"While they were there"

  My cell phone just beeped with some hot late-breaking news.  Whew, what a picture of the world we live in--busy, noisy, crazy.  Relentless and graceless.  No wonder so many folks walk around exhausted, overwhelmed, discouraged.  It's too much of too much!
          How thankful I am to put away the phone and pick up the Word--the life-giving, perspective-restoring, truth-telling, joy-filling words of Almighty God.  Oh my how we all need His words and His wisdom.
          Luke 2:6: “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth."  (Luke 2:6)
          "And while they were there."  Consider where they (Mary and Joseph) were--in a dirty, smelly, unsanitary stable.  Far from home.  Far from every single family member and friend.  Far from comfort and help.  Mary and Joseph surely never imagined, and most certainly never desired, to be "there" and to give birth to the Messiah "there" in that distant, inhospitable place.
          And yet, by God's sovereign, mysterious plan, that's where they were.  And so "while they were there" in this imperfect, unplanned (from their human standpoint) place, Mary and Joseph simply walked with God and allowed His plan of redemption to unfold.  No fussing.  No complaining.  No handwringing...though surely they must have felt like it!   Accepting where they were, faithfully obeying, and in the process revealing the glory of God.
         Where are you right now?  What place has called you to today?  And how are you responding "while you are there?"
          My husband and I are in the stage of life where our children are leaving home and setting out on their own.  I love seeing them grow into the men and women God's called them to be, but this growing up, emptying the nest, and heading out into the wide world is tough on mama and daddy!  We miss them and want them close.  It's easy to pine for those days when our home was filled with happy, noisy littles.  Our little children...little needs...little worries. 
          But that's not where we are today, and if we long for the good old days, we miss the wonder and joy in this present stage of life.  And there's so much good, so much delight to be enjoyed right here, right in this place and stage where we are!  We don't want to miss it...or miss how God plans to use us--and bless us--"while we are here." 
        This place, this stage, this time of life, wherever each of us finds ourselves today, is the place the Lord calls us to obey, to love, to share His greatness and glory with others around us.  "While we are here"--no matter where "here" is--God can use us, bless us, speak to us, encourage us, strengthen us.  But we must choose to be thankful and faithful--while we are here--in this day, this place, this season, this moment.
 Father, help us this day--in whatever place, whatever circumstances You have placed us--to be thankful and faithful.  As we go about our daily activities, might we be fully present, awake, and alive to Your Spirit and Your leading.  Thank You for Mary's and Joseph's example of walking with You in obedience and faith, even in a hard, perplexing place.  "While they were there"--You came...the greatest Gift ever bestowed upon the world.  Who knows how You are working and moving in myriad marvelous and glorious ways even in our challenging, or confusing, or exhausting, or discouraging moments.
        "While they were there," You brought the Messiah out of a smelly, messy manger, so we can trust You "to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" according to Your power that is at work within us in our lives as well. (Eph.3:20)
        To God be the glory.

Advent: waiting, reflecting, preparing

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14

Advent—a season of waiting…reflecting…preparing.  Waiting to celebrate the coming of our King.  Reflecting upon all that His coming means to us.  Preparing for His coming again.  He came the first time as a weak, defenseless newborn baby.  He will come again as an omnipotent, conquering King of Kings.  He came the first time to die for the sins of the world.  He will come again to reign and rule this world He made in glory forever and ever.
But right now, we live in the “already...but not yet.”  Already He has come to redeem lost mankind, but not yet has He come again to restore not just mankind but all of creation to the perfection, beauty, and glory for which He originally created them.  No wonder we live on a broken, sin-scarred planet—yes, He’s already come, but all creation waits and groans for the glorious “not yet” when He will come again to fully, perfectly, completely redeem, restore, and renew.
Jesus is the Word who is God, who has always existed, and who at one particular moment in time, entered this world as flesh and blood.  Astounding.  May we never get over the wonder of that—Almighty, sovereign, infinite God becomes limited, finite, vulnerable man.  The eternal Word became flesh, and in the words of Eugene Peterson, “moved into the neighborhood.”   The Word made flesh that we might behold the glory of God.
Over these days of Advent, let's take time—make time—to ponder the wonder of it all.  Praise the One who came and did it all. 
Teach us, Father, over these next few weeks how to wait, reflect, and prepare.  Help us to still our anxious hearts, calm our jangled nerves, and push aside our crazy to-do lists for a few minutes every single day between now and Christmas day so that we can hear from You, talk to You, and worship You.  Might our Advent season this year be tangibly different, because we make it our top priority—before we check our phones or rush to our agendas or worry about our myriad tasks—to bask in Your healing, helping, holy presence.
In You, and You alone, we will find wholeness, restoration, and deep joy.  Not in marking things off our list.  Not in perusing our emails.  Not in careening all over town chasing our endless chores.  Not in efficiency, busyness, consumption, purchasing, accomplishing, doing...
        But in You.  In seeing You.  In savoring You.  In slowing to walk with You at Your pace rather than rushing ahead in hurry or lagging behind in worry.  Thank You for walking with us, beside us, before us, behind us, and in us.
        And thank You for Christmas, where the eternal, infinite, omnipotent Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood.  Remind us today that You are here with us, no matter how we feel or where we go.  You are here and that changes everything.  To God be the glory.   

Not lost but ALIVE!

        When I think of Sam, I think of the mountains--a place of strength and security, towering and imposing....yet at the same time an oasis of quietness and peace, safety and refuge.  Strong, yet kind.  Dignified, yet humble.  Mighty, yet gentle.  Immovable, yet welcoming. 
         Our world has lost another oak of righteousness.  Oh my, how many we have lost this year, and how sorely they will all be missed.  But how thankful we are should be that they have been in our lives and in our world.  They've demonstrated how to faithfully run the race all the way to the finish line with gazes locked on Jesus, "the founder and perfecter of our faith."  Sam now joins that glorious cloud of witnesses that have gone on before us--even just this very year--and have testified with their actions and attitudes, their lives and loves, what it means to love extravagantly and follow passionately after their beloved Savior.
          Oh Father, like those who've gone on ahead--and like our glorious Lord "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb.12:2)--enable us to faithfully and joyfully persevere all the way till we, too, cross that finish line!
          I couldn't help but think of George Verwer's words when asked what he'd like to have put on his tombstone: "'Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord' (I Cor.15:58)  That's probably too long for a tombstone, so maybe jut the words 'Keep goin.'"
         Amen!  Might we all "keep goin'" as we keep running, keep looking to and living for our Savior--the One who kept goin' for us...all the way to the cross...and the empty tomb.
         For all those who are grieving and deeply missing dear ones this Christmas, can I just remind you that they are not lost.  Simply upgraded to an infinitely better and more glorious address.  They cannot be lost, because you know exactly where they are and you will see them again one day.
         The day Sam went home to heaven, our children also all left our home after the Thanksgiving holiday to return to their homes and apartments in Charlotte, Atlanta and Chapel Hill.  It was a hard day, for Richard and I had enjoyed every moment of being with them for several wondrous days.  When the last one drove off, well, it left a big gaping, sad hole.  How I would miss seeing them,  eating with them, laughing with them.  Yet while our children might not be with us, we knew exactly where they were going, where they were living, and we knew we'd see them again...even very soon--at Christmas, praise God! 
         I kept thinking of Sam and his family.  They were deeply grieving and missing his presence.  He had left them to head on ahead to his perfect, ultimate, joyous, heavenly home.  But because of Christmas--because Jesus came to our earth to redeem us and save us--Sam's family and friends will all see him again.  And so will the families of countless other dear friends who are deeply missing their mamas...daddies...siblings...friends this Christmas.
        Our loved ones who have died in Christ are fully alive today....in fact, every one of them is more abundantly, joyfully, and perfectly alive this very moment than any of us still stuck here in the "shadowlands"  (to quote C.S. Lewis).  And because Jesus left heaven to travel down to this world to save us, we know, know, know our loved ones have traveled to heaven and are radiantly alive with the Savior...and we will see them again, praise God! 
        No one ever expressed it better than the poet John Donne: "I shall rise from the dead...I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines.  I shall be united to the Ancient of Days, to God Himself, who had no morning, never began...No man ever saw God and lived.  And yet, I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen Him, I shall never die."
        Thank You, Lord, for Jesus, for salvation, for heaven, and for all those who have gone on ahead of us to rejoice and reign with You in glory.  Might we sing afresh this year: "Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul and voice.  Now ye need not fear the grave.  Peace! Peace!  Jesus Christ was born to save.  Calls you one and calls you all to gain His everlasting hall.  Christ was born to save. Christ was born to save."
         To God--who came at Christmas, saved at Calvary, rose in glory, and will take us home to heaven--be all the glory.

Seeing...and singing

       "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us...Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!"
        Everywhere and at every time, the Lord is working, moving, and revealing His handiwork.  What a creation...what a Creator!  Even a predawn walk with our dog--while crossing over the beltline bridge for pete's sake!--we see His glory broadcast all over the darkened highway--

        Did the folks driving along see it?  Did they notice?  Did they give thanks to the One whose steadfast love is higher than the heavens?  And how many times have I missed His gracious, glorious gifts?  And when I glimpse His gifts, is my immediate response to "Bless the Lord, O my soul?"  Oh my, I don't want to miss any opportunity to bless Him and give Him glory!  But all too often--in my busyness, preoccupation, or plain old self-centeredness--I rush right by and forfeit the joy of praising the Creator for the big and the little blessings He showers upon us so relentlessly.   
        I couldn't help but think of A.W. Tozer's wonderful words--
        ""We make a mistake if we do not learn to admire God in all things, great and small; for a new rich mine would be opened in our consciousness if we could learn to recognize God in nature as well as in grace!  We do acknowledge that the God of nature is also the God of grace; and it is true that we glorify God's redeeming grace no less when we glorify His creating and sustaining power.  When Christ came to redeem us, He stepped into the framework of an already existent nature.
         If we will obey and believe, we can go on pushing back the narrow borders of our spiritual world until it takes in the whole creation of God!"
         Thank You, Father, for Your glorious creation...from the magnificent sunrise to the refreshing air of autumn to the carpet of brilliantly colored leaves on our path to our silly stick-toting dog. 

    You created it all, You sustain it all, and You are redeeming it all.  Help us to see You in every atom of the world around us and then to immediately turn our seeing into a ceaseless chorus of praise and thanksgiving.   
     Please keep us seeing and then singing...for You are forever worthy.  To God be the glory.         
       
         

Pausing to truly see

         Mr. Bingley...stopping to "smell the roses" (sort of) by staring at a butterfly alighting on a mum.  Butterflies and mums at the same time?--what a happy fall surprise.

         I've noticed Bingley does a far, far better of this than yours truly--this ceasing and pausing to observe and study the remarkable world around him.  Yeah sure, sometimes his careful observation results in sudden, loud, annoying barking, but maybe that's his way of hollering, "Wow! Check this out!  Can you believe God made this amazing butterfly...or bumble bee...or dog...or Fed Ex man...or garbage truck...or tree waving in the wind...or giant stick...or____...." (just fill in the blank with whatever has captured his full attention for the moment).
        What's keeping us from noticing and then thanking?  Noticing not just the beauty of the world around us but noticing the people all about us.  Busyness?  Preoccupation?  Sorrow?  Overwhelming discouragement?  Plain old selfishness?  Hustling to the next activity?  Long, relentless to-do lists?
       Whatever the reason, we still have the choice whether to rush by in our hurry and worry, ignoring the beauty, missing the moment, brushing past that person--that eternal, made-in-God's image soul.  Or we can pause to open our eyes, look around, gaze rather than glance, savor, offer a hug or a smile or a you-can-do-it, or a prayer, and then thank the Giver of all good gifts. 
        And here's the amazing thing: in the process, the Lord often uses that pause of noticing, caring, sharing, and thanking to renew our weary hearts and strengthen our souls.  We simply can't out-give God. 
          Shauna Niequist writes about such a time when she was overwhelmed with life.  In the span of a couple of weeks, she'd hosted several showers and a rehearsal dinner, changed jobs, helped care for the needs of several dear friends while looking after her own two small children, and on top of all that, had a husband with complications from the removal of his wisdom teeth.  We've all had those seasons of life, haven't we?  Nothing horrible, but just too much of a lot!  And all we can see are needs, deficits, and difficulties. 
           Niequist recounts how she rushed out to get more gauze for her ailing husband and zoomed through the store, hurling things into the cart.  "When I got back home, he told me that I bought the wrong gauze.  I stomped out the door, and then I stopped in my tracks.  Across the street, one of the tallest trees, twice as high as a two-story house, was the brightest, lit-from-within red I have ever seen.  I had not noticed one stop of its turning.  I had stopped seeing the important things.  I saw the to-do list.  I had gifts to buy and people to celebrate.  But I wasn't seeing the people of the celebrations.  I wasn't seeing anything beyond the chaos of my life."

         Oh what a reminder that beauty and wonder is constantly happening all around us.  And people who need to be loved or encouraged or appreciated or simply noticed and thanked are all around us, all the time.  Even in our sometimes chaotic lives, even when it feels hard and dark, even when we're facing too much of a lot, might we pause to truly see, to savor, to thank, to encourage, to love, to thank, to bless even in some small way. 
         Open our eyes, Father, that we might see, truly see. 
         To God be the glory. 
       

Tune our hearts

        "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Ps.34:1)
        "Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day." (Ps.16:23)
        "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Thess.5:16-18)
         "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (Phil.4:4)
          A little reminder to all of us that rejoicing in the Lord isn't an occasional thing...or a seasonal thing...or a frequent thing...or even a most of the time thing.  Nope--it's a constant, continual, habitual part of our lives every single day! 
        We're to "bless the Lord at all times:" His praises should be "continually in my mouth."  "Day after day" we should be singing and proclaiming His salvation.  And we're to rejoice always: give thanks "in all circumstances."  I don't see any limitations or delineations there, do you?  When it doubt--shout His praises out! 
          Worship and thanksgiving should be our daily occupation and preoccupation.  Is it?  I wonder: what does it take to cause me to start grumbling...or comparing...or envying...or complaining...or self-pitying?  The antidote for every single one of those is always and forever to choose to start worshiping and rejoicing.  When we can't find reason to praise because of the heavy load we're bearing...we can always rejoice in our Lord.  And  even we can't rejoice in our circumstances, we can forever rejoice in our salvation.
            I loved this challenge from A.W. Tozer: "It is my experience that the totality of our Christian lives--our entire attitude as persons--must be towards the worship of God!  If you do not know the presence of God in your office, your factory your home, then God is not in the church you attend either! I became a Christian when I was a young man working in a tire factory in Akron, Ohio.  I remember my work there--but I remember my worship there too!  I had plenty of worshipful tears in my eyes. No one ever asked me about them, but I would not have hesitated to explain them.  You can learn to use certain skills until they are automatic.  I became so skillful that I could do my work and then I could worship God even while my hands were busy.  If the love of God is in us and the Spirit of God is breathing praise within us, all the musical instruments in heaven are suddenly playing in full support! Even our thoughts become a sanctuary in which God can dwell."
            Might this day be a day of rejoicing in the Lord...and then tomorrow...and then the next...and the next...all the way to heaven.  Might our thanksgiving daily build a golden bridge of praise all the way till we meet our glorious King face to face. 
          Father, Help us, teach us, enable us to praise and worship You continually throughout our days.  Tune our hearts to sing Your praise, as the great old hymn proclaims.  Sometimes my heart needs some serious tuning, Abba, but You are the perfect One to tune and perfect our hearts that we might become magnificent instruments singing and proclaiming Your praise.  You are forever wonderful and worthy.  Thank You, thank You, thank You.  Amen.
           To God be the glory. 
         
         

Displace and replace

        Day 3 of the gratitude challenge--
         "He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, 'My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.'  Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!  My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me." (Lam.3:16-20)
         So whose blessed and encouraged by those words in Lamentations?  hmm?  Well, don't stop reading, because here are the very next verses--   
         But this I call to mind, and therefore have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lam.3:21-23)
          Yep, right after honestly assessing the dark and desperate situation of his people, the Jews, who are now defeated, have lost their homeland, and are captives in exile, this are Jeremiah's very next words--"BUT THIS I CALL TO MIND, AND THEREFORE HAVE HOPE..."
          And what's his hope? The steadfast love of the Lord that will never. ever cease.  And His mercies that are new and fresh every single morning--even mornings that we think are dawning dark and desperate...nope, not to the One who knows all and can do all.  And His faithfulness that is great beyond all our imagining.  Because our idea of "great" surely pales in comparison to Almighty God's idea of GREAT!
           And what's the key?  "But this I call to mind."  It's not just a passive mamby pampby wish.  No, it's a conscious calling to mind. Choosing to set our minds and thoughts in a new direction.  We've got to counsel our minds and call to mind what we know but don't feel.  What we should remember but have forgotten.  What we believe but have allowed to be clouded by sorrow or doubt or fear.  We've got to walk by faith, not by our ever vacillating feelings.
           By faith--not by feelings--we choose to call His Word, His character, His goodness, His gifts to mind.  Practically that means going to His Word, finding a promise and rehearsing it over and over again.  Or choosing a new soundtrack for the background of your mind--replace that soundtrack of despair or doubt or anxiety with a soundtrack of worship, life, hope.
           Choose to take that fear or discouragement or frustration and replace it with His Word, with a worship song, with your thankfulness list! 
           Displace and replace.
          Yes, we have to choose to do it--sometimes a thousand times of day--and we may have to start very, very small...but start.  It's never too late to start afresh, and it's always too early to quit.
           So today, Lord, thank You for Your beautiful Word.  Thank You for Your promises.  Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your faithfulness.
            And thank You today for a walk with a dear friend.  Thank You for the spectacular beauty of the leaves in the shining sun.  Thank You for a gift from a precious friend.  Thank You for the priceless joy of friends.  Thank You for Mr. B's happy nap in the sun--

   And thank You for being our forever faithful Lord.  Might we rehearse and recall Your goodness, and remember and write down Your gifts to us this day.  Because there is always, always, always something for which to be grateful.  To God be the glory.