It’s interesting, on a Sunday afternoon errand, I discovered two sheep that moved into the area. “They are Dorper sheep”, their ninety-year-old owner informed me. He’d wanted a pair of Dorper sheep since he was a little boy. The sheep keeper leaned heavily into the saddle of his field-weary four wheeler and adjusted the cannula that fed oxygen to his failing heart. “Sheep are born looking for a place to die.” It was a startling sentence, especially as I considered the myriad of scriptural implications.
Tag: hope
Pause with me for a moment and revel in the reality of the God of heaven slowing down to sit with us in our sorrow. Note, He is not inexperienced with suffering: Jesus has walked on earth in flesh and subjected the Godhead to the excruciation of temptation, the trauma of sin and even death. God is not too far-off to understand or too insulated to empathize.
cemetery, darkness, grief, restoration, loss, recovery, wholeness, presence, Immanuel
“He who was seated on the throne said “I am making all things new! And then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”” (Revelation 21:5 NIV) My husband delivered the remarks in yesterday’s service, and this scripture in Revelation was…
All includes a lot. That little ‘all’ requires trust in good times and in bad. On mountaintops and in valleys alike. In excess and lack. In prime health and poor health. On fine spring days and blustery blizzarding nights. In surety but also in chaos. With addition and subtraction. On birth days and death days and the dash that lies between. We are pressed, even dared to trust Him at all times.
Today I need a fresh revelation of the goodness of the Lord right here on earth.
Friend, be assured, God makes it all lovely by the very end. Isn’t that a comfort when we wait in the tension of today? In what feels to be the last long stretch of not quite right? Whatever you are facing this morning: lack or loss or even utter silence, take some time to reflect on these scriptures and stretch out your trust once more.
The term Prince of Peace is not an optimistic claim on Christ’s life and ministry but an accurate description of who Christ is. Peace is a Person and this Person left heaven and lived on earth as an olive branch extended toward humanity. He came as a babe in a manger to grow up and build a bridge of peace between God and man.
The winter-time flurry of childhood wonder has come and passed all too quickly. But still, it’s Christmas. Christ has come and He’s coming again. And thankfully, Advent reminds me to wait with joyful anticipation even as the seasons change.
If faith is a fire, we all go through seasons when the flames sputter and the embers begin to dim. A scripture like this one in Proverbs serves as a starter log in our dying fire.