Good morning, Blogging Family! I can’t believe it’s already December. If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’re aware that December is a pivotal month for Ivan and me. As followers of Jesus, it’s the month we celebrate Christ’s birth and look forward to His second coming. On a positive personal note, it’s also the month that contains Ivan’s birthday and our anniversary. On a less celebratory note, the end of the year also seems to be when we encounter our most significant trials (my original accident, my most serious subsequent hospitalizations, Ivan’s accident, and the delayed publication of Hello, God are a few of the ones we’ve posted online). Because of this trend that’s stayed strikingly consistent over the past decade, this month I feel led to counteract my sense of foreboding by posting each day until Christmas about something we’re grateful for or ways we currently see God working.

This is out of character, as I typically don’t write until I have a clear vision for where the the Lord is leading with a post or project, or until I have a decent amount of time to polish what I’m posting so it’s “most beneficial” to readers. But committing to something like this series removes all the parameters that keep me in control, and also leaves me open to the fearful possibility – what if something else bad does happen? What will I write then? This is a very real possibility. But I believe that should this come to pass, God will provide hope and grace for us in the trial, and committing in advance to give him thanks and praise publicly each day until Christmas has a strong biblical foundation. Some verses God has brought to mind as I’ve prayed about this are 2 Cor. 4:13-15:

“But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, ‘I believed in God, so I spoke.’ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.”

Also, 2 Cor. 10:4-6:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

Most likely I’ll return to writing more about these passages in future posts, but the short encouragement I’ll share today is that while my anxiety surrounding December is founded on objective reality (our past), God is not just the God of the past. He is also the God of the present and the future. And through His Word, which is even more trustworthy than my “objective” experience, he has promised us all the hope of a glorious future with Christ and a present day reward – being instruments of thanksgiving and grace – if we hold fast to this promise. He’s also revealed that every argument against who he is, even the temptation to doubt his heart toward us based on past trials, is part of a larger spiritual battle, and how we respond to this is not neutral but is a matter of obedience.

On that note, I’d like to close with another passage I’ve been meditating on recently. When I think of obedience, I can grow discouraged by how short I fall of God’s perfect standard, no matter how hard I try. But that is usually when I forget that I’m obeying out of gratitude for what Jesus has already accomplished for me by his perfect life on my behalf and death in my place, rather than trying to earn God’s favor through my own merit. Discouragement can also creep in when I try to obey in my own strength, instead of humbly asking God to produce His fruit in my life by the power of His Spirit. I hope this reminder of our positional righteousness can encourage you all as we begin this hopeful journey toward Christmas over the next three weeks:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 

Ephesians 1:3-4