It has already begun
to look like Christmas everywhere around our region. The National Weather
Service forecast highlighted Binghamton, which (in some spots) had 22" of
snow by last evening. They broadcast that in one area of Upstate New
York there was a 37" snowfall. Last year the total snowfall for
the entire winter (for Binghamton) was 32". My wife put up her first
Christmas tree yesterday and made her first batch of Christmas
cookies. We are blessed to have a ski resort just a town
away from us - Greek Peak. If you drive through that area you are
transported to the Alpine areas of Switzerland (Austria, Germany). Skiers
from all around the region flock to the slopes. Some of Alice's students
work part time in various capacities at Greek Peak and, for the most part, they
love it. Fresh snow reminds us of the Word of God, how Christ our Savior
makes our soiled and stained lives stainless and beautiful. Isaiah
1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red
like crimson, they shall become like wool."
Today
I am attaching one of my favorite songs, "Somewhere It's
Snowing". Please take time to listen to it. I trust that
it blesses you as much as it has blessed me.
During
the Thanksgiving season I rivet my thoughts and focus on some of the paramount passages
from the Book of Habbakkuk 3 Verses 17-18 show us what faith looks like
when life tumbles in around us:
"Though the fig tree
does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop
fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep
in the pen and no cattle in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." The word “rejoice” literally means to jump for joy. We might even
say it means to dance for joy.
Habakkuk
described a total economic meltdown. Ancient Israel was an agricultural
society where, if you ran out of figs, olives, grapes, grain, sheep, and
cattle, you were in big trouble! What would we do if we faced total
economic ruin,
if our investments
were to disappear? Currently we see the stock market poised to hit an all-time high
(1900), but what would we do if tomorrow the stock market imploded?
What if it suddenly went from 19,000 all the way to zero? What
would we do then?
Kay
Warren is the wife of Rick Warren, who is the pastor of Saddleback Church in
Southern California and the author of the mega-bestseller LThe Purpose Driven Life. Rick and Kay
were put in the spotlight in a very sad way just few years ago when their
27-year-old son Matthew died unexpectedly. Following her son's unexpected
and tragic death, Kay Warren made some very personal reflections on what would
have been Matthew’s 29th birthday. Here is part of what she wrote:
"On
July 18, 1985, I gave birth to our beloved gift of God, Matthew David Warren.
Holding him in my arms that morning, I had no idea how dark the journey would
get for him - and for those who love him. All I knew that bright morning
was that I was madly in love with him, and could see nothing ahead but a
mother's dreams of a good life for her son. I remember Easter 1985 - I
was sick in bed, unable to go to church. Rick took the kids to church and
I stayed by myself for a few hours - the TV remote by my side as my only
companion. Somehow I dropped the remote and couldn't retrieve it - so
there I was, alone on one of the most joyous holidays, with not even a TV
preacher to keep me company, full of anxiety and fear for myself and my unborn
child. I painfully reached for my Bible and it fell open to Habakkuk 3:
17-19 (NIV): 'Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the
vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though
there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, I will rejoice in
the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my
strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to go on the
heights.'
"This
was a word from the Lord to me - and I determined that even IF my worst
nightmares came true - if my baby died, or I never walked again - that I would
trust in God my Savior; I would rejoice in the Sovereign Lord. So today -
his 29th birthday - through weeping - I shout it to the watching universe: I
will rejoice in Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior. My heart remains
wounded and battered, but my faith is steady. There is, and will be, as
Steven Curtis Chapman says, a "glorious unfolding" of all that God
has in store for me and my family. God is faithful to his promises of
rebuilding and restoring the ruins - and I am confident that I will yet be a
witness to many, many, many lives healed and hope restored - all because of my
beloved gift of God, Matthew David Warren. I miss you, darling
boy.....but it will just be for a little while."
Could
we say, “Yes, Lord,” when the dearest thing in life is taken from us? Often we serve God and love him and praise him when all is going well, but
how do we respond when hard times come? Sometimes the fig tree does not bud. Sometimes there are
no grapes on the vine. Sometimes the olive
crop fails.
Sometimes the fields produce no food. Sometimes there are no sheep in the pen. Sometimes there are no cattle in the stalls. When all in our
lives comes to a screeching halt, we can get angry with God and give up on God
altogether or we can turn to the Lord and, by His grace, stand on His promises
and hold onto Him, who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
The
last verse of Habakkuk is often overlooked, though powerful and compelling: “The
Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he
enables me to tread on the heights” (v. 19).
In Christ,
Brown
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