2020 Reflections

Hard!  Hard!  Hard!

Those are the words which stand out for me from this year.

Hard being locked-down; hard facing sorrow and suffering;  hard coping with loneliness and separation from loved ones; hard navigating our way round all that the year has brought!  Just hard!

And yet ..

And yet, I do want to finish off the year with thanksgiving, for through it all God has been there.  If ever we have needed a steadfast, strong, reliable God it has been this year and His faithfulness has remained.

So through the hard, God has been in control; through the hard God has remained faithful;  Through the hard God has still blessed, still provided, still looked upon us and has brought us through and so I give thanks.

Psalm 65, verse 11 says:

You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
    even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.

Through the hard our pathways still overflow with abundance, our pathways have still been overseen by God in His kindness and goodness, He has not entirely wiped us out, He has still blessed.

Through the hard we have had to seek God harder in ways perhaps we haven’t done before, we have had to press in harder, pray harder and read our bibles harder, but those things have reaped for us a spiritual blessing and this is why at the end of this hard year we can return thanks to God and acknowledge that He has ‘crowned the year with a bountiful harvest’. 

So through the hard I will give thanks; through the storm I’ll praise His Name!

_{[Sharing this post I wrote for my Church’s Facebook Post]}

Conclude

This is the last #Five Minute Friday post for 2020 and fittingly the prompt is: Conclude

Everyone agrees that this has been a strange year, a year like no other when our world has ground to a halt. Many have suffered financially, mentally, emotionally and physically, most will be glad to see the end of this year.

However the words which come to my mind at the end of this year are from Psalm 65, I will quote the Psalm as I think that is the best way to conclude the Year:

Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come.
³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,

who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.
¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

God bless you all over the Christmas and New Year period, may we indeed know and walk in the Lord’s goodness.

Conclude

This is the last #Five Minute Friday post for 2020, and fittingly the prompt is: Conclude.

Everyone agrees that this

Intersection of the Plans

Today is week 3 of Advent and every reading I have seen all focus on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. It was also my reading today too, from this there was one particular aspect which struck me fresh as I studied this passage from Luke 1:1-25.

That fresh insight is how God’s big plan for salvation for mankind and how His plans for our individual lives are intertwined.

Israel had waited 400 years for this promised Messiah to come. Long, long years of waiting, hoping, losing hope, hoping again, and still waiting. But God had a plan, He had made a covenant with David and had promised that “Your house and your kingdom will stand before me permanently, your dynasty will be permanent” (2 Sam 7:16)

That was God’s big plan.

But when we look at this passage, we see how this Big plan comes down to be little, squeezed down to one particular family’s life! From verse 8 we see that at this particular time in space and history there was a priest called Zechariah, he just happened to be on duty in the temple, it just happened that he was chosen to go into the Holy of Holies at that time.

The people were outside praying and suddenly Zechariah’s routine duties were dramatically interrupted by an angel! An Angel with startling news: that his prayers were going to be answered and that they would have a son called John who would be a forerunner of Messiah! Wow, wow, wow! How could this be? Both he and Elizabeth were old?, But God is the God of the impossible and it would be, it was part of the plan.

It is this intersection of plans which I find intriguing: God has a big plan spanning thousands of years (just like one day to Him) and our life span is so short, so small within that time-line, yet for us God is there with a plan for us, for us to also be part of the big picture! We live both within the Big picture and the smaller picture of our own lives.

To me that is pretty awesome! And I pray for open eyes to see that bigger picture.

So in our times of waiting, hoping, losing hope, hoping and praying more and more waiting we can take encouragement that our God is faithful and He will fulfill both His big plan and the smaller plans for our own lives.

Presents

Today’s prompt for the #five minute friday group of writers is: Present

You know what? I am tired and weary and the best present I could get this year is a hug! I just need a hug and I so want to hug my Christian brothers and sisters.

At first I loved Lockdown Church, loved all the on-line materials, loved connecting with churches/groups in different parts of the country, but now, even for me an introvert I am tired of it all, weary of it all, I just want us to be able to meet together and to hug each other!

I did blog a few weeks ago on human connection, so I won’t go into that just now, but you can read the full blog post here: https://wordpress.com/post/findinggodintheeverydayblog.wordpress.com/1741

But today, for me the best Christmas present anyone could get me is a hug!

Advent

There is an abundance of posts out there on what Advent is, it’s true meaning etc. I am not going to duplicate any of that, but just want to share what it means to me personally.

For me it is all about preparation, as I prepare the house there is a sense of intentionally making room for Jesus. I clear the ordinary, everyday ornaments away to make room for Christmas decorations. As I place the figures of my nativity scene I am struck afresh with wonder at the Shepherds going about their daily/nightly business of protecting the sheep, unaware of what was going to burst into their ordinary. The yet unknown events which were to lead the Wise Men on an incredible journey to meet the King of Kings. And I am filled with awe at God’s plan of salvation.

It is not just about lighting up the house at a dark time of year, or making it pretty, it is about making room for Jesus, reminding me to make room for Him in my heart, that He is central and not just an added on at Christmas.

As I prepare food I am thankful to God for my loved ones who will gather (yes even this year!) and I pray for them and a blessing on our time.

As I write cards and notes to people I haven’t seen or maybe even heard from this year, I think of them, I wonder how they are doing, how they have coped with this year and I send them a message and a prayer.

And as I do all these things, I intentionally prepare my heart for Jesus, make room for Him to come in a new way, yes even to burst into the ordinary.

What do you do for Advent? How do you prepare? Do let me know in the comments.