It’s been a hard four months. Do you ever have those seasons? It seems like death is always hanging around. If I never go to another funeral I’ll be fine. The challenges are endless and often without any clear answers. You can’t make right out of wrong, when sin is it you can’t win it. Lipstick on a pig is just lipstick on a pig. No offense to pigs.
So many people are hurting. They wonder if they will ever recover. For some their life looks like a train wreck and it’s hard to know where to start the clean-up. So much broken glass. So much pain. Their wounds just won’t heal.
I was praying last week. Lord, we have messed up your creation, messed up community, messed up marriage, messed up family and messed up the church. What else is there we can mess up before you come back to take us home?
It seems like sin has just become normal. At least the church used to be good at hiding it but now we are proud of it, we even bring it into the worship service and show it off like a new tattoo. I wonder sometimes if I live in Corinth.
And if things are not bad enough, my dog died last Saturday. In the last 15 months all three of the family pets have died. Our yard is becoming a pet cemetery. The Blonde’s dog, Buster Boy, passed away last winter. Oscar, our three-legged cat laid down and died in our backyard after some kind of freaky accident, and now Champ the world’s greatest Border Collie that has been living with Klaire, our youngest daughter, in Houston breathed his last breath in the vet’s office.
Champ was one of those people that are always smiling, therefore he was hard not to like. He was the most traveled dog I knew. He covered Rockdale twice, Waxahachie, Dallas and finally Houston, his last resting place. I gotta tell you as Klaire showed us old Champ laying on that vet’s table I wanted to cry. Jack actually did cry, Champ lived with him for about a year. A dog really is a man’s best friend.
Jen’s got a new cat. She’s living in the laundry room for now. It’s been nice to have an animal back in the house. A litter box is not my favorite thing, but Jennifer is happy and that makes me happy.
I’ve been around a rough crowd lately. People who don’t know Jesus and they’ve been suffering. I’ve worked hard to be a blessing and minister to them but it’s been a challenge to pray for them and their circumstances. What’s broken my heart more than anything is these people can’t rely on Christ the way I can. Does that make sense? They more or less go through their valleys without any real hope. Please pray for me as I pray for them.
Authenticity is good isn’t it? It is somehow encouraging that we are not the only ones with hurts, habits and hang ups.
My testimony is not that life is hard and that’s just the way it is.
Last time I checked God is good—all the time (Psalm 145:9). He promises that He is with us in the valley of darkness (Psalm 23:4). He promises that His faithfulness is great and His mercies are new every day (Lamentations 3:23). He promises to help me and because of that I don’t fear anything - it’s going to be okay (Hebrews 13:5-6).
He promises to never leave us (Deuteronomy 31:8). He loves us and we can’t do anything about it (Romans 5:8). If you don’t believe me just look at the cross. When we find ourselves feeling alone all we have to do is reach out to Christ and He will grab us and give us that much needed touch of assurance (James 4:8).
He told me to tell you that.
“I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will fine me.” (Proverbs 8:17)
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