Today’s topic for making space for God Monday is based on the following Scripture:
A gentle answer turns away wrath.
Why is this the topic for today? Because I am trying to prepare us for the Christmas season. As we celebrate the advent of Jesus we also must prepare to celebrate with the arrival of family members near and far. So although this does not appear to be a great Christmas topic, it is worth looking at. For some of you, this is not a problem so you can tune out and play Christmas carols, but for others…. well let’s say we need help. Now for my family members reading this, I am not talking about you. 🙂
On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
My husband loves that traditional song but as he sings this tune he always adds, “My aunt used to give me the worst presents.”
On the 11th day of Christmas, some of my relatives arrived and the 11 pipers playing stopped. So let’s deal with this subject.
God so loved the world that He sent His only son to us. Some of you are saying, “but He did not say anything about bringing His relatives with Him.” No, but He did say to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” Sometimes our neighbors are our family members. They are the tribe that the Lord placed us in. And for some of you, this is a stressful time. One of the things that a dear friend once told me and I have never forgotten, “There are times to simply keep your mouth shut.” Love does not have to respond with words. Our mouth speaks what our hearts are full of and if our hearts are full of pain and bitterness towards someone, it’s better to keep our mouths shut and let the Lord work on our hearts.
Proverbs 15:1 helps us with this dilemma while God is working on our hearts:
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Friends, as we approach the 12 days before Christmas lets take each day and ask the Holy Spirit to work on our hearts. Ask Him to give us kingdom eyes to see that person as HE sees him or her. Ask the Lord to fill our hearts with love. For the moment it may need to be supernatural love. Pray for your family members and you will see your heart change towards them.
For weeks I had a situation that I was so frustrated with I did not know what to do. I sensed the Lord telling me to pray and bless this person every day and I did and you guessed it…. my heart changed. So together let’s prepare our hearts for the coming King asking Him to make space in our hearts for even the most difficult family members who may be coming for the holidays. It will be worth the preparation. Let me know how it goes!
