Waiting

The saga continues
with Roman emperors,
humble carpenters
and a Baby.

Shepherds, too,
experience angels (oh,
so many angelic visitations
these two chapters before His life.)

Waiting is rewarded. After nine months
Mary, with her babe
knows all is well. She guards
words in her heart.

Faithful Simeon and Anna
waiting at the temple
for the One.
Rewarded with His presence.

I may not see angels,
nor do I yet know the art
of waiting patiently.
Yet I practise
awaiting His presence.

Disbelief.

"And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.  When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home.  After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.  

“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Luke 1:20 - 25

A warning for our disbelief. 

How often do I not dare to believe that God really, really loves me enough to give me my deepest heart's desire? It may not be now - the timing is his - but He knows what is best.

This best, a son for Zacharias and Elizabeth, was long in coming.

Did they see him come to manhood?

Surely, old as they were, they would be spared the unjust tragedy of his death?

Elizabeth was unaware of his great destiny: “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.” 

Only Zachariah.

He returned home with heaven-sent knowledge which he could not share. 

(I wonder -  had they still been making love together, old as they were? Zachariah surely lay with Elizabeth on his return from Jerusalem - was she surprised?)

He could only watch in awe as Elizabeth's stomach slowly swelled

as the child grew in her.

Unbelievable.

Yet nothing is impossible - WITH GOD.

Dare to believe.

Accept His love.

Obey His word.

Waiting for perfection

Hope. Hope for...
something better,
suffering's end,
happiness.

We want perfection. We want no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears, no more mourning...no problems, no troubles, no hindrances, no annoyances...

Perfection not available this side of heaven.
We hope, we long for it, because God "has also set eternity in the human heart". He puts questions in our mind about the past and the future. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

Psalm 42 puts it like this: "These are the things I go over and over, emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd, right out in front, Leading them all,  eager to arrive and worship, Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He’s my God.

When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
everything I know of you,
...God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God’s prayer."

And so Louie Giglio reminds us of hope. Reminds us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith...

We wait. We wait for perfection. We wait for eternity. We wait for the Promise of Eternal Life.

We wait for Jesus.

Waiting - helpful notes

Waiting : Alie Stibbe Day by Day With God 7^th December 2014

Psalm 27                                              Seek His face

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord: be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Wanting things done quickly – out of a deep-seated sense of insecurity... if everything was ordered, in control and sorted out, then nothing could hurt.  BUT The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?...  If the Lord makes me wait, it si because he is working on thins ehind the scenes that I don’t need to know about:  BE STRONG: SEEK HIS FACE; WAIT.

Isaiah 40:27 – 31                               Latent strength

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

Wait = ‘qavah’ – connations of strength and the tension felt during endurance. A rope has latent strength, not seen until it is used.

Mounting up, running and walking are like the three strands of a rope in action: accessing spiritual power, physical and mental stamina from God.

Psalm 130:1 – 5                                 There is waiting...and waiting  

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord: Lord, hear my voice...I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

Wait = ‘qavah’ – endurance through an extended period of soul-felt anguish.

v 5 ‘wait’ = ‘yachal’= hope, wait expectantly, trust... for God, to keep his word and be true to his character.

While we wait/endure in the Lord’s strength, we wait’trust that he will come through for us.

Psalm 130:6 -8                                   As sure as the sunrise

I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning...

Hold on in there and watch in wonder: the darkenss will lighten in God’s good time.

Psalm 33                                              Timely delays

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope (yachal) is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope (chakah) for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

Expectant waiting (yachal) needs the added knowledge of how to ‘tarry’ (chakah). To wait for God’s timing.

Psalm 37:1 – 9                                    Waiting in silence

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Wait = damam’ = be still, be silent.  Tarry silently, without grumbling...

Putting our concerns into the Lord’s hands and renewing our hope in him frees us up to live our day with our hearts and minds at rest, so that we can do the tasks that need our immediate attention positively and constructively.

Exodus 14:13 – 14  (at the Red Sea) do not be afraid..stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will brin g you today.. The Lord will fight for you: you need only to be still.

Psalm 38:9 – 16                                 The God who answers

All my longings lie open before you, Lord: my sighing is not hidden from you... Lord, I wait for You: you will answer, lord my God.

Put it all down in a journal...wait in loaded silence for the Lord...wait for his whisper.

Lamentations 3:24 – 33                  What are you waiting for?

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance: therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

Are my longings God’s intentions or my own? The human heart is ‘deceitful above all things’ (Jeremiah 17:9)...nothing about the future is certain. The only certainties we have as we await are the promises in God’s word that pertain to his person and character.

When all is stripped away... the Lord is enough. He is sufficient and everything else is secondary.. So when you do not know what you are waiting for, wait for the Lord: he is and has eerything we need. We can be expectant about our future without knowing the details if we seek to stay close to him, and quietly trust that he has everything in hand.

Numbers 9:1 – 14                          Hold your horses

Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the Lord commands concerning you.”

Wait = ‘amad’ = physically stand still.  “Stop right there!” – policeman with his hand up!

By waiting, the solution to our indignant complaint becomes clearer and the Lord’s will in the situation can be done.

Joshua 18:1 – 10                             Caught in the headlights

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the god of your ancestors, has given you?”

Waiting can turn from being a spiritual discipline into an aspect of fear.  The Israelites were frightened to go into the promised land.

The reasons most people fail to take a course of action is fear: fear of failure, fear of being rejected, fear that something might not live up to what we expected, or fear of making the wrong decision.

If we don’t decide to make a move one way or another, like the rabbit sitting in the headlights, we are going to get squashed. It took courage for the spies to go into the promised land and surey what lay ahead.... Is the Lord encouraging you to look ahead and see what he has waiting for you if you had the courage at least to take a look?

Ruth 3                                                 Bottleneck moments

Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens.”

Remember this verse, when part of waiting on the Lord has involved depending on other people to make a decision or do something.

Wait = ‘yashab’ = to sit down, to dwell/have one’s abode.   We need to ‘dwell’, to set up camp in the presence of the Lord...abide in the Lord’s love, not in anxious thoughts.

Psalm 106:1 – 18                               Don’t have a goldfish brain

And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them. They soon forgot his works: they waited not for his counsel: but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness...And (God) gave them their request: but sent leanness into their soul.

We forget... what God has already done and that the Lord kows the plans he has foer us and has promised us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

If the Lord calls you to wait, do not hasten to drag the perceived endpoint to the place where you are: the result will almost certainly be leanness of soul or a degree of spiritual death. Tarry instead for the Lord’s blessing.

Isaiah 26:1 – 9                                  Obey while you wait

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

While waiting, be obedient: just keep on doing the right thing, one small step at a time, one day at a time.  Stay rested and concentrate – make sure I stay within his ways by doing the right thing while I wait.

Psalm 5                                              Wait deliberately

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice: in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

Wait = ‘tsaphah’ like  a watchman from a tower, or like a prophet who looks out across time and sees the future as God revewals it to him. Also used of the noble wife who watches over the affairs of her household (Proverbs 31:27)

Meet with the Lord in the morning, not vacantly or routinely but to survey the day with eyes enlightened by his Holy Spirit, so that we can pray, be open to the Lord’s leading and plan effectively.

Intentional waiting prepares us for what the Lord has prepared for us so that everything we do ushers in his kingdom a little bit more.

Easter Saturday: living in the not yet.

Wise words from John Ortberg through Devotionals Daily at Faith Gateway:

"So far as we know, there has only been one day in the last two thousand years when literally not one person in the world believed Jesus was alive.

On Saturday morning after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples wake after not having slept for two days. The city that was screaming for blood the day before is quiet. Crowds have disbanded. Jesus is dead.

What do they do on Saturday?

It’s strange that the two days on either side of Saturday are so heavily discussed. Some of the brightest minds in the world have devoted themselves primarily to those two days; they have been across the centuries maybe the two most studied days in history. The Bible is full of what happened the day before, the day Jesus was killed. And the next day, Sunday, is the day believers say gave birth to the most death-defying, grave-defeating, fear-destroying, hope-inspiring, transcendent joy in the history of the world. Pentecostals still shout about it. Charismatics still dance because of it. Baptists still say Amen! over it. Presbyterians still study it. Episcopalians still toast it with sherry. Some people think of Sunday in mellower terms, as a metaphor for hope. And others think of it as a dangerous enemy of logic, reason, and mortality.
Let’s just leave Sunday alone for now.

This isn’t Sunday. This isn’t Friday. This is Saturday. The day after this but the day before that. The day after a prayer gets prayed but there is no answer on the way. The day after a soul gets crushed way down but there’s no promise of ever getting up off the mat.

It’s a strange day, this in-between day. In between despair and joy. In between confusion and clarity. In between bad news and good news. In between darkness and light.

Even in the Bible - outside of one detail about guards being posted to watch the tomb - we’re told nothing about Saturday. Saturday is the day with no name, the day when nothing happened.

Now only a handful of followers remain. Friday was a nightmare day; Friday was the kind of day that is pure terror, the kind when you run on adrenaline. On Saturday when Jesus’ followers wake up, the terror is past, at least for the moment; the adrenaline is gone.

Those who believe in Jesus gather, quietly maybe. They remember. It’s what people do. Things He said. What He taught. Things He did. People He touched or healed. They remember what it felt like when this Jesus wanted them. They remember their hopes and dreams. They were going to change the world.

Now it’s Saturday.

Maybe they talk about what went wrong. What in God’s name happened? None of them wants to say this, but in their hearts, they’re trying to come to grips with this unfathomable thought: Jesus failed. Jesus ended up a failure. Noble attempt, but He couldn’t get enough followers.

He couldn’t convince the chief priests. He couldn’t win over Rome to make peace. He couldn’t get enough ordinary people to understand His message. He couldn’t even train His disciples to be courageous at the moment of great crisis.

Everybody knows Saturday.

Saturday is the day your dream died. You wake up and you’re still alive. You have to go on, but you don’t know how. Worse, you don’t know why.

This odd day raises a question: Why is there a Saturday? It doesn’t seem to further the story line at all. We might expect that if Jesus was going to be crucified then resurrected, God would just get on with it. It seems strange for God to spread two events over three days.

In its own way, perhaps Saturday should mark the world as much as Friday and Sunday.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday lie at the heart of the ancient calendar. They attributed great significance to the notion that this event was a three-day story.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day [Paul adds again] according to the Scriptures.” The Old Testament Scriptures are filled with what might be called “third-day stories.” When Abraham is afraid he’s going to have to sacrifice Isaac, he sees the sacrifice that will save his son’s life on the third day. Joseph’s brothers get put in prison, and they’re released on the third day. Israelite spies are told by Rahab to hide from their enemies, and then they’ll be safe on the third day. When Esther hears that her people are going to be slaughtered, she goes away to fast and pray. On the third day, the king receives her favorably.

It’s such a recurring pattern that the prophet Hosea says, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces... After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence.” All three-day stories share a structure. On the first day there is trouble, and on the third day there is deliverance. On the second day, there is nothing - just the continuation of trouble.

The problem with third-day stories is, you don’t know it’s a third-day story until the third day.

When it’s Friday, when it’s Saturday, as far as you know, deliverance is never going to come. It may just be a one-day story, and that one day of trouble may last the rest of your life.


* * *

I said before that Saturday is the day when nothing happens. That’s not quite right. Silence happens on Saturday. After trouble hits you, after the agony of Friday, you call out to God. “Hear me! Listen to me! Respond to me! Do something! Say something! Rescue!”

Nothing.

On Saturday, in addition to the pain of Friday, there is the pain of silence and absence of God.

When C. S. Lewis wrote his memoirs about coming to faith in Jesus, he called it Surprised by Joy. The book is about how his love of joy led him to faith in Jesus, and he actually took as the title a phrase in a poem by William Wordsworth. When Lewis wrote the book, he was a fifty-seven-year-old bachelor. He had met a woman named Joy whom, after the book was published, he ended up marrying. His friends enjoyed teasing him that he really had been surprised by Joy.

After a lifetime of waiting, Lewis knew love only briefly. Joy died soon after they were married of cancer, a lingering, very painful death.

So Lewis wrote another book: A Grief Observed. A Saturday book.

When you are happy, so happy you have no sense of needing God, so happy you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be - or so it feels - welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become... What can this mean?

Why is He so present a Commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?

A husband, a father, wants more than anything in the world to save his marriage. His wife will not listen and will not help. He is not perfect (not by a long shot), but he wants to do a really good thing. He can’t find out why his wife won’t respond to him, and he can’t stand what it’s doing to his children. Heaven is silent.

A mom and a dad find out the child they love has a terminal illness. They pray like crazy but hear only silence. She’s getting worse. You lose a job. You lose a friend. You lose your health. You have a dream for your child. And on Friday, it dies. What do you do on Saturday?

You can choose despair. Paul writes about this: “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” In other words, apparently some people said, “There is never going to be a Sunday. It’s Friday. Get used to it. Do disappointment management, because that’s as good as it’s going to get.” Some people - silently, secretly - live here. You can choose denial - simplistic explanations, impatience, easy answers, artificial pleasantness. Hydroplane over authentic humanity, forced optimism, clichéd formulas, false triumphalism.

Paul wrote to Timothy that some “say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.” In other words, apparently some said, “It’s already Sunday. The resurrection has already happened for all of us, so if you’re having any problems, if you’re still sick, if your prayers aren’t being answered, you just don’t have enough faith. Get with the program.” Or there is this third option:

You can wait. Work with God even when He feels far away. Rest. Ask. Whine. Complain. Trust.

Oddly, the most common psalm is the psalm of complaint. The Saturday psalm. God, why aren’t you listening?

* * *

An ancient homily spoke of this strange day: What happened today on earth? There is a great silence - a great silence and stillness. A great silence because the King sleeps. God has died in the flesh, and hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent as for a lost sheep.

The Apostles’ Creed says Jesus descended into hell.

Somehow no suffering you go through is suffering Jesus will not endure in order to save you.

From a human standpoint, we think of the miraculous day as Sunday, the day the man Jesus is risen from the dead. I wonder if, from Heaven’s standpoint, the great miracle isn’t on Saturday. When Jesus is born, the skies are filled with the heavenly hosts praising God because that baby is Emmanuel, God with us. Somehow God in a manger, somehow God in a stable, somehow God on earth. Now on Saturday the angels look down and see what? God in a tomb.

The miracle of Sunday is that a dead man lives. The miracle of Saturday is that the eternal Son of God lies dead.

So Jesus Christ defeats our great enemy death not by proclaiming His invincibility over it but by submitting Himself to it. If you can find this Jesus in a grave, if you can find Him in death, if you can find Him in hell, where can you not find Him? Where will He not turn up?"

And today, as I read of Jacob wrestling with God, I am reminded of how God teaches us, again and again, to wait for him, to watch, to wrestle in prayer to hold on to him.

Even when I live in Saturday.

Stepping out

A theme of new, of stepping out, of pushing out:

Bonne Gray talks about our fears of trying something new. Of how "we are often afraid to try something new -- of stepping out to be vulnerable with our love because we are afraid of looking foolish or being disappointed."
 
At a course I was on at the weekend, the speaker suddenly started speaking about the need to push out into the world...

And in the stepping out, there is also waiting. I have been waiting and working out a decision for some time. Getting there. But there has been great satisfaction in the waiting.  Some notes from John Comer, the context love and marriage, but the principles of waiting universally applicable to life:
 
"Waiting is a part of life. .. There’s always something on the horizon, just out of your reach. Graduation, a job, an experience, a dream you’re working toward — the list is endless.

The trick is to learn how to wait well.
 
Psalm 37

King David was no stranger to waiting. He spent thirteen years between his anointing as king and his coronation. That’s brutal.

When God has put something in you and you know it’s from the Spirit and it’s bursting to get out, but... nothing... happens. It’s torture. Waterboarding on the soul.

David spent most of that time on the run as a fugitive from his jealous rival, King Saul. He spent years hiding under rocks in the desert.

Waiting.

Psalm 37 was probably written during that time. At En Gedi or in some alcove tucked into a mountain. It’s a raw, unfiltered poem, one that questions if God’s ever going to come through. And if so, when? How much longer?

The psalm reads...
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

For thousands of years, people like you and me have found solace in David’s lyrics. Because David’s story is our story. His lament is our lament. We all know what it feels like to be stuck waiting when we feel like we’re ready to move on. When “those who are evil” thrive and flourish and get ahead, and we shrivel up on the inside and fall behind and scrape by.

How is it that people who don’t follow God’s way sometimes do well? Really well. How is it that those of us who do follow God sometimes limp along. How is that fair? ... And how is it that thousands of Jesus followers work and fight and pray to do life God’s way, but end up alone?

The truth is that God’s wisdom ...works as a general rule — not as a “promise from God” in every scenario, all the time, but as wisdom. As a general rule, people who follow the way of Jesus thrive, and people who buy into culture’s way don’t. But there are exceptions all over the place. And it’s the exceptions that get under our skin — that make us question why we should go through all this trouble if people who take the easy route sometimes do just fine.

David’s answer is, “Just wait”... “Like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.” It’s only a matter of time until the bottom falls out. A relationship that was built on the sand will fall. It might take a year or a decade or longer, but it will fall. Of course, that’s not God’s heart — He’s all about healing and re-creation. The second you turn over your life to God, He’s right there, waiting to reset the foundation in your cracked relationship, because if you don’t get the foundation right, you’re in for disaster.

The way of Jesus is so different from the world. And Jesus’ way is good, but it’s hard. Really hard at times. Every cell in your body wants to cave in, to take matters into your own hands. To follow the crowd, not the Rabbi from Nazareth.
                                
David says, “Just wait. Life isn’t over yet.” But waiting is hard to do. That’s why David’s call is to “wait patiently” for the Lord. ... don’t forget that God is with you, right now. You’re not solitary. You’re not alone.

You see, we’re not just waiting for God. We’re waiting with God.

Waiting is active, not passive. Notice the language. Trust, do good, dwell, enjoy, take delight in, commit, be still — seven staccato commands all leading up to “wait patiently” for the Lord. Each one is dripping with implications.


Notice how much is crammed into that last phrase. The imagery isn’t of a guy sitting in a waiting room, bored out of his mind, waiting for God to call his name. It’s of trusting, doing, dwelling, enjoying, cultivating, delighting, committing — it’s of a man or a woman walking with God into the future.


The reality is that there’s so much work to be done right now./. There’s so much that has to happen in your life to shape you into the kind of man or woman who’s ready for that next step.

... All we can do is work hard to become the kind of man or woman Jesus is calling us to be...
David wrote, “Those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.” There is a land — a life rich with God’s blessing — that can be yours, but so much of it depends on waiting well."

Advent begins

Waiting: overcoming shame...

In these first days of our Advent season, I read of the origins of Jesus Christ, of how he was
"David’s son, Abraham’s son:Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Judah and his brothers, Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar), Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Aram..."

All the way down to "Joseph, Mary’s husband, the Mary who gave birth to Jesus, the Jesus who was called Christ."

All the way down to Joseph. Who was not Jesus' father.

So, as scholars pored the genealogies, the generations upon generations, looking at David's progeny, did it ever cross their minds that the coming King would not be kingly, as they imagined? Did they look at abilities and prowess, at connection and dedication, wondering who would be that King to succeed their own king David?

Did any of them ever have an inkling?

As I consider Jesus's 'noble' birth, traced all the way back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I see something less savoury in Jacob's sons. Judah.

Judah, who collaborated and connived with his brothers to eliminate his younger brother Joseph.
Judah, who wanted his brother dead and gone from the family.
Judah, who, even so, set great store by family and sold his brother rather than killing him.
Judah, who set great store by family and sold his brother into the living death of slavery.
Judah, who set great store by family, and wanted his widowed daughter-in-law to sleep with her brother-in-law and so have children 'for' his dead son.
Judah, who slept with a prostitute - or so he thought. Was he married? Was it only this one time? I wouldn't think so. The woman was covered with a veil, disguised, so he could hardly have been overwhelmed by her beauty.
Judah, who slept with his own widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar, after neglecting to provide another husband for her.
Judah, the man who wouldn't even pay for his favours directly, but got a friend to do it for him.
Judah, the callous and judgemental, who wanted his pregnant daughter-in-law burned to death for her adultery.
Judah, who fathered twins with Tamar, the second of whom was born first and who took the kingly line down to Jesus.

And what of Tamar? A woman given first to one man, then, when he died, his brother. A woman who took desperate measures to become a mother. A cunning woman, who engineered sex with her father-in-law so that her child/children would remain in the family. A clever woman who, in this way, protected herself from punishment and death.

God took the jealous, the callous, the harsh, the immoral, the judgemental Judah and included him in Jesus' ancestors.
God took the broken, the powerless, the rejected, the neglected, the shamed, the desperate Tamar and included her in Jesus' ancestors.

And this was not all. We are influenced by genes and upbringing, influenced (but not defined) by our ancestry. We read, in great men's obituaries, of wonderfully gifted and great ancestors whose inheritance has helped shape their progeny. When we look at the genealogy of Jesus, he turns this upside down.  Jesus' family story shouts of immorality, depravity, selfishness and shame.

Jesse, who ignored and neglected his best son, David.
David - wonderful man of God, yet a murderer and adulterer also.
Solomon - a wise yet licentious king who squandered his inheritance on good living and left a divided kingdom as his legacy.
Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), who was king of Israel for only three months before he was deposed by King Nebuchadnezzar, captured and taken in abject slavery like an animal, to a foreign country. He ended his days there, 'freed' from prison only after 37 years, spending the rest of his life under the king's eye.

The rest of the list in Matthew 1, regardless of whether kings are included,  shouts of obscurity.

Jesus brings us morality, righteous living, unselfishness and GRACE.

God INCLUDES us, in our shame and disgrace, in his glorious family. Perhaps, this Christmas, it is time to give ourselves a gift.  The gift of giving ourselves "a life no longer controlled by the shame of the past.", 
Jesus has redeemed us, given us great worth and value. We can accept that gift in accepting freedom for ourselves.

One such woman who did this was Elizabeth. She is the first woman we read about in Luke's account of the birth of Jesus. She derived great honour from HER ancestry - she was descended from one of Aaron's daughters - yet she was childless. Barren. This was the ultimate disgrace. Childlessness was considered a curse from God for guilt and wrongdoing, a punishment for unfaithfulness. Luke tells us that Elizabeth could never conceive and could not have children. Surely Elizabeth should have been a bitter, angry woman who cursed her fate, always craving for that which she could not have.

Yet she was not. Elizabeth and Zechariah, a temple priest, (also descended from the priestly line) lived "honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God."

The name Zechariah means "he who remembers Jehovah,” or, perhaps, “he whom Jehovah remembers,” Elisabeth means "my god is my oath" or "devoted to God".

Indeed. These wonderful, godly people were to become parents of John the Baptist, he in turn so devoted to God that he became a prophet, living of God's sustenance in the desert, prophesying and preaching repentance to prepare the heart of God's people for the coming Messiah. The contrast of these quiet, good lives in the midst of corrupt, evil times - 'the time of Herod' - shines out. History has shown how pivotal they were; but it would not have felt like that to them. They could not have dreamed, in the middle of their humdrum daily devotion, of the events that would come. Least of all a miraculous - because it was, indeed, a miracle that Elisabeth became pregnant - conception.

Suffering

Wonderful post on suffering here.

On truth.

On "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (2 Cor 1:8,9,)

On expectation. And waiting.

http://natepyle.com

And Bob reposts this from Christianity Today:

"But the real question is why not me? God had never promised that I would sidestep suffering, that my wife would forever remain healthy, or that I would succeed as a pastor. In fact, Jesus repeatedly calls upon the disciples to count the cost of following him, to recognize that they will be hated by others, to bear crosses, and even die to self. Moreover, many others have lived far better lives than I and have still experienced tremendous difficulty. Just ask Jesus, or the apostle Paul, or Corrie ten Boom, or Martin Luther King Jr. If such faithful servants of Christ could suffer so profoundly, why not me? "

Worth reading the whole article.

Intrigued

The king accepts Esther's invitation and commands Haman to go with him.

Haman must have been so pleased: singled out for attention by the king and queen, as was his due. 

"So the king and Haman joined Esther at the dinner she had arranged. As they were drinking the wine, the king said, “Now, what is it you want? Half of my kingdom isn’t too much to ask! Just ask.”

Esther answered, “Here’s what I want. If the king favors me and is pleased to do what I desire and ask, let the king and Haman come again tomorrow to the dinner... Then I’ll give a straight answer to the king’s question.” "

The king has realised that Esther has something important to ask and is still feeling beneficent towards her. Again, he offers her virtually anything she wants.

Yet she doesn't ask. Does her courage fail her, particularly in front of Haman? Or is she deliberately building up the tension, to make the king even more curious and to show him just how important this question is to her?

Surely the matter is urgent. If she succeeds, messengers must go to all parts of the empire to rescind the order to massacre the Jews. If she delays, it could be too late. Still, the delay of one day - particularly in times when the pace of life was laboriously slow - was less important than complete success.

Proverbs 25:11 reminds that "The right word at the right time is like precious gold  set in silver."

Good words are exquisitely beautiful, full of God's grace and love. Not a gift I naturally have - I am more prone to blurt out the wrong thing. Good words benefit not only the hearer, but they add to inner beauty.

Esther builds up the tension. And Haman, in his vanity, only feels pride. Often, I am more like Haman than Esther, but, with God's grace, I do not have to stay that way...

"But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.

So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin." Romans 7:23 - 25

Because "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."

Esther 5:6 - 8

Waiting and preparation

As Esther joins the harem, she gets special beauty treatments in preparation for meeting the king. It seems to take five years before she actually gets to meet the king (beauty treatments took a year, but then the girls were taken in turn to the king), but then he falls in love with her straightaway and makes her his queen. There are great celebrations: a special dinner, a national holiday, and Esther joins the wives.

It was all worth waiting for.

Esther has made friends, especially the king's personal servant Hegai who had advised Esther and told her what to take with her when she went to the king. (I can't begin to imagine all the sexual tricks and contrivances Esther had probably become acquainted with during her time of preparation. I'm not going there.)

She is queen, with a hugely prominent position within the country.

And what, in this situation, did Esther see as 'good'? Would she have preferred to stay with Mordecai, living simply and humbly away from palace intrigue? Or in the security of the harem, rather than becoming queen...did the shadow of Vashti and her downfall loom over her? Or was she simply delighted to have become Xerxes' wife?....

Who would have thought that an orphaned foreigner could attain such heights?

Esther 2:12 - 18

Advent. The Beginning.

Just a few days more. Christmas arrives.
Our celebration that the King has come.
Mary waited long for Jesus, but
this was just the Beginning of his time.

When a child is born, we look forward
to each new step in life development.
Smiling and laughing, walking, talking,
new teeth, learning, ever-growing, changing.

Christmas is not an end in itself,
but the start of a wonderful journey
in life with Jesus, talking, walking,
as new hearts turn towards the Lord of life.

As Jesus grew in stature, wisdom,
in family, with friends, community,
so we, too, continue in his steps
learning to live life and love as he did.

Advent. Darkness

In the darkness

of the late afternoon

a heavy sadness

comes upon my soul.

This Advent is a lonely time.

Loved ones so far:

my heart longs to see them.

I am so burdened

by this sense of distance.

This Advent, I long for peace.

Mary, without

mother, sisters or friends

waited all alone

for the coming babe.

This Advent is a waiting game.

In the darkness

of the late afternoon

I give Him my pain

and look up with thanks.

This Advent will be a joyful time.

I keep my eyes

fixed hopefully on Him

who is my Saviour

in these troubled days.

This Advent, I choose to praise.

Louie speaks of waiting.  Lisa writes so beautifully of waiting in the dark:

There is a time
in that long last hour
we begin to believe
it will always
be night

In the spreading pool of dark
there is a silence
so profound
it carries
weight

And cold?
It fills us

Immobilized by
this invading
lack of
light

We are numb

Speak to the night
my heart

Speak to the night
a word of hope

This bitter blackness
This copious and
convincing cold

Cannot
Will not
Shall not
last

Hold on
to this

Salvation
comes

-lisa, 15 December, 2013

Advent. Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting for the King to come,
our hopes fulfilled.

Waiting for health to return,
spirits to rise.

Waiting for dreams to come true,
joy to return.

Waiting for relationship restored,
hearts rejoined.

Waiting for loved ones' return,
aching for embrace.

Waiting.

We wait. In hope. In His hope. In the hope of Him.

Looking beyond..to Easter Sunday...before the evening.

Bonnie over at incourage talks about how the disciples must have felt that Sunday morning: 'On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”'  (John 20:19, NIV)

She notes: "They are locked in room...Unable to fathom what life would look like on the other side of the door.
They are afraid. Feeling trapped. Guilty. At a loss for words.
Yet, their hearts and minds were overrun by questions of now-what, what-if, how, when, who and why.
But, still, there is no easy way out.
Even though Peter and John had both seen the linens discarded in the tomb. They too had retreated behind closed doors.
Without clarity.  They’ve never gone this way before.  They were so sure, so confident of the way Jesus was leading them.
Now, uncertainty is all that seems to consumes them.
So unexpected.  So all alone.

This is how He comes to them.
Jesus comes to them — not just behind closed doors.
The doors were locked....

Jesus...continues to come to me now.
Even through locked doors.
Jesus knows how to enter. Even if I don’t.
Jesus is the name I can call on.
Jesus is my hope through the storm."

She echoes my thoughts. Faced with uncertainty on many levels - not least, where my church 'home' might be and how that is changing - I feel like this. Trapped behind locked doors. Without clarity. Trying to peer through fog to discern the way forward.

I am waiting. Waiting for Jesus to come, to show me the way. For Jesus is the name I honour, and that has to come before my fears, my insecurities, my anxieties, my puzzlement and my confusion.
"He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)

"Jesus is the name we honour;
Jesus is the name we praise.
Majestic Name above all other names,
The highest heaven and earth proclaim
That Jesus is our God.

Chorus.
We will glorify,
We will lift Him high,
We will give Him honour and praise.
We will glorify,
We will lift Him high,
We will give Him honour and praise.

2.
Jesus is the name we worship;
Jesus is the name we trust.
He is the King above all other kings,
Let all creation stand and sing
That Jesus is our God.

3.
Jesus is the Father’s splendour;
Jesus is the Father’s joy.
He will return to reign in majesty,
And every eye at last shall see
That Jesus is our God."

Phil Lawson Johnston   Copyright © 1991 Thankyou Music

Waiting

Can you describe a time when you were waiting for something to happen or someone to visit?  How did you feel?

Today we’re thinking about waiting on the Lord.  Christian-speak, even jargon, often heard.  Waiting for...what?

Something to happen. Something to change a situation, a person.

How often do we ‘wait on the Lord’ to hear Him SPEAK to us?

What should we wait FOR?

The right gift. Acts 1:4 - 5, NIV  On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command:“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The right person. A Messiah to save us.  John 4:25-27  The Message

 ²⁵The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."

 ²⁶"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."

We don’t need to look anywhere else when we are in trouble. Not to family, or friends, or man-made solutions. Just Jesus. And we have the gift of the person of the Holy Spirit, so...first response: prayer!

The right time. John 7 (NIV)

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want^[a] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.⁸ You go to the festival. I am not^[b] going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

The right response:

Can you think of a time when you waited impatiently but realised afterwards that the timing, when it actually happened, was perfect? What about when a delay doesn’t seem good, even in retrospect? How do we reconcile that? Can you think of changes – perhaps in the situation, maybe even in yourself, in your attitude – which were good in spite of the delay?

James 5:7-8 The Message Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master's Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

What does ‘waiting on the Lord’ look like? How do we do it?

As I was preparing this, an email from Ed, a Christian writer whose blog I follow, dropped into my inbox with an attention-grabbing ‘ping’.

Do you ever find yourself hoping for an email or a text from a friend or family member? You wait and wait, but nothing happens?  Perhaps you have asked a question, or, after a long message, are hoping for a response, an acknowledgement even, something which communicates that the other person has been glad to hear from you?  I’d like God to ‘ping’ me an email or a text, a quick response to a request or an out of the blue message which connects my emotions to him.

If I’m not waiting at the computer, or near my phone, I won’t hear that alluring ‘ping’.

What does that look like in my life with God?

Ed says this:

“I lug a copy of the Divine Hours around the house all day in an attempt to remember to pray a few times throughout the day.

I jot down notes during the sermon.

I sing the same slow song each week at church as a confession of my sins.

I crunch on a juice-stained wafer for communion.

I read a bit of the Bible each morning while eating breakfast.

This is not exciting stuff by any measure. I often have to force myself to open my prayer book in the middle of a busy day or to put aside an amusing book at bed time in order to focus on the Compline. Watching a hockey game, even a Bluejackets game, strikes me as a bit more exciting than prayer or sitting around at church.....

I need to do these “boring” things because they reorient me. Oftentimes I don’t even perceive the ways I’ve been drifting away from God and from others before it’s too late. Lots of times sin works like that: we drift away little by little until temptation pounces on us when we’re far away from God and our defenses are down.

There is something effective and necessary about the daily gentle prods of prayer, scripture reading, and worshipping in community. They aren’t magical remedies for sinful ailments, but they can provide the timely pushes, the sustaining words, and the stories we need to stay on track, to draw near to Jesus, and to stay there.”

So ‘waiting on God’ means drawing near to him with conscious choices to pray, to read, to listen to others speak His truth...

Galatians 5:4-5 The Message When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit.

This is why we would do all these things – to deepen our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Above all, we wait with eagerness and expectation, LOOKING FORWARD to what is coming.

Romans 5:3-6 There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

 ^6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway.

Romans 8:18-25  The Message

 ^18-21That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

 ^22-25All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

So waiting is for now, and for the life to come. This is the verse which most helps me wait:

Hebrews 12:2  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In The Message: Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

 ^1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

I’m there, way back from the starting line of the Marathon, walking slowly forwards. Right at the back, but I’ll get there.  

Encouragement in ...difficult times

I didn't expect to reach a time of despair doubt.  I'm not allowed to feel despairing: Paul didn't, so I mustn't. He was just 'perplexed'.  Still, the dictionary gives 'a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.Distrust. A state of affairs such as to occasion uncertainty.'
That's where I am. With a chronically sick husband, unable to work at the moment, we wonder if he will ever be well. He doubts it. And with the doubt comes uncertainty, and depression.
I'm too physically and emotionally drained to even start searching for wonderful blogs for some encouragement. Which is just as well, since they pop into my mail box without my even looking.
When we married, we became as one. When he hurts, I hurt. When he is down, I struggle. So when I read some wonderful advice from Holley Gerth on 3 simple ways to help someone in my life, my attention was caught. She says:

As a life coach and counselor I'm often asked, "How do I help this person in my life?" There's a simple strategy you can use when someone shares with you--whether it's a coworker having a bad day, a relative facing a sudden crisis, or someone at church who's confiding a struggle. Think of these three steps as your trump card. They let you always play an ACE that helps those in your life win.   

A - Affirm the emotion God gave us a part of our brains called the amygdala that takes care of our flight or fight response. It lets us take action quickly (like when a bear is running after us). While we don't face many physical dangers in our lives, emotional stress causes this system to kick in as well. When you're dealing with a stressed out person you're talking to their amygdala. This is not about rational thought. Express a message that says, "Hey, I recognize your emotion and validate it." That calms the flight/fight response and lets the decision-making part of our brains (the prefrontal cortex) kick in and start doing its job. {Example: "Wow, you sound really frustrated. What happened?"} 

C - Call out the best in the person In our most stressful moments, we all have a tendency to feel overwhelmed by guilt and a feeling that we're not living up to our own or others' expectations. Or we simply forget who we are in the heat of the moment and act in ways uncharacteristic of us. What we often need most is someone who can see through to our hearts and remind us of who we really are--the best of us--at the worst of times. That can help us refocus on what matters most and move forward in positive ways.  {Example: "I've seen you deal with situations like this before. Your strength and love for others always shines through in the end. I know it will this time too." 

E - Encourage the next step Here's a secret: life coaches and counselors don't have the solutions. In all of my training, what's been emphasized most is not magic-bullet cure-all approaches. Instead it's being a partner on that person's journey with God to finding their own answers. Usually, they've already got what they need--it's just a matter of providing a safe space for it to come out. Resist the urge to give advice or tell others what to do. It's one of the greatest gifts you can offer (and much harder than it seems).

{Example: "I care about you and I wish you weren't going through this. Now that we've talked about it for a few minutes, what do you think you'll do next"?}

At this point, the person may respond with another emotion. For example, she might say, "I don't know. I'm just really hurt." If so, start back with A and go through the process again. We often try to make helping others more complicated than it really needs to be. Practice this approach and then make it your own. You are often the best gift you can offer someone who is hurting and you truly do make a difference.

Still, it doesn't work for me in this situation. But right underneath this mail was another, from Bonnie at Faith Barista: Autumn's song: what we fear and how God heals. All about change, a time to let go: of problems, people, places and even dreams that we were never meant to carry. Scary scary stuff.

Bonnie gives me hope. I can't quite believe it, that there is light at the other end of the tunnel - I suffer doubt.  I suffer uncertainty about the truth and uncertainty about our future. Yet she gives me hope to cling on to a God who is good, who wants my best, who loves me. I 'just' have to surrender 'my' best to him and wait - and hope - that I recognize HIS best when it comes in the spring.

Waiting

Listening to Jason Upton sing brings me into the presence of someone who waits on God. There is a unique quality to his singing - a combination of worship and prayer, set to a strange kind of music. Drawn into his prayer world.

It is our human condition to wait.
Noah waited for the dove to return from flying over flooded waters.
Moses and Aaron waited for pharaoh by the Nile before God turned the water into blood.
People waited while Moses talked to God.
They waited 40 years in the desert.
Ruth waited for Boaz's decision - reader, she married him, became an ancestor of Jesus.
People waited on God.

While I wait, I pray that I may listen. Not just wait.