Reflections on Christmas #2: Be good, or no gifts
I think I might be making a habit out of these...not a bad thing though.
I have been receiving Rick Warren's Daily Hope emails since we completed the 40 Days in the Word event at KAC. Some days it is the daily hope, and other moments it can feel more like the daily kick in the head. Both are important.
I could not help but reflect on a few things that jumped out at me, and stir it into this Christmas concept.
" 'I don’t know why some people are diagnosed with terminal cancer. I don’t know why some children rebel so strongly against their parents. I don’t know why so many things happen that don’t make sense. So it’s encouraging to hear one of the greatest men of faith say, “I don’t know why things happen as they do, but I still choose to not give up.' " --Rick Warren, Daily Hope
The part about children rebelling against their parents came home to roost. Being young and ignorant doesn't have to be the only explanation for this one. This is where the "Be good or no gifts." starts. I am not sure about most of you, but I grew up with wonderfully encouraging parents who would graciously reward both my sister and I for bring home good grades. Not a bad thing in practice, but at some point, we as emerging adults have to realize that not all of life can be summed up in the actions of our parents. We have the academic measuring stick from elementary school through until the end of University. We build a system of value and response on this. When we are not rewarded for our perceived good behavior, or obedience it draws many questions and--quite often, pain. We become confused and disillusioned when we discover that even though we pray about something, it may not be in Gods will to answer the prayer with a yes. We may get a No or a Wait. We plead with God "Can't you see our need?!" "We need hope."
On the flip side we are given promise after promise again and again. And what do we do when we can't see the promises that God has for us in abundance in the form we are expecting them to be in. We loose hope. Because we are blind to the character of God and the way He ultimately reveals himself in our lives. We shake our tear soaked hands and cry. "How much longer? Can't you see me wasting away?" "How am I supposed to understand when I see no physical manifestation of this in my life?" "I'm supposed to take it on FAITH?!"
We show up for church, we are involved, we invest in other people's lives and give over and over...and yet, that aching prayer we weep over seems like an illusive breath. It cannot be taken or seen. We ask "How much is enough God? How much perfection do you expect?" God is not a rosary. He is all to just and gracious to be on a check mark system. This is beyond the carrot and the stick concept. This is about relationship. This about being bought with a price and being on a journey no longer our own.
Showing up in a car lot no more makes me a car kinda business...and it stinks.
That is when we are painfully reminded that Earth is not Heaven. It was never meant to be. It was meant to be our growing place for our character.
Sigh...
A lot of this I am barely even beginning to grasp here, so bare with me.
Be good or no gifts falls so painfully short of what we are really being called to. We are called to turn "Obey" into "Delight."
I don't know about you, but those words seem out of reach at my age. Just as Paul's words on taking joy in our trails. Those words used to drive me crazy. But now, with more time under my belt, I'm catching glimpse' of what he was getting at. So I take the words obey and delight and I measure them into my own world.
I called my parents last night to see if they needed me to come around and do anything, as they have been very gracious and generous of late with my chest cold. (Godly characteristics both.) I didn't call because of the call on my life to "Obey my parents." I am their child, but now an emerging adult. The choice was mine.
So I call because I delight. I delight in being near. I delight in loving them. I delight in putting my love into action. I delight in presenting them with a sacrifice of time and sweat equity... kinda like God.
Without love...we cannot delight. We are stuck in the kindergarten chair of obey where we make snarky faces and continue to miss the mark and cause ourselves extreme pain. After a while we get too big, and that chair hasn't grown at all. We are painfully stuck with it. Sorta like walking around with a crocodile attached to your patio...
Unless... we grow with the chair, and learn when to get up and step beyond it.
Delight and love remove the "be good" and open our eyes to the gifts that already surround us.
Christmas.
I have been receiving Rick Warren's Daily Hope emails since we completed the 40 Days in the Word event at KAC. Some days it is the daily hope, and other moments it can feel more like the daily kick in the head. Both are important.
I could not help but reflect on a few things that jumped out at me, and stir it into this Christmas concept.
" 'I don’t know why some people are diagnosed with terminal cancer. I don’t know why some children rebel so strongly against their parents. I don’t know why so many things happen that don’t make sense. So it’s encouraging to hear one of the greatest men of faith say, “I don’t know why things happen as they do, but I still choose to not give up.' " --Rick Warren, Daily Hope
The part about children rebelling against their parents came home to roost. Being young and ignorant doesn't have to be the only explanation for this one. This is where the "Be good or no gifts." starts. I am not sure about most of you, but I grew up with wonderfully encouraging parents who would graciously reward both my sister and I for bring home good grades. Not a bad thing in practice, but at some point, we as emerging adults have to realize that not all of life can be summed up in the actions of our parents. We have the academic measuring stick from elementary school through until the end of University. We build a system of value and response on this. When we are not rewarded for our perceived good behavior, or obedience it draws many questions and--quite often, pain. We become confused and disillusioned when we discover that even though we pray about something, it may not be in Gods will to answer the prayer with a yes. We may get a No or a Wait. We plead with God "Can't you see our need?!" "We need hope."
On the flip side we are given promise after promise again and again. And what do we do when we can't see the promises that God has for us in abundance in the form we are expecting them to be in. We loose hope. Because we are blind to the character of God and the way He ultimately reveals himself in our lives. We shake our tear soaked hands and cry. "How much longer? Can't you see me wasting away?" "How am I supposed to understand when I see no physical manifestation of this in my life?" "I'm supposed to take it on FAITH?!"
We show up for church, we are involved, we invest in other people's lives and give over and over...and yet, that aching prayer we weep over seems like an illusive breath. It cannot be taken or seen. We ask "How much is enough God? How much perfection do you expect?" God is not a rosary. He is all to just and gracious to be on a check mark system. This is beyond the carrot and the stick concept. This is about relationship. This about being bought with a price and being on a journey no longer our own.
Showing up in a car lot no more makes me a car kinda business...and it stinks.
That is when we are painfully reminded that Earth is not Heaven. It was never meant to be. It was meant to be our growing place for our character.
Sigh...
A lot of this I am barely even beginning to grasp here, so bare with me.
Be good or no gifts falls so painfully short of what we are really being called to. We are called to turn "Obey" into "Delight."
I don't know about you, but those words seem out of reach at my age. Just as Paul's words on taking joy in our trails. Those words used to drive me crazy. But now, with more time under my belt, I'm catching glimpse' of what he was getting at. So I take the words obey and delight and I measure them into my own world.
I called my parents last night to see if they needed me to come around and do anything, as they have been very gracious and generous of late with my chest cold. (Godly characteristics both.) I didn't call because of the call on my life to "Obey my parents." I am their child, but now an emerging adult. The choice was mine.
So I call because I delight. I delight in being near. I delight in loving them. I delight in putting my love into action. I delight in presenting them with a sacrifice of time and sweat equity... kinda like God.
Without love...we cannot delight. We are stuck in the kindergarten chair of obey where we make snarky faces and continue to miss the mark and cause ourselves extreme pain. After a while we get too big, and that chair hasn't grown at all. We are painfully stuck with it. Sorta like walking around with a crocodile attached to your patio...
Unless... we grow with the chair, and learn when to get up and step beyond it.
Delight and love remove the "be good" and open our eyes to the gifts that already surround us.
Christmas.
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