A Christmas Godwink
Trust in the Lord Forever! (Isaiah 26:4)
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” (Matthew 7:24)
I know your works. Behold I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut; I know that you have little power and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)
Around fifteen years ago a friend gave me a book for Christmas, Christmas Godwinks. Godwinks are those coincidental moments that aren’t in fact coincidences. They are moments of encounter where the veil between heaven and earth is lifted enough that we experience the intervening power of God. They come in many forms and I try to hold them dear. This book is a compilation of people who witness God breaking through in extraordinary ways at Christmas. Last Thursday I was doing some packing. What to keep in Green Bay, what to take to Kingston, what more I can pair away. I was doing this in a greatly agitated state. I have honestly shared with you that uprooting and moving has not been a mentally tranquil process for a number of reasons. I will now honestly share that the enemy and I have been close and personal these past few months. Let me witness, He has a lot to share. I am an avid listener. Lately the battle has sounded a bit like this: “You know you can back out still. It’s not too late. Do you really want to do this? You know, you backed out of those three ministries, you can back away from this calling too. You’re a quitter, it’s what you do. You know you’re chickening out.” This is the litany of the enemy. This is what is running through my mind as I sifted books and I was tired, frustrated, scared, and discouraged, then I picked up Christmas Godwinks. I randomly opened the book and began reading. It was the story of a minister who was uprooting from Texan to Washington D.C. and as this transition was taking place he was filled with doubt and desperately seeking a sign that would let him know that he was in fact moving in the right direction. Like I said, Godwinks are coincidences that are not in fact coincidences. As the man prepared for a talk he had to give he came across a scripture verse from Revelation: “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut.” I have never registered that verse, I have admittedly spent little time in revelation. On that day last week, in that hour, it was exactly what I needed to read. God is holding the door of this opportunity open for me, and it is a door which will not be shut. In prayer I turned to praise and thanksgiving for His moment of clarity and He provided one more. He put the enemy in his place. Those ministry “no’s” that I gave in the past two years? God showed me that if I had taken them, I would not be able to walk forward in this next step. He showed me that in those opportunities, if He had chosen, He could have help any one of those doors open too. In the past seven days the truth of that verse has played out several more times. These ‘challenges,’ that would normally send me into a tailspin of conversation with the enemy, now keep me faced resolutely forward. This Advent season I am going to double down on my efforts to keep Christ firmly rooted in my Christmas and when Satan comes knocking at the door? I am going to firmly inform him, “There is no room for you at this inn.” Where in your Advent are you allowing conversations with the enemy to pull you away from the manger of God’s love and mercy? Spend time reflecting on the nativity in your home or an image of that nativity and tell the baby Jesus just how grateful you are that He is coming because you really need His help. Then whisper all the ways that you are seeking freedom from the enemy. Amen.
