Discarded and at a Loss for Hope
Father, draw me close. I need You, for I, in myself, am not sufficient. I cast myself on You and Your wildly flowing mercy to guide and direct my thoughts and actions this day and every day. Amen.
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Last week, I saw this sight on the side of the road on my bus route. As you can see, it is a discarded Christmas tree, the colorful tinsel still strung amongst its branches. I don’t know if it belonged to the residents in the vicinity or if it was unceremoniously dropped (or fell) off onto the berm of a country byway.
As a result of my many years in retail, I’ve become more sensitive about all the hype building and building up until Christmas, and then abruptly, come December 26th, it’s done, and everything is back to “normal.”
Looking at the tree, it had served its “purpose,” and it was disposed of as soon as it was convenient.
How is Christmas with you? As believers, it can be a challenge to pack Christmas away for another year and stick it up in the attics of our minds. Or worse yet, to not hang onto much of it at all…disposing of what just didn’t seem to work for us. Our thoughts go out into the future, where we plan on picking something up again the next holiday season with the hope of it making a difference in our lives. We struggle, thinking that Christmas is just not what it used to be…and we are left empty and alone…at a loss for hope.
But, truth be told, Christmas is just the beginning.
My sermon series this year was taken from Alistair Begg’s Christmas Playlist: Four Songs that Bring You to the Heart of Christmas. Here’s a quote from one of the last sermons.
…this is why the wooden food trough led to the wooden cross, and why you will never get to the heart of Christmas if you don’t grasp the meaning of Easter. Christianity is not good advice about what we should do. It is the good news of what Christ has done. Christianity does not proclaim that you are worth saving or able to save yourself. It announces that God is mighty to save.
I found a Christmas song by Matthew West – The Hope of Christmas. Its words point us in the right direction. (Lyrics and video are included.)
Take me back to eight years old
The little church on a dead end road
With a candle flicker in one hand and dad’s hand in the other
Take me back to Silent Night
My heart was full and the world was right
Cuz right now the world looks nothing like those innocent Decembers
These days peace on earth is hard to find
And I need you to remind me one more time
You’re still the hope of Christmas
You’re still the light when the world looks dark
You’re still the hope of Christmas
And You’re still the hope of my heart
Watch the snowflakes falling down
Like a blanket on this town
For a moment we can hardly see the pain this year has brought us
May the sick find healing’s touch
May hatred’s fight be won with love
And may every heart make room for you the One who came to save us
I bowed my head to pray tonight
Felt my little girl by my side
She slipped her tiny hand in mine
And we both talked to you
And it took me back to 8 years old
my daddy’s hand and a story told
About Heaven’s love in a manger low
And a promise that’s still true
Jan 8th, 2024, Mon, 6:22 pm
Wildly Yet God’s Mercy Flows
After a hectic week, Father, I am weary. I slept well last night and pray for another one tonight. Thank You for blessings unmeasured!
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The opening hymn for our services today was Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven. The text was written by Henry F. Lyte in 1834 (based on Psalm 103), and we sang it to the tune, Lauda Anima (which translates to “Praise my soul”), written by John Gross in 1869. I found that it was sung in 1947 at the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was also used as the opening hymn at the 2018 funeral of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
The last phrase of the third stanza piqued my attention as we recorded our online service yesterday morning and again each of the two times I sang it this morning. The phrase is …widely yet God’s mercy flows.
For whatever reason, my mind registered the word widely as wildly. I think both fit.
The term, widely, as written by Lyte, brings to mind not a creek or a stream but a mighty river. And that brings to mind the word wildly!
I want to run with that, but first, let’s do some foundational work on the word mercy. In my research, I came across this definition on Christianity.com. It stated,
Millard Erickson wrote in Christian Theology,
“God’s mercy is His tenderhearted, loving compassion for His people. It is His tenderness of heart toward the needy. If grace contemplates humans as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees them as miserable and needy.”
I also liked the one definition (and there are many) that I found on BibleStudyTools.com. Several Hebrew and Greek terms lie behind the English term “mercy.” The chief Hebrew term is hesed, God’s covenant “lovingkindness.”
We are miserable and needy, and in God’s mercy, we are shown His lovingkindness.
Now, I want to run a little with widely and with what registered in my mind – wildly. God does nothing in a small way. Not a single thing He does is insignificant. With God involved, I don’t see mercy as a creek or a stream. I see God’s mercy as a mighty river – a widely flowing mighty river of lovingkindness! All-encompassing… all-inclusive – that’s what God’s mercy is!
When it comes to the wildly flow of God’s mercy, a raging river comes to mind! It is rushing and wind-tossed, but we are not swept away. If anything, our miserable neediness is what is swept away. Another line from Christianity.com fits well here. It says, “…God continues to show mercy in forgiveness. Mercy triumphs over judgment…”
God goes above and beyond what we think would be necessary to meet our needs. He is not a God we can put in a box. He is wild and free in his holiness.
This brings to mind a post I shared in November of 2020 entitled He’s Not Tame. It’s well worth the read as well! God bless!
Jan 7th, 2024, Sun, 5:43 pm
Love Keeps Going and Going!
Thank You, Father, for family. We came together today to accomplish an involved task and saw it to completion. Working together, we were able to have a significant impact!
1 Corinthians 13:7d (<<click here to read the passage)
Love…endures all things [without weakening]. AMP
Most of us are familiar with the Energizer Bunny. I learned recently that it was created in 1988 as a parody of the Duracell Bunny, which first appeared in television advertising in 1973 in its “Drumming Bunny” commercial.
The Duracell Bunny commercial depicted several pink toy bunnies drumming. By the end of the spot, only one was still running –the one powered by a Duracell alkaline battery.
In a more recent Energizer Bunny ad campaign (2007), an Energizer Bunny Beanie Baby came with the following poem attached:
“Whether at home, at work or play
Nothing will get in E.B.’s way
And here’s one thing that’s sure worth knowing
This bunny just keeps going and going!”
As I sit here, having begun writing earlier and now having traveled a short distance to meet up with family for dinner, I feel like my knock-off brand batteries are running low and will soon call it quits for today.
I am grateful that true love is not dependent upon batteries at all – neither Energizer nor Duracell! The love that we find in God’s unending supply never runs low! It endures all things; and as the Amplified Bible puts it, it does so without weakening!
That is most certainly one of the great challenges of humanity when we grow weary or are dealing with pain or anything else that stretches our patience to the nth degree. In those circumstances, we find it difficult to love. Instead, we get short; we snap at those we love because, far too often, our love is in too short a supply. That’s when we must tap into God’s supply, as I spoke of a couple of days ago when I said, “Our source for a never-ending reservoir of love? God is that source!” (Love – Look for the Best in Each Other)
Lord Jesus, with Your help, may our love endure all things without weakening!
Jan 4th, 2023, Thurs, 4:54 pm
Listen to the Mustn’ts – Love Hopes
Father, mountains need to be moved, and we know that no mountain can stand before You. May Your will be done. Amen.
1 Corinthians 13:7c (<<click here to read the passage)
There may be a few out there, but there’s a good chance that not many people know who Shel Silverstein is. Now, if I would ask if you’d ever heard of the children’s book The Giving Tree, that might ring a few more bells of recognition. Silverstein is the respected author of The Giving Tree and several other children’s books, including A Light in the Attic.
Here is a poem he wrote. It’s entitled, Listen to the Mustn’ts
Listen to Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts.
Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts.
Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.
……Anything can happen, child, Anything can be
To my knowledge, Silverstein did not intend for these lines of verse to have any spiritual overtones, but from my perspective, at least, they do.
Even those of us who gladly embrace the concept of being children of God sometimes struggle with finding hope. We find ourselves in difficult circumstances and then find ourselves clinging tenaciously to hope. We often feel like we’re being battered in a dinghy in the middle of a raging storm. But in reality, we are standing on the solid Rock of Ages – we may be battered, but remaining in Him, we cannot be moved.
Isaiah 26:4 tells us,
“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner], for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].” AMP
We know that is the case in our hearts, but our minds (and ears) aren’t always on board. We, the children we are, listen to the Mustn’ts and the Don’ts and the Shouldn’ts, Impossibles, Won’ts, and the Never Haves.
And though it may not have been Silverstein’s intent, after we’ve listened to them all, God calls to each of us and says, “Listen close to me. Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.”
Love…hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times]… v7c AMP
In love, there is hope, and having our love and hope in our Heavenly Father helps us remain steadfast even in the wildest of storms. He is love and in Him we can place our hope, sound and secure.
Jan 3rd, 2023, Wed, 12:35 pm
Love – Look for the Best in Each Other
A profitable day both at work and in the office. Thank You, Father, for the strength and mental ability to accomplish what I have!
1 Corinthians 13:7b (<<click here to read the passage)
Love…believes all things [looking for the best in each one]…
As a part of our personal development training today, my fellow bus drivers and I watched a video about how we, as adults, interact with our students. In the first part, all of the adults – the bus driver, the administrator at the door of the school, and the teachers basically ignored the kids – paying them no mind, or worse, derided them a majority of the time. They rode them constantly about their behavior and how poorly they were doing. The students’ actions were unacceptable, and they left no doubt in the students’ minds about it. There were no smiles, no encouragements, no love…whatsoever.
It drove home the point that students who struggle anyway would be throttled down even more. Their failure in school – and life – was all but assured.
Then, the scenario started back at the beginning. The bus driver called the student by name, acknowledging his presence with a smile and a warm greeting, then sent him with a fist bump to his seat. The administrator enthusiastically greeted each student with a smile and a hug for many of them, stating that she had been looking forward to their arrival. The teachers reacted the same way. This time, it wasn’t all about being quiet, but they encouraged their students to interact constructively with one another. Smiles abounded, encouragement was freely given…and there was love!
Instead of being throttled down, students were lifted up! Those struggling found encouragement on every front, and their success in school – and life – though not guaranteed, was more greatly assured.
As followers of Christ, we are to be eager distributors of love. Some of the people we interact with are definitely not easy to love. Some are literally in our faces, all but assuring themselves that they will get the same in return.
So, what should our responses be in not just difficult situations but all our interactions with others, young and old alike? Love…plain and simple love.
We may argue, “I know that the Bible commands me to love my neighbor as myself, but how am I supposed to do that if I don’t even like them?” Our love supply is limited. It’s weak, too. We don’t have nearly enough, and often, we are less than eager to “waste it” on the less-than-lovable.
Our source for a never-ending reservoir of love? God is that source!
Psalm 103:17 from the Amplified Bible reads,
But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who [reverently] fear Him…
His love is on us! We cannot keep it to ourselves! We must give it away in abundant supply! Let your love believe all things, looking for the best in each other!
Jan 2nd, 2024, Tues, 7:29 pm