Before we can have peace on earth, we must have peace within our communities. Before we can have peace within our communities, we must have peace within our families. Before we can have peace within our families, we must have peace within.
Ourselves!
Unfortunately, instead of Christmas being a time of peace, it is a time of great stress for many. Overfilled calendars and planners, strapped budgets and strained family relationships often come along with the holidays. How, then, do we overcome the accompanying anxiety and dwell in peace? Let’s look to Paul.
While confined in a Roman prison he penned the text of Philippians proclaiming his contentment in whatever situations (including prison) he found himself (4:11). How? How could he be content, at peace in prison? His “secret” comes in the preceding text, verses 4-8.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 NKJV)
There are three key words in this text, and they provide us somewhat of a formula for peace. Prayer. Supplication. Thanksgiving.
In this stressful season and throughout life, pray. About what? Everything! Don’t get caught up in the theology of prayer – what it is, what it isn’t, how to, how not to… Prayer is talking to God. Whatever is robbing you of your peace, talk to Him about it.
Supplication is the fifty cent word for asking earnestly and humbly. Praying is not about laying out a list of requests before God. (Do not confuse God with Santa Claus.) In prayer we come humbly before our Father, and in that relationship of child and Father, we share with Him all that is on our hearts – our frustrations, our confusion, our fears, our angst, our sorrows our disappointments… Whatever you are feeling, tell Him.
Thanksgiving is synonymous with gratitude. “But God hasn’t answered my prayer yet,” you might say. Thank Him for loving you, for hearing you and for accepting the burden that is troubling you. Psalm 55:22 tells us to cast our burden on the Lord and, in the words of Charles Tindley’s 1916 hymn, leave them there! That alone is enough to be thankful for – not only can we give our troubles to the Lord, we are commanded to do so, and He will take care of each one. What else can you be thankful for? Past faithfulness. God’s love. God’s grace. Salvation! Thank Him when you pray expecting that He will answer!
In 1955 Jill Jackson Miller and her husband, Sy Miller, penned another familiar song that shares a powerful lesson for us. The opening line is “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Pray in earnest humility thanking God for what He can do, has done and will do – then let peace begin with you!
THIS WEEK: What action can you take each day this week to bring peace to someone or to some situation?
It really is a special time of year. Already I have watched several of my favorite childhood movies – It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday Inn. I’ve also joined a few celebrations and parades. As for shopping, I finished that in September. I’ve put the wreathes on the doors –front and back. That’s pretty much all the decorating we do because we always travel, but I’ve perused my cookbooks and planned to bake some goodies while at our host’s home. And I am looking forward to our church’s annual Christmas drama. This year’s performance is entitled When Hope Comes Down and is announced with a subtitle – Come Experience the Hope of the Season! Our church also offers a Carols and Communion by Candlelight service on Christmas Eve. Since we will be traveling, I’ve searched the website and consulted friends to find a similar worship opportunity for us in our destination city. Now, if only we had a little snow, but that is doubtful since we are traveling to a MUCH warmer climate.
The movies, decorations, treats and presents are all wonderful, and snow would be awesome. But none of those things are what Christmas is about!
Christmas is a time of God showing His great love for us and His call for us to love others. Just look at the Christmas Story! No, not Ralphie shooting his eye out with his BB gun, but the second chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew
Luke 2:4-16 (NIV)
“4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”
Matthew 2:11 (NIV)
“11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”
Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born of a virgin in lowly Bethlehem. His birth brought great joy and great hope. His birth was much anticipated – not just by His parents. Angels, shepherds and wise men all knew this was no ordinary birth and no ordinary baby. Hundreds of years before prophets had told of this birth and this baby.
Jesus was born so that one day He could die on the cross paying the price for our sin. It is His birth and death that brought the gift of salvation to us. The Bible tells us that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Without Jesus, we would die in our sins, but loving us, God sent the great gift of love – Baby Jesus.
But Christmas is not just about God showing His love for us by sending Jesus; it is also about His call for us to love others. God’s love is a gift to us, but we must release it to others. How? Through words and actions.
Understand that this season of joy is not a happy time for some – those stressed by not having money for bills much less presents or turkey dinners, those who grieve their loved ones who are not present to share the season with them, those who feel alone and lonely. Tis the season for us to release the love that God has given us.
This week, read the Christmas stories in Luke and Matthew. Pray and ask the Lord to guide you during this season to real and practical acts of love for someone who really needs a gesture of God’s love. Thank Him for how He blesses you and positions you to bless others!
“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
And Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, “Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, ‘Who touched me?’”
And Jesus said, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.”
And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
And he said unto her, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” Luke 8:43-48 (KJV)
I think no woman can even begin to imagine having “an issue of blood” for twelve years! Twelve months would be unbearable; twelve days alone is debilitating, but twelve years?! Try to imagine this woman’s life. The Law made it clear that unless her bleeding ceased for at least seven days, everyone and everything she touched would be deemed unclean and cursed, just as she was.
I imagine her as the subject of idle gossip and ill-intended chitchat because everyone knew about her issue. I suspect some didn’t even know her name; she was defined by her issue. And I picture her isolated, outcast, alone and lonely yearning not just for healing but for companionship and friendship.
What “issue” is defining you?
Be honest with yourself.
Do people know you as an adulterer? Do co-workers raise their eyebrows when you speak because you are a liar? Has the PTA and playground crowd tagged you as a bad mother? Is the Bridge Club whispering in the corner because you’ve been an unfaithful wife? Have your friends labeled you as wishy-washy? Or narcissistic? Maybe unreliable? Possibly bossy? Does your employer consider you incompetent? Lazy? Unproductive? Are you a troublemaker? A quitter?
Has your “issue” isolated you?
Do people avoid you, make excuses to shorten their conversations with you and always seem to have somewhere to go when you appear on the scene? Or does shame make you keep to yourself? Might you be afraid to show your real self because of your “issue?”
That’s how it was for Luke’s woman. For twelve years the woman in Luke’s story was identified and isolated by her issue.
Mark shares this same story in his Gospel with a few more details. A key one is found in Mark5:27-28 (KJV) which says, “When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.’”
Therein lies the secret to our “issues.” Jesus.
The context of this story conveys another important point for us. Jesus was not alone. He was in a crowd. The woman touched Jesus, and He asked, “Who touched me?” Peter and the other disciples don’t believe their ears. “Who touched You? You have to be kidding? Who, in this crowd, didn’t touch You? People are everywhere.”
But Jesus knew there had been a special touch, a seeking touch, a believing touch, a power-filled touch. Jesus knew the woman needed a touch, and He knew the exact moment when she had touched His garment.
And He knows that you need His touch as well!
Make note of three quick points. Jesus asks, “Who touched me” then, according to Mark, “looked round about to see her that had done this thing.” This woman had broken the Law, and here is Jesus putting her on blast. If anyone hadn’t seen her, they saw her then. Mark and Luke tell us that the woman fell at Jesus’ feet. Luke says the woman “declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.” Mark concludes this story with Jesus telling the woman to “go in peace and be healed.”
In calling attention to the woman, Jesus brought glory to God identifying Him as the Healer. Point One – Your “issue” is not just about you. Lay it at Jesus’ feet and permit Him to heal you and to bring glory to God. Point Two – Healing requires boldness to overcome the fear of what others may say about you and your “issue.”
Jesus told the woman to go and be healed. Wasn’t she healed when she touched His garment? The bleeding stopped, but the healing was incomplete. Sheila Walsh suggests the woman needed healing from shame, disappointment, self-hatred and the burden that the “issue” had been. Jesus knew that the woman needed to be made whole; she needed salvation. Point Three – Christ works in our lives well beyond the point at which we first come to faith. He desires that we become whole in Him.
“Issues” of blood are draining. After extensive bleeding, anemia is likely. The Mayo Clinic tells us that as the body becomes increasingly deficient in iron, anemia worsens and signs and symptoms intensify. Symptoms vary but may include extreme fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, headache, dizziness or lightheadedness and, eventually, death.
“Issues” of the heart are no different. Isn’t it time for you to lay yours at Jesus’ feet?
Read Mark 5:27-34 this week and ponder the daily questions for reflection.
And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said unto him, “Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, ‘Who touched me?’”
And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
And he said unto her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
Monday Questions for Reflection: What is your “issue?” How has it caused you to suffer? How is it defining you?
Tuesday Questions for Reflection: The Law prohibited the woman from touching others no doubt leaving her feeling isolated, abandoned and lonely. How does your “issue” isolate you from others? Are you choosing to isolate yourself – your REAL self?
Wednesday Questions for Reflection: The woman risked breaking the Purity Law and pressed through a crowd to touch Jesus’ garment. What risks must you take to be free of your “issue?” What or whom is keeping you from Jesus?
Thursday Questions for Reflection: Jesus told the woman her faith had made her whole. Do you have the faith necessary to experience God’s miracle in your own life? Are there areas in your life that you do not yet trust to God? What are they? What keeps you from trusting?
Friday Questions for Reflection: The woman, fearing and trembling, fell at Jesus’ feet and, before the crowd, told Jesus everything. Testimony of healing is powerful. Will you lay your “issue” at Jesus’ feet, be healed and share your testimony with others? Who needs to hear your testimony?
We’ve all had the experience of thinking that we had found that special one of our dreams to later realize that (s)he was actually the one of our nightmares. We’ve also experienced our children saying and doing the unthinkable and being nothing like what we thought we had “raised” them to be. And we have been excited to begin a job and then dread going to the very place that used to bring us such joy. And, let’s be honest, we have had times that we couldn’t place the blame anywhere else other than at our own feet, and we have been disappointed in ourselves – can’t believe we said that, thought that, acted like that.
Now, let’s be real honest – especially since you have only to tell yourself the truth. Have you ever been disappointed in God?
Yikes! Surely that must be blasphemous!
Sheila Walsh says, “God is big enough, and His love is fierce enough to deal with anything we feel or must face.” In other words, He can take it. In better words, He can help you through it.
Look at John 11:1-3 (ESV).
“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.'”
Hmm. Mary had anointed the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother that was ill. Surely Jesus is going to drop everything and make a beeline to their home. And if that wasn’t enough, verse 3 emphasizes that Jesus loved Lazarus, too. That’s like the cherry on top; He is coming now for certain. If we look ahead, even verse 5 of this text says, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
Can’t you picture Mary and Martha – and even Lazarus? They’re not sad. They’re not worried. “Jesus loves us, and He is coming!” I picture them sitting around reminiscing about the miracles they’d seen Jesus perform. THIS will be NOTHING for Him.
But He didn’t come. At least not right away. And Lazarus died. Then Jesus came.
Let’s skip way ahead in this text to verse 20. “So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.” This being a Christian blog, let’s just suffice it to say Mary was probably a bit disappointed. Her hopes and expectations were dashed on several rocks – first Jesus not coming when they had sent for Him even AFTER she had wiped His feet with her hair AND Lazarus has now died!!!!! Then Jesus just strolls in rather nonchalantly. Are you serious?
Yes.
Jesus had intentionally delayed. Look back at verse 6 which reads, “So, when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.”
Jesus was not running late. He wasn’t caught up or caught off guard. He hadn’t bitten off more than He could chew. He heard about Lazarus, and He intentionally stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
And Mary was disappointed. In verse 32b she says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
You know how women say one thing and mean something else? (I can write that since I am a woman.) I read that Mary said, “If you’d been here, Lazarus would still be alive.” I imagine that Mary meant, “Where were you? Why didn’t you come? Don’t you care? Didn’t you know? How could you not have come? I thought you loved us! Is this how you show love?”
It didn’t help either that there were a bunch of naysayers hanging around in verse 37 – “But some of them said, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
There are SO many lessons in this text.
But let’s go back to Mary’s disappointment. Did you notice that it didn’t faze the Lord? He heard her – her spoken words and the words of her heart. He loved her no less. He let her pour out her heart, and then He did what He came to do. In verse 40 He reminded them, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” And the glory of God is what He showed them as He called Lazarus from the grave. Wow! Healing the sick is one thing. Raising the dead, that’s another!
God loved Mary. He loved Martha. He loved Lazarus. But He didn’t rush to their aid.
He loves you. He may not rush to your aid.
He will, as the old Negro spiritual says, “come right on time.”
You may be disappointed, and you can tell Him, but never doubt Him. Keep believing, and He will show you the glory of God!
Read Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) each day this week then reflect on the given questions.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us — they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
MondayQuestions for Reflection: What are the disappointments of your life? List them (preferably in a journal). At the top and bottom of the page write, “Hope does not disappoint.” Revisit your journal periodically and the list of disappointments. Make note of how God reveals Himself and His glory in relation to each one.
Tuesday Questions for Reflection: Could it be that God delays to build endurance in us? How do you think Mary, Martha and even Lazarus changed after Lazarus was raised from the dead? When was a time that God’s delay brought you a greater blessing?
WednesdayQuestions for Reflection: Identify a current disappointment in God. Can you choose to worship Him through it? How does that make you feel?
Thursday Questions for Reflection: Look at those who have surrounded you. Are they feeding and encouraging your disappointment (like the Jews who asked “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”) or are they encouraging your hope in the Lord? Might you need to separate yourself from someone – at least for a season?
Friday Questions for Reflection: Examine your own actions. Are you feeding someone else’s disappointment or are you encouraging their hope in the Lord? What do you need to start doing, stop doing or do more of?
This semester I asked my college seniors to unplug for one weekend. No cell phone. No laptop, iPad, desktop, etc. No Twitter. No Facebook. No Instagram. No Internet.
“No way!” they said.
But they did.
And they shared their stories which were hilarious – the reaching for the phone that was not there, the lost “don’t know what to do with myself” feelings, the disconnect, the struggle to get anything done without the Internet.
People are more connected to one another than ever before because ours is an Internet and Social Networking world. When we are not talking, we are texting or instant-messaging or Skyping or tweeting or something. We are connected, and yet we are not.
Michael Price writes in his work, Alone in the Crowd, that we are “more lonely and distant from one another” in our “unplugged lives.” It’s true. Most any teenager will tell you that they’d rather text than talk. And while a lot of adults won’t readily admit it, they, too, would rather email than talk.
We live in neighborhoods but don’t know our neighbors. We work in offices but don’t know our cubicle mates. We go to churches but don’t know our fellow parishioners. Sometimes we live in houses and don’t know our family members! Not really.
We were made to be social creatures. In Genesis 2, God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone and created for him a mate. So why do we retreat behind locked doors, shut blinds and closed minds? Well, probably for one – it’s just easier. Less drama and less headache. Admittedly, I’ve had my days when I have longed for an island. But, again, we weren’t designed for long-term island living. At least not in the sense that I mean – ALONE!
Like it or not, our lives are inextricably linked. The choices we make affect others. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NASB) says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants…” Every day you are choosing for yourself but also for your descendants. You must make decisions today with tomorrow’s impact in mind, and you must consider current choices in light of future generations.
Are you choosing wisely? Someone’s life is inextricably linked with yours and the choices you make! Ponder that this week along with the following Scriptures and questions.
Monday: Joshua 24:15 (NASB)
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Questions for Reflection: Whom or what have you chosen to serve? What is the impact of your choice on your descendants – immediate (now) and later? You may say, “I haven’t chosen.” Did you know that by not choosing you are choosing?
Tuesday: 1 Peter 2:9 (NASB)
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
Questions for Reflection: Make note of the choices you make today – what to wear, how to drive, whether to speak to someone you pass on the street or in the hallway at work, what to eat for dinner, etc. How many choices did you make? They may seem insignificant, but what is the impact of each decision – for you, for those around you – immediate (now) and later? Do your choices reflect well on you? On your Lord?
Wednesday: Romans 2:6-8 (NASB)
“who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
Questions for Reflection: Consider two choices you have made in the past – one selfless, one selfish. What has been the return on those choices – for you? For those you love? What, if anything, do you need to change as you go forward?
Thursday: Proverbs 14:12 (ESV)
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
Questions for Reflection: How do you make choices? Do you do what you think seems right, or do you pray for wisdom and direction?
Friday: Biblical Principles for Making Wise Decisions
Deciding is half the battle “they” say. You know, the infamous, elusive, unidentified “they.” I’m hoping “they” are right with this one because I have decided to clean my main closet. It’s huge, and it is a mess – partly because for a few days I haven’t followed my own rule of putting things back where they came from and partly because I really need to get rid of some stuff! Maybe I should start with the shoes I bought for student teaching… Hmm, that was more than 35 years ago. Perhaps I will get rid of the dress I wore when I first met my in-laws. That might be a good choice since (1) I am divorced, (2) I weighed a LOT less then and (3) it’s almost 20 years old! This could be a good time to toss the ugly Christmas sweaters – the ones that were so popular in the 70s and 80s.
Are you getting a picture? We often hold onto things much longer than we should – and not just dresses and shoes. How about attitudes, thoughts, grudges, wounds?
Ephesians 4:22-23 (AMP) says, “Strip yourselves of your former nature.… And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].” In other words, let the past go. Clean the junk out of the closets of your mind and heart. Let go those thoughts of what you think you lost, how things might have been, what you’ve given up, ways that you were mistreated, times you felt overlooked or undervalued.
It helps to have someone help me clean the closet. I tell stories about my stuff, we laugh, and we bag it or box it and take it out. Then we forget it! Kinda like Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) which tells us to “Forget the former things” and to not “dwell on the past” because the Lord is doing a new thing. You must clean out the old to make room for the new.
Ponder the following Scriptures and the contents of your heart’s closet this week:
Monday: Proverbs 4:25-27 (ESV)
Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Question for reflection: What is calling you to look back and keeps you from looking forward?
Tuesday: Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Question for Reflection: What thoughts do you need to swap – untrue for true, dishonorable for honorable, unjust for just, unclean for pure, etc.?
Wednesday: Hebrews 12:1 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…
Question for Reflection: What are you holding on to (thoughts, habits, relationships, etc.) that not only “weighs you down,” but impacts your testimony and witness before those you encounter?
Thursday: Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…”
Question for Reflection: How many treasures can you find in your closet that might better serve someone else? Can you take them to a neighbor? To Goodwill? To a clothes closet? Other?
Friday: Isaiah 12:2 (ESV)
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Question for Reflection: Of what (or whom) are you afraid? What (or whom) are you holding on to rather than trusting God?
PRAY: Heavenly Father, I love You. I know that You love me. I trust You, and I trust the plan that You have for me and my life. Search my heart and my mind. Show me those things, those people, those feelings, those memories and those attitudes that I need to let go of. Sweep clean the corners of my mind and the recesses of my heart and fill each with what will honor and glorify You. I claim the peace and joy of an uncluttered mind and a clean heart. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
SHARE: Post comments to share your reflections and reactions from this week’s post. (One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. One woman’s sharing is another woman’s blessing!)
My parents were Neatniks – especially when it came to housekeeping. Saturday mornings began with my dad inspecting our closets, our drawers and under our beds. Everything had better be hanging (and in order) or folded (and sorted into the right drawer). And, in his words, “There shouldn’t be anything under your bed except the floor!” If just one piece was found not properly folded or in the wrong drawer, he dumped the entire contents of the drawer into the center of the bed and you folded everything again. Sometimes he would “help,” but I really think that was more about keeping an eye out to make sure the work was done to his satisfaction. Seems to reason that I soon learned to be organized.
My maternal grandmother was likewise organized and one of my aunts was fanatically neat. Following in their footsteps (and fearing my dad would appear out of nowhere with a dust mop or broom in hand), I became a super neat housekeeper. But I didn’t last.
It’s not that I have become a slob (those who know otherwise, Shhh), but I just shifted priorities along the way and determined a level of neatness and a level of messiness that I can live with. I also learned some secrets to making your house appear cleaner than it really is when guests visit. My mother told me to buy lower wattage light bulbs and to use lamps instead of overhead light. A friend told me to boil a little cinnamon and water on the stovetop – you get that “fresh baked goods” aroma. A colleague taught me to drag the edge of a book across the carpet to simulate vacuum cleaner marks and to keep an empty basket available for collecting miscellaneous small items like magazines and phone chargers then all the items can easily be stashed inside a closet or (forgive me Daddy) under the bed. And finally, someone told me that you don’t let guests stay longer than 30 minutes because the longer they stay, the more they notice.
Isn’t this just what some people do with their lives? They clean up the outside and focus on outward appearances. Or they know secrets to making their lives look clean. A lot of stuff (sin) gets swept under rugs, stashed in closets and stored under beds. But we read in 1 Samuel 16 that the Lord looks at the heart. It does no good to “look like” a Christian or even to “act like” a Christian if the heart is not clean. Consider the cries of the psalmist, first in Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) – “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” and then in Psalm 51:7(KJV) – “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Your Heavenly Father will, just as my earthly father did, show you the places in your life that need cleaning. He will also help you, washing you whiter than snow.
When I was a younger woman – and before there was Cable TV, I enjoyed watching the PBS Channel. PBS was the precursor to HGTG, Food TV and all the other DIY channels. One of my favorite shows was The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Take a look at an excerpt of an episode in time lapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCLyUSqmr_k
Bob would begin with a blank white canvas, clean brushes and an assortment of colors that always seemed to include Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Blue. From those few resources and in a matter of minutes, Bob would create a masterpiece, but as you watched him paint, you couldn’t help but wonder because his work never looked like what he said it would be. He would smear some blue over here, some yellow over there then spread a little black over it all, add some streaks of white then scrape some of the paint off and, as the French say, “Voila!” There, right before your eyes would be a beautiful scene – a forest, a cabin, a trail, a bubbling brook. You could almost hear the birds chirping, smell the pine trees and feel the coolness of the water.
You just had to let Bob finish his work.
Our lives begin as blank canvases. Along the way the canvas gets smeared with a little sweat, stained with a few tears, streaked with happiness and scraped with pain. Looks like a mess. But “we are God’s masterpiece…” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
When I was a young girl, my Dad told me that I could have ANY thing that I wanted IF I was willing to do an honest day’s work for it. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “if someone has something to give you, they will let you know. In the meantime, plan on going to work to get what you want.”
And so, I began working when I was 15 years old. I’ve worked since with the exception of one year during undergraduate school when I literally begged my Dad to give me a break. “Can’t I have just one semester without working?” I whined. And one semester is what he permitted. Then it was back to work – two jobs, sometimes three.
I remember teaching school full time, working in a Department store 20 hours every weekend and managing an after-school tutorial program two afternoons a week while attending Graduate School full time. And that was one of my “easy seasons.” For another season, I taught school Monday through Friday and worked in a hospital laboratory Friday nights, 16 hours each Saturday and 16 hours each Sunday (a 40-hour weekend) – two full time jobs.
I’ve worked in schools, hospitals, offices and department stores. I even (this is the honest truth) sold cemetery plots door-to-door. Finally, I am retired – honestly. I get the check every month. And I still work two jobs! Why? Many reasons, but partly because my Daddy created a true workaholic and partly so I really can have what I want…without charge cards.
I doubt my Dad was the first or only parent to tell his child that they could have what they wanted if they worked for it. That was not just the mentality, but the prevailing attitude, spirit and belief of our day. You want it? You work for it. For many, there was much truth in that thinking, and they have the homes, cars, clothing and “toys” to prove it.
But there is one thing that working cannot bring you.
Eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV) makes it clear that we are saved by grace, through faith – and this is not from ourselves. “It is the gift of God” and not by our works, “so that no one can boast.” No one can buy or work their way into Heaven. It is the work of Christ and His work alone that opens wide the doors of Heaven for us to enter.
Isn’t that good news? It is for me; I can only imagine how many jobs I’d have to work to go to Heaven!
It’s funny – the things we accept at face value and the things we do not. Get a piece of paper; it can be a scrap, and see how you do on this little Yes or No test:
I have purchased a dress ___ sizes too small promising myself that I would lose enough weight to wear it. (You fill in the blank.)
I have befriended someone (welcomed them into my home, introduced them to family, scheduled special events with them, etc.) when I knew the relationship would be the equivalent of putting a hot coal inside my shirt.
I have said that I liked something (when I secretly thought, “Yuck!) only to receive that something later as a gift.
I have purchased a shoe in a size other than what I know that I wear thinking I could “make them work” for a special occasion (and because they were cute).
I have dated (or married) a man believing that I could, eventually, change him into the man of my dreams.
Each question is worth 20 points. I trust you to score your own paper. You do not have to report your score; I’ll let you “sit with” it.
There seems to be two camps – the one that believes you can always turn a situation around and the one that agrees with the old anonymous proverb that says, “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck – it must be a duck.”
Here’s my thinking on that proverb…Wrong!
You may think this season of your life is pretty hopeless. It might be looking like unemployment, feeling like cancer, sounding like a mean boss, smelling like divorce, feeling like loneliness, tasting like failure… Looks can be deceiving. So can feelings and all the other senses.
We’ve been following Joseph through several chapters of Genesis, so let’s keep learning from him
Genesis 37:23 (NIV) “So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing…” Looks like nakedness.
Genesis 37:24 (NIV) “…they took him and threw him into the cistern.” Tastes like abandonment.
Genesis 37: 28 (NIV) “…his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels…” Sounds like slavery.
Genesis 39:6b-7 (NIV) “Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” Smells like a set-up.
Genesis 39:20a (NIV) “Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. Looks like, smells like and feels like the end!
Wrong, again!
Genesis 39:20b-21a (NIV) tells us, “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him…” And two chapters and two years later, we see Joseph not just leaving prison and not just being restored to his former position, but he is positioned second only to Pharaoh. Genesis 41:39 -41 says, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph…, ‘Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you…I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.’” Looks like a test, and looks like Joseph passed with flying colors. Will you?
Max Lucado tells us that God “sees the needs of tomorrow and, accordingly, uses your circumstances to create the tests of today.” He sees your needs, and He sees the needs of others. He uses you and your circumstances to create tests that will bring about His desired results. Sometimes your testing is to bring about a certain result in you. Sometimes it is to bring about a certain result through you, meaning you are the vehicle chosen by God to do a work in someone else’s life. Whichever situation is the case, you want to pass the test. Lucado also reminds us that “some tests end on earth, but all tests will end in heaven.”
So, it might walk like a duck, quack like a duck and even look like a duck, but what it really is is a test! And you want to pass!
FULLY ALIVE! 