~SLAY

After reading here and there about God giving people a word for the coming year, I briefly considered that maybe I should take part in this practice, especially since I had never done so before.

A second later, I was given my word: slay

Its first layer of meaning draws from Job 13:15a...

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

Its second layer of action and meaning for me is that I will continue to slay the demons in my life (ie, the supernatural ones--spiritual attack is in mind here), along with anything else that needs to go (non-supernatural "demons"), such as unhealthy patterns and self-sabotage.

I must say this is the perfect word for me at this time!

Thank you, God for speaking it to me :)

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*The photo I used in this post is in the public domain.

~A SONG FOR THE NEW YEAR

"To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God.  Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with crystal waters and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom . . . It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey.  The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source.  What a lesson for our faith!"

~ From the entry for December 7th, in, Streams in the Desert ~ 

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While on youtube after Christmas, a song popped up in my suggested videos which I hadn't heard in years.  I then realized that a cover of it was on Pentatonix's new album.

"When You Believe," from the movie, "The Prince of Egypt," is sung by the characters of Miriam and Tzippora as they depart Egypt and head towards the Red Sea.  It's such a moving song.  The version which is sung by Michelle Pfeiffer and Sally Dworsky in the film is pretty and unadorned. The pop duet by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey packs a powerful punch.  Pentatonix's version, which features Marin Morris, offers a bit of a different take, and is kind of a middle ground, stylistically, between the other two versions.

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After coming upon this song, I noticed that Steven Furtick was doing a sermon series which is based on the parting of the Red Sea.

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"Oh, for faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain."

~ From the entry for December 7th, in Streams in the Desert ~

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*The photo of the parting sea is in the public domain.

~A WARM HEART IN A COLD WORLD

In early December, we had a snowstorm here in Raleigh.  In peering out my bedroom window at the pretty woodland scene out back, I noticed that some of the trees were bowed down with the extra weight they were carrying.  In particular, my sight was drawn to a small tree that was so weighted, its little face was touching the icy ground.  I couldn't help but see myself in this tree, as I've been carrying some grief, sorrow, and struggles that at times have just about crushed me. 

A day or two later, I decided to flip to the month of December in my Streams in the Desert devotional, and this is what I read in the entry for the 3rd...

"Ice breaks many a branch, and so I see a great many persons bowed down and crushed by their afflictions.  But now and then I meet one that sings in affliction, and then I thank God for my own sake as well as his.  There is no such sweet singing as a song in the night."

Let's proceed to early January, when inspired by something swirling through some Idina Menzel holiday songs I was listening to, I wrote a spur-of-the-moment poem and posted it on twitter.  In turn, this poem reminded me of my little tree, so I've decided to post it here...

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I hear a snowstorm blowing

Through this Season of Love

And through this winter

Of our discontent

It draws me into the woods

Where I fall on my knees

In agony

Warm me by

Your fire,

Oh God

And give me peace

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After posting this poem, I felt a voice tell me that it was a lament, and that it had a lot of psychic tension.

When I read it, I see that frigid temperatures and harsh conditions have announced themselves during the holiday season, which is known for being a warm, happy, and inviting time.  I borrowed the phrase, "the winter of our discontent," from Shakespeare, and it serves to further juxtapose this tension between heartache/disillusionment and Christmas joy.  Next, I enter the wilderness where, instead of becoming prostrate in joyful adoration of our newborn Savior, I'm overtaken by hard emotions.  I then appeal to the Father to give me comfort in His fire--in His painfully purifying one, but also in His overall burning love (of which the refining fire is only a part).

Also after posting the poem, I had the sense that, though it was very heartfelt and serious on my part, the line about me falling on my knees in agony could be taken in an almost humorous way--one that might even make someone laugh, due to its irony and cold and jarring movement.  That's when I coined the term 'holarity,' which is a combination of holiness and hilarity.

...And that, my friends, can be a good description of life in general, whether in snow or sunny weather.  

Will life ever stop presenting us with this tension between grief and joy, between somberness and laughter bubbling up?  Probably not, so I suggest submitting to God as He blows us about as He will.

I, for one, intend to try and stay close to Him in my innermost being, and to feel the warmth of His affection, even while the elements do what they will around me, and the world spins through its various seasons and circumstances. I might not feel like singing overmuch, but I'll rest in the center of His will in holy silence, even if darkness looms around me.

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*If the term 'holarity,' already exists, well I am unaware of it :)

*After googling 'lament,' I came upon some information about the psalms of lament.

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