Monthly Archives: June 2014

The cure has begun

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You will never influence the world for God by trying to be like the world.

 

“I think you’ve seen Aslan,” said Edmund.

“Aslan!” said Eustace. “I’ve heard that name mentioned several times since we joined the Dawn Treader. And I felt—I don’t know what—I hated it. But I was hating everything then. And by the way, I’d like to apologize. I’m afraid I’ve been pretty beastly.”

“That’s all right,” said Edmund. “Between ourselves, you haven’t been as bad as I was on my first trip to Narnia. You were only an ass, but I was a traitor.”. . .

It would be nice, and fairly nearly true, to say that “from that time forth Eustace was a different boy.” To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.

From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Compiled in A Year with Aslan by C.S. Lewis

 

Are you living a truly transformed life as promised (the old has gone; the new has come)? Or does your Christian life look remarkably like it did before Christ?  It is easy to get sidetracked even after a life-altering event. Like Eustice in the story, relapses happen. But we dare not accept them as permanent. Rather we need to shake it off, ask forgiveness, and get back on track with the Spirit of God leading us.

 

I’m sure you feel the same way as Eustice, not wanting to relapse back to his old, harmful habits. One way to watch for this is to ask, “Does my life appear remarkably different from before I met Jesus? In what ways does my life reflect my love for this world’s pleasures?” Take this to God and let Him continue to mold you into His image.  His cure has started its work in us. Let it not be abandoned, but rather cooperate fully with the Great Physician.

 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

 

 

God will heal your heart

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The size of your wounds doesn’t matter… God can restore your soul.

 

We had driven a thousand miles to visit with her. Over the course of a number of days we helped her unpack a lifetime of sorrows, wounds that had festered for most of a lifetime. We read together scripture affirming who she was as a new creation, of forgiveness that was freely offered. But she said wounds – and her sins – were too great…that there was no way God could love someone like her. In the end, she chose to keep her pain. Have you ever known someone like that? Or maybe there was a time you felt that way yourself?

The weight of life sometimes wears so heavily on us that we can’t see anything but our own pain and sorrow. Though we see a helping hand outstretched to us, we somehow can’t believe that hope is possible. When you are well and in a right thinking frame of mind it is ludicrous to remain in a dark place of torture when freedom is a step away. But sometimes the choice to cling to the familiar – even though it hurts – seems easier than stepping out into the sunshine and experiencing peace.

Surgeons know that before they close a wound, they have to make sure it is clear of any debris that might cause an infection. It has to be clean before it can be healed. And yet some people cling to their wounds insisting that it not be touched or cared for. Fearing further pain of having it probed, they prefer to tend to it themselves. And tend to it they do indeed, even as it festers and damages the surrounding tissue. Not properly cared for, the infection will spread until all of life is eaten up. Time will not heal all wounds, especially wounds of the heart.

Regardless of what we have convinced ourselves, no wound is too big for God. Every broken heart can be mended, if you turn it over to His healing hand.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3

Wandering leads to anxiety

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I was probably 3 or 4 years old at the time. We lived in a suburb of Chicago and my mother had taken me to the Marshall Fields department store. I loved that store. At Christmas time they would have the most elaborate motorized displays in the store windows. And inside there were so very many things to catch my eye. And therein was my downfall. I’m sure it was something shiny that caught my eye and led me to wander away from my mom. (How quickly that happens.) And when you are very small, you only have to wander a short distance to find your self hidden from view and quite alone. I remember looking up and not seeing my mother. Quite upset, I wondered why she had abandoned me and left me all alone in this huge store! Of course, in reality, it was I who strayed away from her, not the other way around. But when we are feeling upset and alone our perspective is easily twisted to see things differently. I’m sure I became quite anxious and started to cry, which brought everyone’s attention to me and reunited my mother and me.

 

Isn’t that how it is in our relationship with God? In times of despair, we ask, “God where are you? Why have you abandoned me in my time of need?” But of course, it is not God who abandons us, but our own desires which drag us away from Him. Feeling alone and separated from God leads to anxiety. In fact, whenever we feel anxious and find ourselves worrying, it is a good sign to show us how we have wandered from God in our thinking and behaving and into the lonely anxiety of our own ways.

The way to find calm and peace that restores us is through putting ourselves back into His presence. The good news is that we don’t have to call a store detective or put ourselves in the lost and found department to wait for someone to discover us again. We simply need to turn around and find Our loving God right there ready to comfort and guide us.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Beyond bitterness to healing

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Are you in a place where you are stuck in your life due to bitterness? Something happened a long time ago and you’ve held a grudge for so long it has paralyzed you, isolated you, and eaten you up from the inside out? And somehow, you think locking yourself up in your self-imposed prison will hurt the “OTHER person?” Isn’t it time to step out of that prison?

Take a look around. I suspect you will find there are no shackles holding you there, no locked doors restricting your freedom. Only the framework of your thinking keeps you imprisoned and punishes you for something someone else did.

Bitterness is like drinking poison, hoping it will hurt the other person. But instead, you are the victim of your own bitterness. The negative thoughts that are repeated over and over in your mind-set the tone for every interaction you have. They seem to rob you of the ability to see the best in all situations. Harboring resentment is like creating a storm over your head when you could choose blue skies instead. Resentment is like a never-ending detour when you could be enjoying the open roads. It is like sitting in a mud puddle when you could be enjoying a vacation by the sea.

So what keeps us from giving up that which hurts us? Pride seems like a most obvious suspect. We want to be in control. We want to exert our own judgment (which isn’t in any of our job descriptions). To be honest, we say we give the throne of our life to Jesus but too often we take it back to sit on ourselves. God clearly gives us that choice, but has choosing your way over God’s way ever played out well for you? Me neither.

Giving up bitterness and resentment is about putting on forgiveness. You can forgive the other person even if they don’t ask forgiveness, even if they don’t deserve forgiveness. After all, God forgives us when we confess our sins even though we don’t deserve it. It’s called grace, the one thing we all so desperately need.

Maybe it’s God that you’re mad at in the first place. Tell Him. (He already knows but wants to hear from you.) He is a great big God and he can take your complaints. Just keep talking with Him, even if you are stuck in a place where you aren’t even sure He is listening. Keep talking. He wants to see you healed. Don’t you want to be healed too?

“Forgive and the prisoner you set free is yourself!”

Let it go

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In Saving Mr. Banks, Walt Disney recalls to Mrs. Travers a sad tale of growing up with his father which he then concludes:

Walt Disney: I don’t tell you this to make you sad, Mrs. Travers. I don’t. I love my life, I think it’s a miracle. And I loved my dad. We was a wonderful man. But rare is the day when I don’t think about that eight-year-old boy delivering newspapers in the snow and old Elias Disney with that strap in his fist. And I am just so tired, Mrs. Travers. I’m tired of remembering it *that* way. Aren’t you tired, too, Mrs. Travers? Now we all have our sad tales, but don’t you want to finish the story? Let it all go and have a life that isn’t dictated by the past.

How do you remember your past? Is it a story of wonder, love, and joy? Or do you focus on that part of the past that dwells on disappointment and sorrow? For sure, we should remember accurately, but just not dwell on what we have lost, rather remember what we’ve been given. The past serves best to teach us, not to imprison us.

Let’s finish our story and not have a life dictated by the past. Restore hope again. Forgive others and yourself. The same lesson may well apply to the present time. Don’t let yourself become worried with the cares of life. Live fully. Be satisfied with what remains.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43:18

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:25, 27