and Might Not Be Your Cup Of Tea at this Time.
This is about Encouragement in Swift or Sluggish Water of Holiday Holly Golly Next Year.
Romans 13:11-14
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in wild parties and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality, lust and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
I have to say this seems like a very un-Christmas sort of Passage. And then again, this is a Christmas sort of passage. Last year we had a death in the family. This year a friend had a death in the family. I'm not sure this is always sad. I think some death at this time of year is the remembrance of what we cherish and the time to go on Home to God. My great-uncle was recalling his mother's birthday and how happy that day was for him when he was 6 years old and, later that day, he was in Heaven in his 94th year. He said it was a great day and how happy that day was for her as well. I think my great-uncle picked up that conversational thread with my great-grandmother Julia that very day.
I read a Christian blog recently and the Title felt free to cuss. It was "The b.s. That God Never Gives Us Too Much To Handle". No one is going to escape the times that are difficult. I know of one person people considered to be problem free - she really had trouble when her adult children began to experience real life trouble in their twenties. Problems we all live through and, suddenly, her friends did say she was almost undone, consumed with sorrow and worry, as her children faced life - and it seemed to be worse for her to live these situations out through the ones she loves. Maybe that requires a very earnest "Thank God" for having problems we have to work through and not our children. There just might be some very real truth to the Scripture saying the Comfort we receive enables us to help our loved ones to be comforted. And sometimes that Holy Spirit Comfort is Earned.
And Jesus again caresses a healed place in us when we are truly able to comfort, in the comfort we have received, and pass on again. Giving meaning today to the phrase "He healed them all."
We have to not love our own problems. We have to love the days when we are lighter. And treat the days we are not so light with honesty to recover. Communicate and apologize.
God loves Solutions and Going Forth! A new wind. A new reason to be grateful. A new approach.
Psalm 96
Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
When people tell me their prayer requests about grief, they will listen intently to the problems of famous and talented Claude Monet.
I have a coffee table book I've had for years. During the times that I grieved so for my infant daughter being stillborn, some days it was tough just to go outside for the tears and swollen face of grief. The embarrassment. When, actually, grief is part of life. We form very important ideas of our existence sometimes through fire.
Back to Monet book, so I was in the doctors office and like my cousin Bob said, "Grief is like standing in the ocean with your back to the ocean and surveying the houses along the coast, suddenly, without warning - grief is like a wave of the ocean that knocks you down to your knees." And I was about to cry, again. I picked up the book that I have owned for two decades to hide. The doctor's waiting room had the same copy. And found something about grief that people with grief hold on to like a rope. I'd certainly never noticed when looking at the paintings before, a time table of his life events:
Claude Monet was so callous - as his first wife lay dying, he painted the colors her body changed as her spirit left her body. I've never liked the painting, or the story. That does not relate to me. And I paint. But the next part of the events, excuse Claude Monet. He lived to paint like famous baseball players life to have a baseball continually in their hand. For two years after he experienced death, he could not paint. He found routine life almost too hard to bare.
Eventually he remarried his wife's dear friend, because they wept together. She had lost a parent and her best friend. And Claude Monet found joy again. Unfortunately, his second wife had many children. To feed and educate. And the lovely part was - she was a dear woman, who loved all those around her. Claude Monet did as well. And then her child died. And for two years they grieved and he could not paint. And then as life improved, a nephew who was part of their daily fabric died. Then a parent, then the daughter-in-law who carried them from the grief. I cannot recall the exact details, but Monet had to face that death was part of life.
Claude Monet wrote,"Grief is a terrible burden, but eventually you must decide where you are going." He did not elaborate. He was part of the art world focusing on beauty. But the phrase rang in the sincerity of deeper and abiding meaning. A man who spent twelve years adjusting to love not being nearby has something meaningful to say.
Grief is not always for death. Grief is for aging and for seeing illness. Grief can be for permanent life changing events. We see people moving when their college age children go to school, to be near them, I applaud going with the Winds of the Spirit.
Grief can be mild. Not experiencing all the Holidays "You are Supposed To". Grief can be "Not Living Up To Your Parents' Expectations." Grief can be seeing life is very different than our early childhood years and the way people spend their time.
Comfort exists among the Saints ~
the Communion of Saints.
People who will pray for us for weeks just knowing a wooden floor has extreme issues and expecting God to show up. People who are sad because their small business needs a new boiler and Christmas for the kids. We pray - Jesus, You are Indeed Lord. You will fix the solution and or create the worry to be able to give the comfort to others. You Will because You are God and You are Love. Amen.
Friends who tell you about their grandson needs prayer and you find out - you had the same illness and it baffled the doctors and really what was needed was a topical antibiotic prescribed all over the body. And later they tell you about hypobaric chambers they read about for your spouse. The Communion of Saints.
One Person's Troubles become the Strength Given to the Next Person.
One Person's Expectation of Jesus Christ becomes a Miracle.
One Person's Solution found from diligent prayer becomes the Next Beloved Person's Joy.
Father God we weep with those who weep, because life has taught us to do that. Let us remember that in faith we can laugh at the time to come. Our future is Your hands. We hope to have Your face, Father God, to shine upon us.
Not being the ones making only our own purposes and puny plans Evil recognizes God and fears what He will ask of us. In Jesus Christ, let us put real hope in the revealing of His purpose for us. Rejoicing in all life is given through Jesus Christ. Trusting again. Asking His mercy, grace and forgiveness to get back up on the Deep Breathe Forward to Jesus Path.And taking new steps with firm knees and new hope again. In You we Trust Father God. Amen.
Know your Season. Celebrate. Jesus is the Reason.
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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