My first Christmas gift appeared early. . .an afternoon
filled with “me time” (selfish? Yes,
just a bit). I decided to sit down and
watch a Christmas movie in peace and quiet.
Not one of the popular, classic movies; one of those created by
television and aired on ABC family or Hallmark Channel. I found one on the guide and nestled into the
couch to relax and enjoy.
The movie title screamed love story (winning my heart
immediately), “The Twelve Dates of Christmas”.
A young, single woman desired to reconnect to an ex-boyfriend. It was in HER plan that they come together
and get married by a specific date. She
lived by schedules met in entirety. Problem
being others don’t follow her timeline nor do they agree with the set
plans. Her closed mind creates havoc and
heartache. Missed opportunities surround
her holiday. A blind date, set up by her
stepmom, is the plan for Christmas Eve.
She has not accepted her stepmom into her heart due to the pain of her
mom dying. So, this fact already sets up
the blind date for disaster; why would she give a guy chosen by a woman she
does not appreciate a chance? The girl
reaches out to the ex, tries to set up a visit with him and buys a sweater
worth more than I have to my name. As
she shops, a perfume spritzer sprays her in the face and she goes down. When she awakens, all seems well and her day
continues. WELL, come midnight, the day
rolls back to when she passed out at the store and repeats itself TWELVE
times. Each time allowing this woman to
try and get it right; each time resulting in some failure and screwing up the
blind date due to it not included in HER plan.
By the twelfth day of Christmas Eve, she realized that not all goes
according to HER plan, she cannot control other’s actions and when embracing
opportunities love can happen. She
learns to give others a chance, enjoy the moment without hoping for unrealistic
future and hearts can be mended.
Can you think of a time in the past when getting another
chance, let alone twelve, could have saved heartache and havoc? My list would fill the thickest notebook on
the market. In looking back, I see times
when pushing MY plan aside may have brought maturity in Christ much quicker. .
.
The day I decided to turn to an Eating disorder for help
rather than God!
The day I chose “worldly” items as gods rather than my One
True God!
The day I walked away from my true love out of fear of
getting hurt!
Each day I ran from relationships when I revealed too much
of myself to avoid rejection!
Each day I quit something for fear of failure!
Each day I miss an opportunity due to closed mind!
Oh, my friend, too often we succumb to society’s pressure to
be more and do more that we miss opportunity to serve our God. Our feet hit the floor and the ‘to do’ list
begins, careful to remain in line not veering an inch from the schedule. Without accepting Jesus into our hearts due to
pain so severe, our eyes close, hearts harden, fears dictate and we run from
emotions. Failure to appreciate our
Creator causes us to avoid taking any chances on His plan. We remain in our past, seeing it as
unacceptable, a failure or unfair. Then,
Satan comes in to play with emotions, leaving us feeling unworthy of joy. So, day in and day out we strive to control
life, create a timeline and live with sights set on keeping us happy. Everything revolves around avoiding pain, screwing
up and any negative emotions. We go to
extremes, reaching for ‘worldly’ items for comfort.
What comes of this mindset?
Continuous disappointment, wishing for a ‘redo’, hopeless outlook
followed with roller coaster emotions.
WELL, we cannot change the past nor get a second chance to ‘do it right’;
but, we have a forgiving God who will put every single moment of our past to
good use for furthering His Kingdom.
Grace. . .the best gift every received and done so through the death of
Jesus. He paid the price and set the way
for us to live. He holds the plans for
our lives. . .NOT US! Avoid conforming
to any pattern in this world, trash your itinerary and let go of past
mistakes. Open eyes to the wonderful
plan for today, embrace each moment with joyful attitude and lead others to
know our Savior by example of what grace looks like. God’s grace took this broken, screwed up girl
and saved her, showing her what true joy looked like. . .He will do that for
you and everyone else as well. Accept
this gift. It will be one move you will
never regret or wish to go back and ‘redo’!
Keep praying harder than the devil can work.
Sheree Craig
No comments:
Post a Comment