Advent{ures}: Let’s Go To Bethlehem
This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
1 John 4:10 NLT
1 John 4:10 NLT
Linking with:
Love: To Hold Dear; Cherish
Category: adventures
Let Us Kneel
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
(Psalm 95:6-7 NIV)
Every time I try to read through Job’s story I get distracted about the time his first friend starts talking. I get lost in the explanations. So, I skim the next 30 or so chapters until I get to the part where Elihu speaks up. He’s a young man who had kept silent while Job and his three friends debated the philosophical and moral dilemma of being. Elihu is angry because each of the other speakers have misrepresented the situation.
Job listens. God listens. Elihu rages a storm of words, and when he is finished, God speaks.
It says that God speaks out of the storm. I wonder if while Elihu rants that thunder rumbles in the distance coming closer as he articulates his point. Or did the narrator just mean Elihu’s words were like a storm? Either way it makes for great drama. I like to think it continues to storm while God speaks to Job, lightening with torrential rain.
God asks the questioner questions. Point after point, rhetorically pummeling Job, who has been accusing and calling God to account. God, his Maker, recounts the intricacies of his creative process. I wonder whether Job was standing while Elihu made his speech. Did he fall on his knees when God spoke?
We do know that when God finishes speaking, Job really has nothing more to say. He puts his hand over his mouth. And after a few moments, he admits that he really didn’t know what he was talking about after all.
I imagine Job replying with tears streaming down his face, bowing his head in wonder:
“I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You ask, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I. And I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me.
“You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’
“I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” (Job 42:2-6 NLT)
Job no longer sits in dust mourning, now he sits comforted. Godly sorrow leads to repentance ushering in a salvation drenched joy. Relief. Release. No regrets. Ah, a happy ending.
The Land of Uz
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.”
(Matthew 5:8 ESV)
When I read the opening words of Job’s story, I hear a faint echo of “Once Upon a Time . . .”
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1 ESV)
The narrative continues with exposition, revealing the details of Job’s family, possessions, stature in the community and daily routines, including his religious practices.
And then the scene shifts with cinematic flair, we are ushered into a heavenly scene. The curtain is pulled back and the audience is given information that informs the reader, but as far as we know is withheld from the characters in the unfolding drama. It’s as if the author (ultimately God) knew that the impending misery would be too hard for the reader to bear. We needed a glimpse backstage to see how this tragedy unfolds under the sovereign care of the Creator.
That scene fades. In the next scene, we observe Job going about his usual business. Then wave after wave of tragic news arrives through servant messengers. Job tears his robes, shaves his head and he worships. He mourns, yet he does not sin.
Satan, the behind the scenes agent of misery and death, approaches Job’s Creator again. Satan’s intent is to see Job curse God. God says, my Job, he’s up to the test. Send the physical pain, but spare his life.
Satan takes his cue and gladly strikes Job with “loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:7 ESV) Job sits down in his misery and starts scraping at the sores with a piece of broken pottery. His wife comes to console him, “Curse God and die.” Job answers with integrity, “Foolish woman! Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:9-10 ESV) Again Job maintains his cool. He does not sin with his words.
Three friends from surrounding villages hear of Job’s calamity, and come to comfort him. They sit in silence with him for seven days and seven nights. Job laments. He curses the day of his birth: “Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.” (Job 3:7 ESV).
What a contrast to the birth we recall in Bethlehem, but that’s for later. Joy will come in the morning, even as a child is born unto us in Bethlehem.
Although the word, joy, is recorded in the book of Job several times in the NIV, most of the time Job mentions it sarcastically or his friends misapply the concept. It’s not until Job meets his Maker, that a deeper joy, marked by humility and wonder enters the scene.
(Come back tomorrow, and we’ll see how the story ends. Will they live happily ever after? How will joy be restored?)
Fireworks in December!
Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem
Light is sown for the righteous,
and gladness for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous;
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
(Psalm 97:11-12 KJV)
Today, I am at that place in the journey where I need to get my bearings. I started out on these Advent{ures} headed toward Bethlehem. I gathered my companions (my Bible and the Advent devotions) and I studied the history and famous people of Bethlehem. Each week I lit the candle of remembrance.
Peace. Hope. Joy.
I traded joy for a brief lament with Job in the land of Uz. More on that visit tomorrow, but today I needed to pause.
My mind wandered back to a Friday night earlier in the month. The night my mom, my sister and I took the children to see the Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois.
It was a balmy, clear night. We arrived with oohs and ahhs.
Look at the lights! There’s one of the wise men! There’s another one! Will we get to ride a camel?
I drove slowly through the lighted scenes of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem and angels proclaiming glad tidings and rivers and fountains and finally the holy family in the creche with the star above.
We park. Go inside where carolers sing, a thousand villages sell gifts and children create pins to commemorate their visit. We see a life size nativity set made of a million legos that rivals the million lights that make up the evening. A few cookies and punch and back to the van. The crankiness sets in. Will we stop at the petting zoo or just go home?
The lights of the way wend through the landscape, we see Mary and Joseph with their donkey again and point at the pasture of angels ahead, when the youngest passenger asks, “Aunt Kel, are we going to stop at the petting zoo?”
I pause. I notice a parking spot nearby, I turn in, we consult. Yes, we will all go to the petting zoo, but no camel rides tonight. We feed and pet the animals: alpaca, goats, sheep with four horns, leaping sheep and the softest baby camels that want to kiss your ears greet us, along with a stately yak. We are glad we visited. We wander back to the van, it’s almost time for the lights to go to bed for the night.
Just as we decided to leave, we heard a squeal and we witnessed lights bursting upon the night sky! My heart leapt! More oohs and ahhs than we ever imagined. Stunned by God’s surprise joys. Fireworks in December!
Fireworks in December happens only once during the Way of Lights season, and we just happened to be there that night. This past summer due to drought our fireworks in July had been cancelled. Fireworks in December filled me with delight. To think that God knew how much I missed the fireworks that He brought them to us in December. (Awe fills my heart even now, if we had hurried home or gave into the crankiness, we would have missed the gift of celebration.)
Fireworks in December! What a wonder filled way to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who grants us the best freedom of all! The freedom to be loved and love. The joy of forgiveness. The hope of a better future. The peace of His presence.
Woohoo! Applause! You out did yourself, God! Hallelujah! Thank You! This is me, jumping up and down in Your presence, God! I love you, O Lord, my strength!
Peace: To Become Quiet
Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem
For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song.
(Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)
Anxiety attacks. Worries weary. Stress increases.
Pause for peace. Peace embraces. Peace calms. Peace blesses.
This peace makes no human sense.
Peace be with you. Jesus promises. Immanuel comforts. Mercy refreshes.
When Jesus enters the room, the disquieting thoughts flee. Heads turn. Do you see Him in the face of a newborn? Or hear Him in the chortle of a toddler? Or notice him in the momentary sparkle of a teenager’s eyes?
Will you pass Him as you hurry from store to store? Will you smile or scowl? Will you see Him sitting at the window of a nursing home, lost in memory? Will emotion overwhelm you when that loved one enters your mind?
When will peace appear? In our moments of quiet doubt? In our moments of loud fears shouting, “Why bother?” Or in the deep joy of knowing everything matters?
Peace will come, always showing up, when we least expect. Peace dispels all fear. It only takes a moment to light a candle in the dark. To sing a happy song.
When Peace enters the room, our eyes meet. All is well once again.
Intuition Diaries 