Good morning…
The winds of December are already blowing wildly, and it is only day number three. Excess. Expectations. Extras galore. How much of this crazy do I bring on myself, speeding, scattering, struggling to do it all?
Today is the last day of our semester’s class and, for the life of me, I cannot find my book. I intended to share with you a final quote from Haley Ruth Barton’s Sacred Rhythms: Arranging our Lives For Spiritual Transformation. Yet in my speedy, scattered struggle, my book is no where to be found. I looked in all the familiar places, but no, no, no.
Stopped by the no, no, no, might God have something different for us to learn right now?
I pull out the single $10 gift I bought at our Holiday Market yesterday. See it pictured above? A simple white block of wood. It’s the exact size of my hand as I rest my palm upon it. I wonder to myself, “Did the artist set out to create two crosses among the black, random brush strokes or did the sacred pattern just mysteriously emerge?”
What emerges from the random brush strokes of our chaotic lives is the calming promise of the cross. Yes, the wild winds of the world are speeding beyond our control, and you may join me in my sense of scattered struggle, but there is a sacred pattern set in motion on the cross. We are drawn by God’s Spirit to John 16:33 in the Passion Translation. The words Jesus spoke to his first followers still ring true in our ears.
“And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!”
The footnote explains: “Jesus has taken away the power this world has to defeat us and has conquered it for us. Peace is resting in his victory.”
Peace.
Resting.
Victory.
Now Jesus’ words in John 14:27 (AMP) give us practical advice as we walk peacefully through the wild whirlwind of December. Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]
We are empowered to say no, no, no to being troubled and afraid, agitated and disturbed, fearful and intimidated, cowardly and unsettled. We say a wholehearted “YES” to receiving the peace only the living Christ can leave, give, bequeath. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel (Philippians 4:7, CEV).
…Sue…
P.S. If you live in Atlanta, give yourself the gift of coming to our Holiday Market. Make sure to visit me in the treehouse and take home some of “Sue’s Symbols of Our Soul.” Here are my gift buying guidelines:
1. Joyfully gather all the gifts you desire (jewelry, candles, journals, scarves, orphaned original art, flowers, framed angels and encouraging words).
2. Set your own price.
3. Donate in cash or use our printed Venmo code.
4. I will make a collective donation to Blue Skies Ministries, a non-profit providing beach vacations for families impacted by childhood cancer.
