Showing posts with label distress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distress. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  (John 1:4-5 NRSV)

This Advent will undoubtedly prove to be an unusual one. In the midst of a global pandemic, following a contentious presidential election in the U.S., and in the swirl of racial unrest, we long for a vision of the Holy One.

The Gospel of John reminds us, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” In this season that feels dark to many, as people of faith we have the promise of enduring light. But we’ll need to look for it! What difficulty will the season of Advent hold for you this year? Separation from family? Financial distress? Isolation? The distress of living with the deep unknown? In the midst of the darkness, there is light! 

-- From the online introduction to “This Blue Christmas” with Todd Outcult, urelearning.upperroom.org


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Monday, June 22, 2020

FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  (Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV)

When you're in severe pain or distress, life becomes pretty simple.  You're in survival mode, and you have neither the heart nor the strength to spread around your emotional energy.  As Chuck Swindoll might say, "Life gets boiled down to the nubbies."       

Instrument-certified pilots know what this is all about.  When visibility drops to nil, and storms rage around them, it is second nature for them to focus on the "artificial horizon" gauge on their instrument panel.  No matter what their senses might tell them or what weird phenomena they see through the windscreen, they know the gauge will give them their true position and keep them flying level.  They may feel as though they are in a steep dive, or even flying upside down.  Yet their eyes must lock onto that gauge, and they must respond accordingly.  When it comes to survival, it doesn't really matter what they feel like; what matters is what their instruments say.

In the midst of life’s storms, fix your eyes on Jesus.

-- Adapted from Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton in “More Jesus, Less Religion” 


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