It's a Wonderful Life

(written Dec. 10)
My morning started with finding out I have Friday off (yay!) followed by finding out the family I work for will be moving to North Carolina. Translation: I may not have a job when I return, and if I do it won’t be for long.

This brought mixed emotions of excitement for the possibilities the next few months may bring, and anticipation of seeing God’s plans unfold. And on the other hand there was worry and doubt. What if I come back to no job and no prospects? And questioning; was this the right decision? Maybe people were right and what I thought to be God’s direction wasn’t.

Man does Satan just step right in at the slightest hiccup and bombard us with his fiery darts. God quickly stepped up and quenched those darts as I read the following things, and remembered what I had just heard at church yesterday.

“… Meanwhile, Jesus commands us to go. He has created each of us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and I propose that anything less than radical devotion to this purpose is unbiblical Christianity.”

“Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. We owe Christ to the world – to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person. We are in debt to the nations.”

“But what if we don’t need to sit back and wait for a call to foreign missions? What if the very reason we have breath is because we have been saved for a global mission? And what if anything less than passionate involvement in global mission is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which he created us?” (all quotes from Radical by David Platt)

“I [Jesus] have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Sunday’s message was from Luke 1:26-37; 46-55, titled “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

After the visit from Gabriel announcing that Mary would give birth to God’s Son Mary’s life became abnormal, her life was turned upside down, her life was re-scripted. Yet in all of that she praised God, she responded, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Mary was favored by God. She was chosen by God to bring His Son into the world. But being a Christian, being favored by God does not mean we will have an easy life free of worries, trials and tribulations. It means we WILL have trials and tribulations, we will be persecuted, and we will be tested.

I want to be like Mary. I want to embrace the blessing and not the burden.

God sees the big picture and what He sees is beautiful. I’m just along for the ride :)