Broken world living contains much mixture - the beautiful with the ugly, the easy with the difficult, the joys with the sorrows, the wonderful with the terrible, the thrilling and exciting with the mundane and downright boring. Walking with God through all of the above refines and purifies our demanding hearts; for in our humanity, we all desire the perfect, the fair, the just, the easy. One day on the other side, we will have it, but not here. Jesus in all his perfection suffered horrible injustice! And so will we (John 16:33).
Just like in the seasons of nature, a tree is battered in some moments and restored with the warmth of the sunshine in others; stretched to capacity as it is bent low in a violent windstorm, but restored to beauty in the gentle rains from above. Our lives are like that - the future unknown, the next moments uncertain, but God is our Rock, the only solid place under our feet when all else is quaking. We know that in our heads, but through our circumstances we are forced to learn that in our hearts. He is the only sure foundation for our time (Isaiah 33:6) - for the insecurities we live with that are lurking in the distance. HE is our only security. Surrendering our lives into his hands is the only way of peace, for He alone holds all things together when they seem to be falling apart all around us (Colossians 1:17 & Psalm 31:14-15 NIV).
In this my 80th year of life with over 50 plus years of walking with Jesus, I have come to some realities to stand firm upon as I have walked through the battering of this fallen world in my day to day circumstances.
1) Emotional healing from the past frees me to live from God’s grace and peace, instead of fear, anxiety and
the need to control.
2) I can’t do life on my own. I don’t even know what it is suppose to look like. My own “pictures of life” are skewed. I am weak, but He is strong in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and 13:4 NIV).
3) Life really is too big for me so I must be desperately, emotionally dependent upon God at all times or fear will take over.
4) Unless I become childlike, not childish, I can’t even see the Kingdom of God, no less live in it. (Children are weak and dependent, trusting on the one who is bigger than them).
5) I will grieve and mourn a lot because this broken world is not what I was created for and not the way I want it to be (Matthew 5:3,4 NIV).
6) Daily surrender and gratitude are absolutely necessary if I’m to live in peace and remain in peace in the midst of it all. (I must look daily with thankfulness for the gifts that come in the midst of the losses).
7) I get the privilege of co-laboring with God in my own uniqueness and for His own purposes, so my life takes on rich meaning even in the midst of the brokenness of daily living.
