Megan Abbott, Author at Facets of Faith

Merry (almost) Christmas! I am so excited to join the team here at Facets of Faith, and am thankful to have been welcomed warmly by all of you that already know Jen and Tracy. I look forward to meeting you here each month. Check out what Jen had to say last week about Expecting the Unexpected here, and Tracy’s thoughts here. I pray that our words will find you wherever you may be this Christmas season, and that God will show himself to be just a step away.

‘TIS THE SEASON

It is the season of mesmerizing Christmas lights, cheesy movies with all the happy endings, gatherings with friends and family, gifts, and lots of Christmas cookies. This is the time of year when I love sitting in my apartment, surrounded by warm Christmas lights, covered in blankets, and drinking tea. There is something about it that just feels homey. It may also be that it is typically so cold I dread going outside, but we can ignore that.

For me, the holidays tend to have this cloud of expectation around them. I travel to see my family each Christmas, so there is always this building of anticipation leading up to the day I leave. So many expectations for family time, traditions, friends, friends’ super adorable children, home cooked meals with my family, and everything that goes along with seeing people you miss most of the year.

UNMET EXPECTATIONS

Not every year goes to plan, though. If nothing else, it seems inevitable that the 8 hour drive turns into 9. I feel like this year especially there are so many of us are in the midst of something that wouldn’t make that list of hopeful expectations. What about the first Christmas after we have lost someone we love? The Christmas where we aren’t able to be with those we love? The Christmas where we are aching for family healing, a spouse, children, financial provision, or healing of sickness? Contrary to how we may feel while watching all the movies with perfect endings, this can be a really, really hard time of year.

SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES

As I have been working through the thoughts and scripture God put on my heart for this month, I was encouraged by a friend to consider the shape of a V. As I am standing at the bottom point of the V, looking up to God with all my expectations, I may feel muddled that they don’t look like where I actually am, but what if we consider God’s perspective from the top of the V and look back at where we are from His view?

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:16‬ ‭NLT

God expects the unexpected. He sees us. It doesn’t take away the hurt, disappointment, or tears, but it feels good to know that the Creator of the earth, and everything in it, isn’t surprised. He isn’t surprised by the point where we stand today, or where we will be a year from now. He sees our refinement. He sees us learning to love through hard situations. He sees us leaning on him through our unmet expectations. He sees us.

LAUGHING AT GOD

I really relate to Sarah in Genesis 18. Talk about unexpected, she literally laughed at God when she heard where her life was going.

I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my husband is also so old?’

Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.’ Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, ‘I didn’t laugh.’ But the Lord said, ‘No, you did laugh.’” Genesis 18:10-15 NLT

A couple chapters later, we see that Sarah had a baby, exactly when God said she would. She laughed again. This I can relate to. Not the having a baby part, but the laughing because God did the unexpected thing I had laughed at in the first place.

FINDING REST WITH THE ONE WHO KNOWS

We aren’t promised we get everything we pray for, or that the pain will go away this Christmas, but we are promised God knows where we are. He hasn’t forgotten, and He is Immanuel (God with us). Whether it is big, scary, painful, joyous, or somewhere in between, we can expect the unexpected knowing nothing surprises God. We can find rest with Him.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A little closing consideration for the Facets family: Why don’t we as the church reach out to those around us and show them we see where they are too? If someone around you needs family this Christmas, can you be the unexpected family for them?

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Welcome to FACETS, friend. We’re excited to welcome back a guest you may have met before. Megan will be sharing on our question this month, Out of thankfulness, how do we serve? We think you’ll love what she has to share about overflow, so please give her a warm welcome! Don’t forget that you can find Tracy’s most recent post here, and you can find Jennifer’s here. Thanks for stopping by!

When I (Megan) see something that needs to be done, or someone is asking for help, part of me immediately says, “Oh, I can do that.” No questions, just an immediate response to do what needs to be done. Need someone to help rearrange all the chairs? Okay. Someone needs a meal made while their family is having a hard time? I can cook! Even while writing this post, I got a text from a friend wanting help, and my response was, “Yeah, I’m writing, but I could after that.” Meanwhile, my to-do list is 20 items deep of things I have put off all week, and it is already after noon. This desire to help can be such a wonderful thing, but as you can imagine, time eventually runs out.

“When does my serving honor God?”

This is a question I have been wrestling with for a while. Honestly, most of my adult life. As I confessed above, I might jump to “always!” but part of me is learning maybe it isn’t really as true as I believe. Sure, God can be glorified through any act of service, but does His grace, mercy, and love shine through me brilliantly no matter the circumstances? Maybe? I have to think His reflection in me is a bit fuzzy at times.

The Recipe for Service

Let’s imagine you and I are coordinating a meal for that family above going through a difficult time. We decide on a tomato soup recipe that you absolutely love. They are going to have quite a bit of family in town visiting, so we realize it is probably best we each make a batch of soup then meet up to combine and deliver together.

You are attentive to the recipe. You take your time finely dicing the onion into equally sized pieces, checking the recipe before measuring the salt, pepper, and thyme, and combining them just as the recipe instructs. Your soup produces a beautiful fragrant aroma in your household. Meanwhile, I am at home making tomato soup from the same recipe. I read the recipe once and gather all the ingredients on the counter. I dice the onions and sauté them. I add a few spices. I notice a zucchini that has been on my counter long enough it really should get cooked, and think “Ooo, that would go great with this tomato soup!” So I chop it up and toss it in. I see a little rosemary and add a sprig. The smell is wonderful.

When you arrive to my house to combine the soups before we deliver, you notice they look nothing alike. They both smell great and look delicious, but that is about all they have in common. Yours looks like the recipe because you continued to check in and confirm you were on the right track. Mine looks delicious, but clearly shows my disdain for following recipes. I have this love for adding and substituting at random. Who needs measuring cups? Both are soup, but only one reflects the fullness of the original recipe.

Serving and the Goodness of the Lord

So back to my question “When does my serving honor God?”. I think, like the soups, serving can always reflect the goodness of the Lord, but when we don’t have the time, or emotional or mental capacity, to check in regularly through our prayer life, we become like the second soup. A beautiful, aromatic fragrance, but either not fully pointing to our Creator, or not fully showing His greatness. Either way, there is a feast. In one case the soup has a glimmer of what the Creator intended, maybe a few items missing, or a few extras thrown in for dramatic effect. In the other, there is a soup that more fully reflects the glory of the masterful Creator.

Reflecting the Goodness of the Lord

In Exodus 34 we find Moses meeting with God on Mount Sinai, where God asks him to chisel out the second pair of stone tablets containing God’s Ten Commandments. At the end of their meeting, Moses leaves with two tablets containing God’s Ten Commandments. Look at what Exodus 34:29 says about Moses after this meeting:

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” (NIV)

Moses was radiant. There was no denying where he had been, or who he had been with. God’s glory shone on his face. When he came down the mountain, those he encountered immediately knew Moses had been in the presence of the Lord. He shined His creator. Throughout Exodus 34, Moses repeatedly entered into God’s presence, and each time he came away with his face shining. I think the same happens when we regularly spend time with the Lord. The closer we are to God, the more we resemble Him. We overflow what we have taken in . When we take in time with the Lord, we overflow with His grace, love, truth, and mercy.

The Overflow

What would happen if I learned to follow God’s recipe for my life? Service, rest, prayer, laughter, hard work, fellowship—all the ingredients in balance. This may mean I need to make space for rest, space to say yes, and to acknowledge it is okay to say no. For me right now, it looks like regularly asking: “God, is this a place I can serve You from overflow, or am I at capacity?”

I want to believe God’s glory shines more brilliantly when I follow His recipe.

I have to imagine my thankfulness would overflow. I can’t be around God for any significant amount of time and not end up thankful. Thankfulness for His provision leads to generosity. Thankfulness for His grace produces patience. Thankfulness for His unconditional love transforms the way I love others. Thankfulness for His compassion produces an overflow of compassion for others.

Rather than immediately jumping at every opportunity, assuming God requires our participation in order for His plan to be successful, maybe we check in with the Creator and see where He may be guiding us to serve. If we stay rooted in the word and prayerful, the aroma of our service will fully glorify the Lord, and He will shine through us.

Thanks for reading along. We’d love for you to join the conversation below in the comments or at the Facebook page!

The One Who Expects the Unexpected