Strawberry Shakes & Tears

Grief n.  intense sorrow: great sadness, especially as a result of a death
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I had one of those laughing/sobbing moments this morning while making breakfast.  I had a delicious banana/spinach/strawberry/yogurt shake going in the blender, when all of a sudden my spoon fell in and my shake exploded.  All over me, my cupboards, my floor and my 9’ kitchen ceiling.  At first I started laughing out loud…and then I started sobbing.  It was just one of those mornings when I was trying to hold it together and a strawberry shake made me lose it.  During those times in our life when our world seems consumed with grieving, sometimes the simple event of an exploded shake is the reality check we need to remind us that life does go on and there is still laughter despite the tears.  

Grief comes in all forms and for all reasons, but it's true to definition that it's usually the result of a death.  Death of a loved one, death of a dream, or even death of how we perceive something/someone ("God, why would You do that?").

When I’m grieving, truth is often the first thing to go out the window.  My feelings feel more real than what God has to offer me.  How many times in a day do I say, “God I know You’re stronger, You’re faithful, You created and balance the universe, You are full of compassion, You bottle and number our tears, You work for good, Your power is incomparably great…BUT.” Sometimes things just hurt too much and those ‘buts’ come so quickly…and I don’t realize that what I’m really saying is, “God, I know You’re strong, but this is too much.  I know You can do a lot, but can you really do this?” More bluntly, we’re saying, “God, I don’t trust You can do this.” 

I’m challenged by Elijah in 1 Kings 18 where he’s confronting the children of Israel and the prophets of Baal asking, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”  Two altars were made to test whose God would answer with fire and consume the altar.  It would have been enough to leave the altar as it was, but Elijah had his altar doused with water three times.  In essence he was saying, “God I believe you are SO big and SO powerful, that I’m going to make this extra difficult for You.”  When we can’t fathom how our situation could ever be resolved, we’re in the right spot.  God’s ways are unfathomable. 

  

“Oh, how slow grief is to come to understanding!  Grief is ignorant and does not even care to learn. When the grieving women “were sitting there opposite the tomb,” [Matt. 27:61] did they see the triumph of the next two thousand years?  Did they see anything except that Christ was gone?”  (Streams in the Desert, April 25)

Victory in grief comes when we consciously choose to look at our overwhelming, impossible, sad, heartbreaking, lonely situation and say, “God, I trust that You are who You say You are and You can do what You say You can do.” 

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” ~ Isaiah 26:3 

Stay your mind on Him and thank Him that He knows the path you’re walking and is paving your way in the wilderness and He WILL direct your path.  Let’s stop faltering between two opinions.  The LORD is God…trust Him.   

“Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice.”   

~ Psalm 51:8

Thank You for the Thorns

Thorn n.

I’ve been thinking about thorns lately.  They generally have a negative reputation (think Paul’s infamous thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12).  I used to work at a flower shop and would often come home with nicks and cuts from all the roses I’d be handling…thorns hurt!  So what is their purpose?  One source I found says, “You may think of those sharp thorns on your favorite climbing plant as nothing more than a nuisance, but they function as hooks for climbing up fences, arbors, trellises and walls. If you choose a plant known to be a vigorous dense grower, make sure to provide it with a strong, sturdy support.”  I’m obviously taking this out of context, but I would have to consider myself a ‘dense grower.’  Sometime it just takes me a really long time to get it.  But the thorns God has allowed in my life cause me to 'hook' better to Him (my strong, sturdy support).  It doesn't mean I get why He's given them, or that I haven't cried out to Him in confusion in the process.  And it is a process.    

Jesus went through His own process when He was here on earth. Hebrews 5 says that Jesus “offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death.  And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.  Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things He suffered."  Jesus was obedient in His suffering. Am I obedient to trust God with my thorn? George Matheson, a blind preacher from Scotland, said: 

“My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn.  I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn.  I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross; but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.  Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn." 

"You are good, and what you do is good."  Psalm 119:68