It seems to come and go faster every year, doesn't it? The Christmas season, I mean. It’s not that I don’t love it, because it never fails to fill my heart with joy. But it’s such a blur anymore that if I don’t put any effort into properly slowing down, I can fly through the advent season faster than you can say Kris Kringle. I know the stories and songs by heart, to the point that I become anesthetized to it. But that is not what I want to talk about here. Not really, anyway.
By the time you read this, we will be inching dangerously close to the time of year when the Internet explodes with articles on New Year’s Resolutions and how you can achieve them. This is usually followed by everyone you know deciding that this is definitely the year they will finally get in shape, or start eating better, or ditch that nasty habit that never goes away. And yet, by the third or fourth week of January all is essentially forgotten, and we’re left with this hopeless sense that we are never really going to change and what’s the use? But that is not what I want to talk about here. Not really, anyway.
If you’ll indulge me for a minute, I just want to talk about me.
I am getting married next year. It is an unbelievable joy to write a sentence like that. Dawn and I are in the thick of marriage prep, and we’re confident that we are walking in obedience by taking this step. And yet, as we careen towards our wedding day like a rocket heading to space, I find that it becomes easier every day to be filled with fear. Where will we live? What about my job? Will we have enough money? I am compelled to worry about these to the point of obsession, because I have to be sure I can provide a safe and stable situation for us.
Sounds wise, right?
What would you say if I told you it wasn’t?
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In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says this: “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25, NLT). The “plan” Paul is talking about here is God’s plan of salvation, which culminated in the birth of Christ and extended even to the Gentiles, which was practically unthinkable to first-century Jews. I love the way this translation puts it: the “foolish plan of God” that is wiser even than our best attempt at wisdom. It serves as a helpful reminder to me of who is God and who is not in our relationship.
His thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. Christmas is the perfect time of year to meditate on the mystery of this. God himself incarnated was born into our dirty world, lived an uncomfortable life, died a rather unfortunate death, and is at this very moment interceding on behalf of sinners like you and me at the throne of heaven. “Practically” speaking, this had to be the most inefficient plan God could have come up with! Yet this is the option God chose, not because of its “foolishness” but because of its surpassing wisdom.
More often than not, following God has to make sense in some very practical way for us to get on board. In other words, it has to be safe. But when we say “safe,” we really mean “comfortable.” Safety is allowing the Master to do what he wants with you and trusting Him to provide everything you need along the way. Our definition of safe turns out to be following God right up to the point that it becomes uncomfortable and begins demanding more from us than we’d like. The New Testament has a name for people who act this way. It’s “Pharisee.”
Answering practical questions is important. What’s more important is following the Master’s voice.
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I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of resolving to do the same things every year and giving up after three weeks because the shine has worn off. And I’m tired of being controlled by fear. I want to follow Jesus in 2014 by actually following Jesus: that is, taking my cue from the voice of God, regardless of how risky or “foolish” it may seem. His foolishness is wiser than my wisdom, and my hope is built on nothing less.
Now there’s something to be joyful about.
Dominick Baruffi