I am blessed to know some pretty wonderful ladies. God uses them again and again to encourage, challenge and grow me in ways that I sometimes I don't even realize I need until He provides it through them. One such lady is Chandra. I've had the opportunity to sit down with her twice in the last month or so and have come away blessed each time. Last Thursday we had a great conversation, as usual...but the message she sent me the next day was exactly what I needed...when I needed it.
"One other thing that kept popping in my head yesterday and I kept forgetting to say is that...all of these great works we desire to do are awesome and I think He will keep leading us there/showing us the way/providing for, etc. and that I think it's good that we keep striving toward them but we can't lose sight of the fact that the eternal work He's doing inside of us along the way in teaching us to be more patient/loving/wise/courageous...is far more important. Obviously we need to continue to serve, love, and bring people into the Kingdom and that's our most important work...but this life is so very temporary and short and He is preparing us for WAY more than we could ever begin to imagine in our works that are yet to come."
There it is again...this recurring theme that this life is not all there is. It came up in discussion at our home school co-op last week and I read about it again as Rick McKinley referenced Randy Alcorn's book Heaven in his own book This Beautiful Mess. I can let go of the guilt and frustration of unfulfilled dreams because I have all of eternity to complete them with a perfected body on a perfected Earth. I do not need to suffer any angst that my children will not be complete if they don't __________ (play sports, take music lessons, travel, speak five languages, have a Mensa IQ) because again, they have all of eternity to learn how to play basketball or Bach and travel to a perfected China, Australia or Germany.
While flipping through these previous posts regarding this topic, I was reminded one more time that God will not be done with my adventures, gifts and talents when I close my eyes to this current life. In fact, with eternity in view, it's more like that will be just the beginning of all good things. The only part I don't get a second chance at is His perfecting work in me and the joy of bringing as many people along as He gives me the opportunity to include.
I don't really have any desire to take anything with me when I breathe my last in this crumbling shell. I have no baubles, trinkets, knick-knacks, or "stuff" that concerns me as to what will be done with it when I close my eyes here and open them to see my Savior. So why would I want to take along all of this other baggage that can't be seen? If the only "work" that gets accomplished by me for the rest of this Journey is that I allow Him to systematically and graciously pry my fingers from the yuck in my heart and the bad habits I cling to then that is enough.
This may sound like heresy to some. After all, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission are to 'Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself' and 'to go into all the world making disciples of all men.' Yet, I see these as inexplicably unseparatable (that is a word right?) from His purging and refining Spirit drawing me to Himself. As I allow Him to mold, shape, challenge and teach me, that can only be accomplished by loving Him with everything that is in me. Loving my neighbor and myself will naturally overflow out of the depths of this redeeming work. And since God is Love, that is precisely the only option on the agenda for making disciples of all men. Without Love, it cannot be of God since Love is God.
All these dreams I have had for decades of doing big things for Jesus...and as my amazing friend Chandra helped me remember...the greatest thing I do, might only shine forth out of the work that is done first in the hidden places.
"One other thing that kept popping in my head yesterday and I kept forgetting to say is that...all of these great works we desire to do are awesome and I think He will keep leading us there/showing us the way/providing for, etc. and that I think it's good that we keep striving toward them but we can't lose sight of the fact that the eternal work He's doing inside of us along the way in teaching us to be more patient/loving/wise/courageous...is far more important. Obviously we need to continue to serve, love, and bring people into the Kingdom and that's our most important work...but this life is so very temporary and short and He is preparing us for WAY more than we could ever begin to imagine in our works that are yet to come."
There it is again...this recurring theme that this life is not all there is. It came up in discussion at our home school co-op last week and I read about it again as Rick McKinley referenced Randy Alcorn's book Heaven in his own book This Beautiful Mess. I can let go of the guilt and frustration of unfulfilled dreams because I have all of eternity to complete them with a perfected body on a perfected Earth. I do not need to suffer any angst that my children will not be complete if they don't __________ (play sports, take music lessons, travel, speak five languages, have a Mensa IQ) because again, they have all of eternity to learn how to play basketball or Bach and travel to a perfected China, Australia or Germany.
While flipping through these previous posts regarding this topic, I was reminded one more time that God will not be done with my adventures, gifts and talents when I close my eyes to this current life. In fact, with eternity in view, it's more like that will be just the beginning of all good things. The only part I don't get a second chance at is His perfecting work in me and the joy of bringing as many people along as He gives me the opportunity to include.
I don't really have any desire to take anything with me when I breathe my last in this crumbling shell. I have no baubles, trinkets, knick-knacks, or "stuff" that concerns me as to what will be done with it when I close my eyes here and open them to see my Savior. So why would I want to take along all of this other baggage that can't be seen? If the only "work" that gets accomplished by me for the rest of this Journey is that I allow Him to systematically and graciously pry my fingers from the yuck in my heart and the bad habits I cling to then that is enough.
This may sound like heresy to some. After all, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission are to 'Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself' and 'to go into all the world making disciples of all men.' Yet, I see these as inexplicably unseparatable (that is a word right?) from His purging and refining Spirit drawing me to Himself. As I allow Him to mold, shape, challenge and teach me, that can only be accomplished by loving Him with everything that is in me. Loving my neighbor and myself will naturally overflow out of the depths of this redeeming work. And since God is Love, that is precisely the only option on the agenda for making disciples of all men. Without Love, it cannot be of God since Love is God.
All these dreams I have had for decades of doing big things for Jesus...and as my amazing friend Chandra helped me remember...the greatest thing I do, might only shine forth out of the work that is done first in the hidden places.
No comments:
Post a Comment