"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Archive for December, 2011
The Quite Understated Way
Dec 29th
We all sat wondering why the choir had not returned from the break until the sound of their voices rose from behind the tall white walls. “Silent night. Holy night,” they sang, and the thick walls swallowed the sound of the ninety-person choir. From outside we heard only their muffled whispers. “Round yon Virgin mother and child.” And we all sat silent.
I wondered who had conceived that great illustration of the Silent Night. The power of the choir was not in their volume, but in their very understated position behind the wall—isolated, hidden, and yet still with us.
“Understated!” I thought, “That’s what it is! Understated.”
Understated describes God sending His Son to be born, not in a castle, or a mansion, not alongside the famous who might claim him as their own, but in a manger where he went unnoticed.
Understated describes God choosing a poor carpenter to surrogate The Son.
Understated describes the Father choosing a confused Jewish girl to birth The Son.
Understated describes The Son born in ignoble Bethlehem, not Jerusalem.
Understated describes The Son, for what it was worth, homeless at His birth.
Understated describes Mary giving birth in the cold stable, no nurse, no doctor, no sedative.
Understated describes the visitation of Continue Reading >>
But Mary Believed
Dec 27th
Suppose God were going to do something wonderful and in His search for a vessel He came upon — you. Suppose He asked you to lay your plans aside and submit to His will. What if His will didn’t include your comfort but predicted discomfort? You would be mocked as an adulterer and you would have to stand by as your beloved son – was crucified. Suppose He came to you and asked you to put aside your plans for the “perfect” family in exchange for His glory and His honor?
It seems like a poor deal, unless you believe this God to be THE God and His plans to be “plans to prosper, not to harm, plans to give hope and a future.” Sarah laughed, Zechariah doubted…but Mary believed. I am at once out-paced by her faith and humbled by her obedience.
Mary received the angel’s pronouncement with a few simple words, “I am the Lord’s servant.” She was, yet this young girl was not being promised fame without cost. A sword would indeed pierce her heart. As it is, we are not used to acting for the glory or benefit of another. Selflessness is far from natural, while selfishness is Continue Reading >>
Zacahariah’s Doubt
Dec 22nd
Zechariah had a problem, he was elderly and his wife Elizabeth was elderly, yet the angel Gabriel was telling him Elizabeth would have a baby. He was a righteous man, a Godly man, but when Gabriel spoke—Zechariah doubted. Read more as we head towards the celebration of our Lord’s birth. “Zechariah Doubted”
On Being Made Part III
Dec 16th
It was as though the whole universe was pressed into the size of a baby’s fist; as if eternity was forced into a moment of time; as if all goodness, grace, and love took human form; as if the All-Powerful One somehow made himself quite vulnerable; as if the all knowing one dressed himself in ignorance and walked among us. There He was, the One through whom all things were made, frail and needy, being held ever so cautiously in the crook of Mary’s arm. What do we make of the maker becoming one of the made?
It is understandable that we are being made. It makes sense that we are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory. That is because we are frail creatures, faulty and broken souls. We desperately need to be remade—God does not. It is we who have a need to be made new, a need to be made more human. It was for our sake that Christ became human, for our sake—Bethlehem!
I have many friends in many places and I love them all. But there are moments, hours, days of self doubt in which I might cling to the closest soul if they would just Continue Reading >>
