Your kingdom and mine...

Your kingdom is not like mine.

In my kingdom, perfect lighting and perfect photoshoping make my heart leap. Your kingdom is not concerned with the fleeting beauties of today. In it is the ugly. The unlovely. The aggravating. The downcast. The liars. The needy. The cripple. The heartbroken. The sick.

You see all of those things and call them BEAUTIFUL.

I know that what may not be visually beautiful in my kingdom, Lord, is stunning and valuable in Yours. Whereas I find worship in what my eyes can feast upon, You delight in things beyond my vision: Love. Mercy. Service. Humility.

Whereas this holiday season I am tempted to love and crave MORE, the point of the holiday we celebrate is that you value LESS. I value being full. You value emptying. I value acquiring possessions. You value the LACK of them. I value gaining respect and status. You were satisfied with none. (!!)

You want more for me than a nice house with a 2 car garage. You want more for my daughter than a charming smile and a head full of shining hair. Your dreams for my family are bigger than my own. And You want US.

Your goodness abounds not where there is blessing and wealth, but where there is pain. When I am lacking. And I feel my need and dependence. You are there all along, but that's when you love to show up.

You love the unlovely.
You love the needy.
You love the doubter.
You love the have-nots.

You were born in a cattle trough, where no picture would be taken, edited, and perfected to boast about. Your facebook profile picture would make no one click "like." The picture was too dark. It was blurry. It was without makeup or even a smile. It was filthy, with dirt and sweat and feces. It looked repulsive and crazy. It was of a poor girl in excruciating pain. She was lonely, finding comfort only in a barn among the animals. No one welcomed. No one respected. There just wasn't any room.

That's where you show up in our lives. Immanuel.

You deserved fine perfume, yet you chose to get dirty.
You deserved a throne for a king, yet you chose a stinky trough.
You deserved a mansion, yet you chose a "house" that no human would desire.
You deserved a feast, yet you chose to be hungry.
You deserved all the attention and loud praises from all of mankind, yet you chose silence in the middle of the night when no one would notice.
You deserved presents of wealth, yet you chose grave cloths and funeral spices.
You deserved all the royalty to come and bow before you, yet you chose the lowly and meek.

Your kingdom is not like mine.

I deserve no home, yet you promise me a mansion in glory.
I deserve to hunger, yet you feed me with your Word.
I deserve condemnation, yet you grant me righteousness and a place in your FAMILY!
I deserve no gifts, yet in you, I am beyond rich.

Father, daily my eyes deceive me and I base my justification and my happiness upon images that fade away. Help me to see and delight in the beauty of Your kingdom above my own.