Advent-ure December 4: On Display

Even in our sufferings, as we navigate the difficulties we encounter in life, we testify to the greatness
of our Lord. 2nd Timothy 1 reminds us:
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began...

Each of us, if we have been born again, have a story of what God has done in our lives.  And, our faith can be on display, if we obey the Lord, follow Him wholeheartedly, and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us.  Jesus is so much more than a baby in a manger, but a living Lord who is in the hearts of His people.  And, even through our adversity, we can know that God is producing fruit through us as we learn to surrender and trust in Him, giving Him glory for how He continues to work in and through us.

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It's Day 4 of our 25 day Christmas Advent-ure, Around the World in 25 Days! on Faith Radio - our Advent Guide can be downloaded free from our website at FaithRadio.org or you can find it in our most recent Ministry Magazine, which has an international flavor.  We can consider how God is working around the world and absorb spiritual lessons in our own lives.

We are continuing our journey through Central and South America: yesterday, it was Colombia, today we visit Guatemala, where we find the practice of building Nacimientos, or Nativity scenes, and displaying them under the Christmas tree, as related by WhyChristmas.com.  An accompanying Scripture for today is Luke chapter 2, verses 13 and 14:

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

This was a glorious display of the majesty of God.  The angels had referred to the display of the Christ Child, who would be found wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  The Guatemalan practice involves the display of Nativity scenes, under the Christmas tree, which is another custom that points to the light of the world, the bringer of eternal life.

God uses a variety of expressions to bring glory to Himself.  Sometimes those expressions are majestic; other times, God will use infirmity or disability for His glory.  He used a thorn in the flesh in Paul's life, so that His strength might be displayed in His weakness.

The governor of Texas, as you may know, is in a wheelchair, having had an accident some 35 years ago.  Yet, he realizes that God's glory can be on display through this occurrence.  

A Faithwire story on Governor Greg Abbott related:

In 1984, Abbott was paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by a falling tree as he was jogging. He has been in a wheelchair ever since and has required undergone rehabilitative treatment.

A committed Christian, Abbott speaks openly about his faith on a regular basis. But it was his response to an ignorant tweet about his physical condition that has caused many to reflect on the way in which they view their lives.

The exchange began when Abbott tweeted out a video of a wheelchair-bound man scaling a climbing wall using nothing but his upper body.

“Never quit
Never give up
Overcome any challenge,” Greg wrote.

His encouraging tweet was not met, well, in kind.  For instance, one person tweeted out, "So great to see but if I ever end up in a wheelchair I’m just ending it.”  The governor responded by saying that he had thought the same thing, but that he has done more after the accident than before it.  He stated, "With God all things are possible."

Another respondent was not so kind, saying that God put Abbott in the wheelchair.  Abbott responded graciously, tweeting out: “God didn’t cause the accident that left me paralyzed, but He did help me persevere over that enormous challenge. I’m a testament that the glory of God is revealed by a young man’s back being broken in half and still rising up to be Governor of Texas. With God all is possible.”

This is faith on display.  A man in a wheelchair displaying the glory of God!  And, regardless of your politics, I think he can be an inspiration to anyone.  We can think about how God enables us to put our faith on display, so that God's presence might be seen through us.

We can also consider how God can use our times of struggle or our challenges to reflect Him.  People are watching, and our response to trouble has the potential to be persuasive for people who need hope in their lives.

This Christmas season, we can see there are numerous displays of the narrative about the birth of Christ all around us - we can think about how our story, and our expression of it, is calling attention to the work of God in us.