Breathless in December

I don’t know about you but I’m out of breath.

Gasping my way into the holidays and straggling across the finish line of 2010, I find myself in need of oxygen – a pure, unadulterated, unpolluted breath of heaven.

Sometimes I feel like the wheelbarrow in the poem my William Carlos Williams “So much depends upon a red wheel barrow . . .”

I can get pretty caught up in the battle but sometimes my red cape gets wrapped the wrong way around my neck and I forget that it takes air to keep me flying this high until I am plummeting toward Metropolis.

So busy saving the world, I forget that someone already did that.

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:13-17

IN HIM all things hold together.

I am not the little boy with my finger in the dyke holding back the surge that strains against the barrier. I am just a woman who follows God imperfectly in a fallen world.

I’m one of those Christians who needs Jesus.

So today I’m turning off the news and the Internet and the radio and the telephone. Today I am going to rest in what I know to be true. IN HIM all things hold together.

In the clamor of the season, I will listen to that whisper that says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Not my zeal. Not your zeal. It’s on Him.

And thank God it is.

Today I’m going to reflect on the plan of God that centers on Jesus Christ – the unchangeable plan that no one will thwart. I’m going to reflect on these words from Isaiah 42 and fill my lungs with the pure air that is breathed before the throne of God.

Who knows what is lies ahead in 2011 but before it arrives, I need a minute. So, I’m taking one. You should, too. I think we’re going to need it.

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