The most Wonder[FUL]…
The most Peace[FUL]…
…and now The most Hope[FUL]…
To all of these, we say “really?” Are you kidding? Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Have you read the news lately? Have you watched the news? Have you listened to the radio? Have you talked with your neighbors? Have you talked with your kids?
With all of the turmoil and tragedies that are unfolding in our city, in our nation and around the world, it may be the most FULL time of the year, but it seems anything but the most wonderful, the most peaceful, and the most hopeful! There are a ton of things that would suggest that disappointment and defeat, if not confusion and despair, would be the most reasonable response to the condition of our world.
However, disappointment, defeat, confusion and despair leaves out the content and context of our full reality. Yes, there are lots of difficult things in life, but in the midst of the difficulties, there is the distinct possibility that God is still present and acting out of His character and plan for our lives and for those around us. Sometimes we have to step back from our myopic point of view to see more of the landscape and horizon of what is happening. In the midst of all the ‘stirrings’ of our circumstances, God is still at work unfolding His ultimate plan.
It is not always evident to us, but if He is the God of the Scriptures, we see a God who is imposing His love, holiness, justice, patience and majesty on the world that we live. He gives and He takes away. He is not asleep at the wheel. He is not deterred by the evil of mankind. He is waiting for the ideal moment where He will reassert His earthly authority over all of mankind. But for now, He is patiently waiting for the hearts of men and women to turn toward Him. He is waiting for us to grow tired of the empty and inadequate plans we have devised for ourselves. He aches for us to reengage the blueprint He created us to live and find life in. He wants so badly to give us a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. There is, and never will be, any law against any of these qualities.
That is why, at Christmas time, we can be transformed by the astonishment of God’s expressed love for us by Him sending His Son to be among us and to be our savior. That is why we can be transformed into people of peace, who offer the world ‘shalom’; the fullness, the wholeness, the completeness and the uniqueness of all that God made us and to live the life that we were designed for. That is what we hope for, but our hope is not in our circumstances. Our hope is in Him.
See you Sunday to discover more about this very thing.