After Birth

Last night one of the last thoughts I had before going to sleep was that I really should make more of an effort to get up earlier and spend time with God. I'm sure many of you have had this thought, and probably, like me, never make it further than being just a thought. This morning around 5 am, our dog woke me up. It was because he was licking his butt incessantly, but that is not the point of this narrative. I repeatedly told him to stop because I desperately wanted to go back to sleep. But I was awake. Very awake. Then I heard it. You know you have too. That gentle reminder of, "Remember when you said you wanted to get up early to spend time with Me? Well, you ARE awake now." So I got up and did some reading. And here is what God showed me this morning....

Since it is December, I decided to read Luke's narrative of Christ's birth. Yes, there are parts I read in the voice of Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Please don't act like you don't do the same. Yet I digress. This is a part of scripture that is easy to read with familiarity. The challenge when reading verses we have heard so many times is allowing God to show us something new. Amazingly, He always does! 

"After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them." 

Luke 2:17-19

Mary. Oh sweet, young, Mary. What kind of treatment had she endured throughout her pregnancy? Having been a single mom twice over myself, I can somewhat imagine the ridicule she must have faced. I know my own experience and the comments that were made to me and this was in the last 20 years. But 2,000 years ago? And unlike me, Mary did not make the choices herself that lead to her condition. Despite all the things that must have been said to her, she KNEW in her heart the truth of her child. Yes, Joseph was also visited by an angel to confirm the situation, but I wonder if Mary ever wondered if Joseph was just "playing along" to make her feel better. Did she ever question if she imagined the whole thing and maybe one night in a state of forgetfulness her and Joseph did hook up and that was really how she became pregnant. Did she ever question the origins of the promise inside of her? Ahhhh...that word! The Promise! 

Are there things God has promised you? Have you clearly heard Him speak and believed His word to be true and while it seems part of it is legitimate, those around you don't believe the origin? Obviously, Mary was pregnant. This was a fact. The matter in question was the origin of what she was carrying. Is what you are carrying from God or from you? When it is from God, the origin will always be confirmed to others through the Holy Spirit, and in time will be revealed. This is why the verse above in bold "spoke" to me this morning. I read it several times. While others were marveling at the birth of Jesus and the revelation given through the angels, Mary was treasuring the moment and meditating on what was happening. When what you have been carrying is birthed, it is OTHERS who will proclaim in confirmation that it is the work of the Lord. You do not have to be the one to shout from the rooftops, "This is God! This is God!" Yes, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. I am not saying we should not share our story. What God showed me is that in the "afterbirth" of what He has told us He would do, there is a time for OTHERS to marvel in the goodness of God and to share what they have seen. 

There is a time for us to remain silent. There is a time to meditate on the reality of others recognizing the promise of God in our lives. For all the time you spent wondering, "Am I crazy to believe this is of God?" there is a time when God will show others THIS IS FROM ME! Treasure this time. Hold on to these times. Because there will be a time again down the road when God will speak again. I wonder if as Mary watched Jesus ridiculed and crucified, it was these memories that she pulled on to get her through. She meditated on these while He was yet a baby, so that as she watched His purpose play out, she could remind herself this was God's will. You, too, will need this as you see what you birthed fulfill its purpose. There will be times of pain as your "baby" matures into what God intended it to be. In these times, recall the days of amazement from others. Know that you DID hear from God and He will never fail to see His purposes fulfilled. 

So if God has spoken a promise into you that you have not yet birthed, hold on to that promise. Continue to nurture it just as you would an unborn child. Know that in time, it will come to be seen by others and they will know the goodness of God through that work He has birthed through you! 

A Gift From God

If you have children, you have likely experienced the following scenario: 

It's December. There is the ONE toy your child has decided would make their life complete. All you hear about is this toy. Then the day comes. It's Christmas morning and you are giddy yourself as you wait for them to get to the ONE present they have been begging to receive. When they open it, they jump up and down and shout excitedly. They can't wait to tear open the box and begin their new adventures with their gift. And then January comes. You are hearing how your child is bored and there's nothing to do. So you ask what happened to their gift. If you are lucky, they know where the gift is, but sometimes they can't even find where they placed the gift. 

Sadly, I think this scenario could also describe the gift of a spouse. Once upon a time, you viewed your spouse as being a gift from God. Don't laugh. If you don't consider them a gift, you likely would have never married them. If you never considered them a gift, then I would wonder why you would marry someone who wasn't sent from God. However, that's something for another post.

When you were single, you begged God to send you a spouse. He heard your prayers and He excitedly watched as your wedding day arrived and you received the gift He'd given you. You were just as excited as a child on Christmas morning. You may have even jumped up and down and shouted excitedly! But then "January" came. And you somehow forgot all about your gift. 

I have to admit, there was a time I saw my husband as a gift from God. However, somewhere along the way, I forgot. In the monotony of life, he became someone who left his dirty towels on the floor and his dishes on the coffee table. That's hardly what I would call a gift. And that is where I focused. It's like the toy that requires batteries, and unless you replace them, it will not work. It's the puzzle that looked fun in the box, but now you realize it's work to put it together so it matches the picture you've been shown (let that one sink in). 

Recently I felt bored and frustrated with my husband. Our schedules of work, dishes, dinners, laundry, kids, and the other activities of life, had become bigger than the gifts of each other. Not only did I stop seeing the gifts in him, I had stopped seeing the gifts in myself. I stopped writing and I resigned from the ministry I worked with for several years. I saw the "box" of the puzzle and asked God why my life wasn't matching the picture He had shown me several years ago. What He showed me was that I had not even taken the pieces out of the box! How can I expect the picture to match when I have not done the work of assembling the pieces? I had received the gift, but had I even truly opened that gift? Perhaps I was still fascinated with the pretty wrappings, and had yet to get to the REAL gift that is my spouse. 

Are you bored in your marriage? Have you lost excitement over the gift that is your spouse? It's very easy to do! Assembling a marriage in a way that matches the picture God painted is work. It's tearing down the pictures of marriage that are painted by the world. It's not marriage as defined on reality television. It's not recreating the marriages of your parents. In this day and age, that marriage likely ended in divorce, so why would you want to recreate that anyway? 

What are the gifts in your spouse that attracted you to them when you first met? What gifts are in you that you have hidden in the closet due to the daily activities of life? What gifts have been bestowed on you by your loving Abba God that you have forgotten or neglected to notice or show care? Why not pull those gifts out. Put in the new batteries needed to give it new life. Take the pieces out of the box and begin assembling the picture God showed you. I know this is not always easy, but with God, truly, all things are possible. 

What is Good?

My daughters love cheap, square, frozen pizzas. Tonight as one was being eaten, my daughter made the statement of how good these pizzas taste. I can't say I agree with her. In fact, in my list of favorite pizza, this kind is very near the bottom of the list. I didn't really respond, but thought about how, to my daughter, these are delicious. I thought about how her experience with pizza does not equal mine. There are pizza adventures I've had that she can't even fathom. Then I started thinking about how this type of thing frequently happens to us in various parts of our lives. 

We often label something as "good" only because it is our only experience. Because we have never known anything different or better, we think of what we know as being the best. The sad part of this is how so many people settle for a life that is at the "bottom of the list" to those who know of better. We are content in our mediocrity simply because it is the life we have known. Even worse, we define something as "good" that was never intended by God to be something "good." 

What if what we spend so much energy fighting to keep is what God has deemed as the bottom of the list? I've personally been in relationships I thought were good, only because they were better than the last relationship or were on par, or better than the relationships of others I knew.  But God had SO much more for me! It wasn't until I sought God's wisdom regarding relationships that I started to see HIS best. When I was waiting for my husband, I knew I just didn't want "good." I wanted what God would describe as the best....for ME! 

Others come into our lives who will challenge us to move from what we see as good and attempt to show us better. How we respond to their advice and example is up to us. I am thankful for all those who have been bold enough to challenge me to try something new which led me to find better than what I previously saw as "good." The truth is, according to God's word, He wants to do so much more than we can imagine! He wants us to live a life beyond what we currently define as "good." The question is, how will we respond when He shows us there is more? What will we do when faced with a decision to stay in the current "good" when God is trying to move us into something better? Will we listen and respond accordingly? 

I pray for you to never settle for a life of square, frozen pizza living. 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Ephesians 3:20-21