“Sit here for the present.” If you’ve ever read Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary, you might remember that line. On her first day of school, little Ramona’s teacher said to her, “Sit here for the present.” With great anticipation, Ramona sat and waited for a gift from the teacher only to be disappointed when she discovered that ‘present’ is a multiple-meaning word.

In direct contrast to sitting here for the present, I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul.

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NLT)

We just turned the page on what was a pretty rough year for most of us. The temptation in this new year is to “sit here for the present.” Wait and see. Bide our time. Watch for the other shoe to drop. But this challenge from Paul tells us to resist that temptation. Don’t sit for the present, run to win! Run with purpose in every step.

I’m somewhat of a runner, if you use the term ‘runner’ loosely. I enjoy getting out and running a few miles a few times a week, and I’ve had the pleasure of running in some 5K races. From personal experience, I can tell you that there is a big difference between a leisurely run and running to win. I have never run a 5K with winning in mind, and I can assure you that it is entirely possible to run a race with no thought of winning it.

Why? Because running to win takes a lot more effort and discipline. The level of training required to be a contender takes a high level of commitment.

Paul encourages us here to make that commitment, to be disciplined in our training so that we can run to win. He says something similar in another passage –

“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:10-14, NLT)

Why is Paul so fixated on running to win? Because he is after the prize. There is a prize ahead of us. And the strategy he shares here is clear – don’t dwell on the past, but look forward to what lies ahead.

Yes, 2020 was a hard year, but it is behind us. Look forward, press on, run to win. There is a heavenly prize ahead of us. This isn’t the time to slow down, to take a breather, or to drop out of the race. This is the time to push through the hardship, fix our eyes on the finish line, and run like the wind.

Our family took some time on New Year’s Eve to watch the movie Overcomer. Every time I have watched that movie, I’m so moved by a scene toward the end. (I tried to find a clip, but couldn’t so I have linked to the trailer. If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it.) In the scene, Hannah’s father, who she just recently met and who is terminally ill in the hospital, coaches her through a race via a recording played in her ear.

These precious verses always come to my mind as I watch this scene –

“Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, He will still be with you to teach you. You will see your Teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.” (Isaiah 30:20-21, NLT)

We have a Coach in our ear in this race. He has given us all we need to know to finish the race well. In 2021, let’s tune out all the other voices and determine not to sit here for the present. Let’s follow that voice in our ear, and let’s run to win!

Heavenly Father, with hearts of faith, we let go of a difficult year. Without knowing what the future holds, we look forward, fixing our eyes on You and on the prize that is ahead of us. With Your help, we choose to press on, to go hard, and to run in such a way as to win. Amen.

-Dana

A light at the end of the tunnel.  That’s a phrase we in the medical field have been using when talking about the COVID19 pandemic and all the suffering and craziness it has brought to our world. There is a vaccine; there is hope that this can come to an end and things can get back to something more like our old normal. We are tired. And not just those in healthcare, the world is tired. Weary.

A familiar Christmas carol says,
“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…”

That is Christmas. Far better than a vaccine coming to end a pandemic, a Savior coming to rescue us from sin. The Light at the end of the tunnel.

The world is dark.

About 740 years before the first Christmas, the Jewish prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them the light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2). Matthew, the tax collector turned Jesus follower, wrote in his account of Jesus’ life that Jesus was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. See Matthew 4:13-16.

The gospel of Luke records words of Zechariah about Jesus, “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

And John told us, “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)

Jesus. Emmanuel. God with us. Light for a dark world. Light to rescue me from the darkness of sin, and also Light to sustain me as I walk through dark times and as darkness tries to seep into my soul.

A song that has made its way into my days over and over since the pandemic started sings the words of a blessing first written around 1400 BC:

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

The Lord shines His Light on us.

“Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” (Micah 7:8)

Letting that Light into my life makes me shine.

“Look to him, and be radiant, so your faces shall never be ashamed.” (Psalm 34:5)

“For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)

I don’t have to sit in darkness. Darkness doesn’t have to weigh heavy on me, and it has no place in me. The Light has come! I am a child of the Light.

“For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light-for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8-9)

The light of Christ inside me changes me and spills out onto the people around me.

“Do all things without murmuring and arguing (some translations say complaining), so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.” (Philippians 2:14-15)

I have to admit that I keep struggling to allow the Light to fill my heart. “Sitting in darkness” and “murmuring and complaining” creep back in. I get weary. But Jesus has come! He is my Light.

“It is you who light my lamp; the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.” (Psalm 18:28)

As I sat writing this, I picked up for the first time a book beside me that my father-in-law brought me on Christmas Eve.  The reading for this date in Do Something Beautiful for God, The Essential Teachings of Mother Teresa, says
“Am I convinced of God’s love for me and mine for Him? This conviction is the sunlight that makes the sap of life rise.”

There is Light.  It is Jesus, and He has come to us.
This weary girl rejoices. 
-Leah

If you’re like me you can finish that sentence in a snap. I’ve heard the Christmas story over and over again since I can remember. So, finishing that sentence is as easy as finishing ‘Mary had a little lamb’…(‘it’s fleece was white as snow’) or ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill’…(‘to fetch a pail of water’).

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8, KJV)

The difference between this and Mary with her little lamb or Jack and Jill fetching their water is that this is a true story. Non-fiction. And these particular shepherds really have me thinking this year. Let’s check out the rest of their story. For those of you like me who can quote this passage verbatim, let’s check it out in a different version so that we can read it with a fresh set of eyes.

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.

‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior–yes, the Messiah, the Lord–has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others–the armies of heaven–praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

The shepherds went back to their flocks glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.” (Luke 2:8-20, NLT)

And there were in the same country shepherds. Shepherds. Why shepherds? Why would angels visit these common men with the announcement of the arrival of the Savior?

My husband and I were reading in 1 Samuel yesterday, and I realized something for the first time. When God chose David to be King of Israel, guess where he was and what he was doing? He was a shepherd in Bethlehem keeping watch over his father’s sheep.

Also, some of the most famous words David ever penned had to do with a shepherd. Remember?

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that 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 darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23, NLT)

Shepherds seem to have had a special place in God’s heart. Maybe because Jesus Himself came to be the Good Shepherd (if you missed it, you can read more about that from last week’s blog – https://twosistersonesavior.home.blog/2020/12/13/harassed-and-helpless/).

So, picture the scene with me. Here are these common shepherds on a normal night, just doing their job – watching over the sheep. It couldn’t get more ordinary, but then suddenly they were joined by an angel and surrounded by the Lord’s glory.

Imagine yourself on your normal work day, right in the middle of an everyday task, being joined by an angel and surrounded by the Lord’s glory. I think we would all be terrified too.

Next comes the biggest and best news – the Savior has been born! This news was reserved for the common, the lowly. It wasn’t heralded to the rich and famous. It was proclaimed by the armies of heaven to shepherds.

God doesn’t do things the way we would do them. Many times, He doesn’t even do things in a way that makes any sense at all. That’s why He is God, and we are not. His ways are SO much higher than ours. He doesn’t see worth and value based on cultural standards, and in His divine wisdom, He allowed these common shepherds to be the first to visit the newborn King of kings. His glory often invades the ordinary.

There’s good news for those of us who feel pretty ordinary. Jesus came for the ordinary. He didn’t come just for those with power, fame, and wealth. He came for you and me, and we are invited to come and see Him this Christmas.

Let’s to to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. Let’s join those shepherds who raced to the village and searched high and low until they found Him. Let’s let ourselves see it again for the first time, and then let’s tell everyone what has happened – Christ, the Savior has come. And then, let’s return to our ordinary work, glorifying and praising God.

But, let’s also be like Mary. Let’s keep all these things in our hearts and think about them often.

Father, thank You for the gift of Jesus. Thank you that in Your divine wisdom, You sent a heavenly host to proclaim the news to shepherds to remind us that Your ways are higher, that Your glory often invades the ordinary, and that Jesus came for us all. Please help us to keep all these things in our hearts and to think about them often, not just at this time of year, but always. Amen.

-Dana

Do you have any go-to Bible verses? Ones that come to mind to hold on to yourself or to hold out to others in certain situations? Here is a verse I love when babies or children are sick or suffering and when by extension, their mommas are suffering:

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.” Isaiah 40:11

Over the years I have shared this verse with hurting moms quite a few times. This week I had the opportunity to share it with myself.

It never ceases to amaze me how God supplies what we need when we need it. Tuesday morning, I was reading the chapters for the read-through-the-Bible plan. Numbers chapters 26-27. I read the census of the Israelites by tribe and by clan and read about the daughters of Zelophehad who were given land rights and about God telling Moses his time on earth was about to end. Moses asked God, “’Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd.’” (Numbers 27:16-17)

The phrase “sheep without a shepherd” was millennia later used by Matthew as he wrote about Jesus. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)

The Numbers reading led me to that verse in Matthew, pondering Jesus as a shepherd. Visit it with me…

Harassed and helpless.

Have you ever been there? Are you there now? Dictionary.com defines harass as “to disturb or bother persistently; torment, as with troubles or cares; pester.” Harassed in the Cambridge dictionary is “worried, annoyed, and tired, especially because you have too many things to deal with.” Yep – I can relate to harassed.

What about helpless? Can’t get things fixed, can’t get your feet underneath you, can’t move forward. Stuck, floundering, inadequate.

The verse in Matthew tells us that there were crowds that were like this. Not just a few people, but many. Harassed and helpless. Unfortunately, in our world today, harassed and helpless is more often the rule than the exception. We see it in the lives of people all around us, and we feel their pain and their struggle as if it were ours.

So did Jesus. He saw the crowds. The God Who Sees saw what was going on in the lives and hearts of the people, and He cared. He had compassion for them. If you are harassed, if you are helpless, take heart in the fact that Jesus sees you. He has compassion for you.

And, even better, He offers an antidote for the harassed and helpless. If being harassed and helpless is like being sheep without a shepherd, it makes sense that the treatment for harassed and helpless is being sheep with a shepherd, right? And Jesus filled that role Himself. He described Himself as the good shepherd.

“’I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” (John 10:11)

“’I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,’” (John 10:14)

Think of all a good shepherd does for his sheep – he provides for them and protects them and leads them. He plans ahead for their needs, searches for them if they get lost, fights for them if they are attacked. That is what our good shepherd offers to us.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” Psalm 23

We have a choice. We can give up harassed and helpless for held. We have a good shepherd who leads with compassion. Will we trust Him? Will we let Him lead?

Back to the Isaiah verse.

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.” Isaiah 40:11 NLT

Tuesday morning I was reading about sheep without a shepherd and remembering the care of my good shepherd. Tuesday evening I was taking my youngest son to the children’s hospital emergency room, seeing him in pain, not sure what was wrong or what to do to make it better. The words I have shared with others so many times washed over my heart. He carries the lambs. He holds them close to His heart. He gently leads the mothers. He is a good shepherd. I am not harassed and helpless. I am His.

Jesus, thank You for being a good shepherd. Thank You for offering us a place in Your flock. Thank You for Your Word, that reminds us of truth and teaches us to follow You. When we start to default to the harassed and helpless condition, nudge us back to trust and rest. Give us opportunities to invite others to follow You and experience Your goodness.

-Leah

French author George Sand once said, “Admiration and familiarity are strangers.” When something becomes very familiar to us, we are prone to lose the wonder of it. If we aren’t careful, this can easily happen to us at Christmastime.

We’ve heard the story over and over again. We know that a baby was born to a virgin in Bethlehem, that angels appeared to shepherds in the night sky, and that wise men from distant countries traveled to bring their gifts.

But have we let the familiarity of the story rob us of its wonder, or are we careful to take the time to really contemplate what it all means to us? I have been reflecting on these words –

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! O, come, let us adore Him…

In a moment of time, the infinite Creator of the universe wrapped himself in finite flesh and entered the world. The Son of God in flesh appearing. He laid aside His majesty to become a helpless, dependent newborn baby. We have to break away from the familiarity to let our minds take it in like something fresh and new so that we can recapture the wonder of it all.

In the same way that admiration and familiarity are strangers, adoration and familiarity are strangers too. If the familiarity has clouded our wonder, we can’t adore Jesus the way that we should. It is the awe that brings us to our knees in worship at the thought that God loved us so much that He sent His Son as a baby born in a manger.

“In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:1-14, NLT)

O come, let us put aside the familiarity and read it again with fresh eyes and open hearts. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

-Dana