Author: J Brad Mitchell

Tis the season of New Year Resolutions, promises of “a new year and new me”, thoughts of bettering ourselves and maybe just figuring out how to do things better.  For some, it is simply another day.  It is another chime of the clock or the change of a calendar so it now reads the correct year.  It seems to me this is a good time to at least take a moment and reflect on what went well – if nothing else.  Gaining a perspective can help us to move forward into the future with a little more compassion – both for ourselves and for others. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

I find today’s text to be important as we take the leap into 2022.  It signifies the gift of seasons, of the passing of times and the beauty with the difficulty of the change of times.  All are important – the planting and harvesting, the building and breaking down, the dancing and the mourning, the seeking and keeping and the losing and throwing away.  It is all important.  There is a purpose for the seasons.  We are all gifted with these times – although some times feel more like torture than gifts.  We can feel isolated and fearful as times change.  My grandmother reminds me often how tough it is to grow older – it isn’t for sissys she tells me.  Watching children go from little babies to adult children going out on their own can seem to happen so quickly.  There are so many joys in each moment and mixed in, there is often hurt and disappointment.  Seasons change and we learn to adjust to our new situations, whether we really want to or not.  

I’m not a big fan of winter – so you can imagine how much I have enjoyed the past few days.  I do not enjoy when it gets dark before I leave my office and the sun doesn’t make an appearance until I have been up several hours.  I don’t really enjoy the trees and plants looking so bare.  I’m much more of a fan of spring.  I love to watch things bloom and come alive.  I enjoy planting in my garden and waiting for the first sprigs to appear from the ground.  But I know that winter is a preparation for spring.  I understand that during the winter, processes are happening beneath the earth so something amazing happens when the ground thaws.  I know that the trees I pass by are not dead, they are simply in restoration, waiting to produce new leaves and beautiful fruits.  I get it.  The seasons make sense – but it doesn’t mean I always look forward to the changes.  

Most of us aren’t a fan of change – that’s probably an understatement if we are honest with ourselves.  We don’t want change and even if we think we do, it can shake us to our core.  We don’t always know why we do something we do except we have always done it that way.  We get accustomed to a routine, to seeing things a certain way.  We like it that way and we want it to stay that way.  I want my garden to keep producing crops but it doesn’t work that way.  I want the sun to come up earlier and stay around a little longer, but I don’t get to decide.  But change is necessary, often healing.  It can be the key to us moving forward and finding new growth.  

When I think of the positive changes I read in the Bible, they are often the hardest, most difficult journeys.  Take just a moment and think about it.  We start in the Old Testament and we see the story of Joseph.  He went through a series of painful changes – thrown in a pit by his own family, sent to prison, lies told about him and seemingly completely forgotten.  Yet, he became the one to save his people.  I think of his words – what you meant for evil, God meant for good.  

Consider the children of Israel – those stubborn, disobedient and often ungrateful folks – reminds me a lot of us today.  They were rescued from captivity only to complain and whine at every turn, even wishing they were still in captivity.  Yet, they were on their way to the Promised Land – a place where God’s goodness flowed out of abundance.  I think of Isaiah and many of the prophets letting the people know to get themselves together, good was to come – but all they saw was bad, and kept doing wrong because of their shortsightedness.  I think of Jesus – probably one of the most controversial change agents ever to live.  He turned their faith (or lack thereof) upside down and began to shake things at the very core.  He questioned everything they did and pushed them to live very differently than they could have ever imagined.  By the way – they didn’t like this either – I mean, they did try to throw him off of a cliff and did eventually hang him on a cross.  I think of Paul – introducing to the first Christians the idea that these unclean Gentiles were worthy of God’s love too.  He was beaten, shipwrecked and starved on more than one occasion.  

My point is the most beautiful outcomes in our faith are built out of changes which were often the most painful and challenging.  None of them came without great cost.  There were times of good but there were also times of hurt, grief and disappointment.  Change comes at a cost but the outcome is better than any could have ever imagined. 

We don’t really know what changes await us in 2022.  We couldn’t have predicted a pandemic that would continue this long – even though this isn’t the first one ever to happen in history.  Many of us are shocked at the amount of hate and meanness that can be produced when the fires of change are stoked.  But this calls us to be the change for good.  This is the time when Christians should be the leaders in positive change.  We should be the example.  When all the world seems so full of hate, we should be full of love.  When everyone seems frightened and out of sorts, we should be the ones confident in the peace of God which should live in us.  When all else seems to be falling apart, we are the ones with the understanding that seasons do change but God does not.  We hear how weeping may be through the night but joy comes in the morning.  We have seen and heard how our God is faithful and shows up at just the right time – though often not as we would want him to.  We have experienced the miracles of a loving God.  We know God is merciful and slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.  We should get it – but often we are stubborn to all God is doing.  We fight the change rather than being the change.  We want things our way rather than God’s way and end up in a mess we could have avoided if we simply followed Christ.  We seek our own fulfillment rather than seeking justice which may be quite costly. 

So what’s the good news?  The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way.  As we approach a new year, it is a new opportunity to love God and love our neighbor.  That, my friends, will change things.  If we could simply focus on what Jesus taught us was most important – and essentially what he spent his ministry showing us – we would bring the good news.  Love is the answer.  I’m not talking about the sappy Hallmark movie kind of love.  I’m talking about the gritty, love your enemies kind of love.  I’m talking about the Jesus love – the type of love which causes us to be uncomfortable and embrace change because we seek justice.  There is, indeed, a season for all things.  Maybe this is the season for Christians to rise up in a love which changes the world.  

May it begin with me.

Christmas is an exciting time.  There are lights and trees and ornaments.  There are movies and plays – manger scenes and big celebrations.  There is food…oh wow, is there food!  It’s a big time for many of us.  We are celebrating many things in our country and around our world, but for those of us today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  I’m grateful for the celebration – but Jesus’ birth was not quite the same type of celebration.  It was quite ordinary.  There really wasn’t anything all that remarkable.  If anything, it was as ordinary as ordinary can be.  We think of it as anything but ordinary, but as Luke explains, the events were typical and quite unimpressive.  That is, it was an odd birthday. 

Luke 2:4-7 – Luke tells this as if it is unremarkable.  They are being taxed – that was stinky even back then.  They are away from home and apparently Joseph was either not a great planner or a man short on funds and influence.  Can you imagine how that conversation with Mary must have gone – “no, I don’t have a place for you to sleep – yes, I know you are very, very pregnant – no, I don’t have any way to get us a better place – yes, I have learned my lesson by not getting here earlier and asking for directions so we could have had a better place to stay – yes, dear, I get it, I messed up.”  In his defense, it couldn’t have been easy to travel with a woman who was 9 months pregnant – can you imagine how many times they had to stop for her to go to the bathroom?  Now, I don’t know how it all went but we do know they end up wherever they could sleep for the night.  The baby was born among the animals.  Mary wrapped him up as any new mother would do – the best she could.  It is told as if it just happened.  Boom – a baby was born.  No big deal.  Except this was a big deal.  This was a huge deal.  This was a life changing deal.  But it was as if no one knew about it.  God kept it under wraps – or hay as it seems.  The story doesn’t end there, though.  Actually, the story has just begun.

Luke 2:8-20 – All of a sudden, Luke takes a turn.  He takes the scene from watching Mary and Joseph to a place on a hillside with shepherds.  The most common, ordinary folks with an all but ordinary experience.  There are angels, there is singing, and there are messages to go.  All of the things we would expect with God’s Son being born.  It is the shepherds who get the message.  And they are the ones who show up.  They get to experience the gift.  They get to see the baby.  They bring a message of reassurance to a new mother and father who are in a very different place than they would have thought or planned.  None of this was in their plans as they had discussed marriage and kids.  

What’s missing from the story?  I want to know – Where are the parades and the processionals?  Where are the lights, the fireworks, the royal announcements?  Jesus is born – doesn’t anyone else get it?  The place is so packed that Mary and Joseph don’t get a spot.  There are so many people around.  There are people who pass by.  Yet, no one really gets it.  A woman has a baby – well, that’s fairly ordinary.  That’s actually an extraordinary miracle we have made ordinary because, for us, we lose the miraculous when there are approximately 256 births per minute in the world.  Birth is a part of the life cycle.  So we often miss the miracle of it all.  A young woman and her beloved are gathered just like everyone else and she has a baby – okay, so what?  Did no one get the significance?  Did everyone just pass by?  

We do know of a few who got it.  But it wasn’t from the royalty.  It wasn’t the religious elite.  It wasn’t those who just knew they had the Messiah’s coming all figured out.  They were on the watch and it happened right in front of them.  They missed it.  It was, instead, those who were willing to listen and see.  It was those who were open to a message that was very different than they had ever imagined.  It was those who had willing hearts and open minds to approach a lowly stable to find a baby that would be the Messiah.  God chose shepherds because shepherds were willing to pay attention.  They were open to the miracle of God.  They had not decided what God could do and how God would do it.  They had not already placed God in the nice, neat box of their own narrow minds.  They were not the most educated or the most wealthy.  They did not have the same knowledge as the religious leaders – those trained to tell people what to do to be holy.  They were common.  But the trait I see is they were willing.  

What an odd birthday for the Savior of the world – not even cake and candles adorned the place.  There wasn’t even a clean hospital room.  But it really sets the tone for Jesus’ entire life.  It really helps us to understand who Jesus is.  When we start with his birth, we begin to see this is no ordinary life.  What seems so mundane is actually about to change the world forever.  Jesus goes on throughout his life to make a difference in the lives of the ordinary, the willing.  He heals those who have faith – not because they are taught the right ways but because they are desperate for God’s love.  They hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Those are the ones who become children of God.  It is those who don’t have it all figured out and don’t decide what God can and cannot do – or will or will not do.  God has come to those who do not always understand why things happen and why life has to be so very hard.  God has come to the questioners, the inquisitive, the seekers, and the completely clueless.  God sent Jesus because so many thought they had it all figured out and Jesus shattered all of those thoughts.  

Jesus’ beginning was the beginning of a change in it all – everything they knew (frankly, everything we think we know).  We celebrate the birth of Jesus – but do we really want him to change us?  Do we really want him to show up and turn our world in an upheaval to be able to see him?  Do we really want him to remind us he is so much more than we have him figured out to be?  Are we ready to understand we don’t have all the answers, we don’t have it all figured out and we don’t know all about him?  

I was raised in church.  My parents have always been really active.  They did all the church things – they taught Sunday School, led the youth, cooked for the events, served on the boards.  When I was 18 years old, my Dad became a pastor – maybe between raising me and my brother, he thought his prayer life was as good as it was going to get and he was ready for ministry.  I had the upbringing.  I knew who God was.  I got it.  I won the Sunday School awards and could name the beatitudes.  I knew the books of the Bible.  I went to youth group and sang the songs.  I had the history.  What I realized as I grew up was I had been given just enough to scratch the surface – I didn’t really know anything at all.  And sure, I have a doctorate now.  Guess what?  I am still learning and growing and trying to figure it out – one small piece at a time – still scratching the surface.  I am still trying to understand and be open to see God at work.  

Here’s what I don’t want to happen.  I don’t want to miss what God is doing because I see only the ordinary.  I don’t want to miss where God is showing up because I have already decided how he works.  I don’t want to go through my life and completely miss the miracles he puts right in front of me – even if they seemingly happen all the time.  I don’t want this to be just another Christmas or another birthday for Jesus.  Think about it – maybe we miss God because we are expecting to see him in places we have decided he will show up – in ways we expect him to appear.  Maybe we are like those first travelers who passed right by the birth of Jesus and missed it because there was no way the Messiah could be born there…to them…on that day.  Instead, I want to be like the shepherds – a willing heart realizing I don’t need to have it all figured out but simply be eager to learn.  I can’t do that if I don’t listen – really listen to the angels sing – to the trees clap – to the mountains proclaim.  I can’t really learn if I have decided I know it all.  We will miss him if we are not seeking him.

So here is where I land this Christmas – God is love.  Love was born and because that love is so profound, there was no fanfare needed.  This love would radiate far beyond that manger in the stable that day.  This love would begin to flood the entire world in new light.  This love would change lives like never before.  This love is changing mine – how about you?  Do you hear what I hear?

Cold and rainy mornings are the perfect combination for sleeping.  The rain hitting the window and the warm covers call for anything except getting up.  But most of us must get up, we must start the day.  We can start the day dreading it.  We can wish we were not going to work or having to get our kids to school.  We could long for a different life.  Or we could start our day completely different.  This day could be the day we get a peek at God.  Are we looking for HIM in the ordinary moments of our lives?  He’s here, don’t miss him.

We miss things we do not seek.  When our mindset is stuck in the mud and we feel defeated before we even get started, we miss the joys that surround us.  We miss the moments of majesty which come and go in the blink of an eye.  We miss how God shows up in our lives.  We, instead, sink into our problems or our worries. We forget God is with us.  We forget there are so many things to enjoy.  We miss the opportunities just around the corner.

But not today.  On this cold, rainy morning, get up and seek God.  He isn’t hiding, we are just blind from seeing him because we aren’t looking.  Seek his goodness, it abounds.  Seek his love, it is overwhelmingly good.  Seek his mercy, we all need it.  Catch a glimpse of our Creator.  May we see even more clearly today.

Blessings as you seek HIM and find HIM today!

Psalm 27

⁷ Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
    be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸ “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, do I seek.

We have a small farm that we really enjoy.  The animals on our little farm are like our children.  We have mini goats, furry pigs and the most beautiful chickens.  For our chickens, we have two coops.  One is for the larger flock.  The second is the holding coop until the chickens get old enough and strong enough to be in the larger flock.  It turns out that all of them were able to integrate except one.  She was the smallest and of course, the lowest in the pecking order.  So we kept her in the smaller coop for a little while longer.  It seems, though, that the smaller coop was not as stable thanks to the deconstructive efforts of the goats and pigs (they just wanted to climb on it and to eat her feed).  Not too long ago, they managed to turn the entire coop on its side (I can’t even make this stuff up).  The little chicken was left to fend for her life.  She hid, was terrorized a bit, but survived.  Kelli brought her inside and we made a bed for her.  We put her in a dark, warm place for her to recuperate.  Her only movement was to breathe.  We knew she was in shock, but wasn’t sure if she was injured.  So we let her recover.  In a couple of days, she was talking to us and moving around.  She warmed up to us being around her, telling us all about her day (in chicken talk, of course).  A couple of days ago, I checked on her and noticed something different in her box.  She had laid an egg!  Now, that doesn’t sound like such a big feat for a chicken.  But you have to understand we have 11 chickens, all close to the same age.  Not one of them has yet to lay an egg – not one.  They are still young and it isn’t quite time for full production.  But the one who we thought might not make it is the one who was the first to ever provide an egg on our farm.  Unexpected gifts really do come from unexpected places.

This has taught me not to count anyone out and to love without excuse.  We don’t know the fight others are enduring.  We don’t have any idea the struggles many go through on a daily basis.  What we can do is love and care for others.  We can be kind.  We can be a safe place for people.  We can nurture and love when all else seems chaotic.  We can allow them to simply rest and breathe.  When we do, we never know how God might work in their lives and ours to provide just what is needed.  Surprises abound when we care for God’s creation.  

Ephesians 1

¹⁵ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love^[e] toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

Changes seem to come faster than we can comprehend.  When we feel like we are getting into a rhythm, something can easily knock us off and we are left trying to figure out what’s next and how to recover.  So many things can come our way in a single day, it can leave us anxious, overwhelmed, and generally looking to hide.  For many of us, change is one of the most difficult things we face.  We don’t want to change.  And even if we do want to change, if we are honest, we don’t want to put in the work to change.  Change is hard.  And we may find we are comfortable where we are.  Even if we are not comfortable, we know what to expect where we are.  So we do anything we can to avoid it.  We kick and scream and fight just to keep things the same.  We likely find we will never win the fight.  Things change, people change, and sometimes we need to change as well.  Change can be good, very good.  But when we are scared, we miss the good in it all.  How do we move forward when we simply want everything to stay the same?  How do we learn to warm up to change so it does not wreck us?  

When change is wreaking havoc, we look to the constant.  What (who) doesn’t change?  How can we find the stability, the base where we can run?  Where can we go when we need that rock and support?  It isn’t in our family or friends – they are dealing with change too.  It isn’t in food or addictions – that numbs the fact things change but we still must face it.  The one place we can find stability in it all is with God.  He doesn’t change.  He is the same loving, caring, peace-giving God he was before the creation of the world.  He is the same God who calmed the fears of so many of his children in the Bible and can calm our fears as well.  He has watched change frighten us and welcomes us to the stability and comfort of his never-changing embrace.  He doesn’t change because he doesn’t need to change.  He is our all-in-all.  He is Creator.  He knows just what we need when we don’t even understand our own needs.  Our rock and our foundation should be found in him – the One who never changes.  He is with us.  He is our stability.  He will calm us and provide for us – even when all else is out of control.  

May we find peace in the chaos of change.  May we be reminded God is never changing.  May we feel his almighty love wash over us no matter what we may face.  May we see God today.

Hebrews 13

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Joshua 1

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

There are so many things in life out of our control.  Let’s face it – life can feel as if everything is spiraling out of control, one piece at a time.  We think we have it together and something else happens.  It can become a game of chasing the latest mess and trying to clean it up.  Why even try, we may find ourselves wondering.  We can feel this sense of hopelessness that creeps in without even noticing until it consumes our mindset.  And yet, this is simply our perspective, not the complete picture of our reality.  We may miss the truth.

If we believe we are God’s beloved and if we just begin to scratch the surface of how much we are loved by God, then how can we continue to allow ourselves to be beat down by the events that happen in our lives?  It is true we face overwhelming circumstances.  There are things which completely knock us off of our feet.  But the majority of the time, it is the small continual things that happen which really consume us.  We allow what we see to become all we know and forget there is so much more. 

So hear this (you may miss it otherwise) – you ARE loved by God.  You were created by HIM to live an abundant life (hear an abundant LIFE not an abundance of stuff).  You were shaped and formed by the Creator God who knows you even better than you know yourself.  And this same God who loves and adores you also is with you every single moment of each day (yep, even when we act a fool – that can be embarrassing and comforting at the same time).  To know you are loved and adored and created for good is a reminder that you are not a mistake.  We make mistakes but we are not mistakes.  Our failures are lessons.  We grow and become the person we were created.  

No matter what you may face today, no matter how many things are out of control and tug at you to fix, there is one thing which does not change – You are loved.  Your perspective may be caught up in the events around you.  You may only see the difficulties which are covering your vision.  You may feel as though you were not meant to live in hope.  But the truth, beloved, is God has created you for good and there is good.  He is good.  And good things await.  An abundant life awaits.  An overwhelming love awaits.  Maybe it is time for a vision change.  Maybe we begin to see the truth rather than our limited view of our messes.  Maybe we see God.  And then, maybe we can embrace a love coming from our Creator.  YOU are loved.  Yes, YOU.  May you see today.

Psalm 139:14

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.

We all have rough days – days when we would prefer to just give in, go home, and pull the covers over our heads.  These come, they just do.  Many times, those circumstances are out of our control.  They happened to us.  I can easily find myself getting angry and start ruminating on those bad aspects.  I think of them over and over again.  They fill my day and they flood my mind.  It consumes my thoughts and takes over my entire attitude.  That bad day can carry not just through that day, but spill over into many days.  Even when I feel like I am over it, when I think of it, the anger comes right back.  And I may be justifiably upset.  But does it help to continue to let this fill my heart and my mind?  Does it contribute to my overall wellbeing to allow this to become a part of me?  Am I really doing anything advantageous by allowing this to consume me?  I have a bad day, you have a bad day…now what?

Because we all have these rough days, how do we move forward?  Instead of allowing this to overtake our heart, mind and spirit, maybe we consider our alternatives.  What we are angry about – is it fixable?  If it is, spring into action (not revenge but in productive action to better the situation without harm).  If it is not, what have we learned that can help us to become better?  If there is nothing to learn, what is it doing to us if we hold onto this?  What are we accomplishing by allowing this to overtake us?  What is good about carrying this bad day forward?  The answer is likely…nothing.  We probably instead find we are just being torn down by our thoughts and emotions.  We are hurting ourselves.  There has to be another way.

My best lesson for this comes from the Psalmists.  I love the Psalms because they are raw, real, and shockingly honest.  They write (or sing) about how they are angry and scared and overcome.  They write about how they want to destroy and how they feel abandoned (by God and others).  And yet…And yet…they find their way back to center.  Where is their center?  Read the Psalms.  The center comes back to words like this:  Deliverance belongs to the Lord, I will sleep in peace because the Lord brings peace, the Lord has heard my prayer, I will give thanks to the Lord for he is due, how majestic is Your name.  These all come from just the first few Psalms.  They go on to remind us of his mercy, his grace, and his everlasting love.  They have the bad day, week, month, etc and yet…they find their way back to the center – the center of God, our Creator, the One who loves us more than we can imagine.  That’s what matters.  How can you come back to your center today?

May your day be filled with good things, May you find peace, May you be comforted and loved.  And if you are having a rough day, May you find your center in God.  

Psalm 13
¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I bear pain in my soul,
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.