3 words till Christmas... mystery...

3 days till Christmas... the word... mystery...

But as the word comes... I wonder...
Is this the right word... is there synonym...?
one which better describes what I feel He's saying...?

So... off to Webster's...

mystery... a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand... any of the 15 events (as Nativity, the Crucifixion, or the Assumption) serving as a subject for meditation during the saying of the rosary... something not understood or beyond understanding: enigma...

---Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Ed.

Hmm... it's surely the right word...

You see... I have a mystery or two in my life right now...
they cause me to wonder...

I believe... He's told me some things to come...
dare I say... promised... to move in the lives of loved ones...
but from where they are now... and what I see...
it's a complete mystery... as to how what He's revealed will come about...

Mary surely felt the same way...
How does a virgin get pregnant...?

And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child

to be born will be called holy --- the Son of God. ..."

Luke 1:34-35 ESV

If I were Mary... I think I would've followed up with another question...

OK... sure... but HOW...?

Mystery...

And the greeting Mary received from Elizabeth... when she heard hers...

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry,

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?..."

Luke 1:41-42 ESV

Mary... faced with another mystery...

How in the world...?! did Elizabeth know...?!

Surely Mary could hardly wrap her mind around what happened...

and probably wondered the whole trip...

How will I explain this to Liz...? will she believe...?

will she ask me to leave...?

But she shows up with a timid... Shalom...

and her blessed cousin... bursts forth with wonder...!

Mystery...

After giving birth in a barn...

Mary and Joseph tuck the Babe in a manger...

and unexpected visitors arrive...

When the angels went away from them, the shepherds said to one another,

"Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,

which the Lord made known to us." And they went with haste

and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them

concerning the child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:15-19 ESV

Can you imagine the surprise on Mary and Joseph's faces... when they realized the shepherds weren't there to bed down sheep... but to see the Babe...?

Another... How in the world...?! moment...

And the message the shepherds brought from the angel...

"... I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,

who is Christ the Lord. ..."

Luke 2:10-11 ESV

Mary's baby... the Babe...

was to be good news for ALL people...

the Babe born unto you... plural...

a Savior... to you ALL...

Mary treasured up all these things... pondered them in her heart...

How in the world...? will this tiny Babe born in a barn...

grow up to be Savior of the world...?

He's good news to me... but how will He become good news to ALL...?

Mystery...

That's where I find myself today... pondering...

treasuring what I believe He's revealed...

wondering... How in the world...? will it come about...?

Mystery...

I notice as I write... all these mysteries... revolve around Mary...

and a truth about belief comes to light...

Mystery surrounds God... and in our relationship with Him...

we must accept the mystery... to walk by faith...

What exactly happened on the cross...?

Why did He have to die...?

How do I have a relationship with One I can't see...? hear...? touch...?

When do I know it's Him speaking...?

How does He bring good...? out of evil...?

When we say... Yes... to Him...

and He's born anew in our hearts...

life becomes a mystery worth pondering...

Amen...

waiting thoughts continue...

The verses on waiting over the last few weeks... still stir in my heart... perhaps because I'm doing some waiting...

I think of the patient farmer James tells us to be like...
waiting patiently for what's been planted... hidden... in the ground...

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming.

See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop,

patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

James 5:7 NIV

Waiting... for growth... for change...
seems to come from something...
hidden away... out of sight...

Jesus told us about another farmer...
scattering seeds... crops growing...
but the farmer has no idea how it happened...

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter

seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts

and grows; he knows not how. ..."

Mark 4:26-27 ESV

The woman who hid leavening in the bread...
she had to wait for it to grow...

And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour,

until it was all leavened."

Luke 13:20-21 ESV

This hiding... of Word...
waiting for the Kingdom to burst forth...
takes time... days and nights...
it begins where we can't see...
and is a mystery to us who wait...

Some of the things I'm waiting on make my heart heavy...
make me groan with deep desire to see something happen...
I call on the Holy Spirit to interpret my groans...
intercede on behalf of those I groan for...

And this hidden thought comes to mind...
this reminder that I'm in a season...
of patient waiting...

Waiting for growth...
I don't know how...
in a place I cannot see...
patiently waiting...
on Him who is trustworthy...

Amen...

joy... greater than happiness...

At the end of a long day... 

broken needles... messed up orders...

the end of the year of after-school ministry...

unruly fourth graders... and a stern temper...

feeling as if I've cast seed on hard ground...

wondering if I failed Him...

fighting the urge to binge on snacks...

yet... there resides in my heart... a strange joy...

And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10 ESV

I feel like I should be grieved... but really... I just can't be...

His joy... my strength...
the result of a long obedience in the same direction...
fighting the good fight...
not quitting...
remaining faith-full...

Joy... it's so much greater than happiness...

My red cup... and a fresh pot of decaf brewing on a dreary Wednesday afternoon... makes me happy...

Happiness is fragile... just like my red cup...

Joy... it's different...

it comes only from Him...

eternal... unreasonable... and sometimes a mystery...

Where have you experienced joy recently...?

embracing His mystery...

Through the act of praising Him as Mystery... the One beyond our understanding... the One known only through the grace of revelation... the importance of embracing His mystery becomes clear...

To embrace the unknowns of God... is to embrace Him in faith...

To doubt... hesitate... disobey... because He hasn't given full disclosure... is to walk in unbelief...

Trusting Him... is huge... when it comes to loving Him...

Like children... we are to trust out heavenly Father... without fully understanding what He's calling us to do... or why...

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying,

"Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said,

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ..."

Matthew 18:1-3 ESV

So often... parents must tell their children to do something... or submit to something... for their own good... yet there is no possible way for the child to understand in the moment... developmentally they just can't do it... for example... vaccinations... 

Three-year-olds are far from comprehending the threat of viruses... or the blessing of vaccines to boost immune systems for their protection from disease...

As Believers... we too must embrace our limited understanding... and God's wisdom and timing... in providing revelation...

There are some things we will just not be able to understand... comprehend... or see the reason to... while we are in the flesh...

Embracing His mystery... 

is an act of childlike faith... and wonder...

an exercise of trust... and love...

Take a step of faith...

let go of your need for understanding...

trust your heavenly Father...

just like a child...

a mystery to add to the list...

All they that see me laugh me to scorn:

they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.

Psalm 22:7 KJV

Reading a devotional this morning... provided another mystery... to add to the list...

... how couldst Thou die for men who treated Thee so ill? ...

---Oswald Chambers, Morning and Evening

Thinking of my own heart... past rejections quickly evoked hate...

No other word will do...

When those I'd said I loved... rejected me... my heart protected itself with hate... it's a bent in my character... I still have to beware of...

But not Him...

He knows how to love... He is love...

We accused Him... rejected Him...
beat Him... mocked Him...
deserted Him... spat on Him...
crucified Him...

Yet... He held Himself to the cross... for love of each one of us...

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills prophets

and stones those sent to it! How often would I have gathered

your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

and you were not willing. ..." ---Jesus

Matthew 23:37 ESV

He knew we would do it... and He still came...

How could He...? suffer... die...? for us who rejected Him...? hated Him...?

Father God sent His Son... out of love... for the world...

Jesus... endured... suffered... because He loved...

And still... there are those He loves... who continue to reject... mock...  and scorn Him... to their own demise...

There's another mystery... to add to the list...

mysteries...

I dealt with a few mysteries today...
inexplicable design flaws...
how to get rid of chimney swifts trying to nest on the front porch...
what to do about dogs coming to visit of their own accord...
why people do what they do...

So moved by mysteries... it became the subject of today's post...

Looking up the definition... I found...

mystery... noun... 1 a: a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand... 2 a: something not understood or beyond understanding: enigma... 3: profound, inexplicable, or secretive quality or character

 ---Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.)

I had no idea the primary definition of mystery had to do with God... (since all truth is His... any religious truth is solely about the one true God... Father... Son... Spirit...)

This definition reminds me... I deal with mysteries every day when it comes to knowing Him...

And I've learned the only way to understand is via revelation... His unveiling... revealing... of truth...

He who holds all things together... is a mystery in and of Himself...

No wonder the world... the universe... abounds with mysteries...

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

He was manifested in the flesh,

vindicated by the Spirit,

seen by angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

believed on in the world,

taken up in glory.

1 Timothy 3:16 ESV

resigned to the mystery... that is Him...

The gift of the artist doesn't only rest in the hands that sculpt but in the eyes that see. Seeing the not-yet in the midst of the now is a perspective the artist has to carry. And so we ought to pray not only for skill but for sight.

---Emily P Freeman, A Million Little Ways

Jesus... the ultimate Artist... Creator...
He saw all... before it was...
Even now... in the midst of the middle...
the brokenness... the rubble...
He sees... clearly... what will be...

This is a mystery to me...
the mystery of Him I wish I had...
certainty... vision... of things unseen...

Resting in the unseen work of Him... is work... the work He calls us to...

This is the work (service) that God asks of you:

that you believe in the One Whom He has sent

[that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in 

His Messenger].

John 6:29 Amp

Matthew quoted Jesus as saying...

"Let your light shine before men in such a way

that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ..."

Matthew 5:16 NASB

And Paul told the Ephesians...

For we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works...

Ephesians 2:10 NASB

This work... is the work of faith... sure of what we hope for... certain of what is still unseen... this is the work that glorifies the Father... the work we were created for... trusting in... relying on... cleaving to... His Son...

Embrace the mysterious, invisible work of Christ even when it seems like nothing is happening.

 ---Emily P Freeman, A Million Little Ways

Today... I resign myself to the Mystery... that is Him...
His vision...
His plan...
His promise...

Lord... I ask for the blessing of vision... to see the unseen... as You... I ask for the blessing of faith... that I might fully rest... in the work You're about... in me... and in others... I trust You... as the One who sees... and knows... Amen...