outside my cottage window,
reclaiming its light.
I wander about my warm shelter,
softly gleaming with Christmas lights.
Soon, friends will arrive,
stomping their feet on the porch,
blowing frosty air as they burst across the
threshold,
bearing sustenance and joy.
I wonder as I wait.
Is this how He feels?
Is the table laid?
Are the place cards placed?
Does He wait in quiet joy
for us to burst the gates,
bearing our gifts?
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and
they follow me. John 10:27 NIV
voice. Urban Americans have little context for this concept. If Jesus were
walking around suburbia now, telling his truths, he might talk about dogs
rather than sheep. When my son-in-law asks his normally placid dog, Kodo, “Do
you want to go outside?” he prances around Chad’s feet. Chad speaks
a language Kodo understands.
As we pursue God, he will speak to us in language we
understand. He knows us personally, and knows how to communicate in a way we
can hear. For some of us, his voice gets translated into images. Others get
vague senses and feelings. And for some, God communicates in words. And of
course, he reveals his will in the Bible, by which we evaluate our personal guidance.
Especially as an impetus to prayer, he gives me images. When,
several years ago, a malfunction of my spine was pinching my sciatic nerve,
creating pain down to my knee, I saw myself lying on my stomach, with three
people laying hands on my neck, lower back, and knee. My pain dissolved and has
never returned as we obediently prayed, using that image as our guide.
Another time, I reported to a friend a word a pastor had given
for me: “I want to touch that intensity with joy.” She said, “I get “senses”
rather than words, but that’s just what I’ve been feeling from God for you!” She
recognized God’s words when she heard them, but she didn’t hear the words
first-hand.
Whether God speaks to us for someone else or for ourselves,
he is a communicating God who wants to interact person to person.
Jesus, thank you for your speaking voice. May we hear you
today.
Thankfulness is a key to heavenly living on earth. It’s easy
to get used to the good parts of our lives. But we grow in thankfulness when we
take nothing good for granted. I often think of the kingdom of heaven as the
place where we walk in wonder. We will never get used to the goodness of the kingdom
of God fully come.
We dishonor God when we take goodness for granted. We worship
him when we recognize his hand in our health, our finances, and our relationships.
We worship him as we thank him for every good thing: from the neighbor who
becomes a friend, to the trees that make oxygen, to the messy goodness of
democracy. We especially worship when we thank him for the unexpected gifts of
difficult days.
We long for Jesus to fully establish that wonder-filled
kingdom on earth. But we more fully engage in his rule and reign when we
practice conscious thankfulness now. We feed our wonder when we acknowledge his
good gifts, even if they come as a result of bad days. They are truly wonderful
gifts—he owes us nothing. James says, in 1:17: Every good and perfect
gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. All the
good we experience comes from the only source of goodness.
Father, we need a spirit of thankfulness. May we take
nothing good for granted.
