You know the line in the theme song from Friends that says "when it's not been your day, your week, your month, or even your year"? That's the line I would give 2017 for us. It's been ridiculously hard. And not with just one thing, but several big, traumatic things one right after the other like illness with several hospital stays, robbery, attempted suicide, depression, uncovered abuse, incurable cancer; it seems like you can name an issue and it has hit our family this year. I have found myself asking the Lord when it will stop, or when I can at least get a long enough break to breathe in between the sad, or stressful, sometimes urgent and often complicated events that have taken place. I say I don't understand, I don't get why things are so difficult and why it seems worse for some than for others, but if I am honest, there is a part of me that does understand. I think, after all of this time, I might get it, if only just a little...
It is this simple fact, this annoying, frustrating and difficult to accept fact: Life is hard. Sure, there are phases of life that are a little simpler and happy, and there are those people that from our outside vantage point seem to have it much easier than others. But I guarantee that if we got to know them, if we saw from their point of view we would find out that that same annoying fact has shown up for them too, life is hard. And it is hard not becasue God is somehow absent, or testing us, or angry with us, it is because we live in a fallen world.
Life is hard because sin and evil exist. And as imperfect humans, we are affected by it. We are affected by the broken state of our world, even when we may be undeserving and it seems so unfair. We are also affected by the things we ourselves have allowed into our lives, and by what others have done that unfortunately end up hurting us. We have to remember that this world is a tainted version of what God wants for us. It is filled with sickness, hurt, evil, and pain because the enemy of our souls has set out with a plan to do all he can to hurt God's heart, and God's heart is for us, his creation. God did not want your loved one or mine to suffer from horrendous disease, and He certainly is not sitting up in Heaven immune to the cries and the desperation of his children. He absolutely is not the reason life is hard, instead, He has offered us the answer in sending his Son to a hurting, broken world.
With his death and resurrection, Jesus paid for so much for us. His blood covers our sins and we have the gift of eternal life with him. But the Bible also says he bore our sorrows, he took the stripes on his back that we might be healed. Jesus took the weight of this hard life, and told us that if we are weary, if we are carrying heavy burdens, that we can come to him, and He will take on the despair that we are carrying. He will give us his peace, that passes all understanding, and abundant joy, even in the midst of this fallen and hurting world.
He doesn't promise us life will be easy, as a matter of fact, we are told that we will have many troubles, even be persecuted in His name. But he does promise to lead us beside still waters for that much needed rest, that he will protect us from all evil as we have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He promises beauty for ashes, strength for despair. So many promises in his word to take this very hard life and make it something beautiful...
However, it takes some hard work to get to the place that we are allowing him to be our peace, that we are choosing to focus on the beauty in the midst of ugliness. It can seem easier to stay stuck in the mess of this world and the heaviness of our lives and lay blame all over the place, but if we will go to Jesus, if we will get to know his promises by reading his word, talk to him and look for the blessings that He is sending, worship him for who he is, even in the toughest of times, life takes on a beauty all it's own.
As I have shared, my family has been dealing with the most difficult year of my life so far, and everything in my flesh wants to crawl into a hole and hide from it all. But thankfully, my soul, well, my soul knows the hope of Jesus. And my soul is rising up, saying hold on, because all of this ugliness, all of the difficulties, means only one thing to my faith-filled heart - we are in the middle of great opportunities for God to be more real, more gigantic to us, than we have ever know him to be before. See, for a few years, I have asked him to allow me to see Him in bigger ways, knowing that I have only scratched a tiny fraction of the surface of who He is. And deep in my heart, I know that what is really happening, is that He is getting ready to answer.
Worship, it changes our perspective, and it changes the atmosphere. It sets the stage for God to show the enemy who will have the final say about his children's lives...
It is this simple fact, this annoying, frustrating and difficult to accept fact: Life is hard. Sure, there are phases of life that are a little simpler and happy, and there are those people that from our outside vantage point seem to have it much easier than others. But I guarantee that if we got to know them, if we saw from their point of view we would find out that that same annoying fact has shown up for them too, life is hard. And it is hard not becasue God is somehow absent, or testing us, or angry with us, it is because we live in a fallen world.
Life is hard because sin and evil exist. And as imperfect humans, we are affected by it. We are affected by the broken state of our world, even when we may be undeserving and it seems so unfair. We are also affected by the things we ourselves have allowed into our lives, and by what others have done that unfortunately end up hurting us. We have to remember that this world is a tainted version of what God wants for us. It is filled with sickness, hurt, evil, and pain because the enemy of our souls has set out with a plan to do all he can to hurt God's heart, and God's heart is for us, his creation. God did not want your loved one or mine to suffer from horrendous disease, and He certainly is not sitting up in Heaven immune to the cries and the desperation of his children. He absolutely is not the reason life is hard, instead, He has offered us the answer in sending his Son to a hurting, broken world.
With his death and resurrection, Jesus paid for so much for us. His blood covers our sins and we have the gift of eternal life with him. But the Bible also says he bore our sorrows, he took the stripes on his back that we might be healed. Jesus took the weight of this hard life, and told us that if we are weary, if we are carrying heavy burdens, that we can come to him, and He will take on the despair that we are carrying. He will give us his peace, that passes all understanding, and abundant joy, even in the midst of this fallen and hurting world.
He doesn't promise us life will be easy, as a matter of fact, we are told that we will have many troubles, even be persecuted in His name. But he does promise to lead us beside still waters for that much needed rest, that he will protect us from all evil as we have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He promises beauty for ashes, strength for despair. So many promises in his word to take this very hard life and make it something beautiful...
However, it takes some hard work to get to the place that we are allowing him to be our peace, that we are choosing to focus on the beauty in the midst of ugliness. It can seem easier to stay stuck in the mess of this world and the heaviness of our lives and lay blame all over the place, but if we will go to Jesus, if we will get to know his promises by reading his word, talk to him and look for the blessings that He is sending, worship him for who he is, even in the toughest of times, life takes on a beauty all it's own.
As I have shared, my family has been dealing with the most difficult year of my life so far, and everything in my flesh wants to crawl into a hole and hide from it all. But thankfully, my soul, well, my soul knows the hope of Jesus. And my soul is rising up, saying hold on, because all of this ugliness, all of the difficulties, means only one thing to my faith-filled heart - we are in the middle of great opportunities for God to be more real, more gigantic to us, than we have ever know him to be before. See, for a few years, I have asked him to allow me to see Him in bigger ways, knowing that I have only scratched a tiny fraction of the surface of who He is. And deep in my heart, I know that what is really happening, is that He is getting ready to answer.
Worship, it changes our perspective, and it changes the atmosphere. It sets the stage for God to show the enemy who will have the final say about his children's lives...
Comments
Post a Comment