My Place in His World

Looking for God is always an interesting adventure.  Knowing what his Kingdom looks like gives me reason to search for my place in his world.  I always believed that getting there was the most important part of the journey.  Lately I’ve come to understand it’s the journey that’s important.  I know where I’m going to end up – with the Lord, forever.  There’s no question about my final destination.  The question is what I’ll do before I get there.  It’s really all about the journey.

I live in a very small town; we don’t even have a mall.  Oh, we have a few strip malls, but not one of those indoor gigantic complexes.  We may get there eventually but it will be a while.  Meantime we drive an hour or so to reach one of those gigantic complexes.  In this day and time I can simply order it online and have it delivered to my doorstep – we do have UPS!  Most of the cities Jesus visited weren’t all that large.  He met people where they were, just as they were.  So why am I so worried about my place in his world?

My place, I’ve decided, is wherever God says I need to be.  Big city, small town – doesn’t matter.  Big job, small job – doesn’t matter.  All I have to do is be willing to follow God’s lead, to help him get his Word out wherever I can.  It doesn’t seem to take much to accomplish that – an e-mail telling someone how much you appreciate them will suffice.  I guess I keep looking for the spotlight when all the real work that needs doing is in the darkness.  That’s where I need to take my Light.

I’ve had people tell me that cancer is not part of God’s path, that I must have committed some terrible sin to be punished with cancer.  Of course, I’ve also heard that about being single and not having children.  What bothers me isn’t that people say those things but that they don’t see the path, much less understand it.  Granted, cancer isn’t a nice thing, but it has taught me so much about the Father, about his plan for me, about his church (and I’m talking about the people not the building), and about what’s really important.  Sure, you’re right, I’m a terrible sinner.  So are you.

The journey is important.  Where I’ve been informs where I’m going.  Having struggled I can empathize with those who still struggle.  Pastor G says that everyone has famine in their lives, a time when the shadow of death haunts you, a time when you’re empty, broken, and filled with sorrow.  What matters is whether I remain in the valley or run to Jesus with my brokenness, knowing he will take care of me.

There is joy in the journey, even if you have to go through cancer – even if you have to die.  Christ knew that, and though he suffered much, he was joy incarnate. James 1:2-4 says,

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Jesus counted it all joy.  So did Paul.  So did the disciples.  So should we.    Joy will carry us through; we will persevere.  I endeavor to persevere – because Jesus did, even when dying on the cross I nailed him to.

Perseverance isn’t something to which people desire to aspire.  Perseverance takes a lot of work.  It’s hard to go on when the going gets tough.  It is far easier to give up and try something else, or to simply give up entirely.  People deal with marriage that way; if I don’t like it, I can opt out any time I want for any reason I want.  Marriage isn’t seen as a “rest of my life” kind of thing but temporary for as long as I am satisfied.  Work is becoming much the same.  If I don’t like this job, I’ll move on to another, with exactly the same high level of pay too.  How many people have learned this simply isn’t the truth in today’s economics?

Paul persevered through beatings, the bite of a viper, jail, and beheading.  Paul was one man but he had a large effect.  It gives me hope that I, too, can effect change.  Looking at cancer is akin to being beheaded – either way death is the main objective.  The difference is that death has no victory; death is not the end, it is only the beginning. Cancer is nothing; God is everything.  I’m betting my life on it.

Perseverance doesn’t mean you won’t see trials.  As Pastor G reminds me, there will always be famine in your life.  It takes many forms – mental, physical, emotional, financial, etc.  When it seems like you’ve hit a brick wall, call down the Rain.  Next thing  you know, there’s a way out of the wilderness.  Press on, don’t give up.  Remember that where you travel, God goes with you.  Always.

Always is a comforting thought.  I never have to worry when God will show up.  I turn around and there he is, waiting for me.  It doesn’t matter what time, what day, what year.  It makes my heart hurt to know how much he loves me and how much he longs to be with me every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year.  Human comfort is often fleeting, not readily available.  God’s comfort is a blanket that covers you forever.

 

My place?   Right in the hollow of his hand.  Then, when I’m on my journey through this life, I have the light of Christ dead center (pun intended) to follow. From what I understand, Bethlehem was a small, mostly uninteresting village outside Jerusalem.  No one thought much good would come from there, or from Nazareth either for that matter. Yet, that same Star of Bethlehem still lights the way.  Through any darkness we may enter, through any valley we’re caught in, through any mess we’ve made, it still shines out to show the way.