Tuesday, December 17, 2024
“Try, Trust, and Focus”
I serve as pastor of the Longboat Island Chapel, located on Longboat Key, Florida. It has become a tradition in the last few years to assemble and stage a massive Holiday display in our adjoining gardens. In addition to the dozens of trees, hundreds of decorations, and many tens of thousands of lights, the Chapel also hosts a variety of live musicians throughout the season.
Following the Hurricanes that decimated the area a couple of months ago, I doubt that any of us thought that it would be possible to stage the Garden this year. But through the extremely hard work of lots of volunteers, the Garden was pulled together and once again this year, it has become a place of solace and peace during the Holiday Season.
The effort to restore the Gardens this year was a concerted effort. The Chapel focused its’ time and attention on that one thing. Sure, plenty of other projects are simultaneously at work, but it took lots of committed, focused people to make it happen.
We would love to fix all of our remaining problems at once. We would love to be able to fix, among other things, the air conditioners, driveway, roof, floors, and seating…all at the same time. But we can’t. We can’t afford it, either with financial resources or volunteer labor. We’ve had to pick and choose, or, in other words, we’ve had to prioritize our projects so that eventually, everything will be completed.
Life is full of decisions that involve our priorities. Christmas, especially, involves priorities. Some things can be completed. Other things cannot be accomplished. Part of the magic of Christmas is that we are celebrating a LORD who also chose to take His time, prioritize, and rely upon the help from friends and family to make it happen. The LORD didn’t operate in a vacuum. The LORD chose to include lots of men and women who became the catalyst for starting the Church, something that was not even understood until the time was right.
This Christmas is a pivotal moment in all of our lives. Most of us are trying to make the most of it, even though we are operating with less than a full deck of resources, both human and financial. However, it’s when we are operating with less that God can do so much more.
Sometimes, we have to try, trust, and focus. It takes a reliance upon the LORD to make our lives the most beautiful they can be, just as the LORD relied upon imperfect family, friends, and followers to make Christmas as perfect as it can be.
“And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.” (Isaiah 58:11, Good News Translation)