On getting the ‘message’

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.”
-Theodore Rubin

There is a story about God sending a messenger to this man. Initially the man sees this friendly looking fellow down the road that is shouting his name and trying to get the man’s attention to deliver a message that contains difficult but ultimately very healing truths from God. This man is just way too busy and doing just ‘fine’ without this message so he ignores the messenger’s shouts for days and off to work he goes – busy, busy, busy you know. The following week, the messenger catches back up with the man, once again shouting, this time the messenger gets close enough to poke the man in the back but the man just doesn’t have time for this and walks even faster to once again escape the message. Several days later, and with the messenger still intent on delivering the message but getting mighty frustrated, the messenger now resorts to hurling rocks at the man to get his attention so he’ll just stop long enough to listen. While this hurts pretty bad, the man has no time to stop and by now is growing more fearful of what truths the message may contain. Instead the man walks even quicker. Close call, but once again… whew…. the man avoids the message. At a loss as to how to get this man’s attention finally the messenger drops a bomb on the guy. Now, finally stopped in his tracks and in severe pain, the message is delivered and the man, visibly stunned, comments on how that seemed to come out of ‘nowhere’ and wonders angrily and out loud - why God creates so many problems in his life.

“My life seems like one long obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.”
- Jack Parr

Husbands, Wives and what’s the deal with Surrender?

Have you ever noticed that even simple, harmless hobbies (working on cars, carpentry, anything else…) may actually become an instrument of ‘torture’ if it is allowed to disrupt the love between two people? And rightness, whenever it seeks to dominate another, becomes wrongness, no matter how “right” we may be. Would you rather be right than happy? Right or be married? Right or you-pick-it? We give to God because - He is perfect - because He is God - because We are not.

We give to others because they, like us, are weak and sinful and we all need the humble service of love. And if a man cannot lovingly serve and bring happiness to his own wife, or a woman for her husband, how then will we bring happiness to another? Marriage calls for a giving so deep that we may see what we perceive to be our “identity” at risk. And was this not what Christ himself chose to do when He became man and again at Calvary when He ventured out of His own depth to bring salvation to us?

“Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”
John 15:13

Many of us find safety in our dark, protected corners and resist coming too close to the terrifying edge of each other’s soul. To love another is not just a feeling, it is not just seeing their best or seeing them as the most wonderful person in the world. It is also seeing them in all of their human brokenness, their falseness, and their very worst exposed. and, enabled by the grace of God, accepting this person standing next to you in an even more perfect way than was possible before. Love is submitting to each other and submission to each other finds its truest expression in patiently, and with grace, bearing the weakness of the other. And ultimately love, true love is this:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Corinthians 13:4-8