You Can Bet Your Sweet December

Posted On November 27, 2022

“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Isaiah 40:5 KJV

I’ve had a couple of seemingly unrelated things on my mind lately. But the more I thought about them, the more I realized they may be related after all. The first is something I read a couple of years ago after I had been praying for some specific guidance as my 50th birthday was approaching:

“God is not the God of confusion, and wherever he sees sincere seekers with confused hearts, you can bet your sweet December that he will do whatever it takes to help them see his will.“

Max Lucado

Since my birthday is in December, this reading seemed to jump off the page at me! I was hoping it meant I would receive some kind of unmistakable message from God about a calling He has placed in my heart. But, alas, my birthday came and went with no out of the ordinary occurrences or dramatic signs… I can’t seem to let go of it, though. This reading keeps coming to my mind, especially this time of year, so I still think God is trying to communicate something to me through it.

The second thing that’s been on my mind lately is the Scripture verse at the top of the page. It’s Isaiah 40:5, and it serves as the text for a piece in Handel’s Messiah. I have been rehearsing it lately in preparation for a Christmas concert by the community chorus I recently joined. Before we go any further, I want to give you a feeling for my perspective on it. So, if you’ll bear with me, I have included a rehearsal track for the alto part of “And the Glory of the Lord.” Take a minute to listen to part of it so that you’ll have an idea of what’s been going through my head:

I think you get the idea. My brain is busy trying to count measures, sing the right notes, come in at the right time, etc. To sing the music well, I have to stay completely focused on my own part and tune the other parts out. And I don’t really pay too much attention to the words, beyond pronouncing them correctly, because I’m so busy concentrating on everything else. But the other day, out of nowhere, it seemed to hit me what these words are actually saying and how they apply, not just to the world in general, but also to me specifically.

To explain what I mean, I need to back up a bit. I mentioned above a calling I feel God has placed in my heart. It’s a calling to help someone I know find a relationship with God. The reason I was so eager to receive some kind of dramatic sign from God about this on my birthday a couple of years ago is because He has done it before. He has spoken to me more than once in amazing ways about this situation. He has given me specific instructions at times to reach out and a promise that He will use me to help this person find Him.

But from my perspective, nothing seems to be happening. And so I grow confused and impatient, and I cry out to God for yet another sign, only to be met with silence. I have so many questions: What’s the next step? When will I be able to help my friend? Do I reach out or just wait? Will anything happen soon? Was I wrong about this calling? Did I misunderstand? Should I just let it go?

These questions are a constant part of my thoughts and a frequent subject of my prayers. Consequently, anytime I feel God speaking to me, I tend to interpret what He’s saying as possible responses to them. So, as this calling, these questions, and “you can bet your sweet December” have been playing through my mind, the words of Isaiah took on new meaning for me:

“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Isaiah 40:5 KJV

Now I realize that this Scripture verse is actually a prophecy about Christ, and I’ve always read it as such. But I also believe that the Holy Spirit can use Scripture to speak to us on more than one level: as a general revelation about God and His plan for all mankind but also as a personal revelation about God’s specific and unique plans for us as individuals.

And in this case, it felt like God was saying to me: Look, I know you’re asking for more confirmation, but I have already spoken to you about what I intend to do. You have heard Me correctly, and I will fulfill My promise to you. But you must be patient and wait for Me to work this out in My own time, because I will do so in such a way that My Glory will be revealed for all to see. And you will get to see it, too!

“Do you remember how you felt when you were very young and your birthday approached? You were excited and anxious. You knew you would certainly receive gifts and other special treats, but some things would be a surprise. Birthdays combine assurance and anticipation, and so does faith!”

Chronological Life Application Study Bible

So, what about sweet December? I haven’t given up on getting a personal message from God as an amazing birthday present, if not this year, then maybe in the future. But birthday gifts aren’t the only gifts to look forward to in December. While I am waiting for more guidance about my calling to help my friend, I am going to celebrate the Friend who has been calling out to me… and to you, too. And I’m going to enjoy the gift of the personal message from God we’ve all been given:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14 NKJV

What I keep forgetting is that God’s calling on my life, while it involves me, is not really about me or even about my friend. It’s about God. It’s about revealing His glory. And just like there’s more than just the alto line in a piece of music, there are more parts that God has in play in His work in the world. They all have to be in tune with each other and performed at just the right time for God’s glory to be revealed according to His plan.

God sees the full score of music, while we may only be given what directly involves us. Sometimes we have measures with notes to sing, and sometimes we have measures of rests. We are each responsible for learning our own individual parts, but we need to trust the Director to tie it all together in beautiful and surprising ways. Otherwise, we’re just making noise. We need to keep practicing faith, focusing on God, and following His timing. He’ll let us know when it’s the right time to sing!

“When we believe that God will fulfill his promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith . . . . Our faith is in the God who created the entire universe by his word. God’s word has awesome power.”

Chronological Life Application Study Bible

This week’s Scripture passages focus on God’s glory and on having faith in His promises. I have also included another video of “And the Glory of the Lord.” This time, instead of just a limited rehearsal track, we can experience a full performance of the music the way it’s intended to be heard. As you listen, may it serve as a reminder that while we may not always understand the reasons God calls us to wait for His promises to be fulfilled, we absolutely can trust Him to do so at the perfect time and in the perfect way to create something beautiful.

In the meantime, we have much to celebrate! God has revealed His glory through Jesus Christ, and He will continue to reveal His glory through us as His followers. As we set our hearts to seek Him and do His will, He will bless us in ways we cannot possibly imagine, and His glory will be revealed in the process. You can bet your sweet December on that!

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

Hebrews 1:3 NIV

References:

• Chronological Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2012.
• “Handel – Messiah – 04 And the glory – Alto.” YouTube, uploaded by St. Mary’s Singers Sydney AUS, 13 March 2013, https://youtu.be/zWhGCgpDUKw.
• “Handel Messiah – And the Glory of the Lord.” YouTube, uploaded by Brussels Choral, 22 November 2016, https://youtu.be/xuog35ZBBfM.
• Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. J. Countryman, 2000.

Images:

• Pine Trees featured image by Jonathan Knepper on Unsplash
• Snow Landscape image by SichiRi from Pixabay
• Christmas Gift image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
• Sun image by Brett Sayles: https://www.pexels.com/photo/snow-capped-mountain-under-blue-sky-1775862/