Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Life Restored, A Soul Saved

As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth.

-- 2 Thessalonians 2:13

There is a peace about him now. A calmness that wasn’t there before. He seems deeply happy. Content even. The same troubles remain. The same unresolved issues. The same back-story that will never change. But he has changed.

Five weeks ago he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He’d been attending church for a while. He was determined that his little girl know about Jesus. He knew about Jesus too. He’d spent time in church when he was a boy. But family issues and teen challenges pulled him away and he never really understood what he thought he knew.

He wanted his child to find a different path. Truthfully, he wanted that for himself too. Two failed marriages and a relationship that was going nowhere wasn’t how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. This church he chose was casual and upbeat. The band played contemporary music and he seemed to really hear the words for the first time. At home, he’d play the same songs over and over. He could hear God’s voice for what seemed like the first time.

He asked questions of every Christian he knew. He sought answers from his pastor. He quizzed a co-worker who is a bi-vocational pastor. He came to understand that faith didn’t mean a life without problems. Faith meant a promise of forever and a steady hand along rocky terrain.

God opened his heart and he responded with praise and joy. He’ll be baptized this month. He is so eager to make “official” what has already happened in his heart. He is a new man. How does he explain the transformation? How can he explain the new birth to those who aren‘t yet there?

He reads and studies his Bible. He continues to ask questions. He prays to this God of his. The God of us all. He was lost and now he is found. He was blind but now he can see. The glorious love of Jesus Christ glows out from him. A life restored. A soul saved.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Keep Going Forward

Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

-- 2 Thessalonians 1:4

The other day I arrived home from Georgia and came face to face with a very irritable mother. Her excuse? Her husband had procrastinated on a chore. He needed her help and she couldn’t do the things she needed to do because she was waiting for him. How inconsiderate!

I tried not to laugh. Not very successfully, I might add. But I did try. See I understood exactly what she was talking about. Really. Because I encounter it every single day, all day long. From them.

That’s the thing about being critical of others. Usually it’s the very thing we dislike so much in others that we also dislike so vehemently in ourselves. We don’t want others to mirror our flaws back at us. And we certainly don’t want to deal with the aggravation that comes from dealing with those flaws.

It’s difficult to keep going some days. And, yet, we must. I must. As hard as it is to allow my life, my world, to revolve around two people who have no inkling of how difficult that truly is. I believe that God has called me to this place, to this time. To grow closer to Him. To learn how to depend on Him. Day by day. To understand deep within that only He can save me from the evils that sometimes surround me.

Some days I see myself reflected back at me and it truly scares me. It’s an eye-opening fact check that sends my behavior and attitude in a different direction. And, frequently, to my Bible.

The weight of others’ expectations can be a burden that some days seems too heavy to bear. I am reminded that I don’t have to carry that burden alone. And, when it seems overwhelming, I can simply hand it off to the One who is far stronger than I. It allows me to laugh and let go when the strain gets to be too much.

We all have trials in this life. We all are placed in situations, sooner or later, where we have to do what we’d rather not simply because God’s will is that we do. And, most of the time, knowing that He knows what He’s doing is enough.