Reflections of a Christ-follower on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Image Credit: www.newyorker.com

Today is the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This date seems to pass each year with a little less fanfare, a little less attention.  Those who mark the day do so in a variety of ways.  For some on one end of the spectrum it is a landmark decision for women's rights.  For those on the other end it is an indicator of how far our country has fallen from its heritage.

But how should thoughtful followers of Jesus mark this day?  We might be tempted to follow along with those who want to politicize and moralize but I'm not quite sure that either of these approaches would fall in line with how Jesus would lead his followers--those charged with bearing witness to his life, work, and Kingdom--to engage.

I was a fetus of 4 months when the Roe v. Wade decision was announced.  For most of my lifetime the approach of the Christian community has been to attempt to fix the problem at the point where they think it went wrong--at the government/judicial level.  This approach seeks to elect politicians who will protect the unborn or lobby for the potential Supreme Court justice (or the right President who will nominate said justice) who will finally overturn the fateful decision.

While it would be wonderful if we did indeed protect the unborn institutionally, this approach is flawed at many levels.  First, abortion existed in our country long before Roe v. Wade.  The problem is not political.  Second, politics (especially in a democratic society) are always downstream of power, money, and culture.  Third, abortion exists in our society because we have developed a tolerance for it. We tolerate it because we value privacy, convenience, and individual liberties over other things which we will enumerate in a moment.  Fourth, our values are determined by our worldview.  Passing a law never changed any person's worldview.  You might prevent an abortion if it is illegal, but whether we're talking about prohibition or a war on drugs or anti-sodomy laws I think we all know how good a job political solutions do at managing human behavior.

Politics is the easy road to reform that changes nothing.  What is much more difficult, but ultimately the only thing that is ever effective, is to challenge the practice at the level of value, which stems from worldview.  We must come to value things we don't currently uphold, and since values arise from worldview it means that it must be approached at the worldview level.  Most people, including a great many professed Christians, do not possess a biblical worldview.  Understanding our own beliefs informs us on how we can engage this in a manner consistent with the heart of our Savior and builds bridges by which actual change might come about at the most basic level.  When does abortion end?  It ends when a vulnerable, expectant woman chooses not to have one.  Why would this harder option chosen over the accessible option of termination?  Here are some reasons:

Since all humanity is made in the image of God, the unborn child bears this image and as such holds immeasurable, inherent value.  

Now, not everyone believes that each and every human being is made in God's image, including many professed Christians who historically have been quick to dismiss this quality for Africans, migrant farm workers, death row inmates, fatherless youths, people of other faiths, or anyone else who made their lives inconvenient or unpleasant.  The Bible, however, leaves no room for categorization.  If the prevailing worldviews represented in our various Western subcultures hold sway then it is easy to terminate a pregnancy as the being in the womb is reduced to mere tissue of which one is easily disposed.  A being that inherits God's image and the infinite value that comes with it is not so easily discarded.

Protecting the weak is a primary occupation for the Christian.  

Matthew 25 paints a picture of the judgment where those who were truly followers of Jesus were distinguished from those who were not, though they may have thought themselves to be.  It is like getting the answers to the test before the test is even given.  Every example used to distinguish the Christ-follower is one of meeting the vulnerable at their point of need.

No one is more vulnerable than an unborn child.  The unborn is utterly dependent for every thing necessary for life from the host, the mother that carries him or her in her womb.  If our duty is to protect the vulnerable then it becomes incumbent upon us to choose loving, protecting, and serving the powerless one as opposed to serving our own interests--even those interests that might otherwise lead to a decision to terminate.

Those who follow the example of Jesus extend sacrificial, accepting, forgiving love to all involved.  

www.choiceline.org

An expectant mother might hold the values above very highly and still choose to terminate her pregnancy because of fear: fear of isolation, judgment, inability to support and provide, of being forever tarnished, of the sheer weight of an uncertain future.  Fear drives people to do things they otherwise would not do.  But perfect love casts out fear.  As followers of Jesus we must be prepared to meet those who find themselves in this situation without condemnation, without guilt, and ready to lavish both the mother and child with the tangible love of Jesus.

Christ-followers ache over the realities of this broken world.

The reality of abortion in our nation is a tragedy.  We could approach this tragedy from the high ground of moral self-righteousness and yell at the brokenness as though we have no sin.  Or, we could use this as a day of acknowledging, confessing, and repenting of our own sin and mourning the state of brokenness that sin in general has wrought on the human race.  Abortion is a symptom among many of a deeper issue, an issue that took Christ to the cross but one that finds resolution in the resurrection and all that follows.  We ache for the redemption and restoration of all things.  Our aching hope prepares us to respond in grace, love, and humility.  When a suffering mother encounters grace, love, and humility, it might just give her the courage to walk the harder road and give birth to an image bearer with incredible capacity to show God's glory.  

Christmas 12. 5 January 2014

image by dimitri_c

by Jason Lowe

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

John 1:1-18

As a kid I used to wonder what it would be like if my dog Grace were somehow turned into a person. I'd wonder what kind of person she would be and imagined that she'd be kind, sweet, and humble---everything that she appeared to be as a dog. What if something much bigger became a person? Like the sun or moon, or even our own galaxy? What sort of person would they be?

It seems the point of John's introduction is that the self-disclosure of Jesus is the very peak of God's manifestation to humanity. It answers the question, "What sort of person is God?" To set the reader up for this shock wave, he first makes plain that Jesus is the Creator of all things and he is the source of life and light to all people. He is creator-God. He is so intrinsically creator-God that John picks this peculiar title: the "Word." The same word that "said, 'Let there be light!'" and the entire universe was visible (Gen 1:3).

Perhaps everyone throughout history who read this for the first time thought, "Okay, so this Word is the creator. He is God. Got it." Nothing too drastic until they get to verse ten and read that this Word "came into the world." "What! When did that happen? How could that be?" They quickly read ahead in hopes of clarity, then in verse fourteen they are told, "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." After the initial shock and excitement calms, they may be led to ask the most important question: "If God became a man, what sort of man is he?" They'd want to know how the One who crafted their bodies and all space would talk. They'd be fatally curious how the one who imagined color, taste, and sex would relate to other people.

If a galaxy, or Grace (my dog!), could become manifested into a human being, what would that person be like? I don't know. What we do know is the answer to a much greater question: if God became a man, what kind of person would he be? John summarizes the answer like this: "and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth," and then spends the next 21 chapters explaining what he means.

As we pick up the gospel of John this year, we are pressing our noses against the glass window that separates our world and heaven, and with wide eyes are stealing glances into God's heart and mind.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

What sorts of words, actions, reactions, adverbs and adjectives does John use to manifest God through Jesus? What was on Jesus' heart as he perfectly reflected his Father that we're to copy? I think of John 4:34, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work." What areas is God working on in you to reflect his delightful, glorious image? What areas still fall short of his image?

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

How exciting and humbling and drawing that you earnestly desire to reflect your beauty to us. Open the eyes of our hearts that we would see what is the depth of your love revealed in Christ. This new year as a church, may we reflect your love in all the manifest ways you designed us to, but especially that we would dwell in unity and be of one mind. Help us to set aside petty differences and strive together as your body so that your image in us will not be muddled. Give us grace and tolerance for each other. This year, I also pray, open up doorways of relationships so that we have channels through which to express your lovely image. I pray this, I hope along with others, for your name's sake. Amen.

Christmas 11. 4 January 2014

image by jshelve

by Pastor Eric Thompson

""A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene."

(Matthew 2:18--23, ESV)

The Jews looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. Or, perhaps it might better be said they looked forward to the coming of someone who would fulfill their ideas of what the Messiah would be and would do. The actual thing doesn't always conform to our expectations.

Nazareth was known for all the wrong things. It could be said that the city's greatest crime was to serve as the headquarters for the Roman garrison that (at times brutally) enforced the Pax Romana in the northern region of Galilee. When Nathanael heard that the Messiah had been identified as Jesus of Nazareth his response would have been typical of most Jews of his era: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" The Messiah of the ancient Jewish mind most certainly did not hail from Nazareth.

To be called a Nazarene was not a compliment. Yet, it was at God's direction that Joseph re-settled his family there after Herod's death. It is a fitting hometown, however, for One whose life came to be known by friendships with tax collectors and sinners, One who invited the company of thieves and prostitutes.

Jesus is a name familiar to anyone who has been around church much. His name is attached to all sorts of things. Yet, one must wonder at times whether the Jesus we think we know lines up with the Jesus who actually lived, died, and rose again in Palestine in the First Century. He lived in the wrong places. Ate at the wrong tables. Talked to Samaritan women. Forgave the wrong people and condemned the righteous elite. Thought the life of a single, crazed demoniac was of greater value than the economic viability of a pig farm. Spoke truth to power and set up a kingdom in this world that is decidedly upside-down from the standing order of things. One wonders whether the politically-charged, affluent, moralistic, self-assured Christianity of our day would ever dare to associate with One so poorly placed.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

What is the picture you carry in your mind of Jesus, the Nazarene? Seeing that by virtue of his resurrection he is more than just a historical figure but is indeed living even today, how would you picture him living and walking in our world? As Christians, do we bear witness to the Jesus of Scripture or the Jesus of our own ideas?

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

Father, as we celebrate this Christmas season we are remembering your faithfulness to fulfill your promises and send your Son into the world. Your Son showed us your image perfected in human flesh. He showed us perfect divinity and humanity simultaneously. So multi-faceted is the truth revealed in Christ that four Gospel writers can tell the same stories from different perspectives to different peoples in hopes of even beginning to capture the amazing revelation that is Jesus Christ. We want to be faithful witnesses of this Jesus--the One from Nazareth. Thank you for the work you are doing by your Spirit to form us in the image of your Son. Show your glory as this image is perfected in us. Help us today to touch someone in the way that Jesus would, because you have shown us in your Word who he is.

Christmas 10. 3 January 2014

image by kslyesmith

by Pastor Eric Thompson

"Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."

(Matthew 2:13--18, ESV)

The slaughter of the innocents. This is how this event is often described in biblical literature. Every male infant in Bethlehem and the surrounding region was murdered when the wise men didn't bring Herod back the information he wanted regarding the birth of the King of the Jews. Mass murder resulted from the fear, insecurity, and egomania of a king who had no real power to begin with.

This episode serves to demonstrate the juxtaposition of the Kingdom of God against the kingdoms of this world. God sent his Son into the world in order that through him the world might be saved. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil--a demonstration of God's presence. Yet, the kingdoms of this world are ultimately self-serving. Their interest is not in welfare but in power. Herod had no interest in the real benefit that God's true King could bring to him and to the people in salvation. His only desire was to preserve himself and what luxuries his position afforded him. If hundreds of babies had to die to make this possible, it was a price he proved willing to let others pay.

Countless mothers experienced the enormous grief that comes from the loss of a child. Even to this day sin's hold on the hearts of men leads to untold devastation. Though the Healer has come people still hang their hopes on whatever power, comfort, or control they might wring from this world. Because people serve themselves rather than love others the powerful oppress the weak and lives get destroyed. That such a thing could be done by a Jew to other Jews prompts the "weeping of Rachel." How clear it is at such a moment to see that things are not as they should be. It is into this world that Jesus came.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

Where do you see people suffering because of the evil that remains in our world, especially at the hands of oppressive powers? As Rachel wept for her devastated family, how should we react when we see those whose lives are being wasted by such oppression? How might we carry on the ministry of Jesus in such a world?

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

Father, our presence in this world is a mixture of joy and sorrow. We have joy because our Savior has come. We have sorrow because we still see around us the fallout of the continued presence of evil. We are reminded not only of Rachel's weeping, but of the tears of our Savior, the longing in his heart as he stood overlooking Jerusalem--crying out for the reconciliation that could have been theirs if they had only listened and believed. Our trust is in Jesus who makes all things right. Our hope is in his return when all the spiritual and physical manifestations of evil will ultimately be defeated. In the meantime help us live as people who have seen the coming of our Savior and who share your heart for the salvation of the world. May our joy come not because we ignore or reject the suffering of this world but with eyes wide open and hearts filled with the hope that it will not always be this way.

Christmas 9. 2 January 2014

image by Carlos Koblischek

by Pastor Eric Thompson

The Year of the Lord's Favor

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion---
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.

Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have everlasting joy.

For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.

Isaiah 61, ESV

After so much prophecy of doom and judgment, after years of exile, after the passing of generations spent waiting, how this message must have caused the hearts of God's people to ache in anticipation of restoration. They had known every effect and consequence of sin that can be known in this life. From sickness and disease to the destruction of their homes and their cities, the people of the covenant had suffered much. They had been laid low. Hearing the ancient tales of the Exodus and the Conquest of Canaan, of Moses parting the Red Sea and Joshua leading the march around Jericho must have seemed eternally distant from their present reality.

Slowly, the worship of God had been reestablished after their exile. Yet, the blessings of his presence just weren't what they once were. Hearing promises reminded them that though their present circumstances were tough, God wasn't finished. A new day would come. A new year, which represented a new season of renewal. Hence the title on today's text: The Year of the Lord's Favor.

When Jesus read from this text in one of his earliest sermons recorded in Luke 4, he made clear that this new year has dawned, not a year of 365 days, but an age of restoration. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost people began to speak of the mighty works of God and a new community was established where people began to live out the teachings of Jesus; lives, families, and entire cities were changed.

As a new year just begins to unfold, let us remember the age in which we live. These are the last days--the final age before Jesus establishes the fullness of his Kingdom on earth. This is not a reason to fear but to engage with boldness because of what Christ has already accomplished, with power because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and with love because love is the foremost value of the Kingdom of God.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

Who can you love today? What fear or anxiety in your life can be eased by the reality of what Jesus has done? Where can we begin building a life, or a relationship, or help bring healing by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

Our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, looking to you gives us great confidence. Nothing breaks your fellowship. Like children with parents who love each other fervently we live in complete security because your love for one another and for us is unbreakable. Nothing thwarts your plans. We can rest in confidence knowing even the hardships brought about by the brokenness of our lives and our world are only but a chapter in a grander story with a certain, glorious outcome. Nothing negates the work of the Spirit in our lives. Though we have failed in the past you are making us your people; each day bringing new opportunities to be your witnesses and reflect your glory in the world. Help me and all of your people now living and following you to make your glory known in 2014, even today.

Christmas 8. 1 January 2014

image by Felipe Wiecheteck

by Pastor Eric Thompson

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Exodus 12:1-2, ESV

The ancient Hebrew calendar doesn't align well with our modern Gregorian calendar. When God gave Moses and Aaron these instructions he was about to bring about the Passover--the night when the blood on the doorpost protected the households of his people from the judgment being brought upon the Egyptians. The Passover was to be the beginning of their year. Unlike our New Year that begins in the winter, Passover is observed in the spring--corresponding closely with our Easter. Modern Jews typically observe Rosh Hashanah as the beginning of their civic year, which usually falls in September.

Why did God want their year to begin with the Passover remembrance? Why would he care when they marked the beginning of a new year?

One thing that seems clear from the Old Testament is how God fashioned his creation with time as a critical element. The eternal God made the marking of time a vital part of his created order. The evening and the morning were the first day. He put lights in the sky to show the times and seasons. Every seventh day was a sabbath. Every seventh year was a sabbath year. Every seven sabbath years brought about a Year of Jubilee. All of these were aimed toward relationship and restoration. People were to rest, at home, with their families. The land was to rest. Debts were cancelled. Lands reverted to their ancestral heirs. Servitude was abolished.

We may not observe our new year on the same schedule, but the dawn of 2014 is an opportunity to do what they did at Passover that marked the beginning of their year. We can remember what God has done, both in the grand scheme of redemption in history as well as in the smaller details of our lives and our families. We can use the advance of time to remember that God is moving everything toward a certain, glorious end. We can spend a day of rest with family and friends. We set ourselves anew to give witness to the redemptive and restorative work that God is doing by dedicating ourselves to loving, helping, and building others in the coming year. We can take advantage of a new beginning. How great would it be if the end of 2014 included rejoicing over a substantial victory over some bondage in your life or the restoration of a vital relationship! Let's live a life that tells a better story this year, one that reflects God's goodness, God's heart, and God's promises.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

If you haven't already, take some time to complete the survey we talked about this past Sunday. It will give you an opportunity to reflect on the year just completed and contemplate how God might be at work in and through you in the one ahead.

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

Father, the end of a year and the beginning of another are yet more ways we can see your faithfulness. You promised Noah that seasons of time would continue, and they do. You gave us periods of time in order that we recall your great works, set aside whatever belongs in the past, and look forward to all you have promised. We enter a new year knowing you are already there. We can love, live, and work without fear knowing we will face nothing in the months ahead that cancels your plans or negates your grace. Help all of us, your people, to tell your story in a more compelling way than ever before through our words and actions soaked through with your love. Thank you for the rest you are giving your people.

Christmas 7. 31 December 2013

image by Richard McMillan

by Kaysi Hastings

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Psalm 111

New Year's has been one of my favorite holidays for as long as I can remember. The idea of having a clean slate has always been so refreshing to me, so I love New Year's for all the blank pages it represents; however, I also love New Year's for its invitation to reflect. Looking back at how God's hand has worked in and around me at the end of each year helps me to find meaning and purpose in both my joys and my trials. The psalmist here speaks of remembrance, both on the part of humanity in remembering the wondrous works of God, and on the part of God in remembering His covenant with His people. Perhaps taking time to remember the Lord's goodness is a profitable way for us to invest in our relationship with Him as we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another.

Sometimes, though, God's goodness seems to be veiled from our vision. 2013 has been an unusually difficult year for many people in my life, and sometimes when you've been bombarded with pain it is challenging to try and uncover the good in what has happened. I don't think God expects us to pretend we're unaffected by the difficult blows life deals us. We often look to Romans 8:28 for hope, and indeed God is able to bring beauty from even the worst of our experiences. But that doesn't mean He wanted us to go through every heartbreaking circumstance we face. We live in a world broken by sin, sickness, and selfishness. These were not a part of God's design, and I don't believe He expects us to mask the heartache we face as a result of them, even if He calls us to trust Him in spite of them.

As I reflect upon 2013, I can say without hesitation my greatest joys as well as my deepest sorrows were tied to the relationships in my life. The relationship we share with our heavenly Father may be reliable and consistent, but our human relationships are often sources of disappointment and heartache. God cares about this, and His precepts, which the psalmist calls "trustworthy" in today's text, provide us with avenues toward restoration. An idea that helped significantly reshape my thinking last year was the concept that "in Christ, all relationships are made right." Author Allison Vesterfelt wonders "if this is why Paul urges us in Scripture not to let the sun go down on our anger --- not because it makes God happy (although it probably does), but because he knows it will make us happy. Perhaps he knows our deepest desires, as well as our deepest regrets, come from the same place: Our connection to others." I wonder if the psalmist didn't have this same thing in mind as he acknowledged the goodness of God's precepts...he recognized they were designed to foster whole relationships, a major source of our peace.

As we walk through life with God, we are blessed by His faithful presence, but we also are blessed by His Spirit's empowering to pursue peace with others (Romans 12:14-21). This will not always play out in happy relationships, because we can't control whether the other person in any relationship pursues peace, but it will lead us toward freedom as He helps us to let go of anger and bitterness, leaving our hands open to receive good things from Him and others. A God who cares enough about us to design life to work this way is one Whose goodness is well worth remembering as we reflect on the year behind us and welcome the one ahead. May 2014 be a year of hope as we remember the goodness of our God, as we love Him and as we walk in His ways, as we live in pursuit of restoration and healing amidst the brokenness.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

How have you seen God work in your life and in the world around you this past year? What disappointments and heartaches have you faced? How have you seen His goodness in spite of these things? (Perhaps the fact we can be honest with Him about our pain is itself evidence of His goodness.)

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

God, as we look back over the past year, we are so thankful that You care for us in our joys and in our pain. As we look to the year ahead, help us to remember Your goodness and faithfulness that lead us toward peace and freedom when we walk with You. Help us to trust You no matter what we face.