Perplexed in Advent

    

   What would it have been like, 9 months pregnant, bouncing on the back of a donkey for days, only to find there was nowhere to lay your head, not to mention give birth? Or for Joseph, charged with protecting the Savior of the World, as well as His human mother, and yet at a total loss for how to do so? We know the rest of the story. They didn’t. “No worries, Joseph,” we say. “Help is on the way!” [“What are you afraid of, Moses? That sea is going to stand up and separate any second now!”] But they could only stand still, trusting and waiting for deliverance. And that is precisely what they awaited….in fact what we all awaited in this birth.

   You and I may at this very moment have worries, disappointments, griefs, fears, or frustrations swirling through our heads. Yet It never ceases to stop me short in Advent…..never ceases to put circumstances, disappointments, joys, longings, thanksgivings, mistakes, and concerns of all kinds in the perspective of eternity. Not just ‘the sweet by and by’ of someday in heaven, but now’s eternity. That is where our true Shalom lies………entrusted to the Trustworthy One, the one and only Three-in-One. Knowing He knows the end of every story and has already prepared an Abigail for us. Wise men are already heading our way with provision. Seas are ready to stand up at His command.. He’s about to give angelic direction for our protection. All we need do is listen, receive, and obey.. Though we may be clueless about how things will play out, our ABBA is not. Trusting Him goes hand-in-hand with doing what we best understand of His will for us at the moment. Our ‘faith of a child’ warms His heart.

   I am fond of the following passage from one of my favorite Max Lucado books, In the Grip of Grace: 

“Stepping from the throne, he removed his robe of light and wrapped himself in skin: pigmented, human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He whom angels worship nestled himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into a cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay.

Mary didn’t know whether to give him milk or give him praise, but she gave him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy. Joseph didn’t know whether to call him Junior or Father. But in the end he called him Jesus, since that’s what the angel had said and since he didn’t have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms . .” .

*****

“For only a God could create a plan this mad. Only a Creator beyond the fence of logic could offer such a gift of love. What man can’t do, God does. So, when it comes to goodies and candy, cherub cheeks and red noses, go to the North Pole. But when it comes to eternity, forgiveness, purpose, and truth, go to the manger. Kneel with the shepherds. Worship the God who dared to do what man dared not dream. “

——-And the Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado

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“This isn’t the way I planned it, God. Not at all. My child being born in a stable? This isn’t the way I thought it would be. A cave with sheep and donkeys, hay and straw? My wife giving birth with only the stars to hear her pain? This isn’t at all what I imagined. No, I imagined family. I imagined grandmothers. I imagined neighbors clustered outside the door and friends standing at my side. I imagined the house erupting with the first cry of the infant. Slaps on the back. Loud laughter. Jubilation. That’s how I thought it would be. The midwife would hand me my child, and all the people would applaud. Mary would rest and we would celebrate. All of Nazareth would celebrate. But now. Now look. Nazareth is five days’ journey away. And here we are in a . . . in a sheep pasture. Who will celebrate with us? The sheep? The shepherds? The stars? This doesn’t seem right. What kind of husband am I? I provide no midwife to aid my wife. No bed to rest her back. Her pillow is a blanket from my donkey. My house for her is a shed of hay and straw. The smell is bad, the animals are loud. Why, I even smell like a shepherd myself. Did I miss something? Did I, God?     

—Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life and He Still Moves Stones  

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“I could not comprehend God’s plan, but my understanding was not essential. My obedience was.” —-Gabriel, from An Angel’s Story; Max Lucado

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“…why would you say, “Yahweh isn’t paying attention to my situation. He has lost all interest in what happens to me.?” Isaiah 40: 27

“…Yahweh….is never puzzled over what to do! He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength” Ibid  29

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May the rest of your Advent season be a tender, obedient, and trusting one.

Julie

Breath of Heaven:  

https://youtu.be/TOQRtYYERGo?si=wUd_DdOS3PGth-On

Mary, Did You Know?   https://youtu.be/trW_lD9sBt0?si=JpDYwYHdpEF6jABg

Abba’s Advent Calendar

   

 

   After Christmas last year, I found a half-price wooden Advent calendar with drawers our grandchildren could open each day in December to discover assorted treats.  I then purchased a Scriptural cardboard one to accompany it, so its true meaning wouldn’t be lost. When I gave it to them yesterday on Thanksgiving, my granddaughter asked me if the paper one also had candy inside the doors (as it had one year). I asked her, “What is better than discovering the Word of God each day?” She enthusiastically responded, “You know what I think is better, Nuni*? The Word AND chocolate!”

   This morning in my devotional time, I was thanking the Lord as “the Giver of every good and perfect gift”** when that conversation came to mind. How often I want His God and….   As the loving Parent He is, He does delight in giving us good gifts. His lifetime Calendar of drawers is chock full of blessings which He loves watching us open, His eyes sparkling, His face wreathed in a broad smile when we delight in and appreciate the treasures He has hidden inside. Treasures extending from tiny to life-changing. Divine appointments waiting to be met.

   He knows us so well that He never gives peanuts to those allergic or Mounds Bars to those who dislike coconut. Rollos surprise the caramel lovers, and coins are tucked inside for those whose piggy banks are running low. The specially-chosen peppermint that flavors the M’nMs, causes the child in some of us to say, “Lord, You remembered!” But of course He does. He knows us down to the roots of our (sometimes grey) hair, not to mention reading the longings of our hearts. To Him, we are forever young, forever His children, forever the ones in whom He delights. The ones whom He enjoys surprising with good gifts, even if we sometimes don’t recognize them as such.

   Let’s respond by flinging our arms around Hs neck in affectionate abandon. Let’s recapture our wonder, opening each drawer of our days in excitement and anticipation of what our ABBA has carefully deposited inside, tailor-made for each of us, His beloved children. 

   And while we’re at it this Advent season, let’s 

   “Fling wide the portals of your heart, Make it a temple set apart for earthly use and heaven’s employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy” —Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates, George Weissel, 1642

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*My grandmother name

**”Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change. —James 1: 17 TPT

***”Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children.” —1 John 3: 1 

**** It is said that ‘gratitude unlocks blessing.’ I know that ABBA often blesses before gratitude, as well. Let’s imitate our Dad and be lavish in giving our thanksgiving back to Him. Let’s also be lavish in sharing what He has provided. Because we can’t outdo Him, this in turn unlocks bigger drawers stuffed to overflowing….’over and above what we can ask or imagine’.