The Making of Lifeline

A few weeks ago, I realized that I had purchased too many perishable foods all at once.  In an effort to use all that I had bought, I decided to make a soup.

I pulled out my cast iron pot and browned some ground beef.  Then I added chopped sweet onions, garlic, celery, carrots, red potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and spaghetti squash.  Next, I added various spices and herbs as well as a bit of cream.

I brought the ingredients to a boil and then reduced the heat and let it simmer.  A few hours later, we enjoyed a delicious dinner.  Beyond my own table, this soup fed and blessed a friend who was recovering from surgery.

Studying the Bible and memorizing it’s verses is a bit like making soup.  Like the perishables in the refrigerator, certain verses stand out at the perfect time as fresh, ripe and ready to be used and enjoyed.  As you peel back the layers and combine similar verses, it’s as if the Word begins to boil when your heart churns and swirls in anticipation.  Simmering in your mind, the Word releases an aroma of truth which ignites a hunger in your soul.  At last, you taste it and see that indeed the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).  And when you share it with others, it blesses and nourishes them as well.

Lifeline was such a “soup” that the Lord and I created while memorizing Psalm 91.  This psalm was prayed over my daughter and me by my best friend during a major crisis and, like manna in the desert, it sustained and strengthened me at a time when I was spiritually malnourished.

As I began to commit it to my memory, God brought many other verses and Bible stories to me that added sustenance and flavor to the mix.

Twenty five chapters, over two hundred pages, a few years and many hours later, it was finally finished and I had a distinct feeling that God wanted me to share it.  And I believed He had someone very specific in mind for whom it would bless.  

So just before the 2020 Pandemic, I hired Lulu to help me self-publish Lifeline (completely unaware that they were simultaneously planning to restructure and implement a new system platform).  Major technological issues combined with a pandemic placed my book and many others into a big, black hole.  But rather than be frustrated, I knew God was at work and I was determined to wait patiently on His timing.

While I waited, I couldn’t help but notice references to Psalm 91 scattered across social media like never before as people were searching for hope and desperate for promises of protection.  It certainly appeared that a book on Psalm 91 was timely and  I was humbled and honored to be used by God to help people find comfort in the middle of such chaos.  Again, I kept thinking that God had someone specific in mind who, too, would be nourished by the “soup” we had made together.

As the weeks at home continued, I spent my time diving into His Word like never before.  I read from my Bible, multiple Christian books and several devotions every day.  I wrote, studied, participated, and led various Bible study Zoom calls.  I suppose finishing my book increased my hunger for something more.  All I knew for sure was that I had an insatiable desire to learn from Jesus as well as plenty of time!  There was no where I had to be and not much I had to do or even could do.

I discovered the true gift of Christmas by diving deep into the baby Jesus, Immanuel, and gained a deeper understanding of what it means that God is with us.

I studied Passover and took Communion alone with Jesus most days, acknowledging that the cross was a gift of grace for my peace, saving me from the power of sin, sickness, and sorrow through His broken body and poured out blood.  Tearfully, I realized more of what it means that God is for us.

And finally, I dug deep into Pentecost and learned more about the Holy Spirit and what it means that God is in us.

As my knowledge, insight, and love for God grew, so did my faith.  The hunger pains in my soul were satisfied as my spiritual tank overflowed.

I specifically remember saying in wonder and amazement, “Wow, the next time a squall rolls in, I will know exactly what to do!”

And as so often is the case, God gave me a test on what I had just learned.

I am not sure if it was a day later or a few days later, but the winds picked up, thunder roared and lightening bolts shattered the sky as the clouds released a downpour of drenching, drowning, rain over our lives.  We never even saw it coming.  What I had spent 3 months filling up on felt as if it was depleted in a few moments and I was left empty and weak, leaning on the faith of my friends who held up my hands and surrounded my family in prayer (most of them completely unaware of the details of the storm).

A few days later, the proof copy of Lifeline arrived on my doorstep for me to review and release for global distribution.  Though I was exhausted and brokenhearted, I thought of the one God had been putting on my mind since the book’s inception.  Determined not to hold up the process any longer, I pushed my sorrow aside and sat down to quickly read it.

As I opened up the book, the pages stared back at me as if we were strangers.  I had absolutely no memory of writing the words or selecting the specific scriptures which perfectly threw out a lifeline to me in the middle of my storm.  And for the first time, I knew I had written Lifeline for me.  HE had written Lifeline for me.  He had gone ahead of me and made the rough places smooth, breaking down the prisons that held me captive.

The Bible confirms this about the Lord in Deuteronomy 31:8 which says, “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”  Isaiah 45:2 goes a bit further and says, “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.” 

I could hardly believe my eyes as I read page after page of stories written to free me from the chains of fear and chaos.  From the chains of sorrow and disappointment.  From the chains of anger and sin.  Unable to put it down, I read for hours.  It reminded me of every truth I knew and desperately needed to hear again.

I pray it will do the same for you.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).  Everyone.

And so, this is my testimony: The Lord has given us eternal life, a lifeline, and it is in His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11).   He is there for you just like He is here for me.  He goes ahead and prepares a place for you just like He has done for me.  He wants to be your Lifeline.

I pray you will reach out and grab hold of Him and never let go knowing that “whoever trusts in the Lord will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:13).