Month: December 2022

Hopefully

/ Sue Birdseye / Leave a comment

Advent – Hope

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

How simply beautiful is the phrase “God of hope”. The God who breathes life, speaks creation, and loves unceasingly, intensely, completely, faithfully, and without hesitation is our hope…the Source and the Giver.

I wonder if I even truly grasp the depth of hope’s meaning. I live like hope is just for better days, easier living, peaceful sleep, less stress, and true happiness.

I’m pretty confident that hope is a lot more than simply my circumstances being better or getting better or just ceasing to be difficult. I believe it’s a perspective, a focus on Him, an expectation that Jesus will fill me with all that I need. 

To be filled with joy and peace sounds heavenly, but in order for that to happen I must trust in Him.  

Deep, abiding trust doesn’t come easy for me…at least not anymore. Life has messed with me a bit on that front. But again, my focus seems to be more on my circumstances than on Jesus. Circumstances are sometimes deceivers.

Regardless of what I feel or experience, I need to trust in Him. Lean on Him. Let Him handle it all. Let go of my life and let Him have it. When I say, “I need to trust Him” it’s like me saying “I need to breathe.” It is imperative to my life…to living. It isn’t just some activity or practice that will show my devotion to God or my tremendously awesome Christian walk, it is what I need to live and love and be blessed.

I want to trust God radically. 

I typed radically and thought, “Hmmm…is that the right word?” It didn’t seem to be until I looked up the definition. By radically, I mean “in a thorough or fundamental way; completely”. 

I want to be like Mary who said yes to God even when faced with a daunting call that could have led to the end of her hope to be a wife, estrangement from her family, and even her death. This young girl didn’t shy away from the life God gave her, she answered simply, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38 NIV).

Carrying a baby out of wedlock in that time period should have assured her that she would lose her betrothal to Joseph, her parents would most likely disown her, she would be ostracized by her town, and very likely killed for committing adultery. That is what Mary said yes to…all those potential outcomes. And yet, she trusted God when it seemed like a crazy, dangerous, and scary thing to ask of her.

She didn’t ask for time to think about it. She didn’t run to seek counsel. She didn’t recognize the potential difficulties and ask for things to be a little bit different. She went full board into the fray and accepted God’s calling for her. 

I like to think of myself as a problem-solver…or a potential problem-solver. I have ideas and plans. I desperately want to make things better, easier, and happier. Very rarely, if ever, do I truly solve anything. I wish I would learn to release my grip on things and hand it over to the Lord. Trust Him enough to let go. This morning I had the epiphany that I can talk with God about trust. 

“Lord, what do you want me to do today to show that I trust you? What step can I take today to strengthen my walk of trusting You rather than myself?” 

That verse says that the result of trusting Him is joy and peace and hope. If I do that life will no longer be my doing, my failing, my frustrations, or my plans…it will be trusting God and resting in the knowledge that He can handle it and definitely is a better problem-solver than me.

There will be joy if I can get it through my thick skull that God only ever and always does the very best thing, makes the very best plans, leads on the very best paths, opens the very best doors, and brings the very best into my life. If my perspective could change to be more like Mary’s…” I have heard what you have said. I want it to happen to me just like that” (EEB) there will be joy in my life

Releasing my grip on my life…all of it…even the things I think and feel and want and hope for…and letting God take it. And keep it. Do what He will with it…that is trust. 

Woman, just trust, please!

I want to overflow with hope – not just have it, but have it spill out of me. Imagine what a blessing to those around me…particularly my children. 

The Holy Spirit will enable my willing heart to overflow with hope and my life to be filled with joy and peace. 

He will give me hope because He has given me Himself and He is my hope. 

In my head, I have absolutely no doubt that God is completely trustworthy. But sometimes I live like He isn’t. I have this ridiculous continuous habit of attempting to handle it all, take care of things, make things better, and, maybe, also believing if I don’t do it then no one else will, including God. 

And just look where that has gotten me… stressed out, confused, frustrated, emotional, and a little hopeless at times.

Letting God take control of things, listening to Him, seeking His divine intervention rather than my disastrous attempts to fix things, and believing that no matter what I can follow Him and trust that He is able and willing and loving and kind.

Like Mary, I want to humbly release control of my future to God and trust His calling no matter the path it takes.

When Ordinary is Not Enough

/ Sue Birdseye / 1 Comment

I’m determined to begin this new year with a renewed sense of the need for and the power of prayer in my life. 

I can tend to pray with the primary purpose of asking for what I want or think I need. It’s become a means to try to achieve the happiness I long for, but I believe that prayer is more than just a means to an end…it is the beginning, the middle, and the end. 

Prayer is my faith revealed in my relationship with my God. Prayer is the practice of my faith. It reveals my understanding that God is who He says He is…my God, Father, Savior, Friend, Counselor, Protector, Provider, Refuge, Strength, Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. 

When I understand who God is…how can I not talk to Him? How can I not bring everything to Him? How can I not lean into Him when life is too hard? 

Those were kind of meant to be rhetorical, but I’m realizing I really do need to ask myself those questions and wait for my answer.

I know who He is and how He loves me and yet I live like He plunked me down here and said, “Have at it, girlie! Good luck!” 

Goodness, I just need to look at His Word to see how much He longs for me to talk with and to Him, for me to listen quietly and trust Him.

God encourages us to pray all the time. God tells us to pray always, continually, and faithfully (Luke 18:1, 1 Thess. 5:19, Romans 12:12). Do not give up!

He doesn’t tire of us or our requests, questions, or comments, but prayer is so much more expansive than just rehearsing needs. Prayer is praise, thanksgiving, repentance, and forgiveness.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests with this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 
Acts 4:31

I’ve been praying for answers and changed circumstances, for blessings and bounty. This year, I want to pray for a change in perspective. A way of living that is marked by a constant awareness of my God and His love. 

Living like that requires me to take my eyes off what I’m dealing with, what I feel, and what I hope for, and turn my gaze to my Savior. To fix my eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:1-3)

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4

If I’m looking at Him, my perspective will be His not mine. My thoughts will be about Him rather than me. My hope will be in what He can do in my life, not what I can do about my life. I’m always looking for fixes, ways to make things not wear me out so much…God is saying, “Look at me. Look to me. Let me handle everything. I am able to do immeasurably more than anything you could possibly come up with in this situation.” 

My imagination is so small and my plans so tiny compared to God’s. He has set things in motion I cannot even imagine. I’m so busy wanting small things to make life easier, and God is telling me to ask for big things that make life extraordinary. 

I’m not talking about a lottery win or a dramatic change of circumstances. I’m talking about things like lives changed by the Holy Spirit, healing and restoration of faith, a full understanding of how much we are loved by God, and a  peace that surpasses all understanding.

I’m so busy praying for things that are temporary that I forget to pray for eternal things. The things that truly matter. Instead of praying that God will make my children’s lives less challenging, I could pray that God uses the challenges to grow them into people of great faith, courage, and strength. That challenges would make them compassionate and kind. That difficulties would drive them to the Lord. That problems would give them an eternal perspective. 

Prayer is more than just me communicating my needs to my Father, it is me relying on my Father, renewing my faith in my Father, trusting my Father, resting in the knowledge that He loves me beyond comprehension and that He is working all things together for good…extraordinary good.

I’m so busy wanting small things to make life easier, and God is telling me to ask for big things that make life extraordinary. 

Advent – A Long Line

/ Sue Birdseye / 1 Comment

When I first began reading the Christmas story, I’d always start at Matthew 1:18,  “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about”.  A few years ago, I decided to read the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Matthew 1: 1-17, and I was beautifully reminded how gracious, merciful, and loving God is to us. How thoughtful and compassionate. How overwhelmingly sweet. How grateful I am that God stopped my skipping and put a spotlight on the people on that list.

I find kindred spirits in that genealogy…people who were weak, disobedient, and chose to turn their back on their faithful Father.  God put broken people in the line of Christ so that we could understand that no matter our failings, God doesn’t kick us out of the family.

See, I have voices that wander around in my brain that tell me I’m not enough, I’m a failure, I’m weak, I’m a mess, I’m unworthy, I’m not lovable. I’m not capable, wise, or discerning. I’m only worthy of scraps from the table rather than sitting at the banquet. 

These are definitely not from my Father. These are thoughts to take captive. Bind up and toss away. They are awful untruths that do not define me. They only fill me with fear and give me a hopeless perspective that no child of the King should have.

Throughout the years, I’ve made lists and even written about who we are in Christ…who I am and Whose I am. I think I could jot down a fair number off the top of my head. Sometimes I wonder if I just think that those descriptors are only true of the Believers who live lives that are not fraught with missteps and mistakes. But then I look at the lineage of Jesus, full of sinners and scoundrels – just ordinary people like us – and I am reminded that God finds us all valuable and worthy, that God’s love is not just for the successful, seemingly sinless people. He loved us so much that He gave Jesus a record of ancestors that we can all relate to pretty perfectly because they are imperfect just like us. 

Here are just a few to consider….

Judah was Joseph’s brother. Joseph had a story of tragedy and redemption that is awe-inspiring, but his brother Judah is in the line of the Redeemer. Judah, who sold his brother into slavery, allowed his father to believe his beloved son Joseph was dead, and slept with a prostitute who turned out to be his widowed daughter-in-law (yuck) (Genesis 37-38).  

Her name is not listed in Matthew, but Judah’s mom was Leah, the one less beautiful than her sister Rachel, the one whose husband was tricked into marrying her, the one whose husband preferred her sister more, the one who knew loneliness and hurt (Genesis 29).

Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. She hid the Israelite spies, helped them escape, and saved her entire family by trusting in the Lord (Joshua 2-6). Her son, Boaz, married Ruth, a widowed Moabite who had followed her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Israel. Moabites were pagans who did not worship God, but Ruth did. Her son was King David’s great-grandfather, Obed.

David was a “man after God’s own heart” and a hot mess. An adulterer, murderer, and father who did not protect or defend his daughter, Tamar, when her half-brother Amnon raped her. His children struggled and his family fell apart because although he loved the Lord, he did not always follow Him well. 

King David’s son, Solomon, was the product of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. Although she is referred to as Uriah’s wife in Jesus’ lineage, not David’s wife. Uriah deserves to be mentioned – he had been one of David’s Mighty Men whose loyalty to both David and his men was admirable. David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, had him killed, and then took his wife as his own. Solomon struggled with lust and the number of women in his life was astonishing!

And, maybe the most poignant for me, are all the people I don’t know anything about…all the “nobodies” who are somebody because God loved them fiercely, completely, and put them in the lineage of Jesus. We are those somebodies because God chose us. All our hang-ups and hurts, all our bruises and brokenness, all our insufficiencies and insecurities, all our off-base thinking and off-hand comments, all our actions, and reactions made in haste without thought, all our trips into temptations and swings into sin…none of those keep God from loving us, using us, and making us His own. 

If we could only grasp the depth of God’s love for us. If we could only understand how deeply, passionately, and completely we are loved. God’s love is never unfaithful, never hurtful, never condemning, never wrong. He doesn’t love us in spite of who we are…He loves us as we are…His precious children. His dear ones. The apples of His eye. Chosen by Him for Him. He sacrificed Himself to take on the penalty of our sin. Thank you, Lord! But, He also was born and lived and died for us because He wants us to be His…to know His love, His presence, His peace, His hope, His joy. He wants us to know Him and by knowing Him, love Him.

And now, we are His children! In His family just like all those amazingly imperfect people in that geneology of Jesus.

What wondrous love is this!

He doesn’t love us in spite of who we are…He loves us as we are…His precious children.
His dear ones. The apples of His eye. Chosen by Him for Him.