that shepherds' eve

 

It was a night like any other night.  Calm. Quiet. As the darkness deepened, the night sky revealed the constellations.  They sat on a hill above the flock, resting yet vigilant.  Wind gently blew with the sound of the sheep occasionally rising.  Crickets seemed to sing a gentle lullaby. The calmness was welcomed for the days were long, dusty and hot. Life was hard, especially under Roman rule.  Many didn’t even own their own animals.  The work was tiresome, tending to flocks with the goal of producing certain quantities of wool and milk products.  But when night came, the turmoil of all that was life seemed to fade. 

Then everything changed.

A piercing light appeared in the dark.  An overwhelming sense of awe seemed to flow from the source of light.  The shepherds themselves were overcome as a proclamation was heard through a voice that shook the core of there souls and they fell to their knees. “An angel of the LORD appeared to them and the glory of the LORD shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people.  Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the LORD.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. ‘Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” And the angels left.  The dark of night returned.  The sound of the sheep and crickets floated gently.  While all seemed to settle to the routine, everything had changed, nothing was the same.  These men left everything on those hills to go and see that which was proclaimed.  Upon witnessing the fulfillment of the message, each of their lives—their very beings—were so transformed that their purposes from then on were to glorify and praise God for all the things they had heard and seen; and to spread the word that the Messiah had come.

 

For us, this day may start like any other day.  Day in, day out we go about routine.  We work.  We struggle with meeting deadlines, completing routines, tackling tasks and schedules, and meeting needs.  The days are tiresome.  This day ends and we attempt to break away from the distractions and find rest.  And we pause in the midst of preparations for a holiday that seem to overwhelm with endless lists, planning and tasks. 

Candles pierce the darkness that envelopes today’s world and its daily oppression.  An overwhelming sense of awe flows into our soul and we are witness to the experience of the shepherds.  We enter the timeless presence of the Messiah and the glory of the LORD shines around us.  We are brought good news that brings great joy.  We find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.

 

It is my prayer for you this Christmas Eve that you hear and see.  May you find the fulfillment of the Word’s proclamation.  May you find the glory of the LORD shining around you.  As this eve gives way to a Christmas morn, may you experience a Light that shines through the chaos of this world; that shines through the daily tasks and routines; that shines through whatever apathy, anxiety, darkness, shadows or brokenness that may weigh in your life.  May you be renewed, transformed and filled with joy so you return glorifying and praising God.  And when needed, may you be reminded of the greatest gift and love of all—given in a manger and through the cross. May you forever know…

 

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  John 1:5

... But take heart!

 

 

In this world…

There are times when noise from the outside enters -

Chaotic, prolonged, pervasive noise holds thoughts in din.

The pensiveness and contemplation on the mind do weigh –

Becoming emotion in the heart for an unwelcomed stay.

But take heart!

Have courage, be bolstered and brave, and confident be;

For through trust, love and hope there is rest for thee.

In stillness, listening to whispers the heavy heart will mend.

There is peace and joy to come, the temporal chaos will end.

 

“In this world you will have trouble…”  John 16:33

 

Trouble… difficulty, concern, strife, disorder, adversity, suffering, affliction, struggle, mess, pain, problem, unrest, woe, discontent, sorrow, tribulation, grief, misfortune, heartache, trial.

It gives pause that a single word encapsulates such that is the heavy dark shadow of the human condition.  No one, not a single human being escapes this experience.  It is a certainty of life.  It comes in many forms – in so many, many ways.

It is found globally…

Famine - prolonged hunger regionally giving witness to suffering, acute malnutrition and death by starvation.

War - armed conflict between factions or nations with extreme violence, economic destruction and death.

It is found societally…

Racism - unequal treatment based on race, skin color, or ethnicity.

Abuse - physical, verbal or emotional behaviors intended to intimidate, offend or harm.

Politicalization with growing division.

Contempt.

It is personal coming throughout our lives. Circumstance often beyond control.

Loss… the death of one for whom you cared or loved; the end of employment; the loss of a home; the devastation of natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or wildfire.

Pain…  a physical chronic health condition or an unexpected and unwelcomed diagnosis; emotional pain as a spouse leaves, a friend walks away, an aching heart full of heart or anger or disappointment weighs heavily.

Struggle… trying to make ends meet on an ever-shrinking budget; conflict in a relationship; fatigue or ailment that makes a daily task a difficult challenge.

“In this world you will have trouble.” 

Trouble.  The Greek word for trouble in this verse is ‘thlipsis’ meaning tribulation, especially internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined, restricted, without options, no way of escape.

“In this world YOU WILL HAVE trouble.”

It is certain.

Just as certain is the promise statement for each held in the full verse.

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

“But take heart…”   -  To have one’s confidence, courage or happiness bolstered by (something).  To receive courage or comfort from some fact. To be brave.

Each of us in the face of whatever or all the trouble this world throws us in the midst of, may possess bold strength; hold on with full assurance; and be rest in assurance that we will not remain overwhelmed by trouble’s chaos.  We may have courage to endure and confidence we will overcome the tribulation for He has overcome all for us.

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.”

We can anchor our hearts, our minds, our beings - in the One who overcame, the One who conquered, the One Who Is, Was and Will be always with us, always loves us.

My prayer for you this day is that no matter the trouble you are in the midst of – no matter the difficulty, concern, strife, disorder, adversity, suffering, affliction, struggle, mess, pain, problem, unrest, woe, discontent, sorrow, tribulation, grief, misfortune, heartache, or trial – you will be able to breathe and ‘take heart’ as you trust in the One who has not only overcome the world, but has overcome and reigns over sin and death.  May you name your trouble, release it to the One who overcomes.  May you know His love and feel the comfort and the victory that through Him is yours. May you breathe deeply and freely, as you trust in Him and abide in His love.

 

“And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” – Matthew 28:20

 

“Now, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:37-39

 

It is finished - the Rend

 

He said, “It is finished!” and bowing His head He gave up His spirit. – John 19:30

It was declared for all to hear and then witnessed.  Matthew records, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, then yielded up His spirit’ (27:51) and Mark echoes those words, “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last” (15:37). Luke tells us “Jesus had cried out with a loud voice ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit’ and having said this, He breathed His last words” (23:46)

Finished.  "Tetelestai", from the Greek meaning 'made perfect', fulfill; complete.  'Tetelestai' - scripture using the tense of the verb that indicates both a point in time completed and that would continue to be so.  Christ covered the debt of all man's sin.  Romans 5 describes the peace and hope attained through the events on Good Friday.  "just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all, because all sinned" - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we no stand and boast in the hope of the glory of God".  You see until that darkened day, we were unable to have true peace with the Father.  Sin separated us so much so that in the Holy of Holies in God's tabernacle, there hung a curtain visually and physically establishing separation between YHWH and the people.  It hung as a marked boundary between God and the sinfulness of man.  It was not possible to go beyond that boundary so much so that if anyone other than the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, he would instantly die. 

“It is finished!” With this loud cry, He breathed His last.  The earth shook, the rocks split, tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people were raised to life (Matthew 27:51:52)

 

“It is finished!”  The moment was most loudly and definitively proclaimed by the rend.  For in that moment of atoning sacrifice, direct access to God was accomplished so thoroughly that the curtain in the Holy of Holies was completely torn.

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” – Matthew 27:51

“The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” – Mark 15:38

“And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.” – Luke 23:45

This moment, the rend – the tearing of the curtain – was so significant and so meaningful that three out of the four Gospels testified of it using the Greek “schizo” – to rend; to be torn with force; to split or sever violently.

 

“It is finished!” – “Tetelestai” – then, now, for all time. Beautifully complete with the rending of a curtain.  And now:

“In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” – Ephesians 3:12

“We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” – Ephesians 1:7

“For through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father.” - Ephesians 2:18

“Having therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus.” – Hebrews 10:19

 

It is my prayer for you that you may with all freedom and confidence, as a result of Christ’s atonement and the riches of His grace, openly enter directly into the presence of the Father and be overwhelmed by Love.

 

'hope and a plan'...

 

Today I heard the phrase “hope and a plan” during a conversation with one dear to me.  My heart and spirit were overwhelmed with a tidal wave of emotion and thought.  There have been times I stood in the darkness of a period of life… overwhelmed with helplessness, desperate, lost, exhausted, drowning…

When one is here, you just want an end, an answer, some sort of plan to grasp onto in which there may bring relief… hope… healing. 

“hope and a plan” – as remembrance of my own journeys came, I felt for the one dear – understanding of the places in which they had stood – understanding the momentary relief and understanding the hope that the relief will stay and all will be well.

“hope and a plan” – it brought to mind a verse that is often given in times to provide comfort and assurance…

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

I have clung to this verse in seasons.  And as I have… my understanding of this verse has deepened leading to an even greater comfort and assurance.

My hope in each moment of a dark season had been different… I hoped/wanted my child to live.  I hoped/wanted healing for another of my children.  I hoped/ wanted a loved one to find light in life out of the shadows of depression – for myself as well to escape the dark times and to live without the fear and desperation that accompanies anxiety disorder. I sought the comfort of this verse and looked for “hope and a future” where prosperity of relief would come.

And as I held and meditated on those words I was compelled to consider their depth and context.

• “declares the LORD’ – The Father Himself; YahWeh, the one who IS, WAS and ALWAYS WILL BE, the Great I AM; says/speaks these words.  The one who spoke all into being speaks Hope and a future for me personally – “you” – me singular.
• “plans to prosper you and not harm you”- The Hebrew word for ‘prosper here is ‘shalom’ meaning completeness, welfare and peace.  And the Hebrew use here for ‘not harm you’ means ‘not of evil’.
•  “plans to give you hope and a future” - The Hebrew for ‘plan’ is  ‘machashabah’  - designs, thoughts, intentions, purposes.  The Hebrew word for ‘give’ is ‘nathan’ meaning to put, set, establish, commit.   The Hebrew word for ‘future’ is ‘acharith’ meaning the after-part, end.  The Hebrew word for ‘hope’ comes from the root ‘qavah’ meaning ‘expectation’.   

All together this means that the Great ‘I AM’ has established and committed intentions for me personally that will that will bring me no evil but will provide welfare and peace that I can expect and there will be an end to this season.

 

But the final and completeness of the blessing in all of Jeremiah 29:11 is really found in the verses that follow:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).  “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.” (Jeremiah 29:12-14a)

The completeness of the blessing is more than ‘hope and a plan’.  Yes ‘I AM’ declares and speaks His intention for Peace, and expectant Hope, of an end to the season for me personally.  But even greater, He declares that He will listen to me, He will be found and very much present in the season and will bring me out of the captivity of it. 

I note that even though His plans may have been different than what I wanted – through out the season and in the outcome, I am now able to see within the perspective of time passing – I was given His presence and peace… and blessings I would have never experienced otherwise.  Darkness did not and will not overshadow my being.  I have and will live in the prosperity of Peace and expectant Hope that He declares for me personally.  Even more so I have the blessed assurance, Peace and Hope the Father provides through His mercy and grace in the gift of Christ’s redeeming Love.

 

My prayer for you is that in the midst you will find ‘hope and a plan’ – HIS for you personally; to grasp on to the entirety of HIS declaration and promise for you… He is present and listening; He declares for you -now and for eternity – a prosperity of Peace, expectant Hope and His loving presence.

 

KNOWING

It seems that over the past few years, over and over the phrase “unprecedented times’ has been used.  Collectively, we have been through the chaos of pandemic, isolation, division, economic strife, hysteria, and social unrest.  Yet each of us have had a profoundly unique experience.

I have struggled at times - moment by moment; hour by hour; day by day - with living amidst the unexpected and the uncertainties. As the calendar flips to a new year, there is reflection on the past year.  However, I find my mind is barraged with a convoluted mess of words that flood through my thoughts.  I realize that for me, the reflection is not that of a sole year experienced.  The last three years or so seem to be inseparable in experience… impact… growth.  I was both witness to and experienced more that I was able to process in the midst of all of it - Fear, Anxiety, Illness, Isolation, Suffering, Loneliness, Sadness, Mourning, Emptiness, Loss, Death, Darkness, Fatigue, Exhaustion, Brokenness, Sorrow, Unrest, Negativity, Defeat, Struggle, Numbness, Pause, View, Realization, Weeping, Release, Feeling, Rest, Restoration, Seeking, Reset, Mindfulness, Intentionality, Overwhelm, Floodgate, Breathing, Trusting, Beginning, Abiding…

Again, all of it a collective experience – yet so very uniquely, impactfully lived and felt by every single person.

 

Every year I choose a word to define the year to come for myself.  I try to use it to identify a focus; a lens for which to view the coming experiences of the new year; to mindfully and intentionally live in the light of the word.  During ‘these unprecedented times,’ each new year I wanted to have that chosen word be “JOY”.  This is the fourth year I have whispered the word ‘JOY’ to the new year. Yet each new year had instead given me a different word to live with.  Providence granted me the word I needed.

 

BREATHE – inhale, exhale -inhale, exhale.  That year there were many moments I felt that struggle to breathe emotionally, mentally… spiritually.  Anxiety, fear, isolation, uncertainty all seemed to smother my being.  That year I feared for loved one’s health – began to ‘isolate’ which slowly caused disconnect in so many aspects of life.  But at the same time as a medical professional, I was thrown into the middle of all the pandemic brought – illness, end of life, struggle to maintain health and life of others (and myself), quarantine brought so much pain and sadness, separation and loneliness for people and families at times that were supposed to be experienced with the presence of loved ones. I wanted that year to intentionally place JOY as my word but I was told by the Father to BREATHE.  …Inhale, exhale… pause for breath… rest.  This word was a reminder – when the feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, sadness, loneliness darkened me I had to BREATHE – inhale, exhale; pause, rest.

“And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” – Mark 6:31

 

TRUST – reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of The Father; Confident expectation.  That next year so many of the same struggles continued to overwhelm.  Uncertainty during pandemic began to cause isolation, division, and unrest that deepened all the while policies that were supposed to help and protect added and continued pain, sadness, frustration, fatigue…   I knew at this point I could breathe.  I found ways to pause and rest.  This gave the ability to function.  But with no end to chaos in sight, to intentionally BREATHE didn’t always feel a strategy that was sustainable for a continuous, indefinite, unforeseen, uncertain length of time. As much as I wanted and intended to cling to the word JOY – that year the Father spoke the word TRUST.   Walk each step each day in faith.  The Spirit encourage my days whispering ‘TRUST”… BREATHE and TRUST.

“Trust in the LORD with all  your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…In all your ways (as you do your job, as you hold the hand, as you comfort others, as you see and experience loss, as you dig through your own numbness and doubts to be the one to hold up or encourage another, as you fight to feel, as you doubt, as you cry out, as you find glimmers and embrace fleeting ‘normalness’) – In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path.”  - Proverbs 3:5-6

 

ABIDE – remain; continue; stay; dwell; reside.  The next year again, I hesitantly said … JOY?  And the word ABIDE was placed in my heart.  Some lived this year feeling able to get out of the shadow of pandemic – Some of us existed very much within the confines of the territory of the pandemic.  By now isolation had birthed and nurtured divisiveness, negativity that had gone unchecked, intolerance, debt, anger, depression and numbers individuals suffering with mental health issues that have never been seen before… and effects we still have not grasped as societies and as individuals.  But as I took those pauses to BREATH and over and over repetitively placed TRUST - I was reminded throughout the year to ABIDE.  Circumstance, experiences, feelings continued.  I had no bit of control or couldn’t change or manage any of the chaos but I could BREATHE… TRUST (albeit hesitantly) … and ABIDE.   ABIDE in the presence of the one WHO IS, WAS and ALWAYS will be.  ABIDE in the ONE who is LOVE. 

“I have come as a LIGHT into the world, that whoever believes in Me will not abide in darkness.” (john 12:46).

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; ABIDE in my love.” (John 15:9)

 

And now as I sit with the beginning of this new year, I didn’t try to choose my word.  I was intentionally still and waited for the word to be given.

“Be still and know that I am GOD.” (Psalm 46:1)

KNOW.   To perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly with certainty. To be cognizant or aware of. 

“Be still and KNOW…” 

The past three years – in all my experiences, in all my growth, through the emotion and feelings… I could declare “I KNOW.”   And KNOWING anchors me.  KNOWING allows me to live above and beyond any uncertainty and unknown.  I KNOW peace, hope, love and joy… that feeling I’ve chased through the turmoil of all.  For this year, I will live KNOWING.  KNOWING I am His beloved child.  KNOWING I am secure.  KNOWING that through His grace and mercy I will one day rest where there is no more sorrow, no more pain. KNOWING I am never alone.  KNOWING…

 

My prayer for you is to rest, live, love, have joy, have peace, have hope no matter what this new year holds. My prayer for you is KNOWING – you are His beloved child.  May you carry this word through the new year with your own personal word that you are given.

 

“And those who know Your name will put their trust in YOU; for YOU, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:10)

“Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, for in You I do trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk” (Psalm 143:8)

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  And seek my and call upon me and I will hear you.” (Jeremiah 29:11-12)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in HIM. So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)