Swaddled in Security
Recently, I’ve been basing my purchases off of whether or not I can get free delivery. I suppose it has become an obsession, to the point where I’ve been able to track the price of my shopping cart and purchase at just the right time, with just the right deal.
In one particular instance, my cart had over three hundred dollars worth of freebies and a few regular priced products. I was going to get several gifts crossed off of my list all in one purchase. Music to my ears.
My shopping cart was well worth $300 in goodies, but my subtotal didn’t equal at least $50 in merchandise to qualify for free delivery. I refused to pay almost $70 in shipping for my freebies and discounted items. Maneuvering items in my cart to get my subtotal up, I was spending way too much time selecting merchandise, that never brought me to the necessary subtotal to be granted free delivery.
Mission failed. I chopped it up as, while I didn’t get the best deal, I didn’t pay for delivery, and I saved money by not hitting the purchase button. The truth of the matter, it was one less delivery I had to keep track of receiving.
Somehow, this is what the holiday season has turned into: receiving deliveries.
While delivery is what Christmas is about, it’s not the one I’ve been pricing out. The season is for receiving deliverance from the emptiness of the world we live in. The gift of security in Jesus doesn’t cost us nearly what it cost for Jesus. He was slain to deliver us from sin, and extend to us freedom from this world with the hope that we get to be with Him for eternity when we welcome this pricey gift into our lives.
Will you join me receiving this gift of hope?
Everywhere we turn, reality reminds us there is more pain than anyone should ever have to experience. Too many people suffer from unforeseen illness, loss, and grief. Hopes crushed and dreams set to the side. Jobs cancelled. Darkness looming.
‘Tis the season to sing, “Joy to the World.”
Linus from, A Charlie Brown Christmas shifted his gaze in all the holiday, hustle best. Before he recites the Bible’s definition of Christmas, Charlie Brown says, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
Regardless of getting Christmas wrong or our unwanted circumstances, this is the cry of Christmas: we need something more than this world can offer.
The famous Linus knew the beauty of finding security in the world. He clung to his blanket for comfort wherever he went. Yet, he knew the truth about earthly security, it doesn’t exist. He shows this in the movie by sacrificing his security blanket.
What is it that we can sacrifice or offer to the Lord this Christmas?
Security in our health, jobs, relationships, retirement funds, to-do list, you name it, is fleeting.
The Christmas of 2021, the pain in my hips and sacrum tortured me everywhere I turned. Covid was canceling all the life happening around us, and threatening my health and future surgery in big ways. And then there was the cherry on top, Christmas 2022. That year, my friend reminded me of Kevin’s view of Christmas in the movie, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, “This is it. No turning back. Another Christmas in the trenches.”
A couple of years ago, Christmas seemed to slip away from me. Instead of spending all of December baking my grandma’s lemon cookies, wrapping gifts, and spoiling loved ones, I was stuck in bed, and attempting to swallow food. I spent Christmas Eve in a sterile chair receiving chemotherapy - for a cancer so stubborn it wouldn’t go away.
Where are you this Christmas?
What are you truly needing deliverance from?
It’s the place where we find ourselves clinging to security in something that can only end up leaving us frazzled, disappointed, and insecure. In Christmas fashion, pass the reins over to the Lord.
We learn from the Bible that the wise men were en route to bring down the newborn King, and God redirected their hearts (Matthew 2 NIV). We also have access to this same life changing power. Where God redirects our hearts towards Him.
Fear turns to strength.
Control bows to submission.
Mourning turns to rejoicing.
Intrusive thoughts swirl into proclaiming truth.
Earth collides with Eternity.
Satan’s schemes shift to grave shaking, everyday gold - the praise we give to our King. No matter what our circumstances are we can rejoice (1 Thes 5:16-18 NIV).
Fixing our eyes on the everyday gold that comes from God’s plans for our lives delivers us from the insecurity of this world.
For those who’ve been holding me up through my cancer journey, you know Brandon Lake’s song, “Gratitude” is my scan jam. You can read more about that scanxiety here at, "Gratitude Hasn't Been the Loudest." This is a part of the song I've overlooked until this Christmas. It’s the part about Christ’s birth. The part where obedience submits to His divinity.
And I know it's not much
But I've nothing else fit for a King
Except for a heart singing hallelujah
Hallelujah
We don’t have anything fit for our King. The wise men displayed this when they attempted to find baby Jesus, so the king they worked for could kill Jesus and contain his power (Matthew 2:2-3, 7-8,16 NIV). Their life was changed for the better despite their loaded gift (Matthew 2:9-10 NIV). They led by example, praising our King, and leaving changed (Matthew 2:12 NIV).
Where am I containing the power I think belongs to me?
I’ve done my share of purchasing gifts loaded with expectations for loved ones. I’ve had big hopes that they would receive my love and hopefully return the favor by loving me, seeing me, and showing up in my life. Gifts to them that benefit me. Those gifts of insecurity never lead to peace.
Receive our King, and leave changed like the wise men. Treading a new path with our hearts and minds, “Prepare Him room.”
In the song “Joy to the World” the songwriter declares, “The Lord has come. Let Earth receive her King.” What is keeping you from accepting baby Jesus as the King of your life? Where can you, “Prepare Him room,” this Christmas, so that you have a place at His table for eternity?
What if, He took care of all the “delivering” this time?
I am so blessed to be here on earth, healthy for Christmas. My body is better acclimated to its new chemo absorbed, stem cell charged, hormone stripped self than last year. One thing cancer does well, slams mortality in your face.
And while I’ve seen deliverance in my health over cancer, like you, there are some cries of my heart that still haven’t been fulfilled and don’t go away. God’s timing is never our timing. And we could spend an entire lifetime waiting for the storm to pass.
So, instead of tracking the status of our deliverance from those unfortunate circumstances, we can fix our gaze on the gold God has poured out over our lives.
You’ve heard me say it here on the blog, “I dreamed of growing old - So I’m embracing the gift of everyday gold.”
Bringing my everyday gold to Jesus, like the wise men brought their gifts to Him as a babe.
Praise. Worship. Blessings. Hallelujahs. Amens. Glimmers of light. Hard circumstances God will use for His glory. All every day findings I’ve received from our Lord, that I get to give Him thanks for. Those Hell shaking, Earth shattering, gold findings, shift my heart securely in Him.
There's gold out there. Let's find our security together!
