt from In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life

Cultivating a Christmas in Everyday Life Mindset

Well, it’s January. Time to move on to the next thing, right?

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I’m going to throw out something really crazy: Just because December is over doesn’t mean Christmas is over.

We have decorations that we only put out at Christmas, food that we only eat at Christmas, and music we listen to only at Christmas. So it’s easy to see why we might feel like the Christmas story is only for Christmas.

We spend December celebrating THAT Jesus came. During our other days we walk in the WHY He came.

Why DID He come?

He came to be with us in our after-December-days, in our after-the-holidays-moments, in our this-is-so-messed-up struggles.

This is important to remember because if He is with us in these days, moments, and struggles, then we are not alone.

God knew that we could not navigate life in this world on our own without being crushed by the brokenness. We need God with us, we need His power living and working in us, we need His grace, His forgiveness, His redemption.

We need Him and He is with us, in every moment, in every situation. This is Christmas in Everyday life.

What does a Christmas in Everyday Life mindset look like?

Does it mean we wear Christmas sweaters year-round? Keep our decorations up? Do something really crazy and make peanut brittle or fruit cake in April?

We could, but that’s not really what it’s about.

A Christmas in Everyday Life mindset is one that believes that “God with us” is true in every moment, every situation.

It means praying prayers that are honest like, I don’t know what to do. I need Your help. I need wisdom.

Your Word says You are with me, but I’ve never felt more alone. Please teach me how to see you in my everyday life.

The manger is empty which tells us Jesus knows what it is like to walk through this broken world. He KNOWS.

The cross is empty because Jesus broke the hold sin and death have on us. He broke the brokenness of this world and began the process of making things right.

Because of this truth, we can walk through our days looking for the ways that God is with us. Looking for His fingerprints.

The definition of a fingerprint is “A unique pattern that presents distinctive evidence of a specific person.”

In mysteries, a fingerprint at a crime scene puts the person at the scene. In the same way, when we learn to look for God’s fingerprints we will see evidence that He is with us all the time.

It is something that we have to learn to do.

God often reaches out to us through the people in our lives.

My daughter has had a rough week. One of her friends called to check on her. And another came by with a hug and a gift. Those friends and the way they love my girl are God’s fingerprints in her life. They let her know she is not alone in her rough days.

He also speaks to us through His Word. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, reading God’s Word helps us get to know God and to see His hand in our life.

2 ways to Cultivate a Christmas in Everyday Mindset

Keep one Christmas decoration out that reminds you that God is with you. I chose a large ornament that has “O Come Let Us Adore Him” in beautiful script. It is hanging where I will see it every day.

Look for His fingerprints in your days and write it down. I created a place to list the ways you see His fingerprints in your everyday life. Writing down helps us remember. It also gives us a record to go back and look at on the days when we are discouraged or weighed down.

So, while the world marches on to the next thing, can we pause for a moment?

Can we ask God to help us see that He is with us?

Because if we begin to see His fingerprints in the moments of our days, we will begin to believe that we are not alone.

And when we believe that we are not alone, we will begin to live life differently – we will walk through our days with peace in our hearts and bold hope in our steps.

It only took me 50 years to learn….

I had a birthday recently . A big one. To help me remember my big day, my youngest put “1/2 a century” in front of every noun – all day long. “Good morning 1/2 a century Mom. Are you enjoying your 1/2 a century breakfast?”

Wasn’t that super sweet of her?

But it got me thinking. Half a century IS a REALLY long time! In 1/2 a century I have discovered a few things that I believe will help make the next 50 a bit smoother. And I wanted to share these with you.

Mama was right. By the time I realized this important truth I had kids of my own who don’t believe this – yet. During these moments I call Mama, apologize, and listen to her laugh. With three teens in my house, there are a LOT of these moments. For a more detailed history on my childhood and the gray hairs I gave Mama, feel free to read “O Mama, I Get it Now!”
Taking care of yourself is worth the effort. Take that daily medication. Drink the water. Go on walks. Swim with your kids.
Life is FULL of doing things you don’t feel like doing. Do them anyway. It starts when we are little with picking up our toys and making our bed. Then doing things like asking for forgiveness, finishing things well, and definitely putting up our shopping carts at Walmart.
Trust your gut – don’t shush your gut. Pay attention when things don’t add up or when a situation doesn’t feel right. Those feelings are there for a reason.
If we run from the brokenness we will miss the beauty. There is not enough bubble wrap to protect us from the truth that we live in a broken world. God uses this brokenness to draw us closer to Himself. He works in the brokenness to reach parts of our heart that would otherwise remain unchanged. And He weaves beauty in the brokenness that brings peace, joy, and makes us whole. It is the biggest mystery to me, and it is something only God could do.
God is never surprised or caught off guard. When we feel like the rug has been yanked out from under us, we can rest in the truth that every single thing that happens to us is filtered through God’s loving hands. We can trust His plan for our life.
God will ask us to walk through difficult times, but He never asks us to walk through it alone. He is with us every step of the way.
Get the Breyer’s ice cream on a normal day. When I was a little girl, if Mama bought Breyer’s something special was coming up. Celebrate little things in big ways from time to time.
We are made for relationships. We are born into a web of relationships and every moment of our lives are anchored in relationships. For my birthday, my mom gave me a photo album filled with pictures of places, events, and the people involved. My first boyfriend, the ONE picture of my running career (one race), the ONE page of my pageant career (one pageant), and so many silly pictures with friends. The most important part of each picture wasn’t the location or what we were doing, it was the people in the pictures.
Nurture the friendships that refresh your soul.
If God puts someone on your mind, pick up the phone, write the letter, and reach out to them. You’ll be glad you did.
Surprise others with grace. There will be times when it is hard to love others. Those are the times when it is needed the most. There will be people who are difficult to love. Those are the people who need it the most. Showing grace when people don’t expect it gets their attention. After all, it is what God did for us. He loves us when we are at our worst, and draws us in with His kindness and grace.

I am thankful for the lessons learned and the years it took to learn them.

Now I’m going to go call Mama and hear her laugh.

When Jesus Turns Things Upside Down

Jesus often said and did the unexpected.

He turned things upside down and left people perplexed.

When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he was confident that he was in good standing with God. The prevailing thought of the day was that riches proved that God was pleased with you. Add that to his rule-keeping, and he was practically guaranteed to inherit eternal life, right?

This man was trusting in what his religious culture said about his wealth.

And then Jesus asked him to give away the very thing that his trust was wrapped up in to the poor- the very people that he was certain God was not pleased with.

In one simple conversation “Jesus exposed in that man the thing that he treasured more than he treasured God.”

Jesus turned things upside down.

Nicodemus wasn’t confident he was in good standing with God, but he knew he was on the right path. He was, after all, a respected Pharisee.

And yet something in Jesus’ teachings led him to go to Jesus in secret.

In one statement, Jesus rocked the world Nicodemus had carefully built during a lifetime of serving the Lord.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The despair in his response leaps off the page. How can a man be born when he is old?

Seeing the kingdom of God was the focus of Nicodemus’ entire life.

“What if Jesus had told Nicodemus,’You need to work harder and trust God more’? Nicodemus could have gone home and tried to do better. But Jesus was emptying Nicodemus of any hope he had of fixing himself.

One sentence emptied Nicodemus of all of his self-centered schemes for rightness with God.”

He spent his life seeking God, but his trust was in the seeking, not in God.

Jesus turned things upside down.

The Samaritan woman at the well knew she wasn’t favored by God. She definitely knew she didn’t have a chance of being right with God.

After all, she had messed up way too much, searching for a relationship that would make her feel loved. Everyone, including her, knew that for a fact.

And yet, when Jesus revealed that her hope in relationships would always leave her thirsty and pointed her toward Himself, she recognized her need for Him.

When Jesus turned things upside down for her, she saw that things were finally right.

Jesus turned things upside down for these three to reveal that what they were trusting in could never fully satisfy. He poked holes in their false hopes so they could see that their need of Him, the source of lasting Hope.

And He does the same for us.

Sometimes we are the young ruler trusting in social status or rule-keeping.

Other times we are Nicodemus, hoping that our service to God, our sacrifice, our theological knowledge will make us complete.

And, more often than not, we are the Samaritan woman, hoping to find love and a sense of worth through relationships.

Jesus loves us too much to let us keep searching for fulfillment in things and people. He turns things upside down so that we can see Him clearly, run to Him readily, and find what we are searching for in Him.

Words in italics are from the workbook Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically by John Snyder. Used with permission.

Not the Way It’s Supposed To Be

When it comes to dealing with grief, God doesn’t leave us to our own strength or resources. He walks through it with us. Jesus felt the same “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be” feeling that we feel when He stood in front of Lazarus’ grave.

“This just feels wrong. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

I’ve said this many times in my life.

I said it in 8th grade when a friend committed suicide.

I said it when I watched Grandma sobbing beside the body of the man she’d loved her whole life, clutching his wedding band in her delicate hands.

I said it in 10th grade when I stood beside Pappaw’s grave, staring at the trees in the distance as the pastor spoke, clinching my fists to keep the tears from falling.

This time I was in my early 30’s sitting with my Daddy outside King Daughter’s Hospital in Yazoo City, MS where Grandma was losing her battle with Leukemia.

The familiar mixture of sorrow and anger welled up as I spit out the words.

Daddy put his arm around me while I sobbed. He waited until I was quiet, and in his deep gentle voice, he said, “Nothing about death is right. Death didn’t exist until sin entered the world. It doesn’t feel right because we weren’t made to experience death.”

Through the years I’ve often thought of Daddy’s statement. And now, as I am walking through another time of grief, the words come back to me. We weren’t made for this.

We weren’t made for this, yet we still experience it. What are we supposed to do since we don’t have the resources or strength within ourselves to walk through these shadows?

In His mercy, God doesn’t leave us to our own resources or strength. He walks through it with us. He put on our flesh, He put on our feelings, in order to be with us. And He felt this exact feeling as He stood in front of the grave of His friend Lazarus.

Jesus got mad, like we do when death strikes our loved ones. But He didn’t get angry at God, like we often do. He directed His anger at the source of the problem. He was angry at death and sin. And when He wept, He didn’t leak out a few tears or get a lump in His throat. He burst into tears.

He felt angry that the people He loved had to undergo such pain. He was indignant that sin dared to wreak such havoc. And He grieved. Rev. Wally Bumpus puts it this way. “Jesus was grieved at what death had done to the crown of God’s creation.”

Jesus was saying “This is not the way it is supposed to be.” He acknowledged the pain-filled reality.

Then He called His friend out of the grave.

Jesus felt the anger, the soul-deep turbulence that we feel when death invades our space. He is qualified to walk through grief with us. As the One who destroyed death by rising from the dead, He has the power to comfort us like no other.

Knowing that my Jesus felt this same “this isn’t right” feeling changes the way I handle my grief. Instead of trying to push it aside and ignore it, I can follow His example and acknowledge this pain-filled reality. My grief can be mingled with hope because the way things are now is not the way things will always be.

Because of Jesus, one day death will be fully dead, we will be fully alive, and things will be the way they are supposed to be for all eternity.

Christmas Hope

I’m typing this in the days between Christmas and the New Year. The days when we are coming off of the crazy December schedule. The days when I’m least likely to know what day of the week it actually is. The days when I can just breathe.

But I didn’t want to leave the Christmas season without writing about Christmas Hope, because this year this truth grabbed my heart in a way that left me breathless.

John 1: 14 describes Jesus’ birth with these words “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

He calls Jesus the Word made flesh.

The more I’ve let this phrase turn over in my mind, the more I’ve fallen in love with Jesus, the more I’ve seen that it really is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance, and the more I’ve been convinced that others need to see God’s kindness flowing through His people before they are going to want to know God.

The Word of God has a very specific job and an all- encompassing reach. ^“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:22)

In his commentary on Hebrews, John Calvin says “This means that it [the Word] tests the whole soul of a man. It inquires into his thoughts and it searches his will and all his desires. It means that there is nothing so hard or firm in a man, nothing so deeply hidden that the efficacy of the Word does not penetrate through to it.”

God has given His Word the task of penetrating to the most secret thoughts of the heart.

In His interactions with people throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus did exactly that. He brought to light the thoughts from the innermost recesses of hearts. He scattered the darkness so that people could see Him.

The Word became flesh and drew sinners to Himself.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17

He came to say There is something missing in your life. I know you sense that. I know the darkness is overwhelming. I have come to shed light and give you life.

In a religious society that thought rule-keeping was the way to holiness, Jesus taught that obeying out of love for Him was the way to know Him.

We can get to know Jesus by reading through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In these books we can see His gentleness with those who were struggling, with those who didn’t even know they needed Him until He spoke to them. We can see His compassion.

The Christmas Hope is that Jesus came to show us what God is like in order to draw us into relationship with Him. He knows us and wants us to know Him. The Christmas Hope is that this broken world is not the way it was meant to be and it’s not the way things will always be.

When Jesus begins to scatters the darkness inside our hearts, His light will shine into our world, and those around us will be drawn to Him. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us to bring hope and light into a dark world.

And today, whether it is Christmas time when you read this or not, I hope you will allow the Word of God to touch your heart in the places where the darkness has convinced you there is no hope. I hope you will ask the Word of God to shine His light, scatter the darkness, and show you what it truly means to know Him and live.

Finding Hope in the Waiting (Part 1)

I’ve done a lot of waiting in my life. In fact, I can divide my life into things I’ve waited for:

When I was a kid, waiting for Christmas and my birthday were the biggest waiting events, of course. As the years went by I waited for a boyfriend, waited for a husband, waited for a baby, waited for a cure, waited for healing, waited for answers, and I am sure there is more waiting to come.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. I should be good at it by now, right?

I stink at waiting.

I used to deal with waiting times by looking for a specific lesson in each period of waiting. I would tell myself “God is teaching me something. If I hurry up and learn it, the waiting will end.”

This formula for waiting was interwoven with another formula I lived by- a deal I made with God- the “If I do my best to live right, You will give me a good life” deal.

This formula for life worked somewhat until the waiting for a baby period of my life. When the wait reached beyond two years, I began looking for the lesson so that I could hurry up and learn it and become a mom. I was convinced that God was teaching me to be content. So here’s how the process unfolded.

I would work myself up into a state of great contentedness, and announce loudly about how content I was. After a while I would grow less content and pout and get angry and forget that I was supposed to be content. Then I would get mad because my formula wasn’t working, and, I would point out to God that He wasn’t keeping His part of the I do my best, You give me a good life deal. (Did I mention that God never actually agreed to this deal that I made up?)

Then after a while, I would go into another state of great contentedness and the cycle would go again. And again. And at the end of these cycles, my poor confused husband would say things like. “But yesterday you said you were content.” And I would throw things and yell really profound things like, “Well today I’m NOT!”

After 9 years and 2 miscarriages, I began to rethink my formula and my deal with God. Maybe something bigger was going on, something more than learning the lesson.

After one of our miscarriages, my husband very wisely pointed out (after making sure I didn’t have anything in my hands to throw), “Erin, your desire to be a mother is from God. He has given that to you, and He will put it to use in some way. It may not be through our own children. It may be through adoption, or teaching Sunday School, or being in a ministry to children, or in a way we can’t even see right now. But He will use it. It won’t be wasted.”

I believe God gave him those words, because they pierced right through my heart.

In all my formulaic-living and deal-making with God, I had forgotten that this was about more than wanting children. I had forgotten that God’s heart was toward me. That He had given this desire for His reasons. And He would bring His reasons about at just the right time.

And in those moments, when I pictured God’s tenderness toward me and His plans for me, trust began to grow. Before that moment, I trusted God with my salvation, but I didn’t really trust His heart for me in day-to-day life. Because of my deal (the one I made up), I was convinced that God was watching, waiting for me to slip up. I saw God as critiquing me instead of gazing lovingly at His child.

But when I caught a glimpse of His heart for me, my view of God changed. Instead of looking at God with my arms crossed defensively and my chin raised defiantly, prepared for His criticism, I could approach Him as a child, grasp His hand and say “I’m having trouble with this, will You help me?”

I’ve found that the times of waiting in my life have been about much more than learning the lesson. I have learned many lessons during the waiting times. But, more importantly, during the waiting I’ve learned to trust God’s heart toward me. And it makes me want to turn toward Him more and more.

I still stink at waiting, and I have been known to still throw an item or two, but I am finding that the more I focus on God’s love toward me, and trust His heart toward me, the more I get to know Him during the waiting times. And knowing Him is the deepest desire of my heart.

May the God of all hope and comfort draw you close during your waiting times too.