Wise men still seek Him not through study or intellectual knowledge, but in the depth, silence and peace of their own hearts. Dear and sweet Lord, in this new year filled with new distractions please help us to choose Your Peace over the chaos.
Your peace you have freely given, but in our helplessness we still haven’t chosen it. Please take our hands and lead us to choose Your Peace!
I spend a lot of time thinking about things I have read, watched or discussed and wondering about interesting or different connections. I love to call these long and extended thought processes my secret thoughts. My sweet husband always listens faithfully, and sometimes I share them with others, but not often.
One passage in the bible that I have been thinking about on and off for a while is Matthew 8:28-32.
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
What is the point of this? Why are the pigs included? Originally I thought of it as a followup to Leviticus when the Israelites were told not to eat the flesh of the pig. I figured that this was further confirmation on how much God dislikes pigs, but this explanation never really felt right.
Then this passage came up again and I was thinking about it immediately on the heels of reading, Matthew 7: 7-8…
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
And it occurred to me that the demons had asked Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs, and He had given them their request. Maybe what God is demonstrating in this passage is that if even a demon can ask and then be given his request, then we must realize how much more Jesus and Our Father in Heaven desire for us to ask so that They can give us our request.
Obviously I don’t know the answer, but I know my thoughts and I know the time put into pondering and developing this secret thought can be thought of as time spent polishing a little pearl God buried within my heart. When I did share this thought with someone new, I finally experienced what it was like to cast my pearls before swine. My thoughts were trampled and dismissed and I was upset and hurt for a little while, but now after the hurt has passed I am left regretfully wondering whose pearls have I trampled?
Sweet Lord, please help us to tread gently so that instead of trampling the pearls of others we might have a chance to discover them, learn from them, admire them and cherish them! Also please help us to ask YOU with full faith that YOU will give! You have proven it time and time again… it is our memories that constantly fail!
Jesus is here, Jesus is born, Jesus is with us and yet what are we doing?
We are quickly taking down our decorations and we are preparing ourselves for the grind, for the coldest part of our winter and the coldest time in some of our hearts. Our heads are down and the parties are over.
Was it the same back then in Bethlehem?
The angels were not still singing their praises for us to see and the shepherds had to move on with their flocks. A few still sought Him in this quiet and peaceful time, but the majority of people returned to the routine of their lives.
Yet in Matthew 9:15
Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
This is not the time to return to our normal and every day lives. He is here, He is born, He is with us! I pray to continue seeking and celebrating because He is here!
Glory to God in the highest and on earth may we all seek Your peace!
This morning I saw a man stop and offer help to an older woman who was pushing her own wheel chair across a parking lot. It was a lovely scene, quiet and small and probably not noticed by many. I love seeing these small and beautiful moments of kindness and goodness in the world. They remind me that God’s tapestry is full of small and beautiful pictures that we can see even now. I like to think of these small moments of goodness as the little flowers decorating the trim of His tapestry.
I think His tapestry is also full of large scenes of which we only have the ability to see small portions. When we focus on the small parts of the large scenes, we might see what we perceive to be evil. We might notice the drops of blood, a weapon, a betrayal, a death and if we don’t have faith to trust that these things are necessary parts leading up to the overall goodness of God’s scene, His plan, His beautiful tapestry, then we lose hope in the goodness of God and His ability to use any and every action of ours to finalize His beautiful and good plan.
I know it is very cliche to say, but I must repeat what so many others have said before me.
Jesus please help us to focus on the small things, help us to seek out the little nuggets of golden goodness You have sprinkled throughout everyday, and when something bad happens help us to remember that our faith is being tested, and that we must believe in You and have faith in You and Your ability to turn anything all around and upside down.
Back in high school there was a party one weekend that some friends and I had been invited to and we were planning to attend. My best friend’s mom dropped us off and as we were walking towards the front door we caught a glimpse of one of the cool and intimidating girls in our class. In an instant the four of us made a decision not to attend the party, we turned around and ran back to the car. Instead of going to the party that night, we had a slumber party together and laughed at ourselves and had a really good time. I haven’t thought about this night since then, but for some reason listening to a song tonight made me think of it. I wondered about the feelings my friend’s mom must have experienced that night. I think she was probably sad to see us exclude ourselves from a party out of fear and intimidation. I would have been very sad to see this happen to my girls. As a parent it is one thing to see your children excluded by others, but to see them exclude themselves leaves you completely helpless.
In the gospel of St. Matthew 7:7
Jesus said ” Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Thinking about this tonight made me wonder
In the gospel of St. Matthew 15:22 – 28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Finally thinking about this next passage in conjunction made me wonder
I want to teach my children to be humble, fearless and persistent. I want to teach them to include others and themselves.
Include yourself! God is our Father and if it pains me to see my children exclude themselves then imagine how painful it is for Him to see billions of His children exclude themselves everyday.
Jesus wants ALL of us, He is preparing the rooms and He told us to knock when we arrive just as any friend inviting us to His parents home would ask us to knock when we arrived!
It is Our Best Life! Let’s believe it together and it will be for all of us!