When Life Don’t Easy
Last Sunday we crossed over the threshold of Advent season.
We prepare.
We anticipate.
We wait.
But the truth is that we often prepare out of need.
We anticipate because we look for relief.
We wait in our own darkness.
Advent squints to see beyond our present to a time when God shows up. Isn't it true that we all ride the waves from exultation and desperation? The cycles and fluctuations of life drive some away and others toward a life of faith. While we rise each day and dress and put our best foot forward, in our hearts we ache for more, for fullness, for deliverance from our demons. Advent reminds us that God is not done. He would come. He has come. He is here. He remains our hope and our destination. Listen to Marlena Graves talk about hope for those in the trough of life.
Fantastic deliverances in hopeless situations are not relegated to ancient history. Almighty God pulls off spectacular feats of deliverance daily. Indeed, God appears when all hope seems lost. We can trust in the mightiness of God. And, during Advent, we're reminded to trust the Promised One who came to us as a newborn babe yet held all the power and might of the universe and beyond in his tiny hands!
Waiting for a deliverance, for some, seems to come easy. To folks wired like me, who get frustrated if I miss an opening in a revolving door, not so much. I recall a special needs student who explained why he sometimes had outbursts. He simply said, "Life don't easy." I can relate. With so much to be thankful for, and following a God who has shown himself faithful time and again, why would I doubt a deliverance was on the way? But I often do.
We loop back to becoming a child and trusting in a Father who will not give us a stone when we ask for bread. But I run into problems when I insist on defining what the deliverance must look like. Let's say I pop a cancer. Is God only faithful to me if I am healed and clean? What if his deliverance looks like me learning as a son as he walks me through a hard place and even to death? Remembering that the lessons learned in these times are offered nowhere else in the curriculum guide, can ease the burden of the moment, a little bit. It still is a hard path to walk. Illness or abandonment or distress have a way of sharpening the focus on what is really important in life. When the day is done, we are delivered by a Savior who suffered, as we do. We are comforted by a Spirit who lives in us, whispering peace when circumstances scream chaos. And the Father sees through it all and calls us his beloved.
I believe that is part of what Paul was getting at in Philippians 4 when he talked about his circumstances.
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances may be. I know how to live when things are difficult and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular I have learned the secret of facing either plenty or poverty. I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me.
That's the hope of Advent. The Promised One is our deliverance. Hope wrapped in a diaper. Graves continues with this thought.
Are you in the wilderness in need of deliverance - in need of God in his might to intervene? We may not know how or when deliverance may come, but it will come. God always comes. Ask God to prepare your heart for his arrival and the deliverance that always comes with it.
How about this week spending some time with Jesus asking him to teach you what it looks like to hope in God and not in your circumstances. Pray for the contentment Paul talked about. Boldly ask for the deliverance coming your way, whatever shape it may take. As a child, crawl up into the Father's lap and listen for awhile. And say aloud, "I am His beloved."
And some music for the week.
and a couple of lame jokes to send you on your way...
A mangy looking guy goes into a nice restaurant and orders food.
The waiter says, "No way. I don't think you can pay for it."
The guy says, "You're right. I don't have any money, but if I show you something you haven't seen before, will you give me the food?"
"Deal!" replies the waiter.
The guy reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a hamster. He puts the hamster on the counter and it runs to the end, across the room, up the piano, jumps on the keyboard, and starts playing Gershwin songs. And the hamster is really good.
The waiter says, "You're right. I've never seen anything like that before. That hamster is truly good on the piano."
The guy downs the hamburger he ordered and asks the waiter for another.
"Money or another miracle," says the waiter.
The guy reaches into his coat again and pulls out a frog. He puts the frog on the counter, and the frog starts to sing. He has a marvelous voice and great pitch. A fine singer.
A stranger from the other end of the counter runs over to the guy and offers him $300 for the frog.
The guy says, "It's a deal." He takes the three hundred and gives the stranger the frog. The stranger runs out of the restaurant.
The waiter says to the guy, "Are you crazy? You sold a singing frog for $300? It must have been worth millions."
"Not so," says the guy, "the hamster is also a ventriloquist."
__________
A woman went to a walk-in clinic, where she was seen by a young, new doctor. After about three minutes in the examination room, the doctor told her she was pregnant. She burst out, screaming as she ran down the hall.
An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him what had happened.
After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another exam room.
The doctor marched down the hallway back to where the first doctor was and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 59 years old, has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was PREGNANT?!"
The young doctor continued to write on his clipboard, and without looking up, asked, "Does she still have the hiccups?"