Wisdom Is Found In Obedience
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Floyd is not doing well over all - but there are still good days and not-so-good days. This week when I was with him it was a not-so-good day. I, once again, felt to bathe him in encouragement. I sang and prayed for him until he got tired. I can’t imagine how difficult all this is for him…we continue to lift him up in prayer.
Nowadays one of the main things associated with Christmas is gifts! Like everyone else, I love gifts. It's fun to receive them of course, but, even more, I love giving gifts! It brings me such joy to give to others.
I think I've been that way all my life. My mother used to tell me stories of my giving away my toys and clothes when I was a little girl. She had to watch that I didn't give away everything, but I'm grateful that she didn't squash my giving. She, in fact, was such an amazing "giver" herself. Out of her need and of having very little, she gave and gave and gave.....often through her cooking. I am sure that God stretched her groceries so that she could give more.
I can't help but think that this love of giving was something that God put in my heart from an early age. After all, God is the ultimate giver of gifts, and He wants us to be a reflection of Himself. He is so generous in His giving into our lives.
This pattern of giving caused a bit of tension, however, when I married Floyd. He didn't quite know what to do with a wife who wanted to give gifts all the time. He said "we're praying for money for food, and you're giving gifts." I told him I'd rather skip some meals than stop giving. We had lots of discussions about the topic. :)
We finally reached a "deal." I would pray for provision to be given specifically to ME. If that happened, I could use that to give gifts to others. That seemed fair. Well, lo and behold!, the heavens seemed to open and I got gifts from all over - designated for ME! It was mind boggling. After a few months, Floyd said "obviously God is with you in this.......I'm going to join you." And he became a big "giver" of gifts too. I think he outdid me! Floyd has been such a generous man. It has been a great joy of our life together to be "givers." Even in our poverty times, maybe especially in our poverty times, we gave. It has been life-giving and so rewarding.
The other day I was talking to my son about being rather extravagant in something he gave - and he said "well you're the one who brought me up this way." I felt soundly rebuked. :) I love his heart of giving!
In this Christmas season of giving - I'm thinking about the wonderful gift we've been given of having Jesus come to be the provision for our forgiveness of sins. I realize that my love of giving comes right from the heart of God in His giving His Son to us! Wow - what a gift!
I've also felt stirred that the greatest gift I can give this Christmas season is my worship to the Lord for His goodness, His mercy, His grace, His strength, His sustaining help, His comfort, His provision, His power.......the list goes on and on. There is so much to worship Him for. My heart is overflowing.
The problems don't go away. Floyd and I and our family are still walking along this path of our unexpected journey. One family member described it recently as still feeling very "surreal." The daily pain and trials of that are real and "in my face." But in the midst of that, I see God's hand of goodness and mercy continually. He has been and is helping me/us! I am so grateful. As fully as I can - I'm giving the gift of worship to the Lord this Christmas! It's a gift I love to give!
The amazing thing about giving this gift of worship to the Lord - is that the gift gives back to us! As we worship the Lord, it fills our hearts with light and life. It draws us closer to the Father. Our burdens become lighter. Our heart fills with joy. We gain a fresh perspective on the hard things we face. It increases our capacity to, in turn, receive from the Lord all we need. You've heard the phrase "the gift that keeps on giving" - worship is the ultimate gift that keeps giving! We give in worship to the Lord - and He in turn gives us joy overflowing in our lives. I often think that we receive more from worship than we give!
"Worship the Lord with joy; come before Him with happy songs!" Psalm 100:2
"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." 1 Chronicles 16:29
"We praise you, God, we praise you, for your name is near; people tell of your wonderful deeds." Psalm 75:1
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Psalm 150:6
"Thought the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18
"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom." Psalm 145:3
"I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise, for He has been good to me." Psalm 13:5,6
As we give and receive gifts this Christmas, let's make sure we are giving the gift of worship to our wonderful Lord! He has given us so much.
During the month of December I love reflecting on the Christmas story - and learning afresh from it. Each year I read through the passages with an open heart to see what God wants to say to me. The implications of the birth of Jesus - its impact on human history and on each of our lives is huge. I always feel that there's so much to learn from what happened.
I'm intrigued by the wise men of the Christmas story. We know only a little about them, and yet they played a key role in all that happened. In a time when communication over long distances was very difficult, all they had to go by was a star. Yet their devotion, their sense of calling and purpose was so strong that they travelled hundreds (thousands?) of miles to see and worship the "king" that the star heralded. I mean, who does that???
We don't really know all the details about the wise men - not even for sure that there were 3. There are legends, stories, and traditions mixed in with the Biblical text. But the essence of the story remains the same - they came a long way to see the new king, riding camels or horses, bringing gifts, and following some sign they saw in the sky.
It took a long time, so they were very serious about what they were doing. They were on a "mission" to find the new king and worship him. They even stopped to ask for help from Herod in getting directions.....which brought about a series of events that threatened the life of the baby Jesus. Then they journeyed on - until they found him.
It must have seemed strange to Mary and Joseph to have 3 strangers show up with expensive gifts explaining they had travelled from far away to come worship "the king." But I guess everything about the birth of Jesus was so different that by then it might have seemed normal. :) From everything we know, it wasn't a long visit. They worshipped and then they began the journey to return back home.
I have to assume that they somehow knew the way because there was no star to follow on the return journey.
I recently heard someone speaking of this narrative, explaining why the 3 wise men are called wise. It's not because they were of superior intelligence. It wasn't because of their titles or positions. It's because when God spoke to them in a dream to tell them to change their plans and go a different way than what they had planned......they obeyed. They were "wise" because of their humility in obeying - they were willing to change their plans in obedience to God's word as they journeyed home.
Whoever, whatever these men were - where they came from - how far they travelled - what gifts they gave - we have often centered our attention on those aspects of the story. But I think one of the key take aways is their heart of obedience - first to travel the long distance and fulfil the mission on their heart.......and then to be willing to change their plans when God spoke. They are a wonderful example to us!
How many times do we have "plans" - good plans, plans we've prayed about, plans that we think God has led us in. And then there's a change. We feel we're to do something different. All the work, all the effort, all the preparation is negated. It can feel like a big waste. It's hard to throw it all out and do something different. We don't like or want to change.
I've had this happen a number of times in my life. There have even been instances of this on our unexpected journey. I've learned that the key is to have an open heart to hear from the Lord - and be willing to change everything at His direction. I've sometimes argued with the Lord about this. "What about all the work I've done? What about all the expense that's gone into the preparation? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
We don't have to know the answers, the reasons - all we need is to have open hearts to follow the voice of the Lord in what He tells us to do or not do. It's that simple. The wise men showed us that. We can follow their example.
"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route." Matthew 2:9-12
"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9
" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.' " Jeremiah 29:11
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit' - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' " James 4:13-15
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." James 1:5
I am continually grateful that I don't have to rely on my own wisdom for all my plans and decisions. God has been a faithful guide. He is right beside us, directing our steps as we call on Him. He will show us the way - just as He did for the wise men.