AN HONEST LOOK AT A MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY

This week marked the 2^nd anniversary of my wife Mary’s death.  As I reflected on her life, my mind immediately went to her relationship with God.  She was a woman who longed to experience God in increasingly more identifiable ways.    As I reread her journals I saw her heart being poured out to God to answer prayer for family and friends.  I also read the words of deep pain, “God, why aren’t you working?”

I just finished reading a book by a man I deeply respect.  He has been a gifted and effective C&MA pastor.  At 48 his body was invaded by something that put him at death’s door.  No amount of tests could produce a diagnosis.  His body just went crazy.  This man was healthy, athletic, a runner;  but within a few days his life was changed in ways he and his family could never imagine.   He spent months in ICU and when he did get back home, he had lost 50 lbs, couldn’t walk without help, couldn’t drive, eat or do much of anything for himself.  He was kept alive through a feeding tube.  What was he to make of all this, especially in light of the thousands of people praying for his healing, day after day after day?   Though he is on the living side of death, he still has not fully recovered.  He records his story in an incredible book entitled, An Honest Look at a Mysterious Journey.  I recommend it for everyone, but especially those whose life is hard right now, who are going through times where God seems silent, distant, and uninvolved in their circumstances.  If you are having trouble seeing God at work in the challenges of your life, John’s insights into God and his promises will be helpful.  

I never expected my relationship with God to deepen to the level it did through Mary’s illness and death, but I discovered, as John did, that God is good all the time.  He is a good God doing a good work.  We may have trouble seeing it, but as Isaiah 55:8,9 says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways.”  Enter into John’s story and see if it doesn’t really impact your walk with the Lord.

CONSCIENCE

“Cowardice asks the question, Is it safe?  Expediency asks the question, Is it politic?  Vanity asks the question, Is it popular?  But conscience asks the question, Is it right?  And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”   Martin Luther

Does anyone have a conscience anymore?  Do we still use them?  Do we value them?  Do we ignore them?  We used to say, “Let your conscience be your guide”, as if that would be enough to thwart wrong decisions or behavior.   We believed that our conscience was God’s gift to us to help navigate life in a morally pleasing way.  Our conscience would always be consistent with the moral law of God and would kick in when we violated that law or were even thinking about it.  But is conscience that dependable anymore?  Does it still function as God designed?   Is it possible we have diminished its role and importance and let our beliefs and actions be influenced by the cry and din of our culture’s call for tolerance and relativism?  For so many of today’s Americans the conscience has gotten buried under expediency, cowardice or popularity.  Seldom does it seem to be used in determining what is right and wrong.  Two people may hold diametrically opposed views or beliefs and neither feels any “check” in their conscience that what they believe is wrong.  Recently our president came out publicly to endorse same sex marriage.   There are those who applaud him, others who deplore him.   Did conscience figure into his announcement?  What role does conscience play in our lives anyway?

Our conscience stays sharp and honed when we stay close to God’s word, know and reinforce his teachings, and are committed to do right.   For the Christian we get our convictions of right and wrong from the Bible, God’s trustworthy revelation to mankind.   We develop convictions based on those timeless truths that are to guide how we relate to God, each other and this earth.  Our conscience will be consistent with our commitment to God’s truth, even when it is not safe, politic or popular.  It’s time to unbury it and give it voice.

GROWTH

When do we stop growing?  Last week I wrote about my ten month old grandboys, Luke and Sam.  They have a lot of growing ahead of them.  In fact, if they stopped growing their parents would be very concerned.  Physically, they will shoot up like their cousins, Owen and Griffin.  I expect all four of them will be over 6 feet tall.  Weight wise, they'll add another 150 pounds or more.  Developmentally, they're learning volumes, as they acquire language skills, dexterity skills, information and understanding.  When will they stop growing?
When do we stop growing?  Physically we are at our tallest by our early 20's.  Weight wise...that's a big question mark.  Knowledge wise, we may go into deceleration as we reach retirement years, staying up on current events, but anticipating a reduction on influence and impact we scale back on the scope of new knowledge gained.  I'm now in my sixties.  There is always the temptation to accept social convention that relevance declines with advancing years, that when you reach the upper ages its totally acceptable to saddle up and ride the rest of your days toward the sunset, but I don't want to go there.  I was just like Luke and Sam once, a small baby starting to grow.  As the years went by growth just happened.  I didn't give it a lot of thought.  But as I got older I realized I wanted to have input into my growth.  I committed to four things:  to continue to gain knowledge and understanding to function well in an advancing world; to develop core convictions upon which to build a life, to do my part to stay healthy for as long as possible, and to keep growing in my relationship with God for a lifetime.  When do we stop growing?  Not while we are still breathing.
I imagine that's how God wants it to go.

GRANDBOYS

I am blessed to have four grandboys.  They are precious.  Owen and Griffin are 5 and 3.  Luke and Sam are my 9 month old twins.  My twins live in North Carolina and I am spending my day off with them.  What is it that creates that magnetic pull, where eight hours on the road is insignificant in light of what awaits upon my arrival?

These little guys just pee and poop, can't talk or walk.  They bring nothing to the table except their appetites, and when done, don't even say "thanks".  They squawk when things aren't to their satisfaction and seem their happiest when they are crawling all over me, grabbing hair, skin, and snatching my glasses.

What is it about them that makes the 8 hour trip so attractive?    They're mine.  They belong to my family.  From the moment I looked at them in the neonatal nursery I fell in love.  They were precious then, they are precious now because they belong to me.  They are a part of me.   I imagine that is how God feels about us.