Friday, August 31, 2007

THE COLD HARD TRUTH…WITH A WARM FUZZY ENDING

Okay readers, the truth is this…after many, many, many years of study, I have come to the conclusion that in order to be great, or have a life of significance, you must be willing to loose all that you have. Excuse me, let me rephrase that, you stand to loose all that you have, we assume that you are willing, other wise it wouldn’t be happening. A life of greatness and significance is really only found in the one who is Great, and that is God. So in order to be like Him, you must be significantly connected to Him. And by the way, the best relationships by far, are relationships that are based on TRUST. So here is the catch, God flips everything backwards in your life so that you loose control and you have to find another source of dependence. He does things like making the first last; the poor rich; the weak strong and the blind are actually the ones who can see, etc. All the natural and logical scenarios of life all of sudden don’t make sense. He creates a journey marked by things that don’t go your way so that we can release the control, and truly, and I mean truly begin to depend on Him. In essence it is what the Bible says, “He who tries to save his life will loose it, and he who loses his life for the gospel’s sake, the same shall be saved.” Usually when God begins these incredible turnarounds, you go kicking and screaming. And you try desperately to keep things from changing. But all you do is prolong the process and actually set your course to destruction. Because remember, if you try to save your life, you actually lose it. This deeper life is marked by frustration, uneasiness, yearning for purpose, a low tolerance for meaningless activities, (sounds like mid-life crisis huh? Yep)! Anyway, you start desiring changes in every area of your life. Things that seemed important before all of a sudden don’t matter. People you used to fight with, no longer get your attention. But be prepared, you are headed for a painful arena. If you lived life loving anything or anyone at all, this transformation will be painful. This is why you feel God is unfair, because you think you have lived life caring and doing for others, which you may have, but your trust has been in your ability to do that. God wants your trust in Him. So, it’s usually the good people, who end up losing it all, and your neighbors and friends say God was never with you, or God has left you, or you’ve turned to a life of sin, etc. Just read the book of Job, He’ll explain it. Nonetheless, my friend the Cold Hard Turth is that, if you want to live influentially and significantly, you stand to lose it all. Material things, confidence, friends, family, career, self-esteem, anything that has been of value to you, He is going after. Now it doesn’t mean that you will lose them forever. Some things will return, some things will be replaced, but always, it will be better than before.
The Warm Fuzzy Ending is this…You wake up in the morning dependant on Him, you don’t eat your food without thanking Him for it, you are grateful for a nice day outside, you pray often for those who are really less fortunate, you look for Him during the day, you hesitate to speak if you haven’t heard Him tell you what to say, when He enters the room, you get goose bumps and you know inside that He’s close. These are just to name a few. I could go on all day. You see, I’m one of those who fought with Him, and wrestled, and lied and denied, and played the role, acting and looking better on the outside than I really was on the inside. But after the pain, and after the rain, it is the most remarkable relationship I have ever experienced. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I think I finally understand what it’s about. I have a relationship with God. Can you imagine that? Most people don’t understand it, because most people haven’t experienced it. They have experienced religion, but they haven’t experienced the deepened relationship. So don’t try to explain it, just let them observe your life until they desire such a life for themselves. And guess what, like the Rich Young Ruler, many will not want to change. They will conclude that the life they have is too much to part with. So don’t try to change them, leave that hard job up to God. After all He changed you didn’t He (smile)! Well, until another day, my friends, if you really want to matter in life and leave His legacy, then you have to accept the Cold Hard Truth, but you will ultimately experience His Warm Fuzzy Ending. It’s worth it, if you can go through it! God Bless!

Cherry