Many older
folks have a hard time accepting the limits of age when they can no longer do
the things they once did. They rebel when they lose control of their lives,
their finances…and especially their driver’s license. People of faith are not
immune and the Lord must sometimes pry our fingers off this earthly life. Jesus
reminds us we actually have no control over life, “And do not swear by your
head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black” (Matt 5:36 NIV).
3 comments:
Gail;
-----My fondest memories of my early seeking the Lord is the pondering I did on Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” I admit, I pondered that verse mostly because I was so very pessimistic about ever receiving the stuff of verse 25. Since I built my perceptions around the disaster that struck my life when I was eleven, I became emotionally convinced nothing good would ever happen to me, even though I was intellectually convinced that the Lord had blessed me with an ability to do whatever I chose. My mental life became the front-line of internal strife and war. Whatever hopes or plans my mind constructed my emotions soon tore down. So to me, the food and drink and clothes I needed were worse than a challenge, they were a looming mystery. As I approached adulthood I perceived that the entire adult world had let me down; God was probably planning on doing the same; and I was too mentally lost to do anything about it.
-----Thank God my life began with an abiding persuasion of Jesus’ reality. Thank God I was bright enough to be baptized at fifteen and begin taking it seriously enough to start studying the Bible at seventeen. Otherwise I probably would not have pulled the muzzle of my Mauser from between my eyes to unchamber the round at twenty-three. That moment demonstrated to me the full meaning of my baptism eight years earlier. I was servant, not master.
-----It’s no wonder Matthew 6:33 became the fondest memory of my seeking the Lord. There’s comfort in a roadmap for the traveler of a strange land. That’s what Matthew 6:33 became to me -a roadmap. At every confusing intersection, it showed me the right turn to make. Of course, that turn would be the one most sensibly going in the direction of His kingdom. And at twenty-three, I had learned by the hard way to not just know the right turn, but to actually take it, regardless of not knowing what physical realities might lay down there.
-----Soon I arrived at the import of Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” That’s when I realized, it didn’t matter what physical thing laid down a new road. It only mattered that turning onto it, or being knocked onto it, was the right thing. And as right things done piled deeper and deeper into my memories, their systemic effect on both my emotions and mind was peace. So, whatever peaceful things I encountered along the road became confirming mile-markers and road-signs, assuring me that I was approaching my destination -His kingdom. And finally, thirty-five years after I set that unchambered round on my bedroom dresser, the road I was on broke out of the shadowy woods into bright and continuous joy.
-----Funny how long it took me to combine, “Pray constantly,” (I Thes 5:17) with, “...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done...” (Matt 6:10) Desiring with ambition that His righteousness, peace, and joy come arranging themselves into my life according to His will is my part in His will ordering His kingdom into all the earth. This makes the place of my situation within any moment to be exactly the right place for me in that moment. I can now dismiss boredom, release disaster, and send disappointment packing out of my mental framework. For nothing happens unless He wills it. And since He wills it, it is good. Even all disaster is good for those who love Him. It all makes wherever I am to be a fine start to where I am going, because of course, I asked for it.
-----I testify that we really can receive with joy whatever happens to us, whatever it might be. So face it, guys, His will is older than ours, and it has more assurance.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Steve,
I love your honesty, openness and willingness to share. You are a blessing to me.
Gail
Thank you Gail. That is precious.
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