One final picture of the lifter of your head. Jesus spent a long night in an olive grove the night he was to begin his march to the cross. He was by himself, and his head was bent low in agony. No Dean, you say, not Jesus, not the son of God. Here is the story in Mark’s own words-
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[f] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Jesus was so burdened by what he knew was coming that, in another description of the moment, it was told that drops of blood fell from his brow. It has been shown that people under extremely stressful conditions can secrete blood from their skin. This is what must have happened to Jesus. Talk about needing someone to lift your head! Jesus returned to his team, only to find them fast asleep, in no condition to console or strengthen him. Then he returned to the olive grove, and sealed the moment by confirming His obedience to God’s will for Him at this moment in time. He showed us the power of finding the eternal perspective in the moment, something we need to see in our own desperate moments in time. He is the lifter of your head, believer, look up and receive His strength, His eternal perspective, and His perfect will for you today.
So, It seems that God is in the head lifting business, not the head bashing business. Yes, He is a holy righteous God, and He absolutely hates sin and what it does to his children. He will punish all who cause pain and sorrow in the name of selfishness, lust, power, and other God wanna be actions. But His righteous judgement is balanced by His absolute love commitment to His creation. He is nearest to the broken hearted, and kindest to the used and abused.
I really needed to experience this lifter of my head when I went through my “ Joseph” experience. Those are not the words I came up with. That idea came from a missionary who visited us near the end of the roughest 3 years in our lives. In 36 months I had lost my father, almost lost Nancy, Lost her mother, and lost my business of 20 years in a hostile takeover that caused my sales team to turn against me.I lost my status as a successful business man, I lost my credit as we weren’t able to pay the business debt when the business ended so abruptly. I found a good company with some good plans in the employee benefit market, but it would take years to build something from the ground up, and at 59, with no capitol to endure the slow months, I was losing ground fast. I spent so many days holding the steering wheel with white knuckles, reliving all the loss, blaming myself for lost opportunities, and feeling like a first class failure.I had always succeeded in anything I did, but this 3 year time was one of abject failure after failure. My head was down most of the time, which makes selling somewhat difficult. People can sense when a sales person is desperate, and they run from that person with great speed.
I began to collect verses I could cling to, reading them over and over. They were truths about God, me, How God sees me, and what HE thinks of me. I knew what I thought of me, and I could imagine what my friends and family thought of me. I imagined wagging heads, so sorry for the failure I had become, concerned that I couldn’t take care of my family, waiting for the next shoe to drop in my financial slide into bankruptcy.
But that was my imagination, not reality. God’s word became my reality, and those truths guided me to personal and spiritual discoveries that led to a healed heart and a second chance to start each day in total dependency on the one who sees me and loves me anyway!
It was at this time that God sent a missionary to pray for us, and do some much needed house cleaning spiritually and emotionally speaking. During one of our conversations, she asked me if I believed that God gives messages to people for other people. I said yes, and that I had had the privilege to deliver some of these holy emails myself. It was then that she said “ Dean, God is telling me that He is getting ready to do a Joseph in your life” I immediately understood what she meant. Joseph was the youngest in a large family of shepherds. He was doted on by his father, and his brothers held that against Joseph. When God told Joseph where he was heading in a dream, Joseph made the mistake of boasting about it to his brothers. That was the final straw. They sold him into slavery, where he languished for years. He spent three years in prison and was virtually left to rot to death. It was then that God used the local king to free, promote, and empower Joseph as one of his highest CEOs. The story ends when Joseph helps his family survive the famine, and preserve the Jewish lineage Jesus our savior would come from. Joseph experienced blessing, rejection, abandonment, imprisonment, followed by blessing, freedom, and purpose.
I was into the third year of our losing everything when she told me this. The next week, a trusted friend wanted to meet with me. He said that God had put me on his heart and he wanted to encourage me that, like Joseph, God was going to do something new in my life, something that would become a blessing and bring glory to God. I knew then that God was communicating with me to make it clear that HE was up to something. The power of those trusted people telling me of God’s love for me was the lifter of my head when I was feeling and looking down. It was in the fourth year that opportunities came, and things started to change.
God loves to lift heads, and HE is really good at it. He will use anything He knows we need to lift our heads up. It may be a trusted friend bringing a timely message. It may be a moment in nature that makes you smile at the creator’s creativity. It may come in a song, as many of my head lifter moments have come. I could come through a dear friend who brings food and eternal perspective for dessert. How ever He does it, God is in the head lifting business. Now, let Him life your head to see his eyes of love, mercy, and forgiveness.
What does God want us to see when He lifts our head? The easy answer is that we see God, and that is the first and best answer. I once had a friend ask another friend how he was doing. The man said “ OK, under the circumstances” His friend retorted “ What are you doing under there??” His point was, don’t get stuck seeing only what is right in front of you, the thing or person who is standing in the way, or the cause of your pain and turmoil. Yes, it is right there, but there is so much more to see!
One of my favorite old hymns had a chorus that went like this-
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his mercy and grace.
God lifts our head so we can see where He is taking us. His eternal perspective gives us hope, even when there is no perceivable change in our circumstances. He lifts our head up to see all the people who are in our corner, cheering us on. The enemy wants us to retreat into isolation, condemnation, and self persecution. God lifts our heads up to see the people he has gathered to love, encourage, support, and be with us on the journey.
God lifts our heads up to see the possibilities that he is creating for us. He helps us think clearly, and choose to look for solutions we never considered before. He confirms his goodness to us, and His goodness in us. We begin to relax and walk with more peace and purpose. With head held high, we reenter our world with new passion and focus. If God is for us, then we are more than conquers.
God lifts our heads up so we can see Him, His provision, His cheering section, and ultimately, His perfect will. with this new view, we return to work, or look for work with a different heart and attitude. I can see better where to go, what to do, who to count on, and who to avoid. And when I feel the enemy pressing in with lies that break my heart and bow my head, I just start singing, reading, and remembering the truth about me, God, and my future. You are the lifter of my head!
looking up allows us to obey Phil 2:2-5. We can actually look to other’s needs vs. having our needs met. We become God’s lifter of heads in our own day to day world. Have you had the urge to text or call somebody, just for the pure joy of encouraging them? Next time that happens, stop, obey, and enjoy becoming a lifter of heads. Ask God right now to give you a list of those in your world who desperately need the gentle touch under the chin, and the upward motion of their eyes to see the God who loves them.
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