by Elizabeth | Dec 29, 2010 | Learning Story
“Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15
Thus spoke the Spirit through a man named Jahaziel as Judah faced a terrifying, seemingly undefeatable enemy.
Yesterday arrived with clear enemies hovering. Our beloved, high-energy 20 pound Yorkie, only 7 years old, was awaking to a “spinal series” at the Auburn vet school clinic to determine if she had a herniated disc. And I thought you could only feel this kind of emotion when your children were sick.
I read this by Kevin DeYoung in his book The Good News We Almost Forgot: “If we were in a physical war, we would scout out our enemies’ positions each morning and plan carefully for possible attacks and counterattacks. But when it comes to spiritual battle, we suffer from gross overconfidence. Our sworn enemies — the flesh, the world, and the Devil — are not at rest, so neither should we be.” He continues to say that the best preparation for the daily spiritual battle is prayer.
DeYoung goes on to point out that “Amen” is not short for “prayer over” but means “This is sure to be!” He says, “Think of that next time you “Amen” your prayer. God is so gracious that He is more willing to hear our requests than we are sure that we actually want what we pray for.”
As it turned out, yesterday’s battle raged on many fronts. The temptation to just sit down in the middle of the floor and throw a major self-pity-party was high. My mom awoke very sick, hardly able to take three steps without a stabbing pain in her back flattening her. I waited to hear from the doctor. I encouraged her to try to get in to see her doctor. Fear beckoned me to enter its dark cave. Worry hovered like a swarm of angry hornets, threatening to cover me.
And I prayed. And not only prayed, but invited others to pray too. Scripture calls us to invite others to join us in spiritual battle.
Abbey’s doctor called and said the MRI suggested surgery for something pressing on her spinal cord. I called my husband, who agreed — we should go ahead. My mom’s doctor called and said there were too few doctors there today and we should go to an urgent care clinic. (Visions of swarms of sick people flew in my head!) We walked into a pristine waiting room where — no one — was waiting. Peace wrapped itself around me.
An hour later, my Mom and I left the clinic with a diagnosis of acute inflammation of the sacro-iliac joint and some meds to help. Around the same time, Abbey’s neurosurgeon (I know, a neurosurgeon for a dog?) called. She was awake. The surgery was involved. He had found something wrapped around a nerve. He had decompressed the disc. I was trying to concentrate on Atlanta traffic, so I didn’t hear a lot of what he said. I did hear the words “recover” and “back to her old self.”
As C.S. Lewis would say, “Aslan is on the move!” As the Christmas season (which is not yet over, by the way:) reminds us, we are not alone to fight daily battles or worse. God came near. And sometimes it is knowing that nearness and believing that even when we don’t know how to pray or aren’t sure what we are praying for is possible, God wants to hear our requests and plans to meet us in the midst of them. AMEN!
by Elizabeth | Dec 27, 2010 | Learning Story
One of my favorite gifts this Christmas is a new handcrafted nativity set given me by my children. After hearing me complain every year about the “white baby Jesus with blue eyes,” my eldest daughter spotted the perfect replacement at a Fair Trade sale. The kids all chipped in, and I love my new scene.
There is one thing that particularly intrigues me, though. The “baby” is the man-Jesus! Does anyone know anything about this? My daughter wasn’t completely sure of the originating country.
I wondered if it is the artist’s rendering of God becoming “man.” Could he/she have been trying to emphasize the humanity of Jesus? Or, did it possibly seem too scandalous to think of God enfleshed in baby? I’ll enjoy puzzling over this for years to come, and I’ll be so glad not to have a more “real” Jesus!
Meanwhile, If anyone knows anything about the man in the nativity set, be sure to let me know!
by Elizabeth | Dec 25, 2010 | Learning Story
Children, as so often with matters of the kingdom of God, have it right. Christmas is a great day to play. Yes, the story leading up to Christ’s birth is fraught with shadowy themes, and indeed, the story following — all the way to the Cross, has plenty of conflict. But it is a TRUE tale inviting celebration from beginning (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God!” (John 1) to the end:
“When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” (The Message, Colossians 2:14-15)
Many children will play hard and play well today. If you, like me, need a reminder to laugh at the joy and great humor of what this day is about — really, that God would become man, take 3:53 and enjoy this video of the Christmas story brought by St. Paul’s of New Zealand:
by Elizabeth | Dec 24, 2010 | Learning Story
Is it too soon to sing “Away in a Manger”?
When my children were little, I used to sing each one of them a song when I tucked them in. (For those who have heard me ‘sing,’ yes, I know, it could have done great harm to their ears. Once they got older, they politely suggested I read to them instead:).
One night when she was about 4, our eldest daughter, Jackie, sang ME a song:
“Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay,
close by me forever, and love me always.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care
And fit them for heaven to live with thee there.”
I had NEVER heard this stanza of “Away in a Manger,” and at first thought (being the proud mother that I am:), that perhaps she made it up. Then she told me she learned it in pre-school.
This stanza of simple little Christmas hymn has become one of my “go-to” prayers. When a day is getting a little rough, when I am met with insurmountable difficulties, when I hear of sorrows in a dear friend’s life, I pray so very simply, “Be near me [her, him], Lord Jesus…I ask you to stay close by FOREVER.” Even saying the words reminds me that he is indeed near, for God’s nearness as a human is what we celebrate at Christmas.
And as I am blowing my cool because I’m trying to make everyone in a household happy or because I’m worried about my sick dog, it is so good to remember that I don’t even have to ask Jesus to “love me always.” He does — when I’m the Christmas crank or the stubbornly-relenting-repenter.
The prayer reminds me that he is “fitting us for heaven” and that one day we will live eternally in restored shalom of renewed creation. Try it. Sing, ever so softly if you must, but let the breath exhale as you proclaim this little Christmas prayer of adoration and worship of our Savior-Child.
Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay
The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes
I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side,
‘Til morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray
Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there
NOTE: In my hymnbook, only three stanzas were listed. When I looked for the lyrics on the internet, I found it broken up differently and a couple of additional ones. Enjoy them all:)!
by Elizabeth | Dec 22, 2010 | Learning Story
As many times as I hear the Christmas narrative, new questions always come to mind. This week I was wondering whether or not Mary ever wondered during her pregnancy if this child would really be born. Most moms have at least a slight fear of miscarriage. So I just wondered.
My wondering probably has more to do with my own fears and sins that keep wanting to take back what I have offered to God (i.e. control over my life-story, including the health of all my beloved ones, the way my shoulder rehab goes, and when and how God chooses to fulfill plans for my ministry He has shown me.)
Because of my “Lord I believe, help my unbelief,” this song finds itself on my lips and in my hearts with frequency these days. It reminds me to open my clenched fists, to wait for the King to move powerfully again as He has done before.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
2. Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
by Elizabeth | Dec 20, 2010 | Learning Story
It’s that time of year…the time to pause in the rush, to “hurry toward Jesus,” to think about some of the words we actually sing at Christmas-time. Each day I will post some of the powerful lyrics from one of my favorite Christmas songs. What are yours? What good news do they bring to you? (Notice, I’m inserting returns between each line. The hope is to read them slowly, perhaps aloud, and engage our imaginations to see the power and majesty of the One we are singing about:)
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
“Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15
