We all have them. Those anxieties around the holidays about seeing that aunt who always asks about your weight, the great uncle who acts inappropriately, the distant cousin who doesn’t discipline her children like you would choose to do, and the list can go on and on. I, too, have some of those bubbling concerns as two of my favorite seasons approach. But this year I asked myself “why?” Where’s my freedom in these relationships, and where is God in my fears?
I went to Scripture and read this section of the “By Faith” chapter in Hebrews 11:
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” – Hebrews 11: 8-10, NIV
What great encouragement! Especially:
“For he was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” – Hebrews 11:10
Do I prepare the turkey dinner and all of the sides based on the guests? Or with a heavenly perspective that looks forward to my inheritance – “a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God”? What a heart check! And not just for the holiday season, but in everything I do.
I challenge you this holiday season, as we look down the road, towards a season of thankfulness and a celebration of our Savior’s birth: who will you set your heart on in this season? I encourage you to not allow the fears, anxieties, pains of the past, and nervousness of being around family who don’t know Christ to overtake your heart and mind.
Take encouragement from the Word, and take a heavenly perspective – with destination “glory” on your mind.
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. – Isaiah 50:7, NIV
Please partner with us today to share God’s Word with the world.
