Is your family feeling it? The post-Christmas let down? The “pretty soon we’ve got to get back to normal life” realization? Maybe toss in some tenacious germs and you’ve got a recipe for a malicious mid-winter malaise.
Well, you’ve come to the right place because I’ve got a prescription to kill the Boxing Day Blues.
Peace: Ask God to grow your understanding of shalom. This baby we’ve been celebrating actually is the Prince of Peace. The day will come (In our day? Who knows.) when peace will reign, when the way it was made to be will be the way it actually is. Hope is the light, the antiseptic, in which malaise can hardly hang on.
To grow hope for peace, marinate in Isaiah 2.2-4 (praying for piles of plowshares in the Middle East), Isaiah 11.6-9 and Revelation 21.1-5. The wait is always longer than the waiters wish, but peace is out there. (Level up the hope: Click here and let Peace Train be the soundtrack as you ponder those prophecies!)
Purpose: Kevin Kelly says, “Experiences are fun, and having influence is rewarding, but only mattering makes us happy. Do stuff that matters.” Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We matter and we have great purpose!
We can be a voice of love and balance as Muslims take the blows they’re gonna take in the coming year’s election cycle. We can band together and invite a certified refugee family into new life in the U.S. We can, some of us “for reals,” go and live among the most underserved Muslim populations from Catania out to Kolkata.
So much good stuff is ahead for you, your family, your involvement with Muslims. May God grow in your life both the hope for and reality of great peace and purpose.
This is the last week of my semiannual funding campaign. If you’ve considered giving, now is the time. If Muslim Connect is a blessing to you and God gives you grace to give, do so here (Scroll down to the “Select Designation” drop down and choose me). Thank you very much.