"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited." Isaiah 54:2-3
I don't know about you, but I find Christmas shopping to be extremely frustrating and downright depressing! I wish I could learn to do as others and do my shopping all year long so I don't end up in this panic the last week before Christmas! Lately, I have found myself to the point of tears as I have driven from store to store in search of the "perfect" gifts for everyone on my list, and wishing it was all over already so I could forget about this experience for another year. This is not what Christmas is all about...I am sure that Jesus is sad and probably angry as He watches us go through this ritual every year...it's not about the gifts, it's about THE GIFT...JESUS CHRIST, THE MESSIAH, THE BABE IN THE MANGER, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, THE LION OF JUDAH, THE DAYSTAR FROM ON HIGH, EMMANUEL, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE...to name just a few of His Holy Names. That is what Christmas is all about...Shout it from the housetops!
I feel better now that I've said that. But what I really wanted to tell you about is the gift that God gave to me today as I was rushing through the aisles, scrambling for ideas, and beating myself for allowing this to happen again. There, almost hidden amongst a stack of knicknacks, bric-a-brac, odds and ends, and stuff, my eyes lighted upon a little picture frame, no larger than 3" x 3", with a very familiar verse written upon it....
"Remember, When God closes a door, He opens a window."Wow!!! I clutched it to my chest, and held it close...and said, "Thank you, Lord, for this little gift just for me today!" Not only was it the exact saying behind the title of my Blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows", but it was precisely the message that I needed to remember today. You may wonder why, and I don't really have to tell you why, but just suffice it to say that I needed that reminder. And yes, I added it to my purchases for the day...a Christmas gift to me from God....
God had already been preparing me for a message from Him earlier as I was aimlessly driving around, trying to figure out where to go next in my shopping dilemma, and I found myself literally crying not just about the shopping, but about life in general...and He gave me words of comfort and hope...that my days of sorrow and sadness would soon be ended, and that days of great joy and gladness were just around the corner...the verse quoted above from Isaiah 54 was written for the Israelites, when they were pictured as the "restored wife of the Lord". They were going to be brought back to their own land from their places of captivity and years of barrenness as a nation. Don't try to read too much into this as it relates to my own situation, but just know that it comforts me personally...and it all ties in with the little saying that I rediscovered in my journey..."Remember, When God closes a door, He opens a window..."...."Enlarge the place of your tent..." Get ready for action and growth....God is getting ready to do something. (Close a door? Open a window?)
How about you? Do you need that message of hope and encouragement today? Is all the scurrying about and worrying and fretting about what to do about this, and what to do about that, and getting ready for Christmas ( in the material sense) getting you down? Maybe you need to be reminded that God is working behind the scenes in your life as well, working on a plan to give you new hope for the New Year... Why not take a few minutes out of your hectic schedule and sit down and let Him talk to you today? You may be surprised at the message He has for you.
May your Christmas be truly blessed with joy and gifts from "out of this world", and may your New Year be the beginning of many new open windows of opportunity.
Merry Christmas!!!
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| I thought it appropriate to place this little "gift" from God today right beside the "real gift" from God...Jesus, the Babe in the Manger...My Savior...and Your Savior Too...that is, if you have already accepted your free gift from God...I hope you have...That's what Christmas is really all about. |
4 comments:
Aunt Pam, Thank you for writing this today. This is exactly how I have been feeling. I just walked in from 8-9 hours of shopping and I barely scratched the surface of what I needed to buy. On my way home I decided that my status post was going to be....I hate that I hate Christmas. Your post is my gift from God!
Pam, I,too,thank you for this post! I know exactly how you feel as I feel it too. I haven't even been going out much since I know that buying all that I would like to buy is only going to put us further behind and in more debt. I have instead been decorating my home for the first time in several years. I'm finding decor that I had totally forgotten about, some I'm using and a lot of it will go up for sale later! Actually, I'm just putting off the inevitable---I really need (or at least I think I do) to get out and shop for "something" of which I don't even know what!!That's the worst part-when I don't even know what would be the "perfect" gift(s). Why DO we do this to ourselves?? WHO are we trying to please?? Isn't it more important to please God by just letting our love for each other be enough? Just being together should be enough! We DO have the best gift of all and that is God's gift to us--Jesus---the REAL reason for this season! Are we pleasing Him as much as we try to please each other with our gifts?
Debbie's status post is so true! I look forward to this time of year because of the flood of happy memories from years past, but then I just want it to fast forward to January, so I can just "start anew"!
My hope and prayers is that we all can "start anew" with more thoughts and actions toward making our next year and next Christmas all that it really should be--making it all about the best gift of all!!
I love you
Doris
PS--I also love that little picture of yours--with it's pretty--daffodils!!!
Bless you Sweet Friend, I am so happy that God lead you to that great gift! Love His little "kisses" like that so much!
To my Sister Doris and my niece Debbie above I say: We are all cut from the same mold...Thanks to our dear sweet Mama, may she rest in peace...She's probably chuckling at us girls down here doing just what she always did...and saying, "Whew! I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore! Now I've got Christmas everyday in Heaven!" (We miss you Mom). And yes, Doris, I saw the daffodils and thought of you first...that's really what caught my eye as I was looking for a gift for YOU! But instead, it was for ME!!!
And Dear RCL Susie: Yes...God's little kisses are so precious...He knows exactly the perfect gift for each of us...doesn't have to worry about size, color, price, or even if we'll like it! He KNOWS we will love it because He designed it specifically for us!
I feel SO MUCH BETTER TODAY! Not sure if all my shopping is done, but at this point...it's going to be just fine, no matter what!!!
Love and kisses to all of you today!!
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