Angela Parlin

So Much Beauty in All This Chaos

How To Shine

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He came to life, and a great star shone.

The true light that gives light to all men came into the world.

He invited us—Follow Me. Now you are the light of the world, He said. Let your light shine before others.

We’ve all been with people who were trying to let their light shine. Trying to follow Jesus. Trying to be what they thought they were supposed to be. It never works. People who try to be who they’re “supposed to be” often leave us looking for the first exit.

Because this is posing, not shining. They’re putting the cart before the horse, trying to create the end result, and this is no way to shine.

Does your light shine before others, so they see your good works and praise (not you, but) the Lord?

Don’t think big, as if you need a stage in order to shine. Think small—your friends, family, co-workers, students, classmates, teachers, neighbors. Does your light shine?

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I know you want to inspire people to fall before God, so He can raise them up to life. You’ve experienced this to some extent, so why wouldn’t you want the same for everyone you know? But don’t make assumptions about what it means to shine His light. Don’t hold back the truth of your life and present the polished-up, Sunday-morning, “closer to Jesus” version instead.

Don’t complicate the shining. It’s as simple as 1—2:

1. Come into the light.

This is the kicker. You cannot shine His light without first coming into the light.

My sin separates me from God, and I cannot do anything to fix it on my own…I need Jesus. 

So come—repent—let your spirit be refreshed.

Then shine. Except there’s more.

Continue to come to God because every fiber of our beings need to be made new.

We need total heart & mind makeovers, with God the master designer. He holds the plans, we come often and humbly, and He makes it happen.

Transformation is a process. None of us who live are there yet. But He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. So come into the light, day after day, and let Him transform your heart and mind.

2. Shine!

Here’s how: be you. Fully you but also fully His.

YOU are being made new by Him daily, because you are coming to Him, to His light. You are imperfect but progressing, a mess but growing.

Shine that. Be real, be authentic. Be willing to risk it.

Don’t try to be who you think you’re supposed to be. They know.                                                            

Imperfect people crave honesty from other imperfect people. So don’t try to be where you “should be”.

Be where you are, who you are, under God, by His grace—a world away (literally) from perfect, but humbly being transformed by Him every day.

Go ahead now. Shine…

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The Story

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They were noisier than I would have liked, my kids and their cousins, getting ready for bed. But I gathered them up in a little pink room, told them to hush, and read them a story.

The story began with a young girl from a small town. A humble servant girl. She was engaged to be married, waiting for her life to change, but chosen to first bring promise into the world.

One afternoon, an angel scared her half to death. He told her not to fear, because God Most High favored her. She sat there, stunned. Confused. But the angel continued. She would have a baby, and name him JESUS. The Son of the Most High. He’d reign from David’s throne forever.

His kingdom would never end.

She wondered, how? The angel explained—the power of the Most High would overshadow her. He told her that her old, old cousin Elizabeth was also 6 months pregnant. Because nothing is impossible with God.

At this point in the story, I question myself. I imagine being this girl, this ordinary, unlikely girl. I believe nothing is impossible with God. But in those shoes? Would I believe it then?

She responds, Let it be. Let it be with me as you have said.

She decides—I will be God’s servant.

She carries the Son of God in her womb.

She visits her old, pregnant cousin, who tells her she is abundantly blessed. Why? Because she believed the Lord would do what He said.

So her heart overflows with praise for God, and she sings:

God noticed me, his lowly servant girl. He’s done great things for me. He shows mercy to all who fear Him. He scatters the proud and exalts the humble. He fills the hungry but sends the rich away with empty hands. He fulfills His promises.

God became flesh and showed up small, born in an animal shed, to a poor servant girl. He did it this way, to offer mercy to all. But we can’t read only half the gospel.

God offers His mercy to all, but He shows mercy to those who fear Him. Some, He scatters, and some, He exalts. He blesses those who believe Him.

Like this young girl, my heart now overflows. Because God noticed me, and showed me mercy. Because the Joy who came to the world, came for me. Came for you. So I speak of Jesus, of Joy, hoping you will seek Him and know Him, too. May we all be blessed because we believe the Lord will do what He said!

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If I can answer any questions, or you want to discuss this further, email me at angiep@nc.rr.com.

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We Are Flowers

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I met him at a Starbucks down the road, this widowed man in his 70’s. When I looked up from my book, he asked a simple question. Then he sat down across from me and let me peek into his life.

He was waiting for a blind date, a friend of a friend, so he endured the awkward wait telling his stories to a stranger. He spoke of losing his wife, and reminded me life is short.

Who we have now—the main characters in our stories—are gifts to unwrap, to love, and to thank God for every day.

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Yesterday, I found out a childhood friend passed away, without warning or expectation. I read thoughts from her husband and sisters, some of the broken-hearted she leaves behind. Even they admit, there’s much more there than sadness. One sister said she’s in awe thinking of her little sister with Jesus. Because this friend trusted in the Lord, we know she’s in a far better place than the rest of us.

She knows more than the mystery of being IN Christ—now she knows what it is to be WITH Christ.

“I haven’t been asked yet to walk the hard roads. Still there’s a sense of deep loss in my soul…”  –Christa Wells, How Emptiness Sings

Some of you have been through a similar valley, and some of us have not. Yet. But we carry through life this sense of loss, of longing for the emptiness to be filled. We look forward to the full mercy of Christ and eternal life.

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We are flowers,

Eternal flowers, and

We are dust.

We were planted, seed-bearing,

To grow and reproduce,

To bloom ~ for a season.

We know not when

Our season ends,

But that some are picked suddenly,

Uprooted to another place,

Leaving pieces of themselves behind.

Some color landscapes long

Until they wither,

Alongside others passing away.

We are dust, passing dust,

Eternal dust.

 

The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. Psalm 103:13-17, NLT

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Grace in Stillness

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I waved goodbye to the stillness of the lake and headed toward the beautiful chaos I call home.

It was a quick weekend retreat with a few admirable women. We met at a friend’s cozy cabin, surrounded by trees and overlooking the water. It was an opportunity, a gift to spend a number of hours alone with the Lord, praying through different scriptures. But the best part of that was the listening. 

I didn’t touch my laptop, my day planner, the TV. I didn’t answer questions by the handful or serve my littles a meal or pick up all their things. I  didn’t run from event to event or keep anyone on schedule. Time at the lake was a different, wonderful rhythm.

Jesus often left the chaos of the crowds and went off alone to pray. He also left that solitude to meet people’s needs. We can imitate Him by spending time at home each day away from our crowd, in His presence. But so often I find that time rushed. Which is a by-product of a life spent rushing.

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“When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening.” –Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water

We are clock-watchers, schedule-keepers, and list-makers. We are phone-scanners, instant-messengers, and facebook-checkers. Our lives are a series of events. We breathe shallow. This is our usual rhythm, and that of our neighbors.

Most of us know we need margin. We know it won’t appear out of nowhere. But we still fight the urge to say yes to every invitation.

I don’t know about you, but it catches up to me. Sometimes I know I’m worn out, but I just keep swimming.

What would happen if we did less? Would we miss too much? Would our kids?  Or would we all gain something more?

Psalm 46 ends with this amazing grace–Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. 

Another version says, Cease striving.

It’s okay to stop striving, to stop keeping up with everyone else. Because He is God and He will be exalted.

In all my running, when it’s busyness gone wild, what exactly am I striving for?

And when striving, who exactly do I trust in?

In Hebrew, the word translated “be still” could also say Let Go.

Letting go is the heart of stillness, and herein lies our struggle to be still and listen.

May we let go, and acknowledge that He is God.

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Hope, Possible

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Is it possible to walk into this November Tuesday, with a posture of hope?

Even knowing of the typhoon. And the 10,000 people.

Is hope possible when Syrian children still wander as refugees? When littles taste terror and wear scars of war?

Can we hope despite plane crashes and famines, cancer and nuclear bombs?

Hope is “the feeling that what’s wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best” (Dictionary.com). Can we believe, even though the horrors continue and we see no soon resolve?

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I was 22, when I signed up for a Bible study. I showed up to a room full of women over 50. And then there was me, fresh out of college, with a fancy new job and a handsome new husband. Life was nothing but good.

But then, women told their real life stories. They had lost parents and friends. Cancer had stolen their sisters. And many years before, one woman’s tiny baby stopped breathing in her hands.

You’d better believe I left there, praying. Their stories made me scared. But 15 years later, what I remember most about those women was the way they carried on–with hope.

God tells us there will be pain here. There will be suffering. Disease. Disaster. Hatred. War.

But we want to read on past that in our Bibles, don’t we? Because we don’t want to bear those losses! I know I’m not the only one who prays, Lord, please, don’t let me go through something like that.

Today, the world is heavy with disaster…but may we live light, because of hope. Because we–who believe–were at one time enemies of God, and alienated from Him. But Jesus fought for us. He brought peace between believers and God Most High. And Jesus will bring peace again. He’s the only real hope we have.

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Will you move into this day, this night, with hope? Just don’t keep it all to yourself. Give some hope away today.

Let us pray for the suffering. Donate our dollars, even when they feel small. And whatever comes, Do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

*If you want to provide urgent relief for typhoon survivors, click here to donate to Compassion International, who are there, in the Philippines, spreading hope.

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