Now...I don't know about anyone else, but I can hold a grudge. Not that I see it that way, but apparently I can. I just see it as, "I can forgive you, but I'd be stupid to forget". You know, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". Now...that's not the grudge part. The grudge part is being able to recount every single thing that lead up to, and maintains that state. I can say that it's just a good memory, but I think, at the end of the day, that it's really just an inability to let it go. I was reading this passage and it just seemed like God was saying to me, "Son...you may not see it now, but it will all make sense some day. This happened for a reason, just as everything happens for a reason". Which isn't to say that we are never at fault for things. Sometimes the reason is just to teach your stubborn self a lesson, or that God would keep His word "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7). However, sometimes it's just preparation. I went 2.25 hours last night to hear my dad speak. One of the things the he said that I really like was that he used to ask God to remove the mountains (problems) in his life. Then, one day, it seemed as though God said to him, "Son, I'm not trying to remove the mountains in your life, I'm trying to make you a mountain climber".
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Most people know the song Ain't No Mountain High Enough, but it's amazing to me how few people actually apply that to their lives. That song is beautiful in that it has so many applications. And, I don't know how many people know this, but, before music went so far down hill, a lot of great songs were written from or inspired by something in the Bible. This one is a lot more obvious than most "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). The song says, "Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you". So, first God is saying to us "don't be afraid/don't worry, I'm not going anywhere". However, there's also another connotation to it. There is no mountain, nor valley, nor river, nor ocean, nor creature that is able to keep us from our destiny. There is nothing more powerful than a determined child of God (Philippians 4:13), except the God behind the child (Matthew 28:18). God says, I have to make you a mountain climber, to build your faith in Me, that you can be a mountain mover, all by yourself (Matthew 17:20).
...-That- is powerful. You can hear a hundred sermons, and a thousand well-meaning folks, and they'll stop at God moving mountains for you. Like Miss Tawana Williams said last night (my father wasn't the only speaker at the event) "Pick up your bed and walk" (John 5:8). You see, there are certain things that you -must- do for yourself.
oh...that just gets me up on my soap box. Are my dad would say: "Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?" Are you tired of being broke? You see, being broke isn't just a monetary thing. In fact, that is most the most gentle form of being broke because it can be fixed, and because money does -not- equal happiness (even if it -is- a good down payment -paraphrased from rapper Fabolous). No, the broke I'm talking about is more emotionally broke, or broken. I've found that when you have taken all that you can take, you begin to stop feeling. That is emotionally broke. You can't afford to continue feeling a continue your life at the same time, you must make a choice. I think everyone knows what emotionally broken is. Then you have spiritually broke. You miss a Sunday, and one turns into two, and two turns into two-and-a-half, and all of a sudden your life is getting harder, your praise is a little more strained, and temptation and sin are tag-teaming to do the rope-a-dope on you. Spiritually broke. You go back to church, the preacher has a message from God specifically for -you-, and you walk out of there on cloud nine thinking "my cup runneth over" (Psalms 23:5c). There is physically broke, but I'm not a healer, I'm just saying that if you can move a mountain with faith, you can move an arthritic knee without pain. That's all I'm saying.
Actually...let me pause here for a moment. Isn't it amazing that the same people who claim that they believe God can do -anything-, and that they're trusting Him to come through for them in a mighty big way, are hesitant to believe that He can match Bengay, a warm bath, some ice, and an anti-inflammatory?? What, God isn't a healer, anymore? Or is arthritis too much for the healer of palsy? (Mark 2:3-12) Is restoring a knee harder than restoring a life?? (John 11:44) You are only bound by your faith. You are only -hindered- by your faith. That sounds weird until you think about it. If you can move a mountain with your faith (Matthew 17:20), how many mountains have you moved lately?? Well...the Bible says nothing about how you look, or how you dress, how you walk and talk, what your education is, even what your religion is (religion is just a set of beliefs, not the belief itself. -That- is a relationship. "A relationship will take you to Heaven, while religion will take you to Hell" - Myron Golden We are to be followers of Christ, the only thing that labeling a religion truly does is serve to divide us and alienate the world...but that's a different story for a different time). What matters is your faith. So, if you're being held back it's by your -own- faith. Step your faith game up (Funny thing. As I was writing that past sentence, I accidentally wrote in the name of the person about whom I need the most faith and patience. Some would call it a Freudian slip, I call it a message. It made me smile to think that He was thinking of me, so I just had to share)
I"m getting waaay off track, though. Where was I? Oh being "broke". So the question that He asks the man on his back that has had palsy for longer than I've been alive is "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:6c). Now...that may seem like a callous thing to say. Of course he does, right? That's not what God is asking Him. God is asking him is he feels that he needs physical wholeness. God is asking "do you need this to feel whole? Is this going to make you happy". That might not make as much sense as I would like it to make until taken into context. -Just- before this Jesus had given the man the biggest gift that He could. He told the man "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee" (Mark 2:5). Now...if anyone else is confused, there are different perspective across the different gospels. Man wrote as they were moved by the Spirit, but they still had their own ideas about what was most important. In John, the most important part, the focus, was on the man taking responsibility "wilt thou be made whole", whereas in Mark the focus was on the scribes and their lack of belief in Jesus. All that to say that this was just an aside to Jesus. "Look...if it's easier for you, you're healed. ...Is everyone happy now?" It isn't hard for Him. It never was.
So..."wilt thou be made whole"? Would you rather hold on to the things that are holding you down, or are you willing to let them go so that you can climb mountains on your journey to learning how to -move- mountains?
The choice is yours...as it has -always- been. Everything in life is choice.
Don't hold it against them. It's not worth it, and it's probably hurting you -much- more than it will ever hurt them. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Let -Him- work it while -you- stay in your lane.
Don't -give- up; -get- up! (Proverbs 24:16a)
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