I saw this cartoon recently and totally related. How is it that stores begin to decorate for an upcoming holiday before the holiday we are preparing to celebrate has even come upon us? I think it gets worse each year.
Toy magazines have already begun to arrive in our home with Christmas ideas sure to get the kids excited about their lengthy wish lists.
I remember as if it were yesterday, growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, when my parents would get the Sears, Montgomery Ward, and the JC Penney catalogs. They were thick, like large phone books, and a smart kid knew to go straight to the back where you could see the amazing exhaustive list of toys on sale in all of their glory. Back then you didn’t receive a handful of specialty catalogs each day in the mail. So, you had to search for the toy section amidst all the other household items imaginable.
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I was also aware that some of the catalogs in our home were those “dud” catalogs…the ones you would flip through excitedly anticipating what toys would be listed only to find curtains and couch covers to the very last page. What a disappointment!
Around Christmas, I would quickly cast those boring catalogs aside and find the catalogs with all the hidden treasures I’d hoped to add to my Christmas list. Since there were three of us in my home, I knew I would need to mark the page carefully. Didn’t want Santa to make a mistake and give my gifts to one of my siblings.
My youngest daughter loves marking catalogs too. She will circle, star, draw arrows…you name it. There is never any mistake about what she’s asking for.
As I sat in our kitchen the other day perusing the mail, setting the catalogs aside for my kids, I started to think about how freely they use the pen, scribbling circles around the treasures their hearts desired – as if circling it was a good as getting it.
I thought about how unreservedly they ask. How hopefully they make their requests. I often wonder if they think Mark and I are made of money.
Why don’t I bring my requests to God with such abandon?
Psalm 84:11 says – “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Matthew Henry’s commentary on this verse says…
We are here in darkness, but if God be our God, he will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but he will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thick about us. Through he has not promised to give riches and dignities, he has promised to give grace and glory to all that seek them in his appointed way. And what is grace, but heaven begun below, in the knowledge, love, and service of God? What is glory, but the completion of this happiness, in being made like to him, and in fully enjoying him for ever? Let it be our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us every thing that is good for us.
Early the other morning, I was sitting quietly in prayer and I was wrestling with God. I felt vulnerable and mistreated. I realize that, at times, my feelings of being wounded by another have a lot to do with my own selfish heart. I was asking God to give me His eyes in the situation. I was asking Him to help me find a place of peace. I asked Him to reveal the truth to me about this situation even if it meant that I must change. And then, in my vulnerability, I asked Him, “God will you protect me from the arrows that sometimes fly?” God’s response was, “Why didn’t you come to me sooner? ”
I sat their feeling a little foolish. Why hadn’t I called out for God’s provision sooner? I didn’t pretend to know “how” to solve the situation but I knew I needed to give it over to Him. At that moment, I simply confessed my need to Him. I asked Him for protection, wisdom and peace and then I waited for Him to work. I knew that He, who does all things well, would work it all out for my good.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
I got excited about His gentle reminder for me to ask more of Him. Is my wish list long?
“God give me wisdom. Give me compassion. Give me mercy. Give me Your protection. Give me direction. Give me hope. Give me faith. Give me truth.” …
What are you asking God for? Have you neglected to ask Him for what you need?
He is waiting with His bountiful supply.
So, this holiday season, each time I see the kids pull out a new catalog to mark up, I’ll remember, I to need to make my list. I’m getting out my marking pen. I have many items on my wish list. I guess it’s time to get to marking.
Nana - Dave often quotes this when we arrive home from Y…see the sun rising! ..He is our Sun & Shield. He will give grace and glory….no good thing shall He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Wonderful Praise! Love you! ….HE IS MY Sun and Shield…He is always working, and I am trusting!
Ginny Thomas - Dear Tammy, thank you for being willing to share the wisdom that God is giving to you! A wonderful reminder today that He is all we need.