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Sometimes I have great foresight, prophetic eyes, meaning I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is truly a freight train bearing down on us all. Being quite the pessimist, I am also keenly aware that this just doesn’t end well. Or at least, it seems to me as if this can’t end well.

It is not the facing of reality that I have ever struggled with, it is facing the fact that my understanding of how the story “should” end is not necessarily aligned with God’s will. When book authors hand me an ending I do not like, I have been known to hurl the thing against the wall, to break up with the author, to drag all their clothing out onto the front lawn and to set it on fire, as if I can erase the very memory of them and purge myself of this horrific story I have just wasted my whole life on…

Not for realz, but that does speak to the feelings I sometimes have when you hand me an ending I do not like.

Having prophetic eyes is not always so much fun, at least not in my case because I have never, not once, been able to alter or change the outcome. Quite the surprise I’m sure, but my will does not seem to ever trump God’s will, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Have I mentioned recently what a gentleman Jesus Christ is? How gentle He has been with me, how He has enticed and charmed me, led me to trust in His way of doing things, provided such comfort when I didn’t like the outcome? It’s all very true.

When I was younger God started saying, stop and listen to me, I can even make the bad things fun. I had no idea what that even meant, in my linear way of thinking there were only good things and bad things, this stinks and this doesn’t. It took a while for me to accept that the outcome I often saw coming wasn’t necessarily wrong, in fact often it was quite logical and rational. My attitude and perception of the outcome was often all wrong.

I am laughing here, but God is a God of impossible things who has a way of flipping the whole world on it’s head. It can feel that way anyhow. In truth the world is upside down and broken, and all God is doing is righting it, but when we are so used to hanging upside down, suddenly being placed right side up can feel disorienting, to say the least.

Stick with me, I will teach you to be content in all things, I will soon have you rejoicing in the midst of suffering and grief. I can even make the bad things fun.

God, steadfast, true to His word, has indeed turned my world upside down many times, managed to change how I perceive things, blessed me with rejoicing even in the midst of “bad things.”

If you trust me, I will fill your soul with peace, where there should be sadness, I will give you joy, where there should be a sense of loss, I will give you excitement, and when it hurts, I will reveal the beauty in it all for you.

I must pause and laugh, how delightful He is, but how very funny of you Lord, you now have me crying uncontrollably over the sheer beauty of communion, cracking jokes at funerals, while also rejoicing over the loss of good friends. Now that’s just crazy! But if this is crazy, sanity is highly overrated.

Rejoicing, because the Author and Finisher of my faith always knows best and where I often can only see loss and grief, He sees the start of a grand adventure, the infinite possibilities of new beginnings, and all the blessings and affection He wishes to now shower upon us during this new season of our journey.

You just can’t go wrong keeping your eyes on Him. He really does make the bad things fun. Look up and you will see.

love