from Mama Faidley

THE SMILE OF OUR SAVIOR
By Carol Anne Faidley

“Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”1 A smile is a splendid thing—a golden gift to give and receive. Don’t you agree? Smiles are treasures to savor and cherish, to receive and pass on with gladness. Tokens of kindness. Promises of hope. Signs of approval. Symbols of friendship. Smiles bring messages of joy to the heart. Beacons of light. Glimpses of glory. Love letters written all over the face. No wonder we love smiles so! Just thinking of them and all they mean makes me smile. They are gracious gifts from God—no matter how they are packaged, no matter where they go. Haven’t you found that to be so?

Recently, a HopeChest reader sent a kind letter and signed off with “Smiling for Jesus.” Now there’s a girl who knows the value of a smile! Never underestimate its ministry. Smiles encourage and inspire. Smiles spread the joy of the Lord. They are a gift all can afford. Smiles speak a universal language all people know. Their messages make hearts grow and glow. Smiles come from many sources. All are meaningful, but some mean more than others.

The smile of a parent or loved one is special and inspiring. You know the look. You’d recognize it anywhere. You’ve seen in their eyes a thousand times. They’ve seen it in yours. A baby learning to walk. A toddler learning to talk. “Mommy, see me?” Your sister beginning to write. Your brother flying a kite. “Look at me, Mom! Aren’t I wonderful, Dad?” A student striving to succeed. Hopeful eyes beaming, full of promise, their hearts laid bare—so sincere, so anxious to know that their parents really care. Like Jacob and Esau who pled “Bless me too, my father,”2 we long to please the parent or mentor we love and look up to. They are our first picture of Christ.

Spurred on by something inside that’s hard to understand, we seek the blessing of parents and the touch of their hand. We are drawn to the eternal without even knowing that God set eternity in our hearts. He did it for a reason: to draw us to Himself. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”3 How sweetly Jesus woos our hearts to Himself in childhood and youth. How wonderfully He works—so creatively and so kindly. Our Divine Lover sends love gifts daily. Our beautiful Savior draws us with beauty—the beauty of creation, home life, friendship, and His Word. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.”4

That pure longing to please a parent kindles a holy flame within the heart. Seeking our parents’ favor is the first step in seeking God. How gently the Good Shepherd guides and comforts. He leads us beside still waters and restores our souls in His presence. “God is a God who invites. God is a God who calls. In fact, it seems His favorite word is ‘Come.’ ”5 He calls us to come to Jesus Christ, the Living Water. And with good reason. Jesus knows that He alone can meet our every need and fulfill all our desires. He is the “Living One who sees me.”6 This is how Hagar described Jehovah when He comforted her at the well. And Jesus is still the Living One who sees me, my Risen Lord and Shepherd King. He knows all that I do and think and feel. What a comfort in affliction and sorrow. Jesus knows and understands. He’s been there. He’s the Creator who really cares. “He’s the Next-Door Savior—near enough to touch, strong to trust.”7

The smile of our parents is good—a gift from God. A wise son or daughter strives to please God by honoring and obeying God-given authorities, as unto the Lord. The Fifth Commandment has a wonderful promise: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’ ”8

Honoring your parents is a forgotten principle in this age of pride and independence. True honor is defined as “respecting those in leadership because of the higher authorities they represent.”9 It means showing loyalty and reverence to our parents. We reverence our parents to show reverence to God. The Fifth Commandment is one of God’s most overlooked secrets to true joy and blessing. It works. It really works. Try it and see! You will be amazed! The Fifth Commandment often brings that blessing we search for so diligently—the smile of Mother and Dad. The smile of our parents is very sweet indeed—a reflection of Christ’s love, a glimpse of God’s heart, a foretaste of heaven. This is even more true if they love the Lord and live to please Him.

Sometimes, however, honoring parents doesn’t bring that smile, that cherished blessing. Sometimes, for various reasons, we do not receive their blessing. In this broken world of sin, parents sometimes fail us, just as we fail them. The mirror of Christ they hold up to us is cracked and cloudy at best, even if they know Christ as Savior and Lord.

No parents are perfect. No children are either. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”11 The good news is that the smile of our Savior is open to all who seek Him with their whole heart, regardless of the family situation. Jehovah is a very tender and compassionate God, Father to the fatherless and a Defender of widows. He will never leave us or forsake us, even if our mother and father do. Our parents’ reflection of Jesus, however faint, ought to point us to our Loving Father in heaven—our perfect, loving Parent and lifetime Friend.10 This is all part of God’s wonderful plan for us. “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”12 Through our childhood experiences, Jesus begins to set our hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.13 He starts to show us the goal of our entire life—the smile of our Savior.

Jesus uses the smile of our parents, and sometimes even the lack of it, to build our character, purify our heart, and draw us into friendship with Him. Christ draws us to Himself and makes us like Himself through suffering and sorrow. “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.”14 The sooner we learn these truths, the sooner we can begin the journey of a lifetime—a journey to the heart of God. “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.”15

How we view life determines how we live it. From God’s perspective, life is a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment.16 The Bible describes life in many ways. It is a pilgrimage to intimacy with Christ and a battle for our hearts. What an awesome adventure! It’s a journey God intends for all His children to take and a war He helps us fight. The Christian life is a struggle between the forces of good and evil, with our minds as the main battlefield. It’s a sacred romance and a journey of desire. Life is a quest to the high places of intimate communion with Christ. To know and love Jesus is our divine destiny and greatest joy—the very thing Christ created us to do.

Following Christ is a decision we must make. The sacrifices of doing so are great. But the rewards prove far greater, in this life and the next. Just as God told Abraham, so He tells all His faithful servants, “I am your shield and exceeding great reward.”17 Christ Himself is the reward of Christianity, the Pearl of great price, our dearest Treasure. To walk and talk with God. To abide in His presence. To be best friends with Jesus. To know the fullness of His amazing love. To have the peace of God and joy of the Lord. To bask in the sunshine and smile of our Savior. Jesus promises these true riches to His followers. The Lord blesses the humble, seeking heart with ten indescribable gifts:

+ HIS PARDON
+ HIS PRESENCE
+ HIS POWER
+ HIS PASSION
+ HIS PATIENCE
+ HIS PERSEVERANCE
+ HIS PEACE
+ HIS PLEASURE
+ HIS PALACE
+ HIS PERFECTION

Except for the last two, we don’t have to wait until heaven to receive these gifts. God’s goodness follows us all the days of our lives.

There is no greater joy than living in God’s presence. Nothing in all the world compares. No plans, no power, no position, no pleasure, no people. Nothing in the entire world can even hold a candle to knowing Christ intimately. This is true eternal life. And, for Christ’s faithful disciples, it begins here and now. As Jesus said to His Heavenly Father, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”18 Intimacy with Christ brings the smile of our Savior. It’s the goal of our life, God’s greatest glory and our greatest joy. Paul explained in Philippians, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.”19 The Christian life is not a set of rules and regulations—it’s a relationship with Jesus.

In the fourth century, Augustine wrote, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”20 The only thing we can truly rest in is our Savior’s never-failing love for us. Blaise Pascal, the great Christian mathematician, said, “Within each one of us there is a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill.” We foolishly try to fill that aching void with other pursuits, other desires, other comforters. Anything we lift up above our Lord, even good things and godly people, becomes an idol for us and never truly satisfies our heart. John Piper explains, “To glorify God is to enjoy Him forever. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.”21 As we delight in the Lord and walk closely with Him, His glory and our joy become one and the same. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever is the chief end of man and the highest quest of our whole life.

As Rick Warren describes, “The smile of God is the goal of your life. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do it. God smiles when we love Him supremely, trust Him completely, obey Him wholeheartedly, and praise Him continually, as God’s friends in the Bible demonstrate.”22

Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Job, and Moses were Old Testament friends of God. Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, and all the prophets were as well. Mary, Paul, and the apostles were New Testament friends. Reading their life stories shows us how they related to God. Contemplating on their conversations with God and praying their prayers back to God draws us into Christ’s presence. Most of all, learning about God’s friends shows us the heart of Jesus our Savior. To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to obey Him. Knowing about God just isn’t enough; we need to know Christ as the King of kings and Dearest Friend. Friendship does not mean being equal with God as we would with an earthly friend. First and foremost, we must worship and revere and love and obey Him, remembering who He is and who we are.

John Eldredge writes, “What is the real point of our existence? Jesus boiled it down to two things: loving God and loving others. Do this, He said, and you will find the purpose of your life. Everything else will fall into place. Somewhere down inside, we know it’s true. Christians have spent their whole lives mastering all sorts of principles, done their duty, carried on the programs of their church…and never know God intimately, heart to heart. The point is not activity. The point is intimacy with God.”23

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”24 The smile of our Savior is open to all who seek friendship with Jesus Christ above all things. You are as close to Christ as you choose to be. What will you choose? “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”25

The smile of Christ our Savior—it all sounds so very good.

But how on earth do we get it? By doing what we should?

No, the Christian life is not just a set of rules and laws.

It’s seeking the heart of God and worshiping Him with awe.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all good things.

Why so? Because it will lead us to love the King of kings.

The Bible is a Living Book, a powerful two-edged sword,

Revealing the heart of Christ so we’ll learn to trust the Lord.

To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to obey.

Seek to know and love the Lord and His smile will come your way.

Carol Anne Faidley is a veteran homeschool mother of five and the mother of HopeChest’s new editors. As a lifelong learner and teacher of truth, she enjoys learning right along with her children and sharing with them what the Lord is teaching her. With a heart set on pleasing Christ above all things, she loves to help fulfill His grand mission described in Isaiah 61 by comforting hurting people, helping women in crisis, loving children, and pointing others to Jesus—the Living Water and Bread of Life. She seeks to use her gifts and abilities to share the love and truth of Christ with a hurting world. The Lord has drawn her into intimate friendship with Him through a life of chronic illness and pain. She ministers to others not from a position of strength, but of weakness and brokenness, so that Christ will get the glory, honor, and praise. To know Christ and make Him known sums up the essence of her life. Her greatest passion: the smile of her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Notes: 1Ps. 4:6b-7. 2Gen. 27:38b. 3Jer. 31:3b. 4Jas. 1:17. 5The Gift for All People by Max Lucado. 6Gen. 16:13-14. 7The Next-Door Savior by Max Lucado. 8Eph 6:1-2. 9Achieving True Success. 10God, A Good Father by Michael Phillips. 11Rom 3:23. 12Ps. 33:11. 13Col. 3:1-2. 14Heb. 5:8. 15William Cowper. 16The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. 17Gen. 15:1. 18Jn. 17:3. 19Phil. 3:7-8. 20Confessions by St. Augustine. 21Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. 22The Purpose Driven Life. 23Waking the Dead by John Eldredge. 24Jer. 29:13. 252 Chr. 16:9a. 26Num. 6:24-26. All references NIV.