Heather Holleman's Blog, page 39

For Nothing Is Impossible with God

Today I notice Gabriel’s words to both Zechariah and Mary in Luke 1. First of all, Gabriel tells Zechariah this: “I stand in the presence of God.” It’s the first thing Gabriel says after revealing his name. It grants a special authority. Gabriel knows God. Gabriel is with God. Gabriel listens to God. Remember, we’ve read about Gabriel before in the book of Daniel. Usually, we focus on Mary, but what if we didn’t forget what God wants us to know through Gabriel? And what does Gabriel tell us about God?

God hears prayer (13).

The Holy Spirt can indwell people and is powerful (15; 35).

God sends angels as messengers and they explain things (26).

Nothing is impossible with God (37).

I think about these four ideas: prayer, the Holy Spirit, angels, and God’s power. From this chapter alone, I consider the supernatural. Nothing is impossible with God.

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30 Below

With the bitter windchill, it’s feeling like -30 degrees outside. Years ago, this would astonish me, but apparently, I’ve habituated. I stay bundled up. I heat the car for a few minutes longer. I drive one daughter to work on icy streets. I decide not to walk today. Instead, I’ll bring out the watercolors and try to paint with a tutorial. I’m hoping to make Christmasy bookmarks.

The danger isn’t the cold; it’s the high winds that bring down power lines. Thankfully, I’m overstocked with blankets and warm clothes if we lose power. Perhaps I’ll read by candlelight. Meanwhile, as the wind howls, I thank God for the warmth of inside spaces.

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When We’re All in This Together

Today I journeyed in a snowstorm to drive my daughter to school. With low visibility, icy roads, and tons of traffic, a 10 minute drive took 45 minutes. Despite the danger and the delay, the drive offered the beauty of fluffy snowflakes, a white landscape, and travelers united in their slow-motion commute.

Nobody honked or drove aggressively; instead, we all sort of crept along, probably all wondering why in the world nobody canceled school for the day. Since I had nowhere to be other than in my warm car, listening to Christmas music and watching the snowfall, I began to enjoy the peaceful moments of togetherness when we travelers all journeyed in a snowstorm as one.

I suppose that’s one blessing of difficulty in a community: it brings people together. Neighbors checked in; spouses called; local news updated; school children confirmed their arrival into warm, safe classrooms. Back home, I wrapped up in warmer clothes, turned up the crockpot where lentil soup cooked, and began the work for the day. And I felt warmly connected to my town in the snow.

I just don’t know how anybody will get home from school today! Will the PSU basketball game still happen? Who knows?

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Uniting in Prayer for Revival

Every day now, I pray that God would “pour out His spirit” and call people to Himself. I’m not the only one seeking God in this way; perhaps you have been asking God to revive His people and bring in a great harvest. Why not pray with me every morning and evening a simple but powerful prayer that God would reveal Himself to many people in our communities; that families would repent and return fully to God; that we would worship God “in Spirit and in truth” and that many would be supernaturally and unexplainably drawn to Jesus? Why not pray for a spirit of worship to consume our towns?

As I read about the history of revival, I see how thousands upon thousands were cut to the heart and turned to Jesus. They became instantly aware of God’s holiness and their need for a savior. Their lives changed; they joined churches, they helped the poor and suffering people, and they lived with joy, clarity, and hope in Christ. Christians enjoyed great unity, too, in times of historic revivals. They lived for eternity.

I think it’s time.

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Seeking / Waiting

I love how so many times in scripture, we’re given a promise God will fulfill (either within the pages of scripture, in history, or at a time still to come). There’s always a sense of seeking out the fulfillment of the promise and living a life marked by waiting. People looked ahead to what was coming. I think about this as Christmas nears. The long-awaited Savior comes! Can you imagine what that must have felt like to the wise men? To Simeon? Consider the moment Simeon sees the baby Jesus for the first time. He proclaims this in Luke :

���Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
��������as you have promised.
I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
��He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
��������and he is the glory of your people Israel!���

Simeon lived a life of eager waiting for a single moment in history. When he saw Jesus, he could now die. That’s how great this moment was to Simeon. May we eagerly wait for Jesus to come again like this.

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Always More

This morning, I remembered that God is always giving more than we can expect or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). He knows how to uniquely bless and equip us through His word (2 Timothy 3:17). God’s ways are also higher and better than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). When I thought about this, I underlined this passage from one of my books on prayer. Wesley Duewel writes, “Jesus emphasized that God knows infinitely better than any human father how to give good things to His children” (Matt. 7:11).

I love remembering that God knows better than I do how to bless me. I entrust my life afresh to a God who is always doing much more and much better for us than we can even dream to think or ask.

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Some Encouragement from Psalm 112

I love reading Psalm 112 and thinking about all the promises from the Lord. I highlight a few of my favorite parts here, and I particularly love the NIV version:

Blessed are those��who fear the��Lord,
��������who find great delight��in his commands.

Their children��will be mighty in the land;
��������the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches��are in their houses,
��������and their righteousness endures��forever.

Even in darkness light dawns��for the upright,
��������for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
��������who conduct their affairs with justice.

Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
��������they will be remembered��forever.

They will have no fear of bad news;
��������their hearts are steadfast,��trusting in the��Lord.

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
��������in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
��������their righteousness endures��forever;
��������their horn��will be lifted��high in honor.

When I read Psalm 112, I wonder why I don’t pray more in this direction; I don’t often pray to become the type of person who has “no fear of bad news” and who expects security, honor, good, blessings, light, and riches because of following Jesus. Christmas feels like such a season of all these good things!

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Growing in Dependence

I’m growing in the area of dependence on God, especially when I feel overwhelmed. For example, when I receive a task to complete that feels too hard, too confusing, or too much, I normally become filled with anxiety and become overwhelmed. This happened yesterday when asked for several things with tight deadlines. I normally stay in that state of stress for a long time.

But as I’ve grown in prayer and in my connection with Jesus, I’ve been able to much more quickly go to God in dependence. I unburden myself in His presence and ask for His divine aid. God wants us to do this. He “daily bears our burdens” (Psalm 68:19).

I measure growth in this area by the time it takes for me to remember to depend upon God. I like to recall the day I read a quote about our problems. It went something like this: If we have a small God, our problems seem big. If we have a big God, our problems seem small. At the time, I wanted to become someone who knew a Big God who could handle anything. I’m becoming more and more like this with practice.

So yesterday, I rejoiced when, after only a few minutes, I went to God, unburdened myself, asked for help, and returned to a state of peace and joy. My therapist years ago said that good mental health means that when difficult things happen, you’re able to “return to joy” more and more quickly.

Let’s go to God and return to joy when things feel too hard for us.

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Add In This Question

Lately, I’m enjoying better conversations when I ask, “How have you been spending most of your time?” It’s not a typical “How are you?” It’s a fun question to modify in that you might try, “What took up most of your time today?”

You’ll often discover what people choose to focus on, what causes them stress, or what functions as a distraction. I’m also finding that when people enjoy their activities or their work, they don’t perceive these as “taking up time.” Rarely will people say something positive when you ask what took up their time. They’ll explain what stole their time because they’d rather not have done that thing.

Spending time feels empowering; taking up time is a loss. Try varying the question, and you’ll learn new things about your friends.

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Snow in the Cypress Tree

I love the cypress tree (technically a Blue Feather Cypress) that grows by my front door. In winter, the dark green branches look so lovely as they carry snowflakes. I love snow in evergreen trees. Nature decorates for Christmas, too. Behind my house, I can walk in a forest of evergreens. It feels like a winter wonderland, like a portal into another world.

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