Tag: new

I Thank God for Family (I Thank God For… Pt. 4)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1: “I Thank God for Gratitude”. For Part 2: “I Thank God for His Promises”. And for Part 3: “I Thank God for the Memories”.

Family is a complicated word. When we think of gratitude, the furthest people from many of our minds is our family. Even in my own life, some of my deepest wounds have come from my parents and siblings. But family is special to God because that is who He is.

An Old Family

When God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper [counterpart] suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18), He created the second family in all of existence. God was never alone. Since eternity past, He’s always been Father, Son, and Spirit—the Trinity. And that is why Jesus spends His time on earth calling God His Heavenly Father.

The Father loves the Son (John 5:20), and the Son pleases the Father (John 8:29). Their relationship with one another—along with the Holy Spirit, is unparalleled, and this is the type of relationship God calls us to enter into with our earthly family.

A New Family

For many reasons, our earthly family may not be our blood relatives. Due to trauma or other unfortunate life circumstances, we may not have spent Thanksgiving with anyone who shares our last name. But the beautiful thing about the Christian concept of family is how expansive it is.

Through Christ’s death on the cross, He inaugurated a new type of family, one not bound by the blood of our ancestors but the blood of our risen Savior. In the book of Galatians, Apostle Paul says, “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26, 28). So Christ connects us believers in a way that transcends gender, ethnicity, and even ancestry. And through Him we are forever family.

Conclusion

In the past decade, Friendsgivings have been on the rise. One of the most intimate family moments of the year has begun to be shared with close friends. While some lament the dissolvement of family traditions, I believe this phenomenon may be a good thing. The root is connection, whether by blood or by faith, and as we transition into the Christmas season, we can be grateful we have our tribe to celebrate with.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!”
(Psalm 133:1)

The God of the Incredibly Ordinary

By Ife J. Ibitayo

If Disney has taught us anything, it’s that life should be incredible. Our prim, perfect neighbors are superheroes, and our evil math professor is a nefarious villain. We’re the protagonist, of course, waiting for our adventure to begin. But for some reason we’re still in the prologue.

Prophet Isaiah said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it” (Isaiah 43:18-19)? But I don’t. There must be something more than my ordinary desk job on a typical weekday, staring out my window at the setting sun.

Finding the Incredible in the Everyday

Sometimes it feels like God is mysteriously absent from the present. It’s easy to find Him in the past if you read the Bible. He parted the Red Sea, deposed kings, and walked among us. According to Scripture, God worked incredible acts thousands of years ago. And God has promised that He will do incredible things again. He will descend from on high, riding on a brilliant white horse—like every romance lover’s wildest dream—and He will slaughter all His foes in a final, glorious battle (Revelation 19:11-21). He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and make all the wrong things right. But what is God doing right now?

He is our sustainer, our provider, and our healer. When the Bible ascribes titles to the LORD, they are not spoken in the past or future tense but the present tense. He is our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 53:5) in the middle of our present chaos. He is our Mighty Warrior (Zephaniah 3:17) in the battles we’re fighting today.

Finding the Incredible in the Ordinary

I’ve also come to understand that the ordinary is not the same as the mundane. Author G.K. Chesterton once said, “Perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon.” God has seen countless sunrises and sunsets, yet He never grows weary of seeing them all over again.

Yet I all too often do. I ignore the warm orange sun descending below the horizon, splashing bright reflections on the pond across from my apartment. I forget about the thousands of bright flowers growing in the soft grass lining the streets I bustle over. Large black headphones block out the chorus of serenading songbirds as I hurry on my way. And I’m even too preoccupied to really listen to my bumping jams. Every day I neglect the wonder of the Creator in every moment.

Conclusion

The prophet Elijah had an indescribable encounter with God. In the lowest season of his life, the LORD spoke to him. He sent a tornado, an earthquake, and a wildfire, but God wasn’t present in any of these great acts. Instead, He came in a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13).

We want God to wow us, but He wants to woo us. His love letters are subtle yet incredible if we take the time to read them.

“In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”

(Psalm 19:4b-6)

Changing Seasons

By Ife J. Ibitayo

This summer has been glorious. I’ve walked for miles through nature, enchanted by verdant summer flowers and serenaded by chirping thrushes. I’ve exalted in picture perfect sunsets and had many a blissful car ride, wishing the drive would last forever. But like all good things, this summer is coming to an end.

Fall officially starts next month. But we’re already starting to see its signs and feel its effects. Days are shrinking shorter, and nights are growing longer. The bright sunshine is being hidden more and more by stormy clouds and fierce rain. The fiery dragon of summer is slowly being wrestled into submission by the frost giant of winter, and there is nothing we can do to halt its advance.

Seasons are Jarring

Change is always disorienting. We are laid off from one job and start another. We move from the east coast to the west. We transition from the bachelor life to the married life then to the parent life. Even Jesus Himself said, “‘No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, “The old is better'” (Luke 5:39 NIV). Something deeply engrained within us craves constancy.

Seasons are Inevitable

Yet change is a regular part of life. Just as no one stays in college forever and no one remains engaged for fifty years, we all reflexively know that whatever the state of our life today, it won’t last forever.

But I for one get nostalgic from time to time. I look at old photos and see my happy younger self with my friends and family, and I wonder where the “good old days” have gone. As this season of COVID has stretched on, I’ve found myself wondering if it will ever end.

Seasons Are Temporary

The LORD, speaking to Israelites who’d been exiled from their homeland, said, “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is His name: ‘If this fixed order departs from before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever'” (Jeremiah 31:35-36 NASB).

Just as the Israelites’ exile and dissolution as a nation was a temporary setback, so is our current season. I don’t despair that “winter is coming” because summer is chasing hot on its heels.

Conclusion

King Solomon once said, “For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV). Even though we may hate one season and love another, our appreciation of our favorite season arises from having others to compare it against.

Further, the toughest seasons of our life are often the soil in which God plants the most bountiful seed. We must wait patiently to reap the harvest.

“Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”

(Psalm 126:6 NIV)