Hannah Farver's Blog, page 10

thesweetermelody:Here am I, sitting in my brand new orange...

thesweetermelody:

Here am I, sitting in my brand new orange sweater and admiring the drizzly afternoon. Blessed. Not of my own doing, but because the Lord has appointed it so. 

Now, there is a reason for this post. I would like to share you a little anecdote; one that just shows the goodness of our Great God. I often promote on here that the Lord so cares about the big things in our lives, that He must care about the small things too. And that He does. Proven that He bottles all our tears (Psalm 56:8), knows and numbers every hair upon our heads (Matthew 10:30), in His Word. Proven when He provides for even the little sparrows. I'm not sure if you've ever seen a sparrow, but they are really something tiny. 

I was there last week, in a midst of a fashion store. Lady Gaga was being spewed out from the speakers, and I desperately wanted to escape that dreadful noise. Nonetheless, there was a sale on. "Up to 50% off!" and "Take a further 30% off already reduced prices!" The red signs were blaring. Well, what can I say? I love a good bargain. Recently, though, I have been learning to restrain my female desires to splurge and have "retail therapy," wherein I buy whatever because it looked "okay," or it was reduced. I have been slowly committing even the clothes I wear to God. 

I was looking for a warm-something-of-some-kind. Australia has had an unseasonably cold summer, and I found myself in need of another jacket, or hoodie, or sweater (jumper for the Australians). And that's when my eyes flickered to something orange.

"Oh," escaped my lips, as I prized a coral orange sweater out from the midst of immodesty. I flicked the card over, to reveal a "$69.99" with a red label slapped carelessly on top of it reading, "$34.99". It was still out of my budget. I hesitated, tried to justify my expenditure, but could not. I felt a gentle prod of conviction on my heart. 

"What are you doing, Susanna!? Just pray!" 

I kept my prayer simple and short. I repented for my lack of thought and regards to Him in this situation. I told Him that I knew He would provide me with something similar, or completely different to that darling orange sweater, and I asked that I would accept it with joy.

Make no mistake. The Lord hears prayers. 

Yesterday, my sister took me belated birthday shopping. Not my exact idea for a day of fun, but nonetheless, I appreciated the sentiment. As I walked past the shop that contained the orange sweater, my sister was quick to veer me into the store. 

"Okay, here's the deal. You pick whatever you would like, and I'll pay," my sister confirmed.

I was dumbfounded. Could this be the way the Lord was providing for me?

I went to the very corner to the sales rack, and held my breath. I saw no orange. As silly disappointment filtered into my heart, I parted the sea of cream sweaters, to be certain. Flashed before my eyes, at the very back was that orange sweater. 

I quickly got it out to make sure it was the same one. Oh, it was! My sister came up behind me, and questioned my choice, making sure I didn't want anything more that was a little bit pricier. "No," I smiled. "This is the one." 

You see, I testify of this not so I promote a prosperity doctrine, riddled with falsehood. I tell you these things because I know that Jesus cares. He does. He cares about the great things, such as whether or not one should attend college, or get married, or have a certain career. But He is also caring of the little things, such as a fig tree (Matthew 21:19-21) that bears no fruit, drying sheets in the dryer, or the simple plea of an Australian girl who needed warmth.

I encourage you, dear reader, to call upon Him for your both your spiritual and physical needs. Ask in faith. Just talk with Him. 

That's my little tale. My birthday sweater is keeping me cosy

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"The old year still torments our hearts, unhastening; the long days of our sorrow still endure....

"The old year still torments our hearts, unhastening;

the long days of our sorrow still endure.
Father, grant to the soul Thou hast been chastening
that Thou hast promised—the healing and the cure.

Should it be ours to drain the cup of grieving
even to the dregs of pain, at Thy command,
we will not falter, thankfully receiving
all that is given by Thy loving Hand.

But, should it be Thy will once more to release us
to life's enjoyment and its good sunshine,
that we've learned from sorrow shall increase us
and all our life be dedicate as Thine.

Today, let candles shed their radiant greeting:
lo, on our darkness are they not Thy light,
leading us haply to our longed-for meeting?
Thou canst illumine even our darkest night."

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written for New Year's 1945, four months before his execution

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

- Mary Oliver

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"My life is a story about who God is and what He does in a human heart."

""My life is a story about who God is and what He does in a human heart.""

- Shauna Niequist

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath..."

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show."

- Andrew Wyeth  (via human-voices)

"Knowing why ceases to be essential long before trust does."

"Knowing why ceases to be essential long before trust does."

christmas and blood

Hebrews 10 talks about blood. It says the blood of animals was a "shadow of things to come." The splattered life cells and dying cries of goats and bulls (the awful sound of which will tear at the heart of anyone who loves living things) is set against the story of the birth of Christ.

Goats and bulls and lambs were shadows, Hebrews says. The substance is Christ.

And inside I groan and shudder at that painful thought. We celebrate a baby born to die.

I feel comfortable picturing a happy, luminescent baby, held by its happy, luminescent mother and adoptive father. I am comfortable with "good tidings of comfort and joy." The baby we see is not bleeding.

I wonder what the angels thought. Described as messengers, and elsewhere in Scripture as "heavenly watchers," they probably didn't understand either. As thunder cracks and the baby Jesus, now grown-up, is tortured on a cross, I imagine them: "How can this be joy? How can this be good? Our God is dying."

Here is where Christmas gets complicated…and meaningful. Because it's one thing for a baby to symbolize hope and newness. That's pretty predictable. The baby wouldn't even need to be God incarnate for its birth to be joyful. Children are blessings—even cultures distant from God have recognized that.

But the baby with an expiration date, the child of God as a child sacrifice—that is the twist to this story. The difference between the baby in the manger and the man on the cross is only a matter of years; the purpose was there all along. We celebrate a baby born to die. God, becoming one of us, so He might end our sin.

"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more," Hebrews says. It is the gift of Christmas—tortured, bloody, beautiful. More painful than the cries of bulls and goats. More incomprehensible—Creator dying for created, Justice Himself dying for the unjust.

Christmas is hope and joy that was purchased by the blood of God. It is joy, yes, but joy which cost. Grace that is mine, but bought at a steep price I couldn't pay.

Our celebration is of the One who gave up everything, sweat-drenched and heartbroken, so He might become "God with us."

My soul cries, too, "Thank You for coming here."

flavoredlatte:True confession acknowledges the violation of God's character. [It says] 'this is...

flavoredlatte:

True confession acknowledges the violation of God's character. [It says] 'this is why my action was wrong; it's because I did not represent God well to you. True confession acknowledges that my failure negatively affected you as the other person … True confession is a statement of a new-life purpose to make God known. If my purpose in life is not to accurately represent and make God known, I am not confessing. I am manipulating. 

- Brad Hambrick