Erica is sitting down with Max Lucado today to talk about loneliness, and his new children’s book titled, Just in Case You Ever Feel Alone. It’s a beautiful conversation revolving around hope, grace, and God’s enduring love.
Click PLAY for an inspiring conversation!
- Max’ new book: Just In Case You Ever Feel Alone
Catch hope & encouragement with Erica on weekday mornings from 5:00 AM – 10:00 AM, and Sundays from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Erica:
Hi, Max. It’s so wonderful to talk with you. How are you?
Max Lucado:
I’m great. I’m sorry I had to run down the hall, but I’m back.
Erica:
It is such an honor to have you as always. And guess what? The sun is shining in Seattle today in your honor.
Max Lucado:
Well, I would like to take credit for that, but I’m in sales, not management, so I can’t.
Erica:
That’s wonderful. Before we get into your beautiful book, which I so enjoyed reading last night, and I can’t wait to send to my niece and nephew, I want to ask you about a little article that was published in the Seattle Times last week. It actually said that our city here, Seattle, is the least religious city in America. And I wondered what your thoughts are on that and how we as believers can actually be encouraged. Those of us who God planted here.
Max Lucado:
I have read that before and that must make you feel like you’re on a special assignment, right?
Erica:
Yes, yes.
Max Lucado:
I’ll say the people. Every time I have been to Seattle, I’ve been blown away by the kindness of the people. They’re just so friendly, and of course no place in the country is more beautiful, but I pray that the Lord will bless you and all the churches that are there because you’re strategically situated to make a huge difference. Yeah. Well, may the Lord bless you and strengthen you and bless all the pastors and all those who are in positions of leadership, and I’m glad you’re there. I’m glad you’re there.
Erica:
Thank you. I’m glad you’re here on the show today and we’re talking about your beautiful new children’s book just in case you ever feel alone. Max, we all get the lonelies whether we’re a little, we’re all grown up. What do you do to chase them away?
Max Lucado:
Yeah, well, you’re right. We all do. They follow us in every stage of life. Loneliness is that feeling that says, nobody cares about me or nobody can help me. I’m here facing this problem or situation all by myself. Loneliness is not the absence of people, it’s just the absence of people who we perceive will help us. I think the key, especially for children is helping them learn to have words to express what that means to be lonely, and also picking up on the signals that children send when they are lonely. Everybody expresses loneliness in a different way. Some children get sullen and withdrawn. Others throw temper tantrums or have outbursts. So, in what way does your child express this loneliness? Keep an eye out and watch their patterns of behavior and see if you can give them words like through a book like the one I Wrote or others, and then also help them to process this loneliness in a way that interrupts the destructive behavior it can cause.
Erica:
Absolutely. One of my favorite lines in your book is that God has all of the time to help you, to help me. He loves us more than ever and that you and I, we can tell God about anything, anywhere on a swing, when we’re flying our kite, when we’re on the ferry. Max, isn’t it beautiful to thank that we serve and love of God so powerful. He created oceans and mountains, yet he’s willing to talk with us anytime.
Max Lucado:
That’s the gospel, isn’t it?
Erica:
Yeah.
Max Lucado:
I mean that’s the good news and one of the beauties, one of the privileges that we have as parents is that we get to shape, help our children shape their lives through the grid of this gospel. The worldview is the fancy word we use for it. And what we’re doing is we’re helping our children to have a worldview that includes what you just said, and that is the God who made the universe has time to help me make sense out of my tough times. I think that’s our highest calling as parents is to help our children to have a framework, a worldview, through which they can process all the challenges that come with life.
Erica:
Absolutely. And I feel like whether you’re a child having a nightmare or you’re a grownup, you wake up in the middle of the night and that’s when sometimes you can feel most lonely, even if you’re sleeping next to somebody you love. But you remind us in this beautiful book, max that God never sleeps. That’s so mysterious and incredible to me. What do you say about it?
Max Lucado:
Everything about God is mysterious and incredible, right? And that’s why he’s God. That’s why He’s God. And we can appreciate a God who is so greater than we, are so much more all encompassing. When you think about the whole universe that can just fit in the palm of his hand, or how he can scoop out the oceans with a finger. It’s just such a great thing to believe in a great God. When my kids were small, I just told this story to the church a couple of weeks ago, my daughters are all grown now, they’re all in their mid to late thirties. They’re all having babies of their own or kids of their own, but when they were small, when they were single digit age back in the days that all three of them slept in the same bedroom, we had a bedtime routine and they wouldn’t go to bed.
I mean, they really milked that nighttime routine. But they wouldn’t go to bed until they would say, be goofy daddy. And so I’d into the wall and I’d say, be funny daddy. And I’d make all these funny faces and they’re all looking at me. We’ve got three twin beds in one room and they’re all sitting on the edge of their beds. They’ve just had their baths or in their pajamas. It’s just the most wonderful thing. But right before I would turn out the lights, they would all say, “Be strong daddy.” And I used to have biceps that was back in my thirties. I’m in almost 70 now, but I used to have a little bit of bicep and I would pop my little biceps and they would jump out of bed and all run over and they’d place their hand on my muscles. And I say, now we got to go to bed.
The last thing they felt before they went to bed was the strength of their father. I like to think that helped them rest well. And I believe one reason that many people struggle in life today is they don’t know the strength of their Father, their Heavenly Father. And when we worship, when we spend time with him, what we’re doing is we’re feeling his biceps, we’re feeling how strong he is, and we need to know we have a strong father because we all face very big problems. And to know that He is bigger, that He is stronger, that’s part of that healthy worldview we can give our children to help them, because they’re going to face their share problems along in life as well.
Erica:
Oh, Max, that story was so beautiful. You’re such a gift. My second favorite line in your book is I love you more than a Sunday on Sunday, that this idea that God loves us quirks and all warts and all. We’re coming up on Good Friday. I remember being what, 16 or 18 years old and reading your amazing books, six hours one Friday and Holy Saturday, the time of waiting and wondering. And then Easter Sunday, it’s such a reminder, Max, that God doesn’t love us because we’re perfect or ever going to be, but he loves us just as we are and always will.
Max Lucado:
I’m so glad somebody told you that. I’m so glad they did, and that’s why the Lord has you there in Seattle. So you can tell other people that. Here’s the rule of thumb, I think really works. We treat others like we perceive God is treating us. And if we perceive that God is distant and removed, odds are we’ll be distant and removed. If we perceive that God is ticked off at us, then we’re going to carry a chip on our shoulder. But if we perceive that God cares about us, that he’s near that, he never gives up on us, that he’s got a great future plan for us after this life. But then I think that translates into the way we treat other people. It’s easier for me to give grace when I realize how much grace I’ve given. And so, it’s a beautiful thing when we help our children have this healthy theology, this healthy understanding of God, because to the degree they understand how good God is, it makes them become, it helps them become people that are good to other people.
Erica:
Hallelujah. That’s so beautiful. So, how do you prepare your heart for Easter Max? You’re a pastor, I imagine this is your Super Bowl, time of year, right? The really busy time of year for your church. How do you stay close with God and have that personal time with him so he can fill you up for all you got to do?
Max Lucado:
Yeah, Easter’s my favorite time of the year. I love Christmas, but I love Easter even more. And I love the full church on Easter Sunday. I love preparing an Easter sermon. I love everything that goes into it. I love the time of the year. I just love springtime. South Texas we have wild flowers just exploding in color during Easter. And so, I never really have any trouble getting up for Easter. It is a Super Bowl. And there was a pastor I read about, he had long since passed away. I never met him WE Sangster. And toward the end of his life, he lost his ability to speak. I do not know why, but he lost his voice. And a friend wrote him a letter and said, I know you’ll be sad because you cannot sing on Easter. And the pastor wrote back and said, I will be sad. But the only thing worse than being unable to sing on Easter is not having anything to sing about. And so, we’ve got a lot to sing about whether we can carry a tune or not. We serve a risen Savior. We serve a Lord who’s returning. We serve a Lord who’s on the throne room. And this world seems to get crazier and crazier by the day, reminding us that every day brings us closer to his return.
Erica:
Hallelujah.
Max Lucado:
And so there’s a lot to be grateful for as we head into Easter season.
Erica:
Max, what do you say to someone who they might be thinking, maybe I’ll go to church this Easter Sunday. Maybe I’ll try something different. I’ve tried everything else, but what if the roof falls in on me when I walk in? What would you say to that person listening this morning?
Max Lucado:
Well, I think Easter’s the perfect place for an honest exploration of the Christian claim to begin. That’s how it worked for me. I was 20 years old. I was a pretty well on the road to alcoholism. Made some friends who were Christians, and one of the questions I couldn’t answer to the satisfaction of a secular viewpoint was, Well Max, if he didn’t come out of the tomb, whatever happened to his body? If he didn’t come out of the tomb, whatever happened to his body? It’s kind of apologetics 101, but it’s essential. It’s a good question. It’s a wonderful question. We know that the disciples didn’t steal the body. Many of them became martyrs for their faith. We know that the Jews who persecuted him didn’t steal the body because they wanted the message of Christ to end. They didn’t want the idea of an empty tomb circulating around. The Romans wouldn’t taking the body. They wanted proof that they had had a successful crucifixion. So really, the answer, as wild as it may seem initially, is the answer that we build our Christian faith upon. And that is he rose from the dead. Jesus stepped out of the tomb, and the fact that he rose from the dead is a picture and a proof. It’s a picture of our resurrection and proof that he can raise us from the dead as well. We’re not made to live just this life; we’re made for the next life. This life is just where we make a decision about the next life. And Easter. If somebody’s thinking about exploring Christianity, find a church on Easter and go hear the Easter story. And don’t worry, that roof’s not going to cave in on you. It’s going to be okay.
Erica:
Max Lucado, thank you so much. By the way, my mom is doing your book, A Love Worth Giving in her Bible study. She texted me this morning, so she’s enjoyed that.
Max Lucado:
Really?
Erica:
Yep. She loves it.
Max Lucado:
That’s an old book, Erica. That’s an old book. Of course, I’m an old man.
Erica:
Listen, if you’re listening to this interview right now, just read every book that Max Lucado has ever written, but especially pick up Just In Case You Ever Feel Alone. You are such a joy. And honestly, I treasure these times when I get to chat with you. So God bless you, my dear friend.
Max Lucado:
Oh, God bless you. And all the best, all the wonderful people of the Great Northwest.
Erica:
Thank you, Max. We’ll talk soon. Take care.
Max Lucado:
Alright, bye-Bye bye.
Erica:
Oh my gosh.
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