I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Announcing: An Unusual Advent Series
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Hi Friends, I’m planning something unusual for this Advent season. For the last couple years, I’ve taken the weeks leading up to Christmas to stare with you into the passages of Scripture about Christ coming as a baby. The birth of Christ is a storyline that’s rich in wonder. We could spend all 365 days of the year focusing on it and not exhaust all there is to see. This year, I want to immerse us in this story once again… But with an unusual twist. I am writing an Advent series for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. Spiritual anxiety? What the heck is that? This is a phrase I’ve been using to describe the heaviness I have felt the Lord begin to lift off my shoulders this year. I didn’t realize I was carrying this — or at least couldn’t name it — until He began to lift the weight. I began to see that while I had for years received much solid Bible teaching, it was often delivered with a quiet injection of spiritual anxiety. I have heard from some of you who also experienced this in your own church context. Jesus told us His yoke is easy, His burden is light. Spiritual anxiety has threads of heaviness and performance. It can sound like a number of things: Do more. If this sounds familiar to you, there’s good news. Yes, there’s good news of great joy for us. For unto us — the heavy laden with anxiety running through our veins — a baby is born. A Son is given. In Matthew 11, Jesus calls to Himself all who want to be free: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” But this didn’t just begin when He was old enough to speak these words. It’s been His mission from the very beginning. Through every detail of Advent, God is extending His hands to lift our heaviness. So let’s go there. For the next few weeks, let’s stand at the beginning of His story and peer into His life. It’s here He lifts off our anxieties and gives us rest. It’s here that we trade hurry, hurry, hurry for holy, holy, holy. It’s here we quiet our souls, stand in awe of Him, and are healed. –Anna P.S. For me, this liberation from heaviness has brought easy sleep each night after years of struggle. I’m praying that you might experience rest for your body, soul, and spirit on this journey, too. See you next week. |
Anna Blanc
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Merry Christmas! Amidst the cookies and carols and family hang-outs, pause with me as we look into a beautiful part of the Advent story… We left off at the angels appearing to the shepherds. They are given a message: “‘And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger’”. A sign. What is the sign in the swaddling cloths? There are several answers to this that theologians have long pointed to. One stands out to me now. The...
Hi Friends, At this point in our unusual Advent series, it’s clear that God has chosen to do things much differently than we would have. And the announcement of Jesus’ birth is no different. You and I, we probably would have shouted the announcement of His arrival in the palace of the king. All eyes and ears, give attention! Or maybe we would have sent the message to the halls of the temple. Yes, it would be fitting to send word to the priests who spend their days in spiritual service to God....
Hi Friends, Welcome to week 2 of our Advent series for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. We left off last week with the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. At the end of his message, the angel seems to leave Mary with a subliminal hint: he mentions Elizabeth. And then he is gone. What does Mary do when she’s had the kind of spiritual encounter that turns her whole life upside down? Without skipping a beat, she runs straight to her friend. The Bible says she hastens to her. Yes, Mary travels to the...