Category: Today’s Word Is

Today’s Word Is … DO-OVER

Wed-Jan-1-2020

New Year’s Day has a wonderful feel to it. What happened last year is behind us, and we have a clean slate to write a new chapter of our lives.

Golfers use the word “mulligan” to describe this opportunity. If someone has a particularly bad shot, they take a mulligan, erasing the last shot and trying again. This is, of course, technically against the rules.  But who cares? A second chance is a great thing! No one knows exactly where the word mulligan came from, but the concept is widely used … and enjoyed!

The USGA (United States Golf Association) Museum mentions a fellow by the name of David Mulligan who frequented St. Lambert Country Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during the 1920s. Mulligan let it rip off the tee one day, wasn’t happy with the results, re-teed, and hit again. According to the story, he called it a “correction shot,” but his golfing buddies thought a better name was needed and dubbed it a “mulligan.”

Perhaps because Mr. Mulligan was a prominent local businessman, the term, according to the story, caught on among his peers and then spread from there. He brought the term to the United States when he moved to New York and joined Winged Foot Country Club. Other stories of the word’s origin exist, but none can be verified.

For those of us in the Christian faith, it is clear that God is a “do-over” kind of God.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1st John 1:9

The beauty of this cleansing is that nothing in our past can prevent us from going on toward God’s preferred future in our lives. Claim your do-over! And also, grant a do-over to those around you who need one!

Thank you, Lord, for this new beginning! Today we can start over, unburdened, refreshed, and re-energized!

Have a blessed New Year!

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is … BUILD

Tue-Dec-31-2019

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1st Thessalonians 5:11)

Suppose you have an area of your life where you want to “get better” or “get well.” You have been inspired by some person or event, perhaps a book you have read, a sermon you heard, a difficult experience you faced. You believe God is calling you higher, toward spiritual and emotional health, toward greater faith, deeper peace, higher joy.

So, being inspired you put better things into practice in your life. You start going back to church … or you quit a bad habit … or you apologize and fix a broken relationship … etc.

Then you discover that your choice to “get better” has caused some other person to have to adjust to the “new you.” That’s because all of us are part of a system of relationships. The basic ones are family connections, and some families are healthy to various degrees while others are perhaps slightly or severely dysfunctional. The same is true for friendships, co-workers, church family, or neighbors.

To the point … There is a theory in family systems that when one person improves, another person sometimes gets worse! That person begins to act out in negative ways. The more dysfunctional the family system, the more likely this is to happen. And why would someone get worse in response to your getting better?? … Because they want things to go back to the way they used to be. They have lost some feeling of importance perhaps. Their reaction is a temper tantrum of sorts.

Suppose, for instance, that you decide to start going back to church. And someone in your family tells you that “we always have family dinner at grandma’s house every Sunday at noon, and now you have messed that up! You’re causing a problem for the rest of us. See how selfish you are!” Any number of decisions could affect others in ways they resent.

They may even react so negatively that they become angry or spiteful. This behavior makes you think they are getting ready to wreck their life … or wreck your life … or damage the whole family. You consider abandoning your plan to improve your life and going back to the way things were. You say to yourself, “This was a bad idea. I had no idea so-and-so would be against it. I don’t want to hurt their feelings or lose their friendship, etc., etc.”

But you should consider that if you give up, you are in effect giving that person control over your life, even your faith life. You may realize that this person actually has control over the whole family system. They use their switching between good and bad behavior to manipulate and control everyone else.

Everyone’s situation is different, of course, but in general this is a time in your life to stick to it. If this is God-inspired, then you can go ahead with the plan, but also step up your love and encouragement of this person. Trust God for strength and believe that you will make it, and that the upset person will finally adjust, perhaps even improve just like you did.

As believers it is our job to encourage people in these situations and to build them up. So if someone is being bullied back into regression or belittled for trying to improve, it is our privilege and a command from the Word to “go to bat” for that person. Speak up. Offer encouragement.

And if you’re the one who needs the encouragement, a good thing you can do for yourself is to make it easy for others to support you, by being open. Don’t give up on the “better” things God is calling forth in you. He will provide a way for your future. Turn the naysayers over to God. He can help them better than we can anyway.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is … BECOME

Mon-Dec-30-2019

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. (Proverbs 13:20)

It matters with whom we associate. We cannot avoid being around all kinds of people. Some will be likable and some not … cheerful or not … kind or not … problem solvers or not … complainers or not … and wise or not.

Contact and collaboration are necessary … with those whom we like and those whom we do not. But we do not have to “walk with” everyone in the sense referred to by this Proverb. This phrase “walk with” is about those with whom we spend time in an admiring way. It is about observing how someone has a positive or negative effect on the world around them. It is about asking questions to the one we think of as wise, hoping to learn their secrets of peace, motivation, boldness, and wisdom.

I hope you have a desire to learn and to become a better person. God loves us as we are … yes … but he loves us too much to leave us the way we are. It has been said that you can’t “go with God” and stay where you are.

Unfortunately, some folks are attracted to foolish people … because it appears at times that this type of person gets to be carefree and unburdened. Whereas the wise person appears to be doing too much work, or getting redirected sometimes by inconvenient interruptions, or even sacrificing self-indulgence to become better at serving others or better at a desired skill.

For you and I to become the best we are meant to be, it matters whom we admire and imitate. As for the one who is foolish, but appears on the outside to “have it made” … a window into their private moments might show us the “flip side” of their lifestyle of suffering undesirable consequences and repeatedly making botched attempts to reverse the results of their foolishness.  These are the things they hide from us.

Have you ever suffered harm because you were the companion of fools? Hopefully we left that behind in our younger days! Now would be a good time to resolve to walk with the wise, and in so doing become wise.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Christmas Word Is … AFRAID

Thu-Dec-26-2019

Today’s Daily Devotion is about the change in the shepherds from being afraid to having great joy.

When the angels appeared to announce the birth of the Savior to the shepherds, they reacted by being afraid. I suppose most anyone would, but there is more background to this in their case. You see, absolutely no one would be approaching shepherds who were watching their flocks.

Shepherds were not highly revered in society. For instance, in court cases, the testimony of a shepherd by himself was not allowed unless another witness was there to corroborate.

It makes me think of the number of people I have known or ministered to in my lifetime, who have what I call a “poverty mentality.” It goes beyond just the money issue. It is about people who think of themselves as “worth less” than others.

I grew up with such thoughts about myself. I thought my opinion was not as valuable as that of others. It took more than half a lifetime to overcome this. These particular shepherds seem to have overcome it in one night!

First, they instantly grasped the meaning of the announcement. You see, Bethlehem was close to Jerusalem, and was a supplier of the lambs used for sacrifice in the Temple. A sacrificial lamb had to be unblemished, so at birthing time, the shepherds would take the new lambs that had no imperfections and wrap them in strips of cloth (swaddling) to keep them unblemished until they were taken to the Temple.

To hear the angel say that the baby would be in a manger wrapped in swaddling cloths was a connection to the prophecies of Isaiah about the suffering Messiah, the lamb of God.

Once they were no longer afraid, the shepherds were ready to go and see … now.

Luke 2:15  When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

For a group of fellows who didn’t feel very welcome in public, this was quite a significant adventure. And after their visit to see the Christ child, their courage increased even more.

Luke 2:17  When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18  And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

The birth of the Messiah was the work of God for everyone … from the lowly shepherd … to the Wise Men from the East.

For some people, it takes years and years to overcome the deeply ingrained feeling that they are not worth as much as others. But God wants to cleanse you from self-degradation and fill you with the proper value he has given you, all the while maintaining a true and healthy sense of humility.

Unto YOU a Savior has been born.

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark Davis

(The Daily Devotion “Today’s Word Is” is published Monday – Friday.)

Today’s Christmas Word Is … FULFILLED

Wed-Dec-25-2019

Today’s Daily Devotion is about the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior to be a light in our darkness.

This is a bit crazy, but imagine there was no Christmas, no celebration that God has fulfilled his promise. There would be a dreariness about life and a temptation to think that all is meaningless and without purpose. But thankfully, the promise has been fulfilled.

Why Christmas? The most important first step for anyone who is seeking a life of hope, peace, joy, and love is to admit that “I need help.” And Christmas is God’s gift that says he will provide the way. He knew that we could not achieve or earn our way to the blessed life. God’s plan was to wait for the right moment in which to enter our world, and show us the way, up close and personal.

God revealed in the Old Testament this promise of sending a redeemer. Isaiah the Prophet spoke of this promise 700 years before the birth of Jesus …

Isaiah 6:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. …

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Many Israelites had been holding on to that promise. Some had given up. And many people in the rest of the world didn’t even know that a day of hope might be coming.

The original Christmas, the birth of Jesus, was the day the world had been waiting for. In Bethlehem, two thousand years ago, the promise was fulfilled. All of history was leading to that moment, and all time since looks back to that moment.

In the book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, from the C. S. Lewis series The Chronicles of Narnia, there was a spell over the land from the White Witch that made it always winter. But Aslan, the Lion, the Christ figure in those books, came to break that spell. It involved giving his own life as a ransom.

Just like that relentless winter in Narnia, our world lived in darkness, in need of a Savior. But Isaiah, in the passage above, announced well in advance that “those in darkness” would “see a great light.” A son would be born, whose reign and peace would have no end. There would be light in the darkness.

There is a secular song that speaks truth when it says that Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year.” And the Christmas carol, O, Little Town of Bethlehem, sums it up powerfully by saying, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

There is a lightness to Christmas, in some respects. We decorate, give gifts, laugh, sing, have a good time, and experience a peace that can hardly be described. But there is also a great seriousness, that this celebration is about the fulfilling of a promise that touches the depths of our souls and makes live worth living.

Not only has the world as a whole been sent a Savior, but we can even personalize it and say, “The hopes and fears of all my years” have been met in the Christ child tonight.

Merry Christmas from the Daily Devotion site “Today’s Word Is!”

Chaplain Mark Davis

(The Daily Devotion “Today’s Word Is” is published Monday – Friday.)

Today’s Christmas Word is … EXTRAORDINARY

Daily Devotion for Tue-Dec-24-2019

Today’s Daily Devotion is about Joseph’s journey from ordinary to extraordinary.

God already knew that Joseph had the makings of an extraordinary person, but my guess is that the folks in Nazareth probably thought of both Joseph and Mary as rather ordinary people. One passage that makes me think this is something that occurred years later during Jesus’ ministry …

Matthew 13:54 Coming to his hometown, [Jesus] began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

In the eyes of the townspeople, this whole family seemed ordinary. But it was this chosen family that nurtured Jesus just the way God needed. Isn’t it interesting that the Holy One of God had been raised in what seemed like an average family? Obviously, the neighbors didn’t have a clue what was happening!

Perhaps if Joseph had been mayor of the town, or a rabbi at the synagogue, the locals might have seen things differently, but instead he was thought of as just the town carpenter. But God had a plan and had been guiding Joseph on a journey from ordinary to extraordinary. This included playing a key role in the family. Although Joseph was not the “natural” father of Jesus, he was nevertheless the leader of the family in the Jewish tradition. And this was critical in fulfilling God’s purposes.

Going back to the beginning … when Joseph heard of Mary’s pregnancy, and knowing he was not the father, the norm would be to end the engagement. But here was revealed his godly character …

Matthew 1:19  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Notice these words … righteous man … and quietly. This reveals his respect for the faith and his kindness. (Pause to ask if this applies to myself.)

Now it is time for the next step of the journey. Does Joseph know how to listen for guidance?

Matthew 1:20  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The question for Joseph, and us as well, is “are you paying attention to God?” … Because God is going to ask some surprising questions and give some out-of-the-ordinary directions. And if we believe and have the courage, we will respond according to God’s purposes (not our own).

Matthew 1:24  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

At this point, Joseph was “all in!” He demonstrated his new willingness to become the extraordinary man God had called him to be when he followed this path … he took Mary on a 97-mile trip to Bethlehem, stayed in a barn, welcomed unexpected visitors, and perhaps the most amazing … when he needed to protect his wife and child from danger …

Matthew 2:13  When [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  14  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt …”

Would you concede that God also has you on a journey from ordinary to extraordinary? It’s not about doing something famous necessarily, nor about being widely known and admired. Regardless of how much is built into us, we all pretty much start out as ordinary. The things in between ordinary and extraordinary for Joseph were that he had a basic faith; he was kind toward others; he listened when God guided him; and he did as he was directed, regardless of the difficulty. Thus, he found himself fulfilling the extraordinary life that God had placed within him from the beginning. You can, too!

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

P.S. I hope you go to a Christmas Eve service!

Today’s Christmas Word Is … QUESTIONING

Mon-12-23-2019

The faith of Mary is to be admired. I want that kind of faith. The angel Gabriel, who is the chief messenger angel, came to her with the news that she had been chosen to bear the child who would be the Savior, the Messiah.

Hers was not the only angel visitation in the Christmas story. Joseph also had such an encounter, as did the shepherds. But there was an announcement that preceded all those. Several months prior, it happened to Zechariah, a priest serving in the temple. He was the husband of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth.

Luke 1:10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to [Zechariah], standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth …”

Amazing … he and his wife were chosen to be the parents of the one to be called John the Baptist, the forerunner who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Zechariah’s first response to the angel was to ask an intriguing question based on the fact that he and Elizabeth were past the child-bearing age. They were childless and had prayed many years for God to grant them a child. My guess is that Zechariah had given up on the idea. So …

Luke 1:18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

Gulp!!! This was not the answer Zechariah was hoping for! I can’t talk for the next 9 months!

But hold on … when Gabriel came to tell Mary that the Holy Spirit would bless her with a child, she asked basically the same question. It went like this …

Luke 1:30 … the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

And … Mary asked a question … it was not about old age, it regarded a bigger problem … she was not married and had not “known” a man, meaning no intimacy.

Luke 1:34  “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

And the angel proceeded to tell her all about how this would come to pass. Woohoo!

Here’s the key. God knew that Mary asked her question in faith, whereas Zechariah had unbelief within him. Unfortunately, he had let disappointment rob him, causing him to ask a question that lacked faith. It is okay to question God … but it matters what is in your heart. With God, all things are possible.

This Christmas, may we resolve to live with the faith of Mary, rather than letting past disappointments tarnish our hope. We may have questions, yes, but it is a wonderful joy to have a great confidence in God that he will accomplish his good purposes, regardless of how unlikely or how difficult we think they might be.

Living by faith and rejoicing in the glory of Christmas!

Chaplain Mark

P.S. Today was about Mary, tomorrow is Joseph, and Wednesday is Jesus!

Today’s Christmas Word Is … LOVE

Thu-Dec-19-2019

“I Love You” changes everything.

That is what God said at Christmas, “I love you.”

1st Corinthians is called the Love Chapter of the Bible

Verse 13 ends the chapter as the Apostle Paul says, “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

Every person caught in a life problem, can best be helped by first loving them. It tills the ground for God to grow his harvest. Until the person feels loved, their heart will be cold and hardened, and unlikely to grow a good crop of healthy fruit.

If there is someone you want to change … love them.

If there is someone who has hurt you … love them.

If there is someone who is in the wrong lifestyle … love them.

Here is the Christmas version of 1st Corinthians 13

By Sharon Jaymes

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

 If I work at the soup kitchen, sing Christmas carols in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to those I came to help, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the Christmas tree with shimmering angels and handmade snowflakes, and go to a dozen Christmas parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.  Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, my job will someday cease, and the house will eventually be gone.

But giving the gift of love will endure forever.

Share the love!

Chaplain Mark

1st Corinthians 13 (NRSV)

The Gift of Love

1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Today’s Christmas Word Is … JOY

Wed-Dec-18-2019

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, celebrity Brad Pitt reflected on his lead role in the movie Fight Club, which is about a man who has the American dream and yet remains unsatisfied:

Pitt: Man, I know all these things are supposed to seem important to us—the car, the condo, our version of success—but if that’s the case, why is the general feeling out there reflecting more isolation and desperation and loneliness? If you ask me, I say toss all this—we gotta find something else. Because all I know is that, at this point in time, we are heading for a dead end, a numbing of the soul, a complete atrophy of the spiritual being. And I don’t want that.

Rolling Stone: So, if we’re heading toward this kind of existential dead end in society, what do you think should happen?

Pitt: Hey, man, I don’t have those answers yet. The emphasis now is on success and personal gain. [smiles] I’m sitting in it, and I’m telling you, that’s not it. I’m the guy who’s got everything. I know. But I’m telling you, once you’ve got everything, then you’re just left with yourself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it doesn’t help you sleep any better, and you don’t wake up any better because of it.

Citation: Rolling Stone Magazine (10-28-1999)

The life of a follower of Jesus is supposed to be filled with joy. I must admit, however, that it hasn’t always been for me. It’s taking me a very long time to understand and receive all the gifts of Jesus. I wish I could say that every church does a great job of teaching us how to be joyful, but alas … not so.

If you are one of God’s slow learners, like I am, I would like to help you speed things up. To understand the meaning of joy, let’s discuss the difference between joy and fun.

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)

We always say to people, “Have fun!” And fun is good. The joyful life of a Christian includes lots of fun!

Fun and joy are different in these ways:

Fun is temporary … Joy is permanent. Fun is sought … Joy is received. (The Scripture above says it came from Jesus.) Fun does not guarantee that we will also have peace and joy. Joy on the other hand is released within us by the hope and peace that characterize who we are.

Fun by the world’s standards can sometimes involve destructive behavior. People may get hurt feelings or may destroy friendships. The well-being of others is not necessarily a consideration. The point is to make oneself feel better. And when the activity is over and the fun goes away, sometimes they are left with an emptiness. Eventually they become desperate for another “fix” because there is no inherent joy that keeps residence in their spirit. This is the condition Brad Pitt spoke of in his interview.

Fun for the Christian is designed to bless everyone involved, not just oneself.

I invite you, if you are not already doing so, to let the joy loose in your life. When you receive good news, rejoice! The shepherds who were watching over their flocks must have had the promises of God built into them. The Israelites were trained to memorize Scripture. Only the elite class could read. The common people would do their best to store God’s Word in their hearts. So, when the angels spoke and sang of the birth of the Savior, they knew exactly what that meant. Their eyes lit up; their hearts leapt. They didn’t wait until tomorrow to check it out.

When the angels went away from them back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.” (Luke 2:15)

Someone tried to teach us about joy when we were kids. Sadly, many adults have forgotten how to sing it and still mean it. “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart … down in my heart to stay!”

Christmas Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Christmas Word Is … PEACE

Tue-Dec-17-2019

This week I am giving you four key words for Christmas … hope, peace, joy, and love.

Yesterday’s word was hope. Today consider that the message to the shepherds in Luke 2:13-14 was about peace:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Jesus came so that you might have peace. Hope and peace work together. You hope that good things will happen, but while you are waiting, the peace of God can reign in you, because you can trust God that everything will be okay.

Sometimes the issue of control can interfere with our peace. The ability to exercise control is an important human characteristic, but there is an unhealthy extreme at which others begin to think of us as controlling. When things don’t go as we desire, there is a delicate balance by which we must decide whether to try harder or to trust God for outcomes beyond our reach. If trying harder results in a loss of peace, then we must surrender control and our dependence on it and instead exercise trust.

The famous author, Catherine Marshall, told a story about her friend Marge, who was “aboard a plane bound for Cleveland, waiting for takeoff. As she settled into her seat, Marge noticed a strange phenomenon. On one side of the airplane a sunset suffused the entire sky with glorious color. But out of the window next to her, all Marge could see was a sky dark and threatening, with no sign of the sunset.

“As the plane’s engines began to roar, a gentle Voice spoke within her. ‘You have noticed the windows,’ God whispered beneath the roar and thrust of the takeoff. ‘Your life, too, will contain some happy, beautiful times, but also some dark shadows. Here’s a lesson I want to teach you to save you much heartache and allow you to abide in Me with continual peace and joy. You see, it doesn’t matter which window you look through; this plane is still going to Cleveland. So it is in your life. You have a choice. You can dwell on the gloomy picture. Or you can focus on the bright things and leave the dark, ominous situations to Me. I alone can handle them anyway.’”

In the words of Jesus, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

God’s gift of his son at Christmas reminds us that he wasn’t going to try to convince us from afar that when we arrive at the end, we will finally find peace.

He came as the baby Jesus, born in a manger. He didn’t send us a map, he sent us a trail guide!

He came to accompany us home, so that we might have peace now, and every moment along the way!

Merry Christmas!

Chaplain Mark