December 1, 2021

Merry Christmas from the Tates, everyone!

This Christmas of 2021 marks the second Christmas marred by a general feeling of world-wide fear and trepidation. For some people, the words “Corona Virus” bring feelings of imminent threat. For others, it is more a feeling of caution but also uncertainty because of the way world governments are dealing with the situation. For some there is fear; for others there is angst. For some there is fear of disease, suffering, and even death; for others there is fear of corruption, oppression, and tyranny. Either way, there is more shared world-wide distress than I have ever seen in my adult lifetime.

I love how the Psalmist in Chapter 4 of the Book of Psalms says to God, “Hear me when I call…You HAVE relieved me in my distress.” David prayed because he was in need of relief, but he talked as if God had ALREADY given it. David assumed it; it was a foregone conclusion to him. He prayed with an expectation of hope. Not a “hope so,” but a “hope KNOW.”

Sometimes I’m not sure what specifically I need – I just know there is this anxiety, this longing…this emptiness that needs filling. This…dis-satisfaction with this world. It’s a longing for Hope – for the end of futility…the end of sin and its effects both around me and in me…the end to brokenness, disease, and death…the end to evil, poverty, and oppression…the end to division, hate, and violence…the end to suffering of all kinds.

But God teaches me through His Word that He has ALREADY relieved me in my distress. He has ALREADY sent His answer – in the greatest, most complete, and most comprehensive manner possible.

IMMANUEL.
GOD WITH US.
JESUS.

God IS the God of all Hope, and this is the Season of Hope because Jesus is our “Hope Know.”
This season especially (right now in 2021) is given to us as a reminder – a refocus.

“Take heart,” Jesus said, “for I have ALREADY overcome the world.” It’s done. It’s finished. Now we are simply waiting for it to work its way through – but it’s done – it’s a foregone conclusion.

All the suffering, the hate, the disease, the oppression, the death – it has ALREADY been dealt the death blow and lies writhing on the ground fighting for its last gasp of oxygen. The answer has ALREADY been given – the healing medicine ALREADY applied. It’s been done in the birth, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. We long for peace, and the Prince of Peace has come.

So, God, hear us when we call. Have mercy on us. You HAVE relieved us in our distress. Now, fill us with the Peace You have ALREADY provided so we can love others with the love with which You have loved us. Help us be satisfied in our dis-satisfaction, knowing we hope (KNOW), along with all of creation, for the full coming of Your PERFECTED Kingdom.

The King is Coming!

Love,
Julie

CONTACT INFO

Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta@gmail.com

For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.