peace

Especially Now

| Marie Griffith

My thoughts for Monday School are all about Advent….this season of waiting and hoping.

I wrote part of this last year. I share it again because I’m even more aware of the longing……the deep ache within my heart…..

And I know I can’t be the only one.

“Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. 
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might;
come and save us.

Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

How long, Lord God Almighty……….”     Psalm 80:1-4a

The nation of Israel cried out for hundreds of years waiting on the Promised One. My favorite Christmas hymn expresses the same longing for salvation.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The promise was kept.

Jesus came. Emmanuel.

He is here. God with us.

Jesus, come into our world. Come and change our hearts. Come into our brokenness and apathy. Come and shine your light into our darkness. Come and awaken within us the wonder of the babe in a manger.

The One who has come now asks us to come.

He invites us to peace and rest. Even now.

Especially now.

In the midst of the decorating and parties, Christmas programs and overindulging. In the traffic, long lines and shopping malls. In the middle of our desire to give out happiness in perfectly wrapped boxes. …….He asks us to come.

Come and reflect on the miracle of God becoming man. Come and remember. Come and follow Him with all our hearts.

Jesus says, “Come.”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”       Matthew 11:28-30

I’m reading an Advent devotional from Biola University’s Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts. You can check it out here.

 

 

Photo courtesy of Negative Space

 

Unshaken

| Marie Griffith

Monday School is brought to you again by Paul, the self-described chief sinner, grace-saved apostle of Jesus Christ. I read a lot of Paul’s letters – it’s hard not to since 13 of his letters are books in the Bible –  so he inspires many of my Monday School thoughts.

Actually this week’s passage is more than a thought. This is one of those passages used by God at a pivotal time in my life to change my life. I was attending an overnight women’s conference in Georgia with a wonderful group of women during a painful season. More than painful – I thought my life was falling apart. The teacher at the conference spoke from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

I needed to know the God of all comfort like never before that weekend 20 years ago. And I did. I’ll never forget the peace I had on the way home. Not peace from untroubled circumstances but a deep well-being that comes from resting in God’s sovereignty and mercy. I knew the Father of mercies would be with me through that painful season and all the ones to come and I knew I would be able to comfort others with the same comfort.

Sometimes what isn’t said is just as important as what is said. Paul didn’t say we’re comforted by a changed situation. He didn’t say we’re comforted once our difficulties go away. Paul never said we won’t suffer.

Paul said we are comforted.

By Who?  The God of all comfort.

When are we comforted?  In our afflictions. Other Bible versions say during our troubles and every time we have trouble.

Why are we comforted? So that we can comfort others in times of trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Paul’s opponents questioned his ministry because of his trials. They thought his suffering disqualified him or minimized the effectiveness of his ministry but Paul proclaimed the troubles only made his ministry more powerful.

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Paul’s affliction and the comfort in the affliction is for our comfort.

I’ve had the privilege of comforting others going through similar trials or difficulties. I remember how I was comforted and hope I do the same. The only true comfort I can bring is to point them to the One who comforts me still.

Paul’s hope for us was unshaken because he knew the God of all comfort. He knew the Father of mercies. Paul knew God uses our trials and tribulations and the comfort in them to give us strength and to help strengthen others.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

 

 

 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

 

Identical

Take Heart

| Marie Griffith

My Lenten journey coincides with another journey…..one I knew would be complicated and take me to hard and lonely places. But it’s a good journey. I don’t know of any worthy journey without challenges.

It’s the hard parts that make us stronger. We’re more courageous when we get to the other side of a trial. Our hearts are strengthened by God’s faithfulness and His promises become the anchors to our souls. And our trials are nothing compared with the glory to come.

“Jesus came to be the pattern, to leave footprints for the person who would join him, who would become a follower,” writes Soren Kierkegaard in the reading from Day 11 of Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter. He continues, “Christ’s life is a demand.”

God, give me courage to follow. Not to admire, but to follow.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”    John 16:33

 

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photo by dietmaha @ pixabay

 

 

 

 

path photo by danielam @ pixabay

 

 

 

 

 

O Come

| Marie Griffith

“O Come Emmanuel” is one of my favorite Christmas hymns.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

I imagine the nation of Israel crying out for hundreds of years waiting on the promised One.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”    Isaiah 9:6

The promise was kept.

Jesus came. Emmanuel.

He is here. God with us.

Jesus, come into our world. Come and change our hearts. Come into our brokenness and apathy. Come and shine your light into our darkness.

The One who has come now asks us to come.

He invites us to peace and rest. Even now.

Especially now.

In the midst of the decorating and parties, Christmas programs and overindulging. In the traffic, long lines and shopping malls. In the middle of our desire to give out happiness in perfectly wrapped boxes. …….He asks us to come.

Come and reflect on the miracle of God becoming man. Come and remember the sweetest moments and seasons of our lives. Come and follow Him with all our hearts.

Jesus says, “Come.”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

In response to the Daily Prompt
Mystical.

Storms

| Marie Griffith

It was unseasonably warm last night. The air was heavy and the sky dark because the moon and stars couldn’t shine through the thick clouds. The wind was wild and the rain came fast and hard. Then it calmed and the rain drops were big and slow.

The news and sirens told us there were tornado warnings but I could feel it in the air before they told us anything. I wasn’t scared when I went to bed last night but I woke up several times because the thunder was loud and the wind was making the trees hit against the house and the barn was creaking.

The sounds of the storm and the strange low way the thunder rolled reminded me of one night when I was a little girl…maybe ten years old.

I remember Daddy sitting in the doorway on the steps that led to the carport. The screen door was propped open and all the windows were opened too.

Daddy was watching the weather. He said he could feel it in his bones that it would be really bad weather. Probably tornadoes.

He sat there lifting his cigarette to his mouth and taking a deep draw so that the tip of it turned bright orange. The smoke came out of his mouth fast. He rested his hands on his knees then clasped them together while holding the cigarette. He lifted the cigarette to his mouth for another draw. Over and over again until there was no more tobacco to burn. He threw the cigarette down onto the concrete of the carport then stepped on it. Then he bent forward to comfort the dog. Bojo stayed at Dad’s feet even closer when there was a storm.

The rain wasn’t heavy but the big trees all around our house were moving wildly because of the wind. Then the rain and the wind stopped and it was calm. The lightning flickered across the sky and the thunder rumbled deep and long and far off.

But I wasn’t scared.

Daddy was watching the weather.

 

 

Unusual