Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say.And, from Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount:
"More, more."
I have God's more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
Than they get in all their shopping sprees.
At day's end I'm ready for sound sleep,
For you, God, have put my life back together.
You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
I have friends who are fighting a fight that I've never fought and hope I never have to. Just over one year ago, their lives were flipped upside down--they'd lost what was most dear to them: the security of health for one of their children. Through this year, as they've fought beside their nine-year-old son as he fights the negative effects of the chemo and radiation that are needed to fight his brain tumor, I've been encouraged and inspired.
After high school ended, I went to a college outside of West Michigan and away from nearly everyone with whom I'd attended high school. Through our different circumstances, the miles, and my inability to keep in touch, all of those friendships that had carried me through high school ended. Including friendships with my closest friends. I suppose this is normal, and something that happens to many of those relationships. With the advent of Facebook, I've been able to at least get back in touch, if not rekindle old friendships, with many of those important people. With Mitchell's family, that has come through their battle with cancer.
I don't know why that little boy, and that family. I don't know why any family, really. But I do know that I'm blessed to have known Mitchell's parents when I was younger (couldn't have made it through middle school and paper routes without his mom and dad!), and I'm blessed to walk alongside them now, even at a distance. Because I have never known a family that is more blessed.
Surely this has been a hard year for them. Surely this has been a year from hell for them. Surely there have been tears and yelling at God and wanting to give up and being afraid to not fight and being afraid to fight. Surely there has been more than they can imagine. But, Mitchell is almost done with his treatments now. He's on his last cycle and scheduled to be done on Februrary 15. They can see the finish line, and by God's hand, they are in the lead. Mitchell's mom shared all of this with us in her most recent Carepages post. And then she talked about all they've gained. She talked about how they've changed. She quoted Laura Story's song, "Blessing":
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindropsAnd then she reminded all of us that when we give our whole selves to Him--when we have nothing left to give, when He has broken our hearts--He gives His whole self back to us. He puts our lives back together again. We're changed, but we're blessed.
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
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