Best moment of Christmas TV. Ever.
Yes, Christmas is over, though our family extended it this year quite a bit. Nevertheless, some thoughts deserve revisiting.
Yes, Christmas is over, though our family extended it this year quite a bit. Nevertheless, some thoughts deserve revisiting.
Here's an fyi Linus knew—real angels do not
resemble Precious Moments figurines. At all. They do not have sweet
cherub faces, they do not hover over people and toss flower petals
and good feelings, and they do not await their wings by anything we
may say or do for them. (Sorry Jimmy Stewart, you know how much I
love you and your movie.) They are also not our dead relatives, but
that's another story.
In the coming year, I want to focus
here on fears—what they are, what they aren't, and why we need or
don't need them. I figured the Christmas story was the place to
start.
“An angel of he Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town
of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Messiah, the Lord.”
Luke 2.10-11
Whenever an angel greets someone, the
first line is often, “Do not be afraid.” Like they are well aware
they need to break the ice with something a little disarming. Then
immediately, they follow that up with the why. In this case, do not
be afraid because . . . here's the news, and you're going to like it.
The things that look terrifying to us
from our perspective aren't always. Sure, if you're on the wrong side
of an angel, things could get heated, and you will lose. But the
shepherds weren't. They were just receiving a newsflash from a
cosmically cool messenger. They also were being given a job.
The things that terrify us probably
look a lot worse than they really are as well. But when we stop
covering our eyes, turn around, and look and listen, we can discover
the message those things are trying to deliver.
So I'm inviting you to join me on a
journey this year. Or just today, your call. What do you fear? List
the top five. Write them on a piece of scratch paper, on your
bathroom mirror, in your Bible, or right here in the comments. It
would be great to share together to know what the biggies are. Then
decide which one you're going to spend time with this week opening your
eyes to and listening to the message behind it. Let me know what you
discover. It just might be good news of great joy!
4 comments:
Interesting post! It's true that angels, with all their accompanying brightness, caused fear to their viewers. So did any appearance of the glory of God. I think it is interesting that sometimes, angels (like the ones who visited Abraham and Lot) looked just like ordinary guys. No one feared them, because they appeared incognito. So true that the things we fear might just be messages from the Lord. A cool concept. Thank you!
I've met an anget and he was not fearful. He appeared as a gas truck driver when we needed gas and then, truck and all, just disappeared. Read my post at http://www.barbaraannderksen.com to find out more.
I love that God is creative like that. He uses whatever is needed to get the message delivered!
Loved your post, Jill! So true. And I like your challenge too. I'll join in after I make my list. :)
Post a Comment