Author: kezha1

Faith is seeing His light with your heart… when all your eyes see is darkness. The Holiday Season is difficult for many to navigate through. There can be sadness from losing a loved one, contending with our own declining health, or stepping on eggshells around a ongoing family feud. All our eyes see is gloom, anxiety, and pain. But it tells us here to not fix our eyes on the darkness but rather on God’s light. I John 1:5 says that, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” And when we do seek His light with all our heart, it’s like a lamp shining brightly into the darkness around us…dispelling the somber murkiness.  Or as the great Faith Chapter in Hebrews begins, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Taking care of yourself is an important and essential part of taking care of others. Right now you may have a newborn in the house, a gaggle of toddlers, a elderly parent, or a infirmed spouse demanding all your time, energy, and attention. But if you do not attend to your our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing…they could be potentially going it alone without you. The stats are eye opening…30% of caregivers die before the people they are caring for. Caregiving demands result in increased stress, which results in poor health because of neglect, which ultimately takes it toll. When it comes to caregiving of any type, it makes sense to “Put your own oxygen mask on before you assist others.” as well as looking to God for peace, comfort, strength, and wisdom. ”I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.” (Psalm 40:17)

Think about this for a moment…both fear & faith demand that we believe in something we cannot see. Fear saturates our mind with the “what ifs”…(what if this happens, or that happens)…all the while making it difficult to think clearly as these unseen scenarios swirl around in our head. But it’s almost more difficult to believe by faith that God sovereignly controls all our circumstances, including this one. We are told to live by faith & not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7), which is so easy to say and yet so hard to do. So here we stand at the crossroads of fear & faith, with both demanding we make a choice.

God causes all things to happen in their own time…according to His plan, purpose, and timetable. Psalm 31:15 reminds us that all our “times” are in God’s hand. But what about the times when we impatiently wait, asking Him over & over, “When Lord?” Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. The Lord in unfailing wisdom has appointed a time for the outgoings of His gracious power, and God’s time is the best time.” So remember, most of the time, our timing isn’t God’s timing…and we have to decide to be content with that… knowing that His timing is always proper, appropriate, and fitting.

Jesus gave the common Hebrew word peace a new & deeper meaning when He spoke this to His disciples. When He told them He was giving them “His peace” it meant a true reconciliation with God, purchased by His death on the Cross. But many times as we’re caring for a loved one at home this peace is replaced by worry. It’s as if worry is a intrusive houseguest that refuses to leave…reminding us in detail of every problem, every health concern, and everything we have no control over. But we need to then remember that when our Lord speaks peace, He creates peace…because, “The Words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) And so with this new found peace, we can push worry out the door, look fully into our Lord’s face, and receive His quiet contentment for another day.

The Cross of Christ not only broke the grip of the Law, but it broke the grip of our flesh…the word crucified here used metaphorically to mean our flesh has been crucified along with its affections and lusts…putting it all to death through our faith in Jesus Christ. What this means is a giving up of my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. But our corrupt nature won’t leave quietly & without a fight…for even a child can tell you what’s evil, morally bad, and wrong…but what we do all the time is debate over what’s good…splitting hairs over our definition of what’s “good & good enough” in order to still have our own way. As Romans 6:6 tells us, sin reigned in our “old self” but it was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with…destroying the reign of sin in our bodies.

In this Scripture the Lord is promising Paul that his labor will be fruitful…for even though many had not yet heard or had the chance to believe in the Gospel Message…God still knew them. But Paul wasn’t the only frightened Believer when it came to sharing the Gospel. In Acts 9:10 we see a fearful Ananias being told in a vision to go and lay hands on a blinded man named Saul, the most ardent persecutor of the fledgling Church. But what if Ananias had allowed his fear to silence him and the conversion of Saul to Paul was delayed or even derailed? When Jesus gave the Great Commission to Go, Teach, and Preach the Good News boldly… remember He has promised always to be with us and that we have nothing to fear.

You’ve probably heard someone say this before, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” And while it’s a stab at comforting a friend or loved one who’s going through difficulties…it’s neither Biblical nor correct. But what it really is, is the idol of our self-sufficiency…hiding behind “spiritual sounding” words that are not found in the Bible. Jesus was very frank with His disciples here in John…you will have troubles. It was realism but with the promised hope that He would be with them (and us) in the midst of all our tribulations. For all we have to do is look at the world today…people are at this very moment dealing with more than they can handle. The only difference being, some are asking for God’s help, but many not. Countless of them are bearing pain, suffering, persecution, and fear alone…while others are patiently enduring with the Presence of God along side them offering peace & comfort. It’s a sure thing…there will be times when all of us will be given more than we can handle. And we can either stiffen our resolve and go it alone…or seek the Lord’s help that He might rescue us. (Psalm 34:19 & II Timothy 3:11)

They longed for the coming Messiah. Isaiah wrote in Chapter 8:22 that the people could only see distress and darkness…fear and gloom. But then on that sacred Christmas night, a tiny cry cut through the silence of oppression, injustice, and abuse of power. Immanuel (God with us) had been born. We then look to Golgotha and hear Jesus cry out in a loud voice from the Cross, “It is finished!” and at that moment the Temple curtain, which separated men from God, was torn in half, from top to bottom allowing us to now have fellowship with our heavenly Father. Finally, some day soon it tells us in Revelation 19:11-16 the heavens will be thrown open wide as Jesus appears, riding on a white horse, to wage the final battle against all the enemies of God.

It tells us in Luke 4:18-19 that Jesus read this passage from Isaiah that Sabbath in Nazareth as the people had gathered in the Synagogue. Little did they know this was the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry, and that the passage was in fact speaking about Him. Many places in the Psalms we read about the Lord being near to the brokenhearted and able to mend shattered hearts. Charles Spurgeon put it this way, “There are many sorts of broken hearts, and Christ is good at healing them all.” And this is so true…whether it’s a broken heart from the loss of a loved one….a failed marriage…or the personal loss of independence because of disease…Jesus can bandage up every heart and make it whole again.