The Spirit Himself
testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs
also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him
so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:16-17
As I continue to facilitate another support group, I have
the benefit of being reminded of (or in some cases, relearning) past lessons regarding
the roll of suffering in faith and in my relationship with God. I’ve been going to church since I was born
and I’ve been a Christian most of my life.
Much of my childhood was spent being instructed in or listening to the
finer points of faith being discussed or debated. As an adult, I’ve participated in many such
discussions and led a few. These are the
things of religion. While I have had a
relationship with God since my youth and recognize periods of significant
spiritual growth throughout my life, that relationship has been significantly altered
by my illness. In that regard, my
suffering has been my greatest blessing in that has matured my faith and pushed
me to a deeper relationship with our Lord.
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Now may the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
When I got out of bed this morning it was 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyone who knows me understands that I hate
winter. Having confessed that fact, God
is also working to remove my complaining spirit with respect to cold weather as
He has convicted me that the weather is ordained by Him and is one of those
things that requires that I trust His wisdom.
That said, this time of year I still long for warmer weather and look
for indications that it’s coming. The
first sign that gives me hope of more agreeable temperatures is the appearance
of snowdrops (shown above). They are the
very first flowers to blossom and snow does not bother them. My Aunt Margaret was the first to introduce
me to them and they have been a staple in my garden since then as they provide
the hope of spring and a reminder of the loving relationship that I had with
her. The next hopeful sign is the sound of birds
chirping in the early morning and the appearance of Robins. Finally, the crocuses and daffodils not only
allude to warmer weather but provide color that lifts the spirit. As much happiness as the expectation of
spring brings with it, there is no lasting joy or peace as I know that winter
will in fact come again. In contrast, my
spiritual hope is a different matter altogether as my hope in God brings with
it joy and peace.
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“Blessed be the Lord,
for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.” Psalm 31:21
For those of you that follow my blog closely, you may have noticed that my Monday quotes and the verse of the day have dropped off. Life has been a bit challenging and I’ve had to surrender a bit to maintain my sanity. Life with chronic illness is a battle against both known and unknown factors. It is a battle of the mind and soul as well as the body which often leaves one feeling besieged.
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Cease striving and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a
Despite my chronic illness, I would be considered by many to
still be high functioning and unless one knows me, they would be unlikely to
recognize my limitations. I have learned
over time that when I yield to the needs of my body for rest and watch what I
eat, I can function somewhat normally; that said I still struggle. It’s a
challenge not to worry about the cost of my illness both financially and as a source
of stress to myself, my family and close friends. I also struggle to maintain some sense of
control; if I can’t fix my illness than I try to fix other things that don’t
matter in the larger scale as they provide some sense of reassurance that
things are ok. I also struggle with my
self-image. Physically I want to appear
normal yet not so normal that people think I’m a hypochondriac. It’s a common struggle for those of us with
invisible illnesses. Further, I want to
be relevant and useful, but feel that is regularly not the case. The verse above is displayed in our den right
beside our TV. I’ve put it there for two
reasons. First it is the primary focal
point of the room and my focal point needs to be God’s sovereignty over all
things. Second, it sits next to the TV
as a reminder that God is the final authority on whatever the world offers as
truth. Part of that truth is that I need
to let go and trust God.
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“They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.’ And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.” Ezra 3:11-13
New Year’s Eve is the time when we tend to evaluate the past
year and look to the new one with a hope of great things to come. Our best New Year’s Eve was December 31,
1981. That night our younger daughter was
born and there was literally a party atmosphere in the delivery room. In addition to my wife and me, there were two
doctors, three interns, a couple of nurses and an anesthesiologist. Rather than waiting for a ball to drop in New
York City, we were awaiting the arrival of a child. While it was mostly a joyful event, there was
also pain as my wife would have to recover from the surgery. While we like to label each year as good or
bad, the reality of this life is that most years are a mixture of joy and sorrow. That was the mood as the exiles from Babylon
viewed the foundation of the new temple.
Those that remembered the former glory of Jerusalem wept at over the
loss of what once was. However, there
was also the joy of Jerusalem being rebuilt.
It’s a good lesson in life…how to gracefully accept the joys and sorrows
of life understanding that God has orchestrated our lives with purpose so that in
the end we may be blessed with a joyful eternity.
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The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity–hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory–because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
In a few days, much of the world will celebrate Christmas. For many this holiday has no meaning as they are either unaware of or opposed to faith in Christ. For others who are vaguely aware of Christ’s incarnation, it is a time to focus on fellowship and gifts, but has no soul altering significance. However, for those of us who have encountered God, accepted His invitation, and understand the background of Christ’s incarnation, there is depth to the celebration that comes from understanding. We know and have experienced the love, joy, peace and hope that demands jubilation and worship. As we move from Advent to Christmas day, we transition from introspection and meditation to worship. Hopefully it is joyful unbridled worship of our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace for who He is and what He has accomplished for us.
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Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.
“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:2-3
Backstories can add significant depth to the words of a song. Similarly, factual biographies can help us understand historical figures. In order to facilitate some introspection as we approach Christmas, the last two posts have discussed The Encounter with God as well as The Invitation that Christ offers. To fully appreciate what it means to encounter God and invitation that Christ presents to us, we need to also consider the background of Christ’s incarnation and all that it entails. To get a complete grasp, one must read the entire Bible. However, one of the most concise summaries of Christ’s life was written before He was born. God gave this particular account through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53. This depiction gives us insight into the Lord and Savior that: asks us to forfeit our entitlements to all that we hold dear in this life for the Glory of God; offers the promise of a reconciled and blessed eternity; and asks us to come to Him no matter how sordid our background so that we may enter into His rest. The goal is not to put a damper on the celebration, but rather to afford a focused understanding of Christ’s sacrifice,we can draw near and worship Him more fully during the Christmas season.
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“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
I was reading a devotional by John Piper recently that stressed how we should prepare our hearts during Advent in order to celebrate Christmas properly, i.e. Advent is to Christmas as Lent is to Easter. Too often, we get so caught up in the preparations and parties associated with Christmas that we fail to settle our souls and worship Christ for His priceless gift freely offered. That offer, or rather our Savior’s invitation, is the basis of our celebration for without it, there is no peace, joy or forgiveness. While Matthew 11:28 is not a passage normally associated with Advent, it does speak to the heart of Christ’s mission as He came to earth and dwelt among us so long ago.
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