My Morning of Re-Perspecting

Life has been a whirlwind in the last month or two. Filled with so many good things, certainly! A sweet family reunion, time spent in His creation and a couple of amazing youth mini$try trips, all interspersed with work and time with dear friends. Yes, so many good things.

In the last week, however, after the conclusion of all those amazing events, my mind has begun to look ahead toward the quickly-approaching end of life as I know it, and the sheer amount of logistical/spiritual/emotional/financial preparation that will be necessary in the coming 3 ½ months has begun to overwhelm me. Added to all of that is my resistance to change and my annoyance at having to deal with the inconvenience of a move that will happen before I had planned.

It has become clear to me this morning, as I write this and spend time with the Savior of the World and the One Who has never left – and will never leave – my side, that I have done a fine job of not surrendering my every moment to Him Who is completely trustworthy.

A few thoughts on the matter:

1. Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest (July 28), asks, “What is my vision of G0d’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me…. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” (Mark 6:49) with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “him walking on the sea.” It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to G0d.”

2. I was created FOR HIM. Not for myself. “You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19) This is not a bad thing, nor a restrictive thing! It is quite possibly the most freeing truth we, as believers, may ever know!

3. . This world will pass away. Says so in 1 John 2:17 and elsewhere. It is not for me, then, to hold on so tightly to the world, or to give the things of the world (including relationships, work, mini$tries) so much importance that I begin to worry about them as they slip from my grasp. It is only for me to know God and to love Him and to delight in Him.

4. “Find rest, O my soul, in G0d alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on G0d; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for G0d is our refuge.” (Psalm 62: 5-8)

Indeed, let the moving begin! :)

The Mist of Life

We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

This truth has been proven to me again and again in the last two weeks. Proven by the loss of a co-worker and friend, Ruth Bowen. Proven by the loss of a wonderful man of God and the father of one of my dear middle school girls, John Kelly. Proven by a snowboarding accident that resulted in a brain injury of one of my dear friends, Beth Born. Proven as I gently washed the face and removed the lines from the body of a woman who had just died in the hospital, who a sliver of time earlier had been speaking and smiling and living.

When people around us pass away or devastating accidents occur to people close to us, our minds often recount our last interactions with them. I remember talking about church and spiritual struggles with Ruth in the hallway by the nurse’s station during one of the many weekends we worked together. I remember talking with John when he picked up Shea after Girls Group. I remember sharing the delight of snowboarding and a hug with Beth right before I left the mountain early, right before she slammed into a tree. I remember the reports of the beautiful smile and laughter of the woman in the hospital now lying in a grave.

It is stunningly clear: we are a mist.

The waves of mourning come for those of us remaining in this foreign land. A constant deluge for a time. Then in ebbs and flows. But rarely do the waves altogether cease. Rarely does the ripple flatline.

But the pain is only allotted to us, as visitors of this earth and runners of this life race, until we have reached the goal (Philippians 3). And this will be a crazy joyous day, just sayin.

A few thoughts regarding this thing we humans call death:

1. In C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, two devils seek to weaken a new Christian. One of them, the senior devil, warns the other:

“ They, of course, do tend to regard death as the prime evil, and survival as the greatest good. But that is because we have taught them to do so.... The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere…. The truth is that the Enemy, having oddly destined these mere animals to life in His own eternal world, has guarded them pretty effectively from the danger of feeling at home anywhere else.” (chapter 28)

2. In Phillipians, the book known as the epistle of joy, Paul says so very clearly, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in death.” But don’t end there. Why in the world would Paul want to suffer? “To attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

3. John 16:33 – “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

And so we continue to suffer. Pain – in countless ways – continues to scald us and wash over us. But not for long, people. Not for long. J