So Many To Reach

For as long as I can remember, if I have ever felt the pull toward a ministry, it was toward one maybe two people groups. It seems everywhere I turn these days, I'm drawn toward another and yet another people group. There are so many people to reach out there. Whether God is simply further revealing His heart for people to me or whether He's preparing to expand my reaches, I am more vividly aware of people and their conditions lately.

Also, I'm drawn toward people groups that have frightened me in the past. I now feel compassion and warmth toward them, and I realize what a privilege it is to find yourself involved in their lives. It's so much more difficult to share the love of Christ or gospel with someone that feels disconnected from you. A Spirit-filled moment with that person would be just that - purely because the Spirit has filled the moment. However, in other cases it's not likely that someone so different from you would entrust their spirituality to you. It's the most private place within a person - to truly know their beliefs, fears, questions and doubts. How could I ever express the compassion and love I feel for them (because of God's grace and love) when I am completely outside the box.

I'm excited to see where God will take this journey. Never has a change of heart resulted in a dead end. God does not lead us on wild goose chases. The only reason one finds nothing in a journey like that is because that person has decided to stop following God's leading - because they stopped trusting Him. Sometimes it takes years to makes sense of even a small part of it. But there is always a reason. Always.

I find it beautiful that these revelations or the change of heart occurring within me are happening just after I have started my new job, working in outreach at my church. Rather than fearing to approach certain topics or groups, I look for an opportunity to spread or support those ministries. This is one of the areas of my character that I believed to be a permanent flaw for me. I never thought that I would have a heart for prison ministries or reaching Muslims or people who live on the "wrong side of the track." I never thought I would have the ease in approaching nearly anyone - not with some kind of manipulation or conversion in mind but truly because I care about that person. I look forward to building friendships, not strained relationships with people who view me as "one of those Christians." I'm not interested in religion. I haven't been for quite some time. I'm interested in people and the love that Christ has for them - as He has for me.

There's no way for me to understand this guidance. I'm simply aware that God is preparing my heart for something down the road. Maybe the path that will explain these changes is just a bit further and maybe it's quite a bit down the road. I'm in no hurry. My journey is with God. And as I heard a song preach to me today, "Your love, your love, all I've ever needed is your love." No matter where I am, what I'm doing or what's next in my life, the love of God is all I've ever needed and will ever need. I pray that I can share that joy and message with...whoever it is God aligns my path to meet.

Barren and Blessed

In reading in Luke about Zephariah and Elizabeth, I’ve been directed to other times when women in the Bible have been barren. Judges 13 tells of Manoah’s wife who is barren. Then an angel of the Lord appears and tells her that she will give birth to a son, Samson. 1 Samuel 1 gives a beautiful picture of how Hannah was barren, yet her husband loved her and she loved the Lord. After prayer and petition, she conceives a son, Samuel. Genesis 18 tells the story of Sarah and Abraham. They were old and barren, yet the Lord told them they would produce not only a son but that they would have as many children as there are stars in the sky (as the father of those who have faith in God). The mother of John the Baptist, Samson, and Samuel, and Isaac were all barren.

To so many women, baring children is a rite of passage, something they must do in their lifetime. When women struggle with infertility or miscarriages, it’s easy to either assume that there’s something wrong with them or that God doesn’t love them as much as God loves other women. We see in these examples from the Bible that it is simply not true. Even when we know that God’s love is not conditional like our love, we can still assume that the inability to have children is somehow a curse from God. Yet these four very important men of the Bible were all born of barren women.

Another illustration from Luke regarding the difficult plight of some women is found in Anna, a prophetess. She had been widowed for the majority of her adult life. She was married for seven years before her husband passed away. Then she was a widow until she died – we read about her in Luke when she is eighty-four years old. She dedicated her life to the Lord, worshiping, fasting and praying night and day. It is to this woman that God revealed the truth of who baby Jesus was. And she gave thanks to God and told others about the redemption of Jerusalem.

It’s not healthy, or good theology, to measure God’s love by what we foresee as blessings or curses. Job was loved by God yet lost all that he had. Our eternal destiny is not determined by our lives while here on earth. Our eternal destiny is determined by God’s love and grace and our faith in Jesus Christ. That is why we rejoice in God – that He is who He is and for no other reason. Despite our blessings or curses (or what appear to be curses) God is everlasting. His promises endure. He is in control.

Be still and know that I am God.Psalm 46:10

No matter our circumstances – infertile, losses, separation from family or friends, our failures and challenges – our eternity is the same. Satan may shake up your earthly existence, but he can’t do a thing about your eternal destiny…or his.

Spoiler alert – God wins.

The Spirit of Christmas

The last few years I have especially yearned for God’s presence at Christmastime. Not for any specific reason except that I yearn for Him. I’m amazed and saddened at the number of people (some of whom are near and dear to me) who are overwhelmed, burdened or frustrated because of the season.  I believe that we do it to ourselves.  That may sound harsh.  Though we are not always in control of our surroundings or the family traditions we may find ourselves subject to, we are completely in control of our response and our heart.

My husband and I used to run the holiday season rat race with our families. We ran anywhere and everywhere they wanted us, as best we could. The result was not a happy or even content family, it was frustrated and dissatisfied. So last year, after a horrendous experience the year before, we put the brakes. For the preservation of our budding family (now complete with a little boy) and the preservation of family ties, we decided to stay home. 

We honestly weren’t sure what to expect. Would everyone throw stones at us? Would we regret not going? Were we making the wrong decision? In the end, as far as we can see to this day, no one threw stones, we didn’t regret not making the trip, and we believe it was the right decision. We enjoyed the peace of our Christmas.  We went to Christmas Eve service. We opened our presents as we wanted. We had a relaxing day where Chad and Matthew got to play with their new toys, and I was able to revel in the simplicities of the day. We’ve decided that we will once again stay home this year. 

We’d be glad to have family come visit us for the holidays. (Chad’s mom is visiting Chad’s brother and his family this year.)  And we know that we will very likely go back “home” other years. However, I believe that putting on the brakes was necessary in order to change a pattern that was potentially harmful to our family and to family ties. We are not ungrateful for our families, but Christmas is about Jesus.  If one’s traditions are not centered around Jesus, I fully believe that they are out of line.

It’s fun to make gingerbread houses and take the kids to sit on Santa’s lap. I’m not saying that all secular Christmas traditions are out of line. My point is that if Jesus is not the reason for celebrating the season (secular traditions and all), if you don’t talk about Jesus and read about Jesus and search for Him at this time of year, then you are not celebrating Christmas. You are celebrating winter and a fat man in a suit that doesn’t exist. Is winter and a made up man worth the overwhelming, burdening, frustrating traditions? And, spoiler alert, Jesus is not interested in you fulfilling certain traditions at the risk of it damaging your spirit. So you’re not doing Him any honors by subjecting yourself and your family to the hectic nature of it all.

We are not so helpless. We decide where to drive when we get behind the wheel of our car. We decide how to express our love. We decide when we will do what. Change is always possible. It is up to us to seek it and apply it.

Like our family example, no one will fault you for preserving your family or your sanity. For whatever it’s worth, I don’t personally condone skipping Christmas to go to Fiji just to get out of the headache of “family.” That’s just misguided and cowardly. What I do believe in is pulling those you love near you and deciding how to best honor Jesus….every day.

So I encourage you to take the time – make the time – to evaluate your holiday season and traditions. How do they celebrate Jesus? In what ways do you exemplify your faith and shine Christ’s love? How can you not only positively impact your own traditions but help others realize that the spirit of Christmas is not just a kind gesture – it’s the Holy Spirit and God’s love?

God bless you and keep you in peace, love and joy this year and every year.