“…we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord…” Psalm 78:4 (emphasis mine)

This Christmas we were treated with a beautiful gift.  We were given a mailbox connected to Santa.  I had actually seen it at a store and had been tempted to buy it.  I decided to refrain and told no one about it.  At our November event, a volunteer surprised me with it.  She had no idea that I had even seen it; let alone that I had wanted to buy it for our holiday events.

In December, we placed it near our check-in table.  Next to it, we placed some simple lined paper and pens. Sure enough, children were drawn to it.  Not all, but some.  It was fun to see them pondering just what to write.  Some were short and sweet with their words, and others were clearly concerned that they needed to share all that they longed for in hopes that they would receive something.

Now over the years, I have learned that when sharing what I’ve seen God do, sometimes people get tripped up in seeing only the visible.  Sometimes they become stuck on the people in the story and fail to see what is not visible.  They want to attribute God’s movement to the human agents God allows in the scenes that unfold before us.  They go back to the idea of “It must be you.”  Or more implicitly, “It is so great that you do these things!”, “You are so kind!” or the one I like the least: “I am so glad they have you to turn to.”  Ugh, can you see me banging my head on my desk?!?

If you want to see God move in this world, look not to the humans involved.  When you focus on them, you are often missing the most glorious part.  Look, instead, for what you cannot see.

When I got home from our December event, I reached inside and pulled out several letters.  In one was a request for princess Barbies.  Just to be clear, I wasn’t sold on whether we would be answering any of those letters so much as just giving the children an avenue to send them.  The next one asked for a particular doll, any in the series that every little girl wants.  Another one just wanted to tell Santa that she had been good.  I smiled.  I understood why that was so important to her, in part, because I knew of her story.

I folded them back up and said a little prayer asking God to help as I wasn’t sure what to do or that we could navigate funds to those type of expenditures.  Torn but patient, I decided to think on it and wait.

I want to say it was less than a week later.  While out shopping, I had looked at Barbies.  Yikes on the prices!  The other doll was even more out of our league.  And the approval of Santa that the other child craved, well, that wasn’t in my control to give…

And then just a couple of days later, on our front porch–after coming to the conclusion that we couldn’t buy those things–a box appeared.  As I went to pick it up, it was filled with Barbies.  I mean beautiful, gorgeous dolls decked in ball dresses and all sorts of fancy–still in their boxes, brand new!  I chuckled.  I guess how to make those things happen wasn’t so much mine to worry about.

Now stop there for a moment.  I don’t want you to miss what you couldn’t see.

When I read those letters, I folded them back up and no one else saw them.  I didn’t put it out on Facebook.  I didn’t call in any favors from moms who had Barbies and dolls to spare.  I told no one.  Those Barbies didn’t arrive because of me or any effort on my part.  And understand something even more important…me picking them up and getting them to their destination doesn’t make me the One who made this happen.  My contribution was related only in serving a mighty God who can make things happen that I can’t.

Tell of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, not of yourself…

There are things that we can make happen.  There are good things that we do make happen, but telling others about the good deeds we have done is often about building faith in us.  Faith building in God, rather, is about telling the world about the things He has done or is doing.

Literally, a couple of days later, I was with my youngest niece.  She’s at the perfect age for Barbies and dolls.  As I picked her up, out she came with this beautiful doll.  I smiled knowing that she loves her babies and mentioned how cute the doll was.  She chattered away about it, and then informed me that it was for a little girl for Christmas.  I looked back and asked her to repeat herself.  She then went on to inform me that it was the doll I had let her take home to clean up and redo its hair.  The one that had come in early November.

She was returning it after having cleaned the doll up.  She happily informed me that she was ready for her new home.  I shook my head in disbelief as I had not remembered that particular kind of doll had come in.  Truth be told, all I had remembered is that I sent her home with some doll.  God was so good to have already brought the perfect one for that child.  Later that afternoon, the two of us worked together to pick out some on the new Barbies, that doll, and other toys for those children.  God had granted both of their wishes.

I stood there deeply humbled, understanding how fortunate I was to see the hand of God moving to tend to those children’s longings…

The third child.  What about her?  Well, from the very beginning of our Christmas collection, things started to arrive that seemed to speak of her.  Around Halloween, she had shared that she would love to try cotton candy.  Her mom and I laughed, and I told her that cotton candy is something you usually find at carnivals that happen during the summer.  It would be a little hard to find in November.  I kid you not, a week later, we had three containers dropped off.  I was dumbstruck.  I had told no one about her wish.

This child loves rainbows, unicorns and Christmas.  Sure enough, the cotton candy was rainbow flavored.  Unicorns started to come in, and well, the cutest Christmas hat–just her size–landed on our door step.  We wrapped up a couple of gifts, and then I created a little gift bag.  In it, I put the hat, the cotton candy and another cute item.  While I couldn’t send Santa’s approval, I surely  conveyed that we thought she was extra special!

Whether building our own faith or trying to shore up another’s, we need to point them towards the praiseworthy deeds of our God.  Less of focusing on ourselves or our efforts, and more about Him.  He’s right there, lining things up, moving things around, connecting hearts and hands, and most don’t even see it.  Telling others about your good deeds does not necessarily build faith in God; in fact, it often builds pride in ourselves.  Letting others see God move in your life in the ways that are solely His, well, that often takes people’s breathes away.  It those moments where they will struggle to deny His existence no matter what they believe, because they can’t explain those details.  And it is those details that matter most…

It is how the next generation will come to trust God in all the moments where the answer is not visible and there is no human to rescue them.  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1.  Faith is not about the visible.  When “telling” others about God, we have got to be so careful to not tie the praiseworthy deeds back to ourselves.  They belong to Him…

The next time something good happens see if you can’t find the missing link.  The point that takes people out of the equation that you’d expect to be in it, and then let that moment shine.  It’s likely the crack that was meant to let the light in.

“Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind; Your lighting lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.  Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, though Your footprints were not seen.”  Psalm 77:18-19

 “…we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord…” Psalm 78:3

It seems to me that Christmas is a season laden with rich opportunity to see and experience praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.  For some reason, it is a time where hearts, ears and eyes readily search for evidence of the Presence of something larger and more lovely than themselves.

We are just shy of two weeks past Christmas morn’, and throughout this season, I have been continually drawn back to the idea of sharing the praiseworthy deeds that I have witnessed over the last few weeks.  As I have contemplated writing, the task has felt a bit daunting.  There’s no sufficient way to communicate how incredible it is to watch God quietly move through lives leaving blessings here and there, some without even noticing…

As I returned to Psalm 78 to refresh my memory of these verses, I was reminded of the instruction that God repeatedly gives those who are His: share and tell of His goodness.  Talk about Him as you gather.  Tell it to your children and your children’s children.  Over and over again, we find His word imparting upon us the need to speak of His deeds, His faithfulness, His instructions and His ways.

In fact in Psalm 78:3, it speaks of our duty to “tell” the next generation of His praiseworthy deeds.  It is interesting that we are instructed to “tell” rather than list.  Quite frankly, it seems much easier to “list” what we’ve seen or heard God do.  I can rattle off a list much faster than telling you the story behind what’s on the list.  With bullet point accuracy, you can shorten things to a succinct set of words that remind you of what has been done.  The problem is that when we do that others will miss out on the greater story that lies behind that concise expression.  Lists do not allow others to see or know all that we saw when He gave us the privilege of seeing Him move.  Hence, why they need to be told.

To “tell” is “to give an account or narrative of; narrate; relate (a story, tale, etc…).  It is to “announce or proclaim.”  It involves revealing, identifying, distinguishing, ascertaining, and informing.  At its core is “to give evidence.”  Most profound is the idea that the foundation of “tell” is “to relate”.  See Tell.  Telling requires us to engage with others.  To think, discuss and help work through the details of these moments that we’ve seen God so that they, too, can know and understand better His Presence in this world.

Narratives need details.  To say we saw the hand of God move today does little to express how or what we saw.  Proclaiming that God exists is not the same as helping another soul actually connect the dots of the evidence He leaves for us to find and follow.  Telling is how we help the the next generation come to trust Him and our words.  And listing, commanding, and dictating are not the same as telling.  Telling develops stories through detailed thought, time and togetherness. It requires patience, inquisitiveness, and the ability to hold another’s attention long enough for a message to get through.

Yet, it is what God instructs us to do to build up faith in our generation and to pass it along to the next.  Right now, the organization I run just finished up a busy Christmas season.  With those preparations comes all sorts of souls to volunteer, and I found myself again recounting many amazing stories of God’s movement over the years.  I could succinctly get from Point A to Point B in the most direct way but I would convey little about God’s movement in that process, even though He is the way we got from A to B.  Rather, it is when I “tell” the stories–engage the details–that wonder crosses the faces of those I am speaking with.  It is those details, not the summary, that moistens their eyes and softens their hearts to His very-present grace.  It is in the telling that faith blooms, strengthens and refreshes.  Anything else–more or less–does a disservice to the very efforts He goes to reach and move souls…

Ironically to the struggle I have had over the last several years, when I was little, I loved to create story books.  I would fold up several sheets of paper and create my own little book that often included hand-drawn illustrations.  I’d burst into my parents’ room on the weekends to share with them my newest story.  I am not sure at what point I put that practice down, but it is not lost on me that early on in life, I loved to write and tell stories…

This past year has been a slow return to that passion, coupled with bouts of doubt and uncertainty of an adult who has outgrown that child-like confidence and trust that abounded in those storybooks.  What I am confident of–what He has had me do for a long time now–is the telling of God’s praiseworthy deeds, whether through speaking or writing.  It is a crucial part of the journey of building faith.  To be honest, without the telling, there is no record.  And without a record, there’s nothing to build faith on.

So, start out the new year by looking back and pondering the stories that have unfolded before you.  Let us put to words the imagery we have caught sight of and tenderly speak of His praiseworthy deeds to those willing to listen.  Right now, our world, and all of the generations in it, desperately need to see His glory so that they may come to believe that He is true, real and right here.

“Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands.”  Psalm 78:7