The Hope of Christmas

Hope is a word used carelessly.  The phrase “I hope you have a good day,” escapes my lips daily.  At the time the sentiment is sincere but quickly fades from my memory as my own life steps into the spotlight.

The following quote is from the Encyclopedia of the Bible; “Hope has been defined as ‘desire accompanied by expectation.’ Hope, however is not always expectant.  One may have hope with little or no expectation.” To hope with little or no expectation at all seems to be more of a cultural definition rather than a Biblical one.  This holiday season reminds me of the true definition of hope.  His name is Jesus and He is the hope of Christmas seen in the babe, the blood, and the cross.

The Christmas story is familiar but what I often forget is the reassurance given to us long before the actual birth.  My favorite scripture, Jeremiah 29:11, promises a plan and a future for our lives, one that brings  hope.     The coming of this hope was foretold by Isaiah as he declares in chapter 9, verse 6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . .” (NIV).  The proof of this prophecy comes when the King is born heralded by the heavenly host to the shepherds and also to the Magi several years later.  These shepherds were ordinary men going about their ordinary day when  suddenly, there is an interruption.  God uses the ordinary to display the extraordinary and He humbles the extraordinary so the ordinary may be revealed.  The Magi were men of privilege and highly revered, yet they too were humbled and led by a star to an ordinary child. 

His blood promises us redemption as seen in Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood. . .”  We are reconciled to himself as seen in Colossians 1:19-21.  The proof comes with the shedding of that blood and in the working of it to cleanse and to purify.  An ordinary substance, common to all man, achieves extraordinary results when shed for sinners. 

We cannot have Christmas without the cross and the promise of hope that it brings through eternal life.  Hebrews 9:12 says, “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”  An ordinary event we are all destined for is death, yet because of His death we can have an extraordinary eternal life.

The babe, the blood, and the cross all work together to reveal the hope of Christmas.  It is not dead, nor does it slumber.  The first chapter of I Peter, verse 3 tells the good news, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great mercy h has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops at all.”  -Emily Dickinson

Puppy Lessons

It is week two, I think wearily to myself, only week two!  Our puppy, Piper, has made our hearts her home, however, I find myself increasingly less and less prepared for the arrival of her needs.  She is a baby, I keep telling myself, remember those days?! 

Here are a few things Piper has taught me this week:

1.  I am not nearly as prepared as I thought I was!  Granted, I had all the puppy gear, but I am    more vulnerable in the area of patience at this point.  My perception of myself has been          much higher than my situation is revealing. Ouch!
2.  No matter how much organizational armor I put on, Piper is slowly chipping away at each        resource.  It has become evident I do not have enough "margin" planned or scheduled in            my daily routine for the unexpected. The hilarious part of this is I am scheduled to teach an organizational workshop in the spring. Now that is hilarious!
3. The value of each hour is important,  especially when on is removed due to the unexpected.  I need to make the most of each hour and what I have planned for that particular hour.
4. I have forsaken my notebook.  What notebook you ask?  My response. . . THE notebook.  Essentially, it is my brain on paper, keeper of every carefully crafted list,  and the Yoda to my Skywalker!  Seriously, this notebook is my daily organizational guide and in conjunction with the timer on my iPhone, keeps my sanity in check.

I could go on; instead, here are the spiritual parallels to the above points:

1.     No matter what preparations I make in life, there will be situations that I did not expect.   There will undoubtedly be someone who disappoints me or does not follow through on his or her word.  My response must be loving and gracious.  God is indeed working on my weakest area, which is mercy.

2.     There will be times when the organizational pieces I implement to survive my life, have to be put aside to make space for the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit.  Unless, I budget time in my schedule and allow Him to move, I will miss His arrival, as the Pharisees did when the donkey brought Jesus to town.  I need to practice making room in my “to do” list for Him and to open my eyes to His hand when He moves.

3.     This point mirrors point number two.  My time is valuable.  God has given to me 24 hours in each day to do something for Him.  Once again, I need to shift my focus from what is happening directly in front of me to how it can bring honor and glory to Him and the role I am to play in that. 

4.     Many times I begin my day with my notebook rather than the book of notes that God has given to me.  When I start with the Word, my day takes on a different shape.  The interruptions and annoyances of life are still there, yet my attitude towards them is different because I am seeing them through the lens of Christ. 

This is where I stop for today because my iPhone has alerted me that my writing time is finished!

Things Are Never as Bad as They Seem

Once when one of our daughters was facing an unfamiliar experience, I gave her a nugget of my vast wisdom.  As the tears flowed, I looked loving in her eyes and said, “Don’t worry sweetheart, things are always worse than they seem.”  At that moment we both burst out laughing!  You see my error.  We have laughed about that as a family since then and even say it from time to time as it has become one of mom’s “quotables.”

We all know the original saying is, “Things are never as bad as they seem.”  I wonder at times if this is really true.  Do not misunderstand this observation as I am simply being honest.  Are things as bad as they seem? Perhaps that is the point.  Hmm. . .

When I am fearful about something or find myself overly stressed, I ask myself these questions, “Are things as bad as they seem?  What are my expectations of the outcome?”   From there I try to formulate an answer.  For example, in the middle of trying to train our new puppy not to jump on everyone and everything or bite like a piranha, I begin to feel as if this just is not worth the effort.  She is never going to do what I want her to do and I begin to have visions of a 50 lb dog knocking people and things over while she has a death lock on someone’s arm.  From there, I imagine my kitchen table replaced with a chain link dog run because I cannot control her behavior.  This leads to never eating another family meal together at the kitchen table or have any guests for dinner because the table no longer exists and it is not socially acceptable to serve food in a dog run!  One thought spirals out of control to the next leaving in its path a trail of anxiety. 

When I allow my own mind to “think” or “wonder” over potential outcomes, positive or negative, my anxiety level increases.  Let me explain.  When I make a decision as a leader that affects others, my tendency is to focus on their response.  Before any action is carried out, I try and think of all the possible outcomes of my decision.  These could be positive responses or negative responses that I receive.  Next, I begin to shape how I carryout my decision around those assumptions.  This quickly begins to gnaw at the original intention of the decision and I begin to doubt my original plan.  This is a problem and brings me back to “Things are never as bad as they seem.”  Sometimes, they are worse!   Other times, they exceed our expectations!  Either way, this process of thinking always leads me to anxiety.

What does the Bible say about anxiety?   Most Christians have Philippians 4:6-7 memorized,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

Three words jump out at me: prayer, petition, and peace.  When I make decisions I need to be asking if I have prayed about it.  Seems simple enough, but many times I find this step missing.  Prayer removes the anxiety of the situation because I have the mind and heart of God.  The response of others does not matter because I have prayed therefore, He will provide.

The word petition means to ask.  This goes along with prayer.  If I do not want to be anxious about something, then I need to ask God to help me.  I believe there are times when He allows me to feel anxious because I have not invited Him into the situation. 

If I have prayed and asked specifically from God, the next step is peace.  Jesus is the only one who can grant the luxurious gift of peace.  We have free access to it, but we must ask for it, or petition, then accept it.  That last part is difficult for me.  I want peace, but accepting peace means I have to trust His hand.  I love how The Message communicates the above verse:

^6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

How I need for God to settle me down! 

How a Hostile Place May Be an Open Door From God

How a Hostile Place May Be an Open Door From God

Escape Hatch

The first Sunday of the New Year, my husband, Bill, preached a sermon about probability vs. possibility.  He made reference to the coin toss at the beginning of a football game.  There is a fifty percent chance the coin will land with heads facing up and a fifty percent chance of tails facing up.  Kind of a risky way to begin 2015!

His text for this particular sermon was Luke 5:17-26 and revolved around the paralytic man who was lowered through the roof by his friends to receive  a healing touch from the Master’s hand.  There was a fifty percent chance he would succeed counterbalanced with a fifty percent chance he would fail.

We all have an escape hatch and there is a fifty/fifty chance we will engage it in any given situation.  When we find ourselves desperate or in trouble, there is that “go to” thing that rescues us!  Just like an ejector seat in old airplanes, we can catapult ourselves to safety in seconds using our escape hatch.  For some, the escape hatch might be prayer, that is certainly my goal, but in all honesty at times it is my last resort rather than my first.  Others may escape through the hatch of addictive habits or isolation.

When I think about an escape hatch, I visualize myself in turmoil. I press my escape hatch button and reach for the lever of my ejector seat. Suddenly there is a break in the clouds over my head as an exit appears.  The sky above me is clear and quiet.  As I release the lever of my seat I am propelled through the opening, I immediately absorb the quiet and calm that now surrounds me.  Chaos is  far behind.  

Today my thinking was challenged as I listened to my pastor preach!  The paralytic man needed to be healed and his desire was to walk again.  The goal of his helpful friends was to carry him on his mat through the crowd so he could see Jesus face to face.  Seems like a good plan; believe, show up, move forward, rest in the Master’s presence.  However, he was denied passage by the crowd of people who also had the same goals.    I wonder how he felt at that moment.   Disappointment would not even begin to describe the swirl of emotions I would have felt in those circumstances.

Then, someone had an idea!  How about the roof?  Can you imagine that conversation?!  Someone verbalized the bold idea and undoubtedly someone immediately challenged the successfulness of the idea.  Sounds like life, doesn’t it? 

We all know the rest of the story and this unconventional pathway to Jesus, but look closer.  This crippled man’s escape hatch was not the normal way.  His point of entry was actually to be lowered through a hole in the roof into a hostile environment!   How many times do we expect Jesus to lower us into exactly what we are trying to get out of?  Not very often.  However, that is just what He does at times.  He places us right in the midst of what we fear in order to shift our eyes above what we are afraid of.  All of a sudden, we see Him clearly and what He is doing above the situation.  In essence, we have to be lowered in order to be lifted because we can’t physically see Him over it all!

When I focus on what I see in front of me I find myself easily consumed.  If Jesus continually lifts me out of this place, I never learn how to abide in His presence. The word abide means “to reside in a particular place or way” (Encarta World English Dictionary). If I am constantly pulled from the difficulties of life, then how can I ever truly learn to reside with Christ? 

Join me in this prayer:

Lord, keep my eyes focused on You and You alone.  When my flesh desires relief from the pains of this world and my natural reaction is to want “out,” give me the strength to let go of the escape hatch lever.  Train my ears to hear the comfort of Your voice and direct my eyes to where You are.  Provide the strength I need when I realize that Your location could be right in the midst of what I am most afraid of.  Reassure my spirit that You are with me and give me the confidence to be lowered in order to be lifted.