Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year!.. for many. For some, it’s reflective and can be a little sad when missing loved ones. For others, it is a dark time, despite the lights and warm glows surrounding them. If you’re a little lost in darkness right now, feeling like there’s something wrong with you, you’re not alone. Christmastime brings out added stress as we look to achieve the essence of all that Norman Rockwell painted. We look at pictures on Facebook of smiling families and secretly long for those kinds of
connections. We face feelings of loneliness, rejection, and despair. The hype all around us makes it even worse.

Well, I have some encouragement for every person reading this. I would encourage everyone here – happy, sad, lonely or bubbling over with joy – to write down three things  called “The Thorn, the Bud and Three Roses.”

The Thorn: Write down one unfortunate thing that happened to you today. Acknowledge it. It happened. Now, ask God to help you with that. Ask him to remove it from you or to give you the strength to endure it. Ask Him if there is something to learn from it, grow with it or if you are to just let it go.

The Bud: Write down a hope you have for tomorrow, something that has not yet been obtained, but you are looking to happen. Then, take that to God. Ask Him for His guidance in this endeavor. Ask Him if it is in His will, and if it is not, to change your heart to hope for something that is. Ask Him for patience, as “tomorrow” does not always come in 24 hours. Ask Him to prepare you for whatever lies ahead with this hope or desire budding inside you.

Three Roses: Write down three good, lovely, wonderful things that happened to you today. Maybe you received a surprise gift, perhaps you found a close parking spot at the store; maybe someone held the door for you and smiled – genuinely smiled at you. Whatever form these blessings come in, write them down, in detail. How did they make you feel? What was their timing like? Who was involved? Was it an answer to prayer? Then, thank God for those blessings. Acknowledge that He is working good things in your life. Make it a point not to forget these things (which is why we write them down.)

Friends, God is working in your life – at Christmastime and every day. God gives us thorns for different reasons. They deter us from going down a path that could really harm us. Sometimes they are used to get our attention. Other times God uses those times of pain to grow us in some area of our life. Be patient with the thorns. Thorns can be removed and God is a great Gardener.

Buds hold promise. Buds give us hope. Some buds may open and bloom, some may not. Like a plant, there are often several buds at one time. God is in the business of promises. Seek His wisdom which buds to nourish and nurture so that they will bloom/

Roses are a symbol of love – God’s love for you. He loves to pour out sweet, fragrant blessings on us. It may not seem like many blossoms are on your tree of life, but seek them out. These gifts can come from a stranger passing, God-orchestrated circumstances, the love of a family member or friend… they can come from anywhere, in any shape or size at any time. Be ready. Be alert. Be expectant.

This is the season of Advent, the season of preparation and expectation for a Savior that would be born into a world that saw Him first as a Bud, the One who would grow to save His people from all the trials they were facing. As He grew, the world saw him as the Rose, the mighty warrior who would save His people from oppression… and when He didn’t seek an army for battle they way they expected, the people – His people – placed thorns upon His head and killed Him on a cross. Jesus knows the highs and lows of life. He knows what you are going through.

Jesus is also the One who knows how to handle each thorn and use its pain to bring growth and blessings to our lives and to glorify to Him. He places buds of hope in our hearts, and when we seek His wisdom, we discern which buds are from Him, which are of the world, and which He desires us to nurture and grow. The Roses are those gifts, moments, actions – great and small – that Jesus lavishes upon us to remind us that He is always with us, always working, always loving extravagantly.

It is my hope that each and every one of us would take time over the next week to allow the world fade away for a moment of time. Be still in God’s presence and allow Him to fill our hearts with the true meaning of peace and joy this season. Go to Him with what is on your heart. Seek His will. Be open to His leading and know that He is actively working in your life, ready to reveal beautiful blessings in His time.

It’s Christmastime. I’ve noticed each night on the way home I see more and more homes strung with lights and festive decor, but tonight all I can think about it is walking in circles in a pool. I’ll come back to that in just a bit.

Does your mind tend to race? Mine does. Lately, it has been racing endlessly, playing scenarios over and over in my head, making and remaking lists of things to do, planning for the upcoming week, the holidays, remembering things of yesterday and hoping for a better past… the thoughts are endless. I had just visited a good friend. Over dinner, I shared with her how difficult it is for me to fall asleep with these endless thoughts; I even wake up mid thought – not dream – thought. I confessed that although each night I read Scripture, study devotionals, meditate on His Word, pray, my mind seems to have a life of its own. I shared how much it is torture sometimes to live with this head of mine.

My friend, her faith is so much greater than mine. She has seen miraculous things take place right before her eyes. She wondered why others don’t believe in a God who displays His power and majesty to brilliantly; why so many live in the land of “what if?” “That’s fear, and fear is not from God,” she said. “That’s me.” I replied.

Mind racing.

I looked at her sitting across the booth, knowing what has taken place in her life, craving just an ounce of the confidence and belief she has. “I want to have faith like her,” I thought.

We parted ways and as I drove home, more houses stood lit in twinkle lights and inflatable Santas. I turned on the radio to hear the middle of a sermon. The first thing I heard the pastor say was “Take captive every thought.”

Now, let’s just pause for a moment. Let that sink in. Mind has been racing. Talks of miracles. A moment of confession. A prayer of supplication. God sends a message straight away…

The message continued. “Take captive every thought,” (2 Corinthians 10:5) but Paul didn’t stop there. Paul knew our minds will go in a direction of their own, desperately trying to achieve, solve, make sense of life. We live in a world filled with challenges, to-do lists, demands, broken dreams, heartache, pressures – a battle for our souls rages. God has already won the war, but the struggle still exists and much of it is due to our train of thought. The Enemy would love nothing more than to drag us, kicking and screaming, from the presence and essence of God. Yes, Paul, we should and must take captive every thought, but how?

Paul gives us a list of things to think about. He said to the Philippians, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” and then do.

Do. “Fix your thoughts…” Do. Now we get to the pool. The thoughts that have plagued me for weeks now are just as if I’ve been walking around the edge of a pool creating a powerful current. I must change the trajectory of my thoughts. It’s time to turn around and begin walking the other way. Now, if you’ve ever made one of those pool “whirlpools” you know how difficult it can be to walk against that current, even if you’ve only walked around for 5 minutes. Imagine that current has been going for weeks. Now, turn around and walk into it. Stop it. Change its direction. It’s tough, and in the beginning the current pushes you the way it wants you to go…

God was listening in on this conversation with my dear friend. He was in the midst of our hearts. He knew the purity of my thoughts and desires, then He sent me this message on the radio; but He didn’t stop there.

Paul continues in his letter, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing.” The people Paul was writing to looked up to Paul the way I look up to my friend. They wanted that kind of enduring faith as well. Paul wasn’t saying these things out of pride. He simply knew that he’s been practicing this way of life for a lot longer and he was offering himself as an example to model.

The pastor on the radio adds that God knows that we not only need His Word to help us build that kind of faith, but we need people to model it. “Do you have someone you look up to and desire to have faith like?”

Yes. Yes I do.

I arrived home, those words of Paul ringing in my ears. As I went about my nightly routine, I looked at the bottle of melatonin I’ve leaned on from time to time. Feeling exhausted, they beckoned to me.

“Take captive your thoughts. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the peace of God will be with you.”

Ah… that’s the way. Friends, the way is hard; it’s counter cultural; it’s yielding. Yet this is the only way to peace. I have much work to do, but I’m not alone in it. I may feel as though I’m walking against a violent current, but the One who walks beside me has the power to say to the storm within “Silent! Be still,” and indeed He will do just that, for you and for me.

[Side Note: That night was the first night in weeks that I slept like a baby. God is faithful and true.]