The Impression We Leave

It is the irony of the Christian life and the paradox of a Savior who was both Lamb and Shepherd.  We are invited into a life of yielding and following Him.  Along the way, it will often feel like lying naked in the snow…vulnerable, shocking, stark.  

As we decide to offer it all, in the moments as they come, and spread ourselves fully to His will, a mystery occurs.  In that point of challenge, and a decision of trust in His goodness, we will leave a mark of heaven on earth.  Walking in our own strength looks only like two footprints, that we were here.  Discipleship will leave something more beautiful.  We get to choose the imprint we leave.

Photograph from morguefile.com by mmainco

Using the Scraps

This isn’t the time of year when birds are making nests, but it is the season, leaves long gone now, when the nests used in the previous months can be more clearly seen tucked in the branches that held them securely through the warm spring and summer. 

In the seasons past, each bird was building something for the future.  Each chose a secure place in which to build a nest that would hold her eggs.  But consider what each used to build that nest.  Birds gather a whole lot of things that do not hold life in themselves anymore to make those nests.  They use broken pieces of twigs and sticks, cut grass and clippings, dead leaves, yarn, string or thread, human hair or animal fur, feathers.

This week I noticed two nests in a tree just outside our living room windows.  Even in the now stark days, snow falling, wind blowing, they sit securely.  They succeeded in their purpose of being a good place for the laying of eggs and the nurturing of young life of the baby birds who were gaining strength to set out on their own.

I have been impressed for weeks now about the reality of restoration that is available to us.  God is mightily at work to build strong and beautiful things out of our broken lives and use us for holy purposes in the realities of a messy world.  Those nests showed me something else.  They reminded me that I can take the dead things of my life and gather them with the mud of His grace and care and promises, and instead of trying to discard the messy stuff, let it be used, now redeemed, for the birthing of new things. 

Our painful experiences hold the very ingredients that can enable us to be compassionate with those who are suffering, and are the grace-nests or sorts…evidence that whatever our past, even our current struggles, we have a very good reason to hope. In these weeks of Advent, of waiting for the coming and all that that meant and means still, let our hearts burn brightly with the hope that is embedded in His story.  He came, He isn’t afraid of the realities, He is brilliant and picks up every available piece and winds it together to become useful for His purposes.  He has peace and joy for us, and we don’t have to chuck the mess of our own stories to have them.  Some of the brightest things forward will be birthed from the scraps we make available to His work.

Photograph from morguefile.com by TwoCherryFarm

Christmas Preparation

One small piece in my morning readings (from Oswald Chambers).  In the midst of holiday preparations and busyness of the weekend, perhaps you could carve out a few minutes to pause and consider this.  It ultimately is not about what we lose or give up, but the amazing life and relationship with Him that we make room for. 

 “Sanctification means more than deliverance from sin, it means the deliberate commitment of myself whom God has saved to God, and that I do not care what it costs.” 

This is part of Advent…”Let every heart, prepare Him room.”  The result?  “And Heaven and nature sing.”

Photograph from morguefile.com by luisrock62

Cynic?

I realized this morning that I am at a crossroads of sorts.  I have been in a rhythm of faith and belief for more than four decades.  I have also been in some rough situations that stretch and frustrate me.  Granted, I have considered and prayed about them, about my heart/actions and the heart/actions of others, but I also find that I have let my mouth speak too critically too often and am realizing the cost it could take.  Although I have a high degree of hope in transformation and in God’s faithfulness, I also can get cranky when I don’t see it unfolding, especially when apathy seems to be the prominent tone in any given circumstance. 

I have a choice.  I can dive into a pool of cynicism or stand on the presence of an utterly brilliant God who is assuredly at work, and wait for His answers to arrive.  I can complain or I can join Him by quiet listening, quick responsiveness, and vulnerable availability to what He wants to shape in me along the way.  I am sensing that this is a crucial time.  What kind of woman I will be in the years ahead, and how I influence the atmosphere anywhere I am will likely be determined in part by how I choose to live out these things now.   Paying attention to these nudges is a part of the shaping He does in us.  I don’t want to be resistant to His mercy and wisdom in them; it is a gift.

Photograph from morguefile.com by 5demayo

A Reason for Hope

Hope is not logical.  Hope anyway.  

Nothing in the unfolding of God coming to earth is logical.  The Son of God planted into the womb of a virgin by the Holy Spirit…The Creator tucked small into a tiny human body—a baby, for heaven’s sake…The ultimate visionary growing up as part of a family…The Holy One gathering a company of friends who weren’t the cream of the crop…God serving man…The perfect One dying…The dead one rising again to bust through the boundaries our sin had caused.  His life offered to save ours, His resurrection announcing eternal (and for every single day of our gritty lives) Hope, His reign continuing still and expanding wherever love and forgiveness and grace are expressed. 

Religion packages things neatly.  God is continually surprising those who are willing to follow Him around the unexpected turn in the road.  They are drawn to believe for this moment because their hearts burn with some awareness that He is real, He is good, and He is for us. 

In these days, faith is still looked upon as foolishness by many.  It will always be the diamond in the rough, the unexpected response to a world that is not fair.  Faith will never be the most popular thing on the planet, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t the most trustworthy path. 

Photograph from morguefile.com by doctor_bob

It's the Person

My reading this morning in “My Utmost For His Highest,” held this statement:  “The type of Christian experience in the New Testament is that of personal passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ.” 

 

It is so easy to slide into devotion to a group of people, to a cause, to a theory or a theology.  It is easy to hold tight to sets of expectations and rules and to become stiff and, in the process, create our own little kingdoms instead of expanding His.  It is another thing entirely to be devoted to the person of Jesus, to live in rhythm with Him, to live in response to Him, to live in relationship with Him where He continues to amaze and surprise us with what He asks, what He gives, who He is. 

 

This is the season of Advent, the waiting and expecting time, anticipating His coming.  He still comes.  He has more to bring.  He is not done.  This month as we draw near to Christmas, also draw near to Him freshly.  He has refreshment and renewal for us all.

  

Photograph from morguefile.com by imelenchon

Invitation to a Miracle

I am quieted and inspired this morning to consider that everything that comes my way is a precious opportunity from God’s hand, where He is asking me to not only trust Him, but to move with Him as a companion to accomplish His will in this moment.  He knows who I am.  He knows the reality of my development—where it has been refined and where it is still lacking.  He is aware of His power available and His ability to do what I cannot if I am expecting and inviting Him to be present.  These moments are like little “I trust you” messages from God, giving me the chance to respond and receive what He is doing.  I can be a help or a hindrance to His will coming to earth.  

 

Photo by ThatG1r1 from morguefile.com