Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. [James 1:2-4 (NIV)
When we lived in the north, we often walked a public path that meandered along the shoreline of a nearby lake. Running through both public and private properties, it crossed the front lawns of historic lakefront estates and stunning homes with beautifully landscaped yards and gardens. One such home placed a lakeside bench for tired walkers that said, “Sit-Pray-Mediate-Enjoy” under a sign that read, “You can trust me. Love, God.” A delightful white fence delineated their private property from the public path. Decorated with whimsey, “Expect a Miracle” was the message on the gate and assorted Bible verses and words of wisdom were painted on the fence’s horizontal slats.
I laughed at actress Lynn Redgrave’s observation that, “God always has another custard pie up his sleeve.” Having grown up watching the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and Soupy Sales, I knew exactly what she meant! Custard pies are the unplanned quirky episodes of life—the glitches, bugs, hitches, curve balls, obstructions, setbacks, and snags that seem to arise when we least expect them. While they’re not necessarily earth-shattering or tragic, they upset the apple cart of our lives and can throw us off our game!
Sometimes those custard pies come at us the way candy on a conveyor belt did in an old I Love Lucy episode called “Job Switching.” Working in a candy factory, Lucy and Ethel’s job seemed simple enough: wrap candies as they came down the line. All went well until the line sped up and the candies came faster and faster. Knowing they’d be fired if any unwrapped candy reached the packing room, the women frantically grabbed the candies off the belt and ended up stuffing them in their mouths, hats, and blouses. “I think we’re fighting a losing game,” admitted Lucy.
Most of us can handle one or two custard pies at a time but, when they come flying at us as fast as the candy came to Lucy and Ethel, we feel like we’re playing a losing game and our faith is challenged! As Ms. Redgrave said, it does seem like God has an endless supply of custard pies up his sleeve. For many of us, the last twenty months have been a speeding conveyor belt of those pies and, with months of disappointments, complications, delays, and uncertainty, little went according to our expectations or plans. Before God tosses another pie my way, I wish He’d give me a warning so I could duck!
Nevertheless, as Christians, we know that those pies are part of God’s greater plan for us. Life is unpredictable at best and we need to accept its capriciousness with proper perspective, a positive outlook, a sense of humor, and faith in the One who is in charge. In the meantime, I’ll follow the advice painted by that home owner. Knowing that God loves me, I’ll trust in Him and expect a miracle (or two). I’ll sit, pray, meditate, and enjoy what God has put before me—even if it’s another custard pie!
Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. [Joshua J. Marine]
What do you hope to find tucked into your Christmas stocking or deposited under the tree Christmas morning? From the above words, it’s easy to think God is promising something like Christmas morning every day. Although He promises to hear and answer our prayers, let’s remember that He’s not so specific as to how He’ll answer them.
Jesus said to him, “For sure, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the holy nation of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? How can he get into his mother’s body and be born the second time?” [John 3:3-4 (NLV)]
Until learning about Las Posadas, I hadn’t given much thought to the difficulty of Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem or to how frightened and desperate the couple must have been that night so long ago. As the crow flies, it’s only a 70-mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem but Joseph and Mary weren’t crows and the route was not a straight one. Because of the hilly terrain, the most direct route south was the most physically challenging and, because it led right through Samaria, it also was the most dangerous. Wanting nothing to do with Samaritans, Jews typically detoured to the east before going south along the flatlands of the Jordan River, turning west at Jericho, going over the hills surrounding Jerusalem, and on south into Bethlehem—a trip of 90 to 100 miles. The trek from Jericho to Bethlehem would have been the hardest since it was an uphill hike with an elevation change of 3,500 feet! In good circumstances, people could walk about 20 miles a day so Mary and Joseph feasibly could have made Bethlehem in five 8-hour days. Mary, however, was about ready to give birth so a trip of seven to ten days is more likely.
One December evening several years ago, we walked the streets of Bethlehem. Instead of travelling to the Holy Land, however, we traveled back in time at a local church. Our journey began with a stroll through the Christmas story. We walked past Gabriel meeting with Mary, an angel visiting the sleeping Joseph, the shepherds and sheep, Joseph and a very pregnant Mary in a stable, and met the Magi with their camels and gifts. We then went inside the parish hall to the bustling city of Bethlehem. As required by the emperor, we stopped to register for the census and pay our taxes before moving through the crowded marketplace to the shops of the wine merchant, carpenter, leather worker, and oil and spice dealers. After pausing to watch mud bricks being made and fabric being dyed, a young boy took us on a tour through his 1st century Jewish home.
Devotions of the Heart 