A sapling's lesson in strength - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Originally written January 16, 2006; edited March 2015

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV

When Katrina blew through the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coasts in August 2005, she left a gruesome wake of damage, not just in the three states hit, but also extending into Florida and Texas. When we visited my mom's side of the family for Christmas that year, I was able to see the damage along the Mississippi coast firsthand, and I was flabbergasted! Despite ongoing clean up efforts, the magnitude of Katrina's devastation seemed omnipresent even four months later. Houses and entire neighborhoods were obliterated. Miles inland were flooded or destroyed. Debris was still everywhere. The pictures just didn't do it justice!

On our way to the family Christmas gathering, which was 15-20 miles inland, we passed acres upon acres of woods, which were littered with remnants of Katrina's force. One home in particular left a lasting impression. The property looked like a war zone! Big, huge trees were snapped in half or completely uprooted with the mass of its roots left dangling in the air. It was unbelievable to see these massive trees blown over like a row of dominoes. And yet, there was a stark contrast on this property. While the enormous, old trees lay destroyed or uprooted, a vast majority of the little weak trees - the saplings - stood rooted and firm in the ground. They miraculously managed to withstand the storm's destructive winds.

Sure enough, the further we drove, the more common this sight became. Big trees uprooted or split in pieces, while the little, weak trees remained. Apparently, the small trees had one thing going for them that their huge counterparts didn't: their small trunks were weak. This weakness meant their trunks were more flexible and pliable so that they could bend, not snap in two, in the force of the wind. In this particular storm, the saplings' weakness proved to be their strength. Their weakness was God's grace to them. 

Mile after mile, acre after acre, the Lord kept driving this point home: in their weakness was their strength. In their weakness was their strength. Paul's words were vividly coming to life before my eyes. In the midst of pain, suffering, hardships, calamities, weaknesses, and insults, it's easy to let this truth fade from the forefront of our minds, isn't it?!

Yet the truth remains. "When I am weak, then I am strong."

Scripture is not clear on what Paul's weakness or thorn was, but the truth about which Paul writes applies to other followers of Christ, regardless of our thorns. There is a reason we are given "thorns." It could be to keep us humble, to cause us to rely on God and not ourselves, to strengthen us, to remind us that His grace is sufficient, or for some other reason we may never understand this side of eternity. Yet one thing is abundantly clear in this passage: our God is sovereign over all things, including our thorns, hardships, weaknesses, and calamities, and if you're a follower of Christ, He will always be moving in and through your weaknesses, your hardships, your persecutions, your thorns. In fact, by God's grace, you may discover what the little trees discovered during Katrina: it is your weakness that becomes your strength.

As I reflect on this scene in processing some of my own weaknesses and hardships, I am encouraged to go before the Lord to seek His help on seeing Paul's perspective. I pray you will, too. May we see them for what they are... a gift... "a thorn was given me in the flesh," and that thorn keeps us in constant touch with our limitations and our need for a Savior. We are desperately in need of God's grace. Always!

I am convicted by this thought of these weaknesses, thorns, hardships, calamities, persecutions, insults... limitations... as being gifts given. I need to quit focusing on the handicap and struggle they bring, real and difficult though it may be, and start also appreciating the gift that comes with it. Like the saplings, maybe this weakness is God's provision for my survival, His grace to me... His blessed protection that I just can't see or understand this side of the storm.

My prayer today is that you and I don't resist our limitations, weaknesses, and hardships so much as we allow them to push us to our knees, surrendering them and letting Jesus take control. I pray that in that process as Christ's power rests on you, and in due time, we will learn to be content as we begin to see how the Lord uses them as a magnifying glass for His power (and our ultimate good).

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

His grace IS sufficient. He is all we need. How I need to believe and trust this more.

Thankful for weakness and the grace (and protection) it gives me... or trying to be,
Jessica

A lesson from the manger - Luke 2:7

Originally written December 25, 2002, edited December 2014

"And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7 ESV

As I watch and listen to the different sights and sounds this Christmas season, I am intrigued by the details of the Christmas story and how Christ was brought into this world. Each year in the weeks leading up to Christmas day I try to spend time soaking in these details from the various gospel accounts, and each year it seems a new detail is highlighted for me. This post was originally an email written in 2002 and is the first entry in my book, which I am reworking, hence starting here. I'm excited to revisit these details and hope that looking back with me helps us both look forward to the joyful celebration of our Savior's coming, today and always. 

At Christmas, Christians celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Emmanuel - God with us. Reading Luke's account tells us of the birth of Jesus and reminds us that Jesus made His grand appearance into this world in a not-so-grand style. Contrary to what Jews were expecting of their Messiah, He came quite simply, humbly, and quietly into an ordinary family as a baby.

Sit with that thought for a moment. Jesus Christ came into this world as a baby, and a newborn at that!

For anyone who has had a baby, or anyone who has held a newborn, really, really ponder this thought, this reality. All too often, though, I leap forward to the 30-33 year old Jesus and don't really consider the marvel, the wonder that happened in that stable so many years ago. God became man; He took on flesh, but not as a powerful adult prince of this world, no... as a tiny, helpless, newborn baby. The newborn stage of life is pretty rough. Sweet moments, sure, but it's messy, tiresome, and lots of chaos.

To top it off, He wasn't even born in the meager comforts of a home. Nope. He was born in a stable surrounded by dirty animals, the unavoidable stable smells that linger, and loud animal noises. There wasn't a crib or bassinet awaiting Him. A trough provided our Lord's first bed. That's right, a trough, the dining plate for animals. Most of us don't spend much time in stables, but to bring this reality a little closer to home, can you imagine placing your child in the bowl out of which you feed your animals? (Um, no!) 

These details, though not new, resonated with me in a new manner this year. (I love how Scripture does that: be new, without being new.) Scripture reminds us that Christ is with His followers always (Matthew 28:20), but the details of His birth served to remind me that just as Jesus arrived humbly, quietly, and into a most unexpected time and place, so I can expect Jesus to continue to make His appearance in my life a similar manner.

It's easy to think of finding Jesus in the clean halls of a church, within the security of a Bible study, in the company and conversation of deeply cherished friends, in beauty, peace and tranquility. It's so easy that sometimes I forget to look for Christ there. Yet, as His birth shows us, we will also find him in some quite unexpected, messy places: on the "other side of the tracks," in the face of a homeless person, through relational strain and hardship, in grief (of all kinds), in depression, infertility, loneliness, financial distress, potty training, tantrums (of any age), health issues, cancer, work troubles, interrupted plans and naps, difficult bosses, teachers, or coworkers, pain, pain, and more pain, unmet expectations, hopes and dreams...

Yes, Jesus can still be found in messy, smelly, filthy places and circumstances.He will be found in the stables of life. What's even more remarkable is that He chose such a place to start His journey here on earth, then chose to make His home in hearts that mirror the stables. Quite amazingly, He is not deterred by the noisy, filthy, stinky, chaotic mess that is my life, my heart. He chose to come into this mess. He came for this mess. What a glorious and magnificent truth this is! Definitely worth a celebration!

Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." Psalm 147:3 reminds us that, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." There may not have been room in the inn, but how I pray this Christmas that there is room in your heart and mine to seek the Savior who came as a tiny baby, who binds up and heals, who enters into the messy stables of our hearts and lives. Oh may there be room and may our hearts rejoice at this lesson from the manger.

Have a very merry Christmas and may you be blessed by the true Spirit and hope of this season. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

In Christ's love and grace,

Jessica

Broken and Beautiful

17 January 2010

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:15-17 NIV

Christmas Eve we spent celebrating with Forde’s parents at their home in Charlotte . After a lovely Christmas Eve service followed by a Christmas party, we settled in for our Christmas dinner, part of which was cooked in a Crock Pot. The delicious aroma of homemade chicken chili filled the kitchen making our tummies growl. The prayer was said and the serving commenced when all of a sudden….

“KSHHHHHHHHHH! !!!” What on earth was that?!

Low and behold, as Forde lifted the lid to the Crock pot, it absolutely shattered! Miraculously, none of the glass found its way into the chili, but hundreds of pieces of glass dispersed on the counter and ground below. As the light reflected off their jagged edges, I couldn’t help but notice how the broken pieces sparkled. This once smooth piece of glass, now broken, looked like clusters of little diamonds dancing in the light.

Seeing this strange, but lovely, sight brought to mind words that came to life before my eyes. “Glass shines brightest when it’s broken.”

Though I can’t recall which book this came from, I have referenced these words in my heart when going through trying times… broken times… for I can’t help but wonder if this is how the Lord sees His people in their brokenness: broken and beautiful.

It helps to see this perspective when you think of what it means to “break a horse.” To break a horse is not a bad thing at all. In fact, anyone who has owned or ridden a horse will appreciate a “broken” horse for it is because of the horse’s broken state that it can be ridden safely and successfully. Breaking in a horse simply means teaching the horse to follow your commands or cues. This process requires much patience and hard work, but is necessary in order for the horse to be (relatively) safe and useful.

And the same can be said for us. What delights the Lord more than a heart that has been taught (through Christ) to truly follow His commands and cues? Nothing! Yet, much like an unbroken horse, we were born with wayward spirits and stubborn hearts that all too often buck at the commands and cues given by our Master. Such is the heart of a sinful creature. We are a stiff-necked people (Ex. 32:9) in need of being broken… in need of being taught to obey the commands and cues of our loving, merciful, and gracious Father in order for us to be safe and useful.

However, just as breaking in a horse takes much hard work and patience so does our “breaking in.” Thankfully, God is infinitely patient and fully capable, often times using our trials and tribulations to break us.

2009 brought us a fair share of trials and tribulations, yet in them I’ve seen this very process to be true. I must confess, there was a long period when I kicked and screamed at God for the circumstances, the hardships, the trials. I cried out time and time again, “ENOUGH!” This cry is not inherently bad, but when it is not accompanied with, “Not my will, but Thine be done,” there is a heart problem. God clearly saw this and in His goodness and grace used these very circumstances to break me.

Could God have chosen to use other means? I’m sure He could have; yet, it was His good pleasure and for my own benefit that He allowed these circumstances to break me. As a result, I no longer buck at the circumstances. Though many of our trials have not changed, I have and for how I’ve changed and what I now know of the Lord, I would walk this road a thousand times over. Not to say that I won’t be happy to see this season end; I will, but until God sees fit, I am content to remain where I am. If only you could understand just how much hard work and patience the Lord has extended to get me to this point!

So, I have come to appreciate brokenness in a whole new light. The ways in which we are broken aren’t always pleasant, but I have experienced, and therefore know that God allows us to be broken in various ways to ultimately lead us back to Him, to teach us to obey His good, loving, holy, and righteous commands. Cues He knows are not only best for us, but also have an eternal purpose that far outweighs the light and momentary troubles that accompany them.

Watching the light glisten off the shattered pieces, I began to have a deeper appreciation for what the Lord sees and a greater appreciation of why He delights in a broken and contrite heart. After reading of what I saw, I hope you do, too. Indeed, glass shines brightest when it’s broken, and so do we. When the brokenness of spirit meets with a contrite heart, it is then that we look like the Crock Pot lid – broken and beautiful.

Broken and blessed,

Jessica