As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
Hello everyone,
Last time I raised the question over what sort of life we are called to live if we say we believe in Christ. I looked at the example of Mary and Martha and put forth the idea that, sometimes, we can get obsessed with details when God just simply wants us to live a life of simplified, child-like trust in Him. I hope I have challenged your perspective as that is all I am trying to do, whether you are a Christian or not. I am simply trying to raise some questions that hopefully inspire you to seek Jesus as the answer.
This time, it's the turn of those Mary-types of people. You know, the ones who are content to trust in a higher authority and rest and relax knowing that everything, no matter how chaotic, is still under control.
Who You Say That I Am Pt. 2
When it comes to living a life of faith, some people put it in a higher being, some people put it in themselves and others put it in a celebrity or favoured sports team.
Given that we started with scripture, let me come right back to it by re-iterating the very verse I stood upon when I hit these personal difficulties that started way back in the depths of last year; Psalm 46: -
God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Do you see that? Even though it's just one verse, there are at least three promises to stand upon!
- God is our Shelter;
- God is our strength;
- God is always ready to help
When I realised, through a former friend of mine that the girl I had been crushing on so relentlessly over the last few years was already taken, I was absolutely devastated. There's no denying it. You could say it tested me to the extreme. But it was as I kept my eyes upon the bigger picture did I experience breakthrough; my cross and my relationship with Jesus.
In the end, though my church attendance was the victim in all the malestrom of things that I was trying to cope with, I knew that everything was still okay because God was still in control: -
I love this song.
That's right, it's one of the few times when I will say the word "love" about a song. This one deserves it.
It reminded me, the more that I listened to it, that everything revolves around God's throne so no matter what came at me. No matter what waves crashed upon me. They would not get the right to overwhelm me.
I thought my life was falling apart.
I thought my life was in a downward spiral out of control.
It turns out it was a perfectly controlled descent to let me see just how far and how high God had taken me since I started going to !Audacious.
Yes, that was the right place for me then. It's not now.
Is it because I might see that girl again? Maybe, quite possibly, I'd have to say yes to that.
But that's not the totality of it.
For to let my focus be so consumed by one event not turning out as I'd dreamed it would, is to deny the fact that God is in control.
Why Disasters Happen
Why do disasters happen? God is higher than them.
Why the pain and suffering though? God is over and above them.
Why am I asking you these questions? I am trying to help you to see that, to me, God is so far beyond all that we can ask, think, or imagine and we are so far removed from Him at times that we could not even begin to understand His plan for allowing all of this.
All I do know is that in the end, it all works out: -
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God's home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.” Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” He also said to me, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.” And he said, “It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children.Revelation 21:1-7 (GNT) emphasis added
You might think that I have made like a politician and skirted around the questions I was asking, but I would like to think that I have not. Instead I have transcended them to the point where my focus is on God and what He will bring about in the end.
All difficulties today serve a greater purpose tomorrow and sometimes, with our own finite minds, we cannot conceive that sometimes time has to pass in order to see the significance with which why these events had to happen this way.
God knew I would see a girl.
God knew I would fall hopelessly in love with her.
Yet nothing worked out, I couldn't even tell her how I felt about her for goodness' sake!
Am I going to blame God for that? Or am I going to put it all down to His plan for me being a good, perfect and pleasing one, just as we are told in Romans 12:2?
Blame the Evilness of Man, Not the Goodness of God
Therefore, the fact that God knew about all of this that would happen over the last few years. The fact that He stood by me in it all. The fact that He was in everything, showed me that He is still good and He is still working things out.
Are you getting where I'm coming from yet?
Life is not about the evilness of man; it's about the goodness of God!
When your life falls apart at the seams, God is still good.
When you lose your job or a loved one, God is still good.
Yes it hurts at the time, but that is the weakness and fear as you become weaned that little bit more off the things of this world and onto God as your ever present Help.
That's what this is all about, I believe.
The more I hurt and the more I suffer, the more I am instructed to press into God. He can help me when others can't. He is with me when others aren't. Sometimes we have to go through a grieving process to get through, and other times there is a more immediate fix to our problems.
I went to a church that started creating more problems for me than it solved.
I left.
Big deal!
That's not an insult to anybody who still goes there and, chances are, there will be people reading this who might be shocked to read that.
It's okay, God is still in control.
That's what us Martha-types forget. I should know. I admit that I can be one so many times in life because I love knowing the details of life.
But thanks to my mindfulness training, I am learning to let certain things just... be... and transcend my mindset to a higher plane of existence where nothing and no one can reach it, save God.
Final Thought
Wrapping up this two-part post then, I want to remind you that no matter how bad it looks today, God is still good and He is still in control of your life even if... no, especially when it looks like He isn't.
I know it might not be comfort to hear that, but all I want you to do is perceive Jesus right in the midst of your troubles because He is right there with you and His power is at work within you, transforming you from the old to the new: -
If you are not joined to Christ today as your "ever present help", why not give Him a chance today?Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.2 Corinthians 5:17 (GNT)
Who knows, it may just turn out to be the best decision that you've ever made!
Peace!
===TLP===
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