Holidays

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It’s Not Easy

"Here I am - it is written about Me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God." - Hebrews 10:7

“Here I am – it is written about Me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, O God.” – Hebrews 10:7

Can you imagine what it would would have been like to be Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem and preparing to give birth to a child they believed to be God’s own Son? They must have looked at their desolate surroundings and asked: What do we do? What do we need? How can we manage such a birth in such a place?

Have you ever felt that way? God has given you something to do (maybe marriage, parenting, work/school, ministry), but it seems impossible. We, too, may have to look around, see what we have, and commit to seeing it through wherever we are and with whatever we find.

Then, as Mary’s painful labor went on, maybe for hours, they might have wondered about those angelic visitations. Is this baby being born really God? If so, why is it so hard? Why is it taking so long?

We expect that if God is in it, things will go well. But not always. Doing things God’s way can be hard. Mary’s giving birth to Jesus definitely was God’s plan, but it wasn’t easy.

And finally, joy.

The struggle, the anxiety fade away when the baby arrives. I imagine Joseph looking into Jesus’ face and saying, “Oh, Mary, He is so perfect!” And He was. The perfect Son of God, come to earth to live among us.

Reliving the story of Jesus’ birth reminds us that doing what God wants can bring anxious moments, doubts, or discouragement, but if we see it through, the end result is always joy.

“Our waiting at Advent – our sacred waiting – is not just anticipation of the coming of Christ, but a commitment to be consumed in His service.” – David Timms

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Moving It Up a Notch

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“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4a

I think we should move thanksgiving up a notch this year – from being thankful to being delighted. Delight means to take pleasure in, appreciate, relish, enjoy, savor, and bask in. Doesn’t that sound like a lot more fun than just being thankful? It is!

Puppies and small children are the best at being intrigued by everything they see. Delight just seems to come naturally to them! But those of us who’ve lived awhile may have to rediscover that art. How?

Mostly by paying attention, just noticing, not so quickly moving past the truly wonderful all around us. And if we are going to delight ourselves in the Lord as the psalmist writes, then we should give the most attention to the things God has made, done, and said.

So, here’s the list of things I am going to take time to notice, particularly in this season of thanks:

  • Creation
  • People
  • God’s Word
  • His involvement in my life

I plan to pay attention, then stop to thank the One who looks for special ways to delight me. You’re invited to join in the fun, too!

“The things we love tell us what we are.” – Thomas Aquinas

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The Voice

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“All your desire to encounter Christ is embraced, transformed by His desire to come towards you.”

There were announcements of Jesus’ coming birth to Joseph and Mary, and shepherds. But in the darkness of the Bethlehem stable, the most amazing announcement of all came directly from the swaddled newborn boy as He stirred and His cry broke the silence of that night. That baby’s cry was the voice of God Himself.

That cry shook the world of angels and demons. Eons ago, they had heard it break the silence as it called the world into being. They knew it as the voice that cast Satan and his angels out of heaven. That voice was now coming from a small bundle of humanity. Could it be? What power was contained in that cry! What foreshadowing of what would come in His life. What hope for the world, created perfectly, now fallen. God had not sent a prophet this time or a king or an angel. He had come Himself and the world would never be the same.

The voice of God still speaks today for those who will hear. As we sit before Him in worship and wonder, we listen, waiting to hear again the voice that broke the silence of that holy night. Then we hear it: His voice resounds in the deepest recesses of our heart through His Word and through His Spirit. Receive!

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!”

Quote taken from a Pray-as-You-Go meditation. Thanks to Deb Karish for posting the Christmas pageant photo from 1980!

 

 

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Joy!

At the time of Jesus’ birth, an angel announced, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

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“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12

That joy is for us, too! Have you found it? If so, you know it is not in the right gift under the tree, the perfect meal, or even the year-end bonus. These things delight for a time, but don’t give the deep-down, long-lasting, more-than-emotional, bubbling-over joy the angel was talking about.

The angel-announced joy was about an entirely new way of life that Jesus would bring – a life lived out moment-by-moment with Him. When we are in touch with our Creator, sensing His nudges, feeling His comfort, realizing His wisdom, and obeying His direction (even when it’s hard), there is joy.

True joy is recognizable by its awakening within us a desire for something that is beyond ordinary – maybe hearing music that sings to your soul, maybe in particular relationships, maybe in a resonating phrase or idea in a book you are reading, maybe in a neon sunset or a starry sky, maybe . . . what is it that makes your heart overflowingly happy?

Do you recognize God in your beyond-ordinary moments? He is there. We know authentic joy only because of relationship with the Eternal. Thank You, Jesus, for being the joy of Christmas and every day thereafter!

“Joy is God in the marrow of our bones.” – Eugenia Price

 

 

 

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Pause for Peace

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“Sacred is the pause that draws us into stillness. Nourishing are the moments when we step away from busyness. Teach us the wisdom of pausing. Reveal to us the goodness of stopping to breathe.” – Macrina Wiederkahr

We are now in busiest, most pressured time of the year for most of us.

Knowing that, let’s think about how we might find ways to pause, to reconnect with our Creator, and to breathe in the peace the angels promised (and we so often miss!) on that first Christmas day.

Many of us begin our day in a devotional connection with God, but a few weeks ago, I decided to try what I call “a holy experiment” by adding two spiritual pauses in each day – one at about noon and another just before dinner in the evening.

I stop, read a devotional thought or a psalm and pray, just briefly. With minutes, I am refreshed. Then I re-enter my day with a new attitude and already thinking about when I get to pause again. The result? Awareness of God and His presence permeates my day. And where He is there is peace.

How about you? Are you looking for calm in the busyness of this season? Try a holy experiment of your own: Take a short break, in your mind’s eye look into the face of the only One who can give you peace, and let Him in. He’s just waiting to be asked.

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:16

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A Prodigal Thanksgiving

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“Every good and perfect gift is from above.” – James 1:17

There once was a great thanksgiving feast that involved two sons. One had asked for an early inheritance and then took off, spending all his money partying and having fun. The older son stayed home and worked in the family business doing all the right things.

When the irresponsible son ran out of money and was desperate, Jesus says he came to his senses. Apparently he realized how much had been provided for him and how much he missed the privilege of being under his father’s roof. He went home, a humbled man, thankful beyond measure that he was invited back into the family.

The older son, though, was miffed. He’d been faithful all this time, but it seems not having any fun at all. He had been obedient, clean-living, and hard-working. Sure, he had a home, family, and satisfaction in his work, but he was resentful and bitter. He wouldn’t even come to the thanksgiving feast his father was throwing for his brother’s homecoming.

In this parable, the father was thankful, the younger son was thankful (I’m sure other family members were, too, though Jesus didn’t mention them), but the older son was not thankful. Instead, he was angry that he was not the center of attention and celebration.

Only the truly humble are aware of the blessings poured out on us by our heavenly Father every day. A humble heart is a thankful (and happy!) heart.

So, let’s celebrate with friends and family the blessings of our Father’s generous love. It’s time for a party – happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

“Sincere gratitude flourishes only in a heart that is humble, convinced of its own poverty and thoroughly aware that it is nothing and can do nothing without continual help from God.” (from Divine Intimacy)