Luke 2:7

 

“There was no room for them in the inn.”  That very sentence has been true each and every day from then on. No room for Jesus.  Even when all the fuss is SUPPOSED to be about HIM! But every other day of the year, as well.

There is no room for Him in our lives.  We’ve crammed each day with our smartphones, music, endless texting, and endless noise….just to drown out His still, small Voice.  Of course, we don’t think about that when we’re doing it….it just kind of “happens”. 

And especially now!  Jesus gets pushed out our back doors because there just isn’t any room for Him when Santa and his eight little reindeer take over the place.  Not to mention the snowmen, the elves, the snowflakes…….

There really isn’t anything wrong with any of those things, but when it SHOVES  Jesus out of our homes….well, that’s when we have a problem.

My family is guilty of this too.  I never wanted to promote a belief in Santa, but with all the other influences my kids are subjected to, he snuck in there and temporarily has their allegiance, sort of.  My daughter argues with me almost daily about the existence of Santa Claus, although she firmly believes in Jesus, too.  And it doesn’t help when some people say, “Well, kids need something good to believe in these days.”  What the heck does that even mean????  Who is Jesus?? He is not good??  He is not the one who took our sins upon Himself and suffered the wrath that ALL OF THAT SIN caused???

There was no room for the King of Heaven in a measly little inn when He literally GRACED us with His presence! And there really doesn’t seem to be much room for Him today, either.

We need to make room for Him.  Actually, forget about ROOM!  He should be everything!  Everything we rely on and count on….and should occupy our full allegiance!  Not just now, but everyday.

I don’t want to hear on the day I stand before Him, that I made no room for Him in my life.  I didn’t even give Him a closet.  I never EVER want to hear those words! 

So, let’s shove everything else that isn’t about Jesus out our back doors today! Because Jesus deserves it all.

 

 

Have you any room for Jesus? Author: Daniel W. Whittle Have you any room for Jesus, He who bore your load of sin? As He knocks and asks admission, Sinners, will you let Him in? Room for Jesus, King of Glory! Hasten now His Word obey; Swing the heart’s door widely open, Bid Him enter while you may. Room for pleasure, room for business, But for Christ the Crucified, Not a place that He can enter, In the heart for which He died? Have you any room for Jesus, As in grace He calls again? O today is time accepted, Tomorrow you may call in vain. Room and time now give to Jesus, Soon will pass God’s day of grace; Soon thy heart left cold and silent, And thy Savior’s pleading cease.

 

Some of you know I worked for ten long years at a county office of Children and Youth Services.  But only those of you who used to work there, or still do, can understand the helplessness you feel, the absolutely RAW emotional and physical pain you see in children almost daily, and the powerlessness you have to do anything real to change things for even just one of them.

When I left that job three years ago, I thought I sealed it up in a box and stuck it on a shelf, never to be seen again.  But last week, I attended a funeral for a well-respected man and father of two teenagers.  Their pain was palpable…tangible.  I was so close, I could have reached out and touched their tear-stained faces.  And something inside just broke.  Not just for those two wonderful kids who just lost the greatest man in their lives….but for all the many kids whose hearts were broken for all those years I worked for the county.  All their names, faces, and stories came back in a massive, kinda traumatic blur. 

I had to open up that sealed box again and look at some moments I would much rather forget.  Moments that only seem to say “this world is so full of evil”, and “life is never fair”.  Children robbed of their innocence, raped by monsters, masquerading as people.

I was reminded today that there is always a reason for our pain, and one day, someone called Faithful and True will swoop in on His mighty, white horse to avenge EVERYTHING!!!! (Rev. 19:11)

There are moments I wish I would have never had to see. But these are the same moments children never want to LIVE! The very least I could do was be a witness…to say “I saw you”, much like Jesus wants each of us to know He “saw us”, in our weakest of moments, in our most shameful of positions, in our most painful of circumstances.

There are words to a song by Sarah Groves called “I Saw What I Saw”. And even though they are written for children in Africa, I thought they summed up exactly what I’ve been feeling…now, maybe I can soon put this box away for good.

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

Judges 6:12

Most of us probably know a little of the story of Gideon.  He was a man whom God called to defeat the enemy, the Midianites, with the tiniest of armies.  Roughly, it was 10, 000 against 300!  And Gideon and his men won!  But before all of this, he was just a man.

A man of little to no reputation, nothing special about his lineage, and a man who’d never had his courage tested until then.  Before that, he was, in essence, hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat.  To have the oxen help them to do it would draw attention from the enemy. That wasn’t Gideon’s style.  He wasn’t inviting danger, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t the type of guy who ever used the expression “Bring it on!”

That’s why I love Gideon and his story so much.

Before he defeated ANYBODY, an angel came to him and called him a “mighty warrior.”  All I can picture is a Robert DeNiro type of response: “Are you talkin’ to ME?!”  It must have terrified him…this news that he would lead the teensy weensy army that would defeat these intimidating Midianites.

I don’t know about you, but I have asked God similar questions a lot these last few years, without the DeNiro tone.  There were days I was so sure He must be talking to some other little person named Pam when presented with the battle of the day.  Some battles were larger than others, but all of them seemed far too great for me to fight, let alone win!

Maybe you’re there right now, or you’re about to be there….in the midst of what seems like the battle of your life!  And you’re doubting you’ll ever make it to the other side in one piece.  And truthfully, I don’t know if you’ll make it either, just like I never could really know if I would make it.  But if God brought you to this point, all He wants is for you to trust Him while He does all the hard stuff. THAT is what makes us “mighty warriors” in God’s eyes.  Those who follow, not knowing how or why…those who simply follow.

If you are in the depths today, know that God sees in you a MIGHTY WARRIOR!! So, maybe we should all start seeing one, too.   Just a thought. : )

I am positive there is at least one thing I’ve inherited from my dad…his love for the “underdog”.  He and I always find ourselves rooting for the ones who “don’t have a chance.” 

Remember Jennifer Hudson?  She started out on American Idol, and I fell in love with her the week she sang “Weekend In New England”, by Barry Manilow (of whom I am ALSO a big fan!).  Her voice, her control, and her heart won me over in about two minutes!  And I was devastated when she was cut before she made the final five contestants.  Devastated!

But then, roughly two years later, she made me sob in her performance in Dreamgirls.  Sob.  Out loud.  Do you get that I’m a fan yet, people???? 

She went on to win an Academy Award for that role!  That day, I thought that my underdog had really won out in the end.  But we were just getting warmed up…..

Later that same year her mother, brother, and seven year-old nephew were brutally murdered.  Jennifer didn’t do too much singing after that.

Until.

The following year, I found myself right in front of the TV for the Super Bowl. Not because I’m deeply in love with football….but because Jennifer Hudson was returning to singing by performing the national anthem! She came out, looking sadder than I had seen her last, looking less sure of herself than I had seen her last.

But as soon as she opened her mouth, that AMAZING  voice was back!  I kept trying to see things from her perspective…going back out to do what I came to do before my heart was torn out of me.  Getting back to doing what I was always meant to do. And trying not to break down in front of millions of people because this was soo difficult.

Well, I sobbed uncontrollably from the time she started until the very last note.  It was the BEST underdog moment I’ve ever seen!!!!

Sometimes painful or traumatic circumstances happen to us, threatening to take what we know we are called and led to do…to be. And we have a choice to freeze, or fight.

Three weeks after having a massive stroke that nearly killed me, I was at a similar kind of crossroads. “I know it’s early, and people would totally understand if I’m not ready to play my horn again.  And I know I’m never going to sound the same, sound as good…maybe not even good at all.  But if I don’t do it now, I may never have the guts to try again.”  It’s scary…going back out to take possession of something you thought you might have lost.  Very underdog-ish! 

But in some situations, we are called to have courage!  To continue to fight!  If you are leading a small group or you’re a pastor, a teacher, a spouse, a parent, or a friend, and you’ve majorly screwed it up, or it’s been screwed up despite all you tried to do, have courage to ask for another chance.  Don’t walk away without one last shot!

I don’t want to be remembered for all the strokes I’ve had, or all the times I’ve been counted out.  But I DO want to be remembered for being one who couldn’t be stopped because of all those things, but moved forward in SPITE  of those things! Have courage!!!

 

I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:27

“Could it be possible that God would so love an individual as to give His only Son to die for him and still love him to the extent of following him with the pleadings and drawings of His grace until He has won that soul into His own family and created him anew by the impartation of His own divine nature, and then be careless as to what becomes of the one He has thus given His all to procure?”-Lewis Sperry Chafer

The Bible is full of stories that simply say “amen!” to the scripture and quote above. Abraham, while lifting his hand to take the life of his precious son, probably comforted himself with the thought that surely God wouldn’t let him suffer more than what was necessary.  The disciples, while on that boat in a storm, should have known that Jesus wouldn’t have invested so much time and energy in them, especially at the very end of His life, if He was just going to allow them to be swallowed up by the sea before they could even put any of their training to practice.

This encourages me so much!  Yes, I still don’t know God’s plan, or how long I’ll remain on this earth.  But it gives me comfort to know He is here, allowing ONLY what will further shape me in His image, giving Him glory through my little life, and no more pain than is absolutely essential to fulfill His purposes for me.  His allowing pain, strife, and affliction in our lives is NOT a punishment! It DOES NOT mean He doesn’t care!!! It’s just an avenue for His glory to be seen by many, His glory and comfort to be felt and KNOWN by me, so that I can testify that He really was here with me all the time!

While I’m writing this, there is this beautiful hymn I’ve been listening to:

Time after time,

I went searching for peace in some void.

I was trying to blame

All my ills on this world I was in.

Surface relationships used me ’til I was done in.

And all of the while someone was begging

To free me from sin

(chorus)

He was there all the time

He was there all the time

Waiting patiently in line

He was there all the time

Never again

Will I look for a fake rainbow’s end.

Now that I have the answer

My life is just starting to rhyme’

Sharing each new day with Him

Is a cup of fresh wine.

And oh, what I missed

He’s been waiting right there all the time.

If you don’t know Him, REALLY KNOW HIM, He is waiting in line for you. He loves you and wants you to know his great, life-changing love!!

If you DO know Him, but you’re starting to wonder…maybe even doubting what it is    He’s doing in your life, and  are desperate for a little rest, peace, and healing, you need to know that He is right there next to you.  And if He suffered all that He DID  suffer just for you, I pray you will believe with me that He didn’t bring us this far just to drop us on our heads and shrug His shoulders as He walks away!  He loves you, and He loves me.  I am SO SURE of this fact. Because He has never left me, even when I had no evidence of His presence. 

He just isn’t careless with our lives.  Every surgery, pain, trauma in my life was NOT the result of God’s “carelessness”.  I am convinced that He was and is being very CAREFUL about what he continues to permit.  And He is careful (FULL OF CARE!) in your life, too.  You can trust Him. Nothing is too difficult for Him.  And…

He is always there!

 Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose. 22 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. 23 Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better 24 . But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. 25 So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. 26 You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other

Phil. 1: 21-26 MSG

Most of you know I had a scare last week.  I went in to have a routine hysterectomy, and came home later that evening.  During the night, the very worst pains of my life kept me up all night.  The next day, we noticed more concerning signs that something was terribly wrong. We went to the hospital, and an hour later I was in surgery to fix the internal bleeding in my abdomen.  Just before surgery, I had a chance to hug everybody, tell certain people things I wanted them to know.  I had been “here”  before, but in no condition to tell my loved ones what they meant to me, and I received it as the gift that it was.

After the surgery, I slowly woke up, and realized I wasn’t in heaven…I was still here. All I was really thinking was, “Crap.” I was disappointed…and so desperate to go and sit with Jesus and hug Him, and never let go….and be done with the weariness of this life I’ve been feeling nonstop for the last four years.

Please don’t get me wrong!  I am DEEPLY grateful for all the love and prayers from so many people…many of whom I’ve never even met!  And I am grateful to still be here to be a mommy to my babies, friend to my husband, and a friend to lots of others. 

But there is a weariness I can’t explain, and the “rest” (rest from pain, chaos, turmoil, tragedy, fear) promised to me in heaven was looking sooo very good!  I tied up any loose ends…I was ready.

But He’s not.

So that’s that.  I’m here because I’m supposed to be. Clearly.  And I want to use my life everyday to show the world the Jesus I have come to know.  Not the one I was “raised” to know.  But the One I have walked with on dark roads…the One who stayed with me when everyone else forgot about me…the One who has never once left me for even a second!  The One who hasn’t taken my pain away, these last few years, but the One who’s given me hope and peace in the midst of every last bit of it.

Well, I’ve decided to stop seeking for an ending…to ANY of it….and to start looking at it like I’m just getting warmed up for all the amazing things my story has made and will make possible! 

Friends, never think this pain you’re in is something God allowed, and then stepped out of the room so you could deal with it on your own.  God permits things sometimes just so you will feel desperate enough to reach out to Him…every loving Father’s dream.  And He is ALWAYS there to be touched…..

Every child’s dream.

 

I was thinking about what to write this week, and I was stumped! I guess the reason is, I’m too thankful to think! So, rather than try to force another topic, I decided I would just go ahead and make a list of some of the things for which I am most grateful. So, here it goes:

• My mom and dad were willing and able to turn a short stay into a long one,because I really needed them and have been taking care of my babies, and cleaning out my fridge, and the list goes on and on…
• My husband,Jeremy, is always right there whenever I need him…taking off work with no pay MANY times, never leaving me,proving everyday that I’m his”number one”.
• My daughter,Macy, has been praying over my bruised and beaten up body.Every morning and evening.
• I have MANY friends who have taken time to love me through these crazy, painful years.
• God has shown me that trusting Him doesn’t mean trusting I will survive everything, or even that everything will be okay. He has shown me that trusting Him meant trusting that He WILL make everything good.
• The same God who created the mountains, the oceans, and all the other majestic, amazing, and breathtaking things on earth somehow thought it was in keeping with His character to also make me!
• I’m thankful for stories like Jabez’, who was a man in pain and asked God to expand his territory, or influence. I feel like God has used all of this to expand my influence in some small way.
• I’m so darn thankful for Klondike bars.
• I love the way God keeps on showing me just how much He loves me.

“The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.

Deuteronomy 1:6

There is also a passage in Mark chapter 9, where Jesus takes a few privileged disciples up to the top of a mountain and reveals Himself in a whole new, AMAZING way!  So much so, that the disciples wanted to stay up there, well, probably forever! I’m always a little jealous of those men who got to have the ultimate “mountaintop experience.” But if I’m being honest, I’m a little jealous of ANYONE who’s on the mountain.

My viewpoint has been a little different these past two years.  I’m been in the deep, dark green of the valley, or trying to scramble up the side of  the mountain, trying to fight my way out.  Psalm 23 talks about the “valley of the shadow of death,” which is another one I’ve been in a little too often for my taste.

Mount Horeb (see above verse!) was a place where great things happened in Moses’ life and in the lives of the Israelites who followed God.  It was where God first showed Himself to Moses via the burning bush.  It was there that God instructed Moses to strike a rock, and out flowed fresh water for the multitude. And it was there that the Israelites were commanded to strip off basically all the things that were keeping them from following God with their whole heart.

Those are a lot of great,emotional, and memorable experiences on one mountain.  Interestingly, the verse above seems to indicate that it was the last time they were ever on that mountain.  They had work to do, battles to fight, victories to be won.  Which, oddly enough, had to take place not on the mountaintop, but in the valley.

The same valley which I’ve been hanging out in for a pretty long time.

And it occurs to me.  The God of the mountaintop is the same God of the valley!  He is here with me, even though I’m weary of all the battles I’ve been fighting (which I will ultimately win, by the way! ). 

I know one day, I’ll get to stretch out and rest in the glory of God someday, on some mountaintop.  And I ALSO know today isn’t that day. And that’s okay! Because God has been revealing Himself in ways I never expected, has been showing me love I have not deserved, giving me grace and blessings I have not earned…all while down in this valley, which is, now that I think about it, a beautiful place to be. : )

It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

Psalm 119:71 NKJV

 

He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light.

Job 12:22

A memory came back to me the other day, one that needed some missing pieces filled in by my best friend.  In the very beginning of the ministry I helped to start 17 years ago, we started out having services and helping the community in a rented storefront property on the main street of town.

So, the only windows were covered with a black wall where we would advertise upcoming events, or decorate in one way or another.

Well, one Sunday it was especially crowded in our little sanctuary, because another ministry was presenting something that day.  About halfway through, all the power went out in the building, leaving us in total darkness!  Soon, some people came back from the Dollar Store down the street, with lots of little candles for just a little piece of light. But it wasn’t enough for our worship team, consisting of a drummer, pianist (my best friend, Lori), trumpet player (me), and a few singers, to be able to see anything.  But Lori said we just did what we always did.  We played. 

We played in the dark.

I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.  Just when I think I’m sitting in pitch blackness, it somehow gets a little darker! But God sometimes wants us to walk in the dark, and trust His voice…or just His presence.  He often wants us to play on, as if the lights were restored and our vision perfect. 

I can honestly say I have never seen God so clearly as I have since the “lights went out” in my life.  I have learned precious, sacred secrets of my Friend, my God, my Healer, my Deliverer…all in the dark.  It sounds weird and almost unreal to say I’m grateful for the dark, although I am DESPERATE for the lights to come back on!  But it is true.  Before my “affliction”, I didn’t NEED Him like I do now.  And before it got dark, I didn’t really KNOW Him the way I do now.  For that I am thankful.

So, if the lights suddenly go out….play on.  Because you will discover a beautiful, compassionate, faithful, loving, and EVER-PRESENT God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have one of those family members who, when you say your head hurts, they go and “google” all the many possible ailments you may have?  Within seconds, your headache magically becomes a tumor! My little sister would be a doctor by now if WebMD had anything to say about it.  (It’s actually kinda cute, how hypochondriac-ish she is!)( I have her full permission to say this, by the way. 🙂 )

I’m soon going to be having a (for normal people) routine surgery.  My blood thinners make it a little less normal.  Anyhow, my husband keeps on googling all the possible outcomes  or side effects from having this surgery.  Some of them are plausible and expected, and others are….well, they’re CRAZY!   And kind of scary! 

Believe me, I know he’s coming from a place of concern, protection, and worry, and I love that.  But to be honest, I really don’t WANT to know what happened to the one percent of the population they tested. I don’t want any more worries than I have already!

Honestly, there’s really nothing wrong with being informed, in order to make the best possible decision.  But there comes a point where it’s Google or God.

Do you want to believe what Google or Bing or WebMD tells you what MIGHT happen? Or do you want to believe what GOD says?

For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.

Psalm 71:5

The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 103:19 

That power is like the working of his mighty strength,20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:19-23

Sure, with God, there are no guarantees of sailing on through life without injury or harm.  NO ONE can guarantee us that.  But He does promise that He is in control of all of this mess.  He is still sovereign, and He is still in charge!

So, Google that! ; )