Monday, December 19, 2005

Christmas sorrows

Christmas TreeChristmas is almost upon us and I am reminded that the event of baby Jesus' birth was probably not a festive one. Try to imagine the disillusionment of Joseph and Mary - one inn after another rejecting them. No place to deliver the Child of promise that Yahweh so gloriously declared to them nine months back.

After the miracle of conception, inspiring prophecies and the faithfulness of Joseph to marry her, I can imagine Mary's shattered expectations - having to give birth in a urine-soaked, dung-filled stable. Their hearts must have been broken: "Why God? If this is Your Son, why don't you provide a place for us? Will you not come through for us? Did we hear you wrongly?"

It is supposed to be a grand and glorious affair. Why is everything going against us? If God You are in this, why is everything so difficult? What if it's not true?

Can we not understand? These are probably the same cries from the deep recesses of our own hearts.

But I am reminded that God's kingdom is upside-down to what man usually assumes it to be. With promise, comes adversary. With victory, comes sacrifice. With destiny, comes tribulations. And trust first before security. Humility before exaltation. Sorrow before gladness.

But make no mistake, night will turn to day, darkness into light: God will come through at the most opportune time, through what we see as another hopelessly silent night. For Joseph and Mary, little did they realise that God was already preparing the way in confirming His hand upon them, in that lowly manger hardly fit for man, let alone a Sovereign King.
    And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. (Luke 2:16-18)

But the word of God also says: Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19)

Perhaps this how Mary learned to live through the heartaches that would follow in Jesus' life. Clinging on to the promise even when the eye is blind and the mind does not understand how any good can come out of adverse circumstances.

Our heavenly Father works in the most unlikely of circumstances and time - a baby from a virgin's womb, 'God with us' in a urine-soaked, dung-filled manger, and the Prince of Peace crucified with the foulest of thieves. Until we let God be God - stop second guessing his ways, and pulling strings to build our own kingdoms - until we come to that place of trust, the Lord is not yet the Shepherd of our souls, as the writer of the Psalms expresses.
    The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
    He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
    He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
    Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
    Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
    (New Living Translation, Ps 23:1-4)
Sometimes, walking blind is all we can do, as long as we are walking in obedience. God's ways are higher than ours - so blind does not necessarily mean lost. For He says: Be still and know that I AM God.

Lord, be it according to Your Word. Help us see through the darkness of night without fretting, into the morning of promise and purpose.

Labels: ,


# posted by Sal : 12:15 a.m. | Be notified of new blogs |   Forward to a friend
Comments:
Sorrow and agape love.
Hope, faith and love - and the greatest of these is love.
What is love - that He gave His Son for us; this is the ultimate sacrifice that is inevitably intertwined with great sorrow. Are we willing to sacrifice our expectations/pride/be vulnerable and also be obedient in order to truly love like He intended? He never promised a life free of trouble/sorrow, but He does promise something better - a full and abundant life enveloped with His love!

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 20, 2005 10:07 a.m.
 
Good thoughts. I am reminded that God first showed us this love, and presumably Mary and Joseph had to learn this thru their trials and disappointments as well.

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance" - 1Cor 13

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 20, 2005 11:58 a.m.
 
I have often thought on sorrow, the pain of the world, and what exactly God is accomplishing with it all, and I have decided that it is His way of making us better people. It forces us to have faith in God, or to not have faith at all. That is Gods' personal mark, the choice of one or the other.
All He asks of us who are faithfull is to continue to have faith.

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 20, 2005 5:23 p.m.
 
I am nodding to your thoughts. Thanks! In most of our life struggles, many are tired in waiting, asking and believing, even though we all experienced His love in different ways. We really need to ask daily (all the time) for His mercy to top up our faith tank.

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 20, 2005 11:14 p.m.
 
Hello. Thank you for all your thoughts so far.

We have been brought up in an environment that tells us to fight for our rights: get what we want, the way we want it, when we want it (usually now), and then complain when it is not what we expect.

We forget that these do not apply when dealing with God, and in some (many?) cases do not apply when dealing with people. The concept of "me and my rights" is more often than not pride rearing its head. Submission is an ugly word, often towards God and more so towards others.

Obvious to say this: but God chose the right people to be parents to Jesus. Joseph - who gave up his rights, obeyed the Lord to take Mary as his wife eventhough he initially did not want to. And Mary - I am heartened by her response to the Lord's message to her: "Let it be according to your word..." - what a tender and willing spirit.

I am reminded that in God's economy, the first will be last, and the last first. The question is whether we really believe this to be true. I suspect fellowships and churches would have less problems if more of us behaved as if it was so.

# posted by Blogger Sal : December 21, 2005 10:48 a.m.
 
Thanks for the encouragement! Our earthly troubles and sorrows are God’s way of preparing us to be like Jesus. When we shall meet Him again in Heaven, He wants to see us flawless just as He is. God is more interested in perfecting our character than the pain that we need to endure on earth. Blessed Christmas!

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 22, 2005 9:21 a.m.
 
Thanks for your good thoughts, I'm so encouraged indeed. Truly we have much time of hardships which we don't know well how to get over mostly. Sometimes it would be so tough to let us be in deep sorrow. But God knows us far more than ourselves and gives us not only the painful situations but all the solutions especially if we continue to be faithful in Him. The important thing is to have time to contact with God in spite of busy life. I wish all of us could have much time to feel the presence of God.
Merry Christmas!

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : December 22, 2005 3:04 p.m.
 
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Christmas. This is a good blog. I think I'd like to reference it in one of my posts later and will proabably return here as you are also a good writer.

# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : January 12, 2006 3:42 a.m.
 

Post a Comment

<< Home / Visit My Current Blog!

Subscription service
Enter your email address below to subscribe to Reflections on Life and Spirituality blog!
(NOTE: Please be assured that this will not be used for spam or unsolicited communications)
Enter your Email


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

[Valid Atom]