Passing through, don’t you know
We’re just passing through?
This journey of life, so full of strife —
We’re just passing through.
It’s all just a dream, or so it seems —
Sometimes a nightmare of terrors,
Or at it’s best — a comedy of errors.
The saints and sinners,
The losers, the winners.
The rich and famous,
The poor and infamous.
The weak, the strong,
The hopeful, the wrong.
All loved by God,
All beautiful in His eyes —
No time to compromise
His love for you.
For some weeks (even years, off and on), I had been burdened, even depressed, about two people close to me who seemed unconcerned about going to heaven, knowing and loving Jesus, and really are agnostic or atheist. I wondered if they had not come to faith through some fault in my own witness or character. I tried hard to show them love, and hopefully through my love, and the genuine love of other Christians, they might see their need for Jesus. At times when I got more explicit and asked about having a personal relationship with Jesus, it didn’t go as I’d hoped.
Then one day while pondering all this, this Scripture popped into my head: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, NLT).” Suddenly I saw it all in a new way. This is not a battle between myself and others, but it’s a battle against evil forces that have influenced others negatively or even destructively. I even fight these battles within myself at times.
So, once again Scripture has set me free of a burden that I wasn’t meant to bear, at least the burden of blaming myself. Yes, I will pray and try to act on promptings from the Holy Spirit to share Jesus, but the outcome is not up to me.
Three boys ride bikes along the road,
Fishing poles bending as they go –
Nearby must be a fishing hole.
Three deer burst through the dense woods deep;
Their hooves ring loud along the street.
I wonder if they’re good to eat?
Three rabbits pranced among the clover,
A baby and two others, older;
And then they run for shelter, cover.
Three stars danced in the sky so bright –
Planets, or just meteorites?
They spread a fantasy of light.
Three Persons in eternity,
One Being in infinity,
One bond in perpetuity.
By God’s grace, I’ve made it thus far.
Parents who first pointed me to God.
Mentors, who shared their wisdom with me.
Rescued from the Moonie cult after two weeks.
Two times had cancer, caught early. Two times in hospital with kidney stones. Doctors and nurses who cared.
Two wonderful children, and three grandchildren so far.
33 years of marriage.
Depression, anxiety, handled with faith, prayer, and therapy.
Friends and family who’ve stood by me.
All grace.
What if God is real, and He really exists?
What if He created us, only out of love?
What if because He created us, He knows our inmost being, and knows what’s best for us?
What if His commandments are not arbitrary rules to spoil our fun, but if by following them, we’d be saved from a life of selfish misery?
What if some of the things we’ve been told about God are mistaken, and we’ve been misled?
What if there is a malevolent being who hates God and humans, is envious of us humans, and wants to destroy any relationship we might have with God, and tries to convince us that God is against us?
What if we could know God personally, and His Spirit could guide us through many difficulties? And, we could know what He’s really like?
What if God the Father is better than the best father on earth, the best at mercy, forgiveness, justice, love, protecting us, and providing for us?
What if we’re afraid to acknowledge God as our Father, because then He will have authority over us, and then we couldn’t do whatever we want to do?
What if we’re afraid of intimacy with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
What if He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us? And then His Son defeated death and our sin by rising from the dead?
What if we gave Him a chance and let Him love us?
It’s a mistake
To compare ourselves to others.
That sin do not dare —
For joy it surely smothers.
Don’t look askance
At gifts you have been given.
Grow gratitude —
Let yourself be shriven.
Joy everywhere —
Our happiness, so be it.
God is alive,
If we will but see it.
I saw the lofty clouds,
Like mountains piled high.
I wondered if the angels,
Or God, were dancing there.
And then the thunder rolled,
A wave of sound; God speaking there.
I saw the real mountains,
The jagged cliffs, with snow adrift,
Their fearsome heights created
By a holy God — And who can tell
If He does not there dwell?
But He’s not bound by earth or sky;
Perhaps He’s in a lullaby,
Or in a spouse’s kiss; He’s ne’er amiss.
To know His love is awe and bliss.
‘And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”‘ (Luke 19:23)
We are sorely mistaken if we think that riches will bring us happiness. Material goods, to a point, are certainly a blessing. It is good to have nutritious food, clothes to keep you comfortable in any weather, and shelter from that same weather. Beyond that, I’m proposing here that unearned and/or unshared wealth can be a real hindrance to happiness, if it takes the place of our relationship to God.
Certainly a high position in society does not guarantee healthy or moral behavior, not to mention that all your foibles and flaws will be mercilessly criticized by the public. There are some crazy stories, going back some generations, from my own family background, that cause one to ponder.
Here are a few, half heard, half remembered (and thus probably half accurate), from my background: One relative with a high position in the (non-U.S.) government, contracted syphilis and went mad. He was in the military and presumably, while married, contracted the illness from someone other than his wife. Another VERY wealthy relative gambled away 26 houses. Still another, to impress a woman he was wooing, bought out an entire theater performance so that the two could be the only people in the theater. They did get married, but later divorced, partly due to his infidelity. The same man ran for government and promised the voters that he would provide a copious feast if he won. He won.
We have all seen unhappy rich people in the news, with broken marriages and families, and disordered lives.
If you happen to be blessed with wealth, however you obtained it, remember that all your riches, and anything you possess, ultimately comes from God. (Of course, dishonest wealth is not in God’s plan.)
There were several rich men in the Bible who were righteous. Being rich doesn’t have to be evil in itself. For example, Abraham was quite wealthy and a person of great faith. Again, recall the story of Job, who lost all his riches and most of his relatives, but did not curse God. Ultimately, God restored everything to him, and more. There were rich Christians in the New Testament who shared their wealth. The point being, that their wealth was not where they derived their value, but they derived it from Christ.
About one year ago (June 27, 2021), my husband and I set out on our journey to move to Ohio from California. We chose to take nine days to do the drive, with our cat.
The trip here, and life afterwards have been an adventure, to say the least. For me, it’s been a bigger deal than for my husband. He grew up in Ohio, whereas I had lived in California my entire life, not even going away to college, not even a college within California (except as a commuter student, three or four times). Possibly, making a big change like this when you’re 67 might be slightly difficult!
We ended up in what I might call a semi-suburb. We are outside the limits, and on the east side of a large city. Our zip code is the same as a nearby small town, but we don’t live inside that town’s city limits. Although we have a sewer system rather than septic tanks, and other suburban amenities, it’s a very quiet neighborhood (development), which happens to have a small woodsy section in the center permanently preserved for wildlife. We often see deer, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and many, many birds. On the other hand, my son and his family, who live within the west side of the same big city mentioned above, also see deer, plus have woodchucks nesting in their big yard, and other wildlife makes its presence known to them.
The people in Ohio have been wonderful. The biggest adjustments for me are climate (humidity and cold), bugs (chiggers are the most difficult so far), and poison ivy (rooting it out can take a lot of work, and you practically have to where a hazmat suit to work on it). Getting a new driver’s license (because of my unconventional birth certificate) and setting up new doctors were also challenging.
And the many good things: Abundance of natural life, plenty of water, dramatic clouds and thunderstorms, friendly neighbors who almost always wave, family helping each other, fireflies, a beautiful river just a few miles away and the riverside trail along it, etc.!
Thanks be to God and to all who prayed for us and made this journey possible.
clarakatalin 
Slight? Momentary?
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NRSVCE)
Until a few years ago (and I’m 70 as I write this), whenever I heard or read this Bible verse, I thought, “Slight? Momentary? It doesn’t feel that way.” My own hardest personal cross might be chronic mild depression (dysthymia). It has never felt “momentary”. It is probably “slight” compared to major depression. But I also think of many who carry what look like quite heavy crosses: chronic physical problems, financial struggles, family breakdown, and emotional or mental health issues. They never looked “slight” or “momentary” to me.
Here is another translation of the verses. I am adding this and the next one just to give different shades of meaning, hopefully helping all to understand the verses. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NIV)
And again: “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NLT)
This immediately preceding translation might give the clearest or simplest meaning for us. And the two verses actually explain themselves, if we think about it.
It’s all about perspective, eternal perspective, that is. When I began to focus on eternity, which after all, is a lot longer than an earthly life, the quote started to make a lot of sense. Yes, I or others may be suffering now, but COMPARED TO the rewards, joy, and glory of eternity, what we’re going through is NOTHING. Yes, it doesn’t feel good if we focus on the current suffering, but if we focus on what awaits people of faith in heaven, it’s incomparable!
This is not to dismiss the very real pain that all of us go through, but to give hope that it won’t last forever. And, we probably should try to alleviate others’ suffering, if not our own. But I’ve found it very helpful to forget myself and focus on the glory to come, while always working to improve what can be improved in my little area of the world.
Category:
Commentary
Tagged with: