"The Thrill of Hope... All Oppression Shall Cease"
I love music of most nearly all genres! My mom, my Piano Teachers: Miss Tinnie Strickland and Charlotte Lyons, her husband, Tommy Lyons, my Music Minister and my High School Choir Director, Barbara Hanning all poured into my life giving me such a love for music.
This time of year especially, I find music floods my heart with such JOY! Shouldn't it be that way? Christ the Baby, "born that Mankind no more may die!" "Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!" On a very cold night during World War II, men from very different countries with very opposing viewpoints were once united for a just a few moments while with one voice on Christmas Eve they sang from their frozen trenches Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. And I will never forget the female voice of one of the 1979 kidnapped Americans who sang these words from Away In A Manger, The cattle are lowing the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes. I love Thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky and stay by my cradle 'til morning is nigh. Music transcends all things wrong in this world both past and present to unite our hearts at Christmas as no other time of year.
Yesterday, feeling particularly thoughtful and reflective, I called a friend for some encouragement. She was quick to remind me of a phrase in O Holy Night, "all oppression shall cease". Immediately, I found myself singing the words in my mind. Instantly, the hope I was looking for and thus the peace and security I had been missing just seconds before became very clear to me.
Earlier in my Bible study, I was reading that sometimes in our lives, we find ourselves in seasons or experiences that produce loneliness and even isolation. A feeling that we're the only ones who've ever felt this way or experienced "this thing" before. Of course, the enemy wishes for us to continue in this state of mind to keep us from the greater purpose of "this thing" that God desires we discover. So why does God allow seasons of loneliness? After all, He has created us for good works and He wants good for us. He wants a delightful and satisfying life for us full of thriving not just surviving. So what's up with the seasons where we experience that "without" feeling; something is missing. The following excerpt taken from a mini-series presented by Beth Moore, "Breath, The Life of God In Us" helped me to understand and complete a Word that God was needing me to know presently. Beth shared that the Creation Narrative found repeatedly in Genesis 1-2:20 displays a curious but deliberate method:
Substance without Form; Gen. 1:1-2
Form without Animation (creatures) Gen. 1:11-19
Animation without Image (image bearers) Gen. 1:20-25
Image without Equivalent (no one like Him) Gen. 2:18-20
Would you take a moment to study over this text and ask the Holy Spirit for insight?
In her efforts to discover "Why all the withouts?" Beth shares, "Sometimes God lets us experience that loneliness to discover that the overarching message of what's missing is that Something's Coming!" She explained that God could've literally created the world in one single moment but he practiced self-discipline and restraint by waiting till the next day and completing his work in six days while resting on the 7th.
Think about it for a moment, "He practiced restraint". Oh how this world tells us just the opposite. Restraint is not something we are used to practicing in fact it doesn't come easily. Only the most wise and disciplined find value in it. Yet God waits until His ordained moment; His perfect timing to settle "this thing". The place where He reveals He has a greater purpose than we could ever ask or imagine. This was so profound to me! Rarely, do we ever see an instantaneous answer to anything hard; it takes time. Life just doesn't work itself out that way.
I was able to plant my feet on a new discovery. Since God is Sovereignly in control of my circumstances and orders my steps Every Single Moment I Breathe a Breath on this Earth, then I should Expect to live "Without" in order to see that "Something's Coming!" As a Christian, I was ultimately created for eternal existence with Him in Heaven. Yeah, it seems like an eternity (haha!) away from now but in reality it's just a few short breaths from now comparatively speaking, of course, to the time we will spend with Him in Heaven!
So, it's natural to feel "without" and it's purposeful, intentional! We were designed to discover Who our Maker is and live in Anticipation of all that is yet to come both here on earth and with Him in Heaven! Oh yeah, we get tangled up in the mess we live in day to day and forget that this time here on earth is just a brief moment. Doesn't it just give you the most assured feeling in the whole wide world to know God is in Complete and Ordered Control?!!! That you need not worry about the "WHY?" here but should only concern yourself with the fact that His pattern for us is designed With "without" and based on His word to us in Genesis provides a pattern of confidence that "Something's Coming!"
So let's "sing" these words together:
This time of year especially, I find music floods my heart with such JOY! Shouldn't it be that way? Christ the Baby, "born that Mankind no more may die!" "Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!" On a very cold night during World War II, men from very different countries with very opposing viewpoints were once united for a just a few moments while with one voice on Christmas Eve they sang from their frozen trenches Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. And I will never forget the female voice of one of the 1979 kidnapped Americans who sang these words from Away In A Manger, The cattle are lowing the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes. I love Thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky and stay by my cradle 'til morning is nigh. Music transcends all things wrong in this world both past and present to unite our hearts at Christmas as no other time of year.
Yesterday, feeling particularly thoughtful and reflective, I called a friend for some encouragement. She was quick to remind me of a phrase in O Holy Night, "all oppression shall cease". Immediately, I found myself singing the words in my mind. Instantly, the hope I was looking for and thus the peace and security I had been missing just seconds before became very clear to me.
Earlier in my Bible study, I was reading that sometimes in our lives, we find ourselves in seasons or experiences that produce loneliness and even isolation. A feeling that we're the only ones who've ever felt this way or experienced "this thing" before. Of course, the enemy wishes for us to continue in this state of mind to keep us from the greater purpose of "this thing" that God desires we discover. So why does God allow seasons of loneliness? After all, He has created us for good works and He wants good for us. He wants a delightful and satisfying life for us full of thriving not just surviving. So what's up with the seasons where we experience that "without" feeling; something is missing. The following excerpt taken from a mini-series presented by Beth Moore, "Breath, The Life of God In Us" helped me to understand and complete a Word that God was needing me to know presently. Beth shared that the Creation Narrative found repeatedly in Genesis 1-2:20 displays a curious but deliberate method:
Substance without Form; Gen. 1:1-2
Form without Animation (creatures) Gen. 1:11-19
Animation without Image (image bearers) Gen. 1:20-25
Image without Equivalent (no one like Him) Gen. 2:18-20
Would you take a moment to study over this text and ask the Holy Spirit for insight?
In her efforts to discover "Why all the withouts?" Beth shares, "Sometimes God lets us experience that loneliness to discover that the overarching message of what's missing is that Something's Coming!" She explained that God could've literally created the world in one single moment but he practiced self-discipline and restraint by waiting till the next day and completing his work in six days while resting on the 7th.
Think about it for a moment, "He practiced restraint". Oh how this world tells us just the opposite. Restraint is not something we are used to practicing in fact it doesn't come easily. Only the most wise and disciplined find value in it. Yet God waits until His ordained moment; His perfect timing to settle "this thing". The place where He reveals He has a greater purpose than we could ever ask or imagine. This was so profound to me! Rarely, do we ever see an instantaneous answer to anything hard; it takes time. Life just doesn't work itself out that way.
I was able to plant my feet on a new discovery. Since God is Sovereignly in control of my circumstances and orders my steps Every Single Moment I Breathe a Breath on this Earth, then I should Expect to live "Without" in order to see that "Something's Coming!" As a Christian, I was ultimately created for eternal existence with Him in Heaven. Yeah, it seems like an eternity (haha!) away from now but in reality it's just a few short breaths from now comparatively speaking, of course, to the time we will spend with Him in Heaven!
So, it's natural to feel "without" and it's purposeful, intentional! We were designed to discover Who our Maker is and live in Anticipation of all that is yet to come both here on earth and with Him in Heaven! Oh yeah, we get tangled up in the mess we live in day to day and forget that this time here on earth is just a brief moment. Doesn't it just give you the most assured feeling in the whole wide world to know God is in Complete and Ordered Control?!!! That you need not worry about the "WHY?" here but should only concern yourself with the fact that His pattern for us is designed With "without" and based on His word to us in Genesis provides a pattern of confidence that "Something's Coming!"
So let's "sing" these words together:
O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining,
it is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born.
O night divine, O night, O night divine.
Truly He taught us to love one another.
His law is love, and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
and in His name, all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we.
Let all within us praise his holy name!
Christ is the Lord, O praise His name forever.
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim.
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born.
O night divine. O night, O night divine. O night divine!
This Christmas season, I encourage you to "Fall on your knees!" before a Sovereign God who's greater purpose in "this thing" is yet to be known until In His perfect time it can be revealed. Yet, you can sing Joy to The World, The Lord is come! because He is authoring a story that is yet to be told to you and I. Take heart, Dear One "Something's Coming!" The Thrill of Hope, the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a New and Glorious Morn!"
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