When the Cravings Die?

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For Christmas, I received a basket with wine and chocolates. The wines were very good, but it was chocolate that I was craving. Each morsel was filled with cappuccino and that is my downfall. I love cappuccino. Think of some of your cravings that make you smile. 

Let me share a story about cravings that come from one of best-loved piece of poetry in the world, the 23rd Psalm. Of course, lots of people only hear it read at funerals. 

Now there's a lot more to this psalm than just a funeral ditty, because the 23rd Psalm is about life, and it shows how the Good Shepherd leads us through all the stages of life's journey. 

The first stage is the “green pastures” of childlike faith. The Lord is my shepherd, and I have everything I need. Green pasture means food and comfort. Still waters mean every thirst is quenched. Restored soul means good health: physical health, mental health, spiritual health. This is what we want our children to believe. This is what we teach them. Little prayers for mealtime: "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest...." Little prayers for bedtime: "Now I lay me down to sleep...." The green pasture of childlike faith, where a child learns that when things go well it is because God is there! So far, so good. 

BUT, we all know that childlike faith cannot last. Every one of us, at some time, has to pass through the shadowy valley of adult anxiety. That childish faith no longer satisfies, and we ask, "Where is God when it hurts?" "Why doesn't God answer my prayer, when I need help so badly?" The shadowy valley of adult anxiety. 

Each of us has to leave the green pasture and walk the valley of shadow. But we don't have to walk it alone. God wants to walk it with us. The shepherd who protects us with a swinging rod. The shepherd with His guiding staff. The shepherd of comfort with a hand to hold. 

If the great truth of childlike faith is that good things happen because God is there, the great discovery of adult faith is that even when things go wrong, God is still there! 

And the image of the psalm changes from shepherd and sheep to a great banquet. Mature faith discovers that God is the surprising host who overwhelms us with grace. 

At the end of our journey, we discover ourselves the guests of honor at a great banquet. We can ask, what have I done to deserve this joy? But there isn't any answer to that question. The joy comes not from what we've done but from what our host is doing. 

I like this part of the psalm the best. Dwelling in the house of the Lord forever means a never-ending buffet, the mother of all potluck dinners, an all-you-can eat gourmet banquet. Chocolate filled with cappuccino and chocolate chip cookies without guilt. And not a lima bean in sight.

Childhood faith discovers that every good thing comes from God. Our adult anxieties are calmed when we discover that God is there even in the dark valleys. And as we near the end of our journey, we realize that all along it has been a love feast, a banquet in our honor, pure undeserved joy.

But anyone who has sat at the banquet table of God is outgrowing those cravings that make us doubt this love. What earthly chocolate chip cookie can compete with the food offered at the altar?  

How do you recognize the Good Shepherd's voice? When the cravings die away. When our need to be impatient, rude or unforgiving dissolves.The Lord is my shepherd, there isn't anything else I want! 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they hear the voice of God calling them to this banquet. Help us with our anxieties. Listen! Do you hear a voice? I think we're being invited to the banquet.

From Darkness into Hope

I am debriefing a group of dedicated teachers who are struggling with the death of a student. This student teen had a complicated medical history and sadly surgery and treatment did not bring him back to their classroom. These passionate educators were disgusted and angry that the medical community had failed to bring their precious young person back into their care.

What is clear is that all of us have dark moments in our lives, times when we feel disappointment with God or even anger at him.

No doubt, we have times when we are challenged by struggles in our lives, when circumstances end up overturning our plans and perhaps even riding roughshod over our dreams.

Perhaps a conflict with someone has created an impenetrable wall between you and that person and you have no idea how to restore the relationship. Perhaps shame or guilt is crippling you or someone you love and the offer of grace seems no more real than a mirage. Perhaps simple loneliness is the ghost that haunts your days.

Perhaps illness stalks you or a loved one and effective treatments are elusive or nonexistent. Or perhaps death has brought an end to their suffering, but deepened your own.

In all those circumstances and many more, we may feel disappointed by a Savior who didn’t live up to our expectations. Admit it, you want Jesus to come and you want Him to come right now. You want clear helpful answers to your questions. You want to be relieved of the burden of waking up every day without knowing what you’re supposed to be doing next. You want to put your hand under the pillow and find the answer there like a quarter from the tooth fairy, but morning after morning all you feel is the empty sheet.

 

Deep down, we secretly hope that if we believe in Jesus, he will use his awe-inspiring, cosmos-shaping powers to make our lives easier. But instead, He calls for us to embrace the bitterness of life and live it more deeply. And instead of easing our suffering, He chose to walk through it with us and teach us how to transform our pain into gateways to healing for ourselves and others.

And so, in answer to the question how do we cope with dark moments that make no sense like, we have to say, He’s the one who opens our eyes and brings us sight when we’re blinded by suspicion, hatred, prejudice or greed.

Jesus is the one who lifts our feet to walk in service to others, to share from our wealth, to reach out in compassion.

Jesus is the one who frees us from our prisons of loneliness, grief and fear.

Jesus is the one who brings good news into our lives even when we doubt God’s presence in our lives. 

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends this Christmas that as we look upon that baby born in the manger, we recognize that He is the Lord God incarnate, the hope of the world, the one who calls us friend, and as you gaze at the babe in the manager, remember He comes to bring us strength, courage and peace in our dark moments. Blessed Christmas, my friends.