Reason #986
I would like to write 3 blogs today. I have three specific topics that have caught my interest today, and I have had a hard time deciding which one to go with. Two weeks, friends. I have 14, well now 13, more days to go. That's not much time considering how long this thing has been going. Well, if nothing crazy happens tomorrow, at least I'll already have a topic in mind.
There's this video circulating on the internet about a girl who has been diagnosed with cancer and given a short amount of time to live. Of course, that short amount of time is not only going to be filled with every emotion imaginable, but it will also be filled with physical pain. I have endured emotional pain but never physical pain, and so I can't imagine what it must be like to endure both at the same time. Anyway, she has made a decision that, when she is ready, she is going to take a prescribed medication that will bring her life to an end.
I watched her video, and my heart broke. For so many reasons, I felt burdened for her. She's a few years old than I am and she just got married last year. We even have the same name. I looked at her wedding pictures, and I thought about how hard it must be to receive such devastating information after your life is really just getting started. She should be thinking about a family not about the end of her life. And so it seems really unfair. It doesn't make sense. But then again, life isn't always on our side.
The truth is, life isn't on anyone's side. I'd love to say that Christians are immune to this stuff, but we aren't. I figure it's best to let people know that upfront so that they understand what they're getting themselves into. After all, we shouldn't deceive people into following Jesus. Accepting Christ as our Savior doesn't mean we'll be healed of any and all diseases, it doesn't mean we'll be rich, it doesn't mean that we get everything that we want and that nothing bad will ever happen. Following Jesus means we that we'll go through the same stuff non-Jesus followers go through. Being a Jesus follower doesn't mean life is perfect, it means that life is different. It means that life is abundant. It means that we have hope and peace regardless of our circumstances. It means that, although we face difficulties, He will carry us through each and every one.
We don't know what God has in store for our lives. It can change in an instant. He has a plan, but He is the only one who knows what it entails. Sometimes, that plan does entail tough stuff. It entails broken hearts, hurt feelings, sick bodies, great loss, and difficult trials, but we don't know what comes after that. On my darkest of days, I had no idea that God had so much joy and beauty waiting for me. I had no clue what the next move was, but I trusted that there was one. That some how, some way, He would redeem it. That He would bring forth good. I clung to the promise that He would "bestow on [me] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:3) And so I held out, I waited on Him, and I am so thankful that I did.
#986 - Because life with Jesus is abundant, full of hope, and full of purpose.
"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." - Lamentations 3:19-26
There's this video circulating on the internet about a girl who has been diagnosed with cancer and given a short amount of time to live. Of course, that short amount of time is not only going to be filled with every emotion imaginable, but it will also be filled with physical pain. I have endured emotional pain but never physical pain, and so I can't imagine what it must be like to endure both at the same time. Anyway, she has made a decision that, when she is ready, she is going to take a prescribed medication that will bring her life to an end.
I watched her video, and my heart broke. For so many reasons, I felt burdened for her. She's a few years old than I am and she just got married last year. We even have the same name. I looked at her wedding pictures, and I thought about how hard it must be to receive such devastating information after your life is really just getting started. She should be thinking about a family not about the end of her life. And so it seems really unfair. It doesn't make sense. But then again, life isn't always on our side.
The truth is, life isn't on anyone's side. I'd love to say that Christians are immune to this stuff, but we aren't. I figure it's best to let people know that upfront so that they understand what they're getting themselves into. After all, we shouldn't deceive people into following Jesus. Accepting Christ as our Savior doesn't mean we'll be healed of any and all diseases, it doesn't mean we'll be rich, it doesn't mean that we get everything that we want and that nothing bad will ever happen. Following Jesus means we that we'll go through the same stuff non-Jesus followers go through. Being a Jesus follower doesn't mean life is perfect, it means that life is different. It means that life is abundant. It means that we have hope and peace regardless of our circumstances. It means that, although we face difficulties, He will carry us through each and every one.
We don't know what God has in store for our lives. It can change in an instant. He has a plan, but He is the only one who knows what it entails. Sometimes, that plan does entail tough stuff. It entails broken hearts, hurt feelings, sick bodies, great loss, and difficult trials, but we don't know what comes after that. On my darkest of days, I had no idea that God had so much joy and beauty waiting for me. I had no clue what the next move was, but I trusted that there was one. That some how, some way, He would redeem it. That He would bring forth good. I clung to the promise that He would "bestow on [me] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:3) And so I held out, I waited on Him, and I am so thankful that I did.
#986 - Because life with Jesus is abundant, full of hope, and full of purpose.
"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." - Lamentations 3:19-26