Perspectives

"Maybe we should consider the possibility that we haven't been put in their lives to help them get healed. Maybe, in fact, the reverse can be true: that they are God's gift to us, showing us how to grieve, how to plumb the depths of hell and survive, and how to find grace." -Matt Bays

It's all in perspective. Maybe you don't question your life, and the situations around you as much as I can. My main question is not if it makes a difference. My main concern is whether I have the energy.

My former student gave a devotional recently, and quoted Oswald Chambers. I will rephrase the main concept. We are called to be exhausted. We are Jesus and His love, His energy to people until they directly connect to Him. We are called to exhaustion... Unless as Chambers goes on to say, we are constantly refilling where we need to- from Jesus. My student also talked about how the last mile is the hardest, and we should not quit, because we may almost be there. He is as brilliant as ever.:)

When situations go beyond our control or understanding, we have to grieve the losses. There's a lot of things wrong in this world, and nothing I do will change much of anything. All I know at the end of the day is Someone who walks with us, and isn't shocked by anything. Having Someone who knows the end from the beginning is comforting, but I think He also cries at the pain, the difficult with us.

Entering a living hell and surviving... There is something about walking in a dark alley full of hunger for all kinds of things that changes your perspective on life. The claws that reach to devour you aren't easily forgotten, and give a new compassionate understanding for those caught in their grasp.

Next time you experience any negative emotions, think about what is behind it. Often it's a good desire that wasn't met. It's a "hunger" for something, and at first glance it feels most powerful to choose the negative reaction vs. acknowledgement of the desire. Don't surrender to the negative, because that is where "hell" enters. I have experienced hunger for food to the point of it affecting my emotions. Ever since, I ask any behavior challenged child if they are hungry. It's a legit thing, people. I could change my situation and eat more, but they can't always.

At some point, you realize that the only way out is grace, and you desperately plead for it, for them, for you.

Perspective changes when you realize that without the drama, you would be a very different person. And at that point, you become thankful.

This journey is God's gift. His severe mercy. We pray for something, and He doesn't give it because He has our best interests in mind. Recently, He has shown me why He didn't answer a prayer from a long time ago. I'm thanking Him over and over and over again now. My life may be dramatic, but I also realized the drama I have been spared from. So if life hands you things you didn't want, just think about the wisdom of the person who said that if we knew what He does, we would choose the same story He did. It's a gift for us, His beloved.

So truly, Mr. Chambers wisely counsels us to go to the real Source of energy. We have to feast like Elijah because just like the angel told him, "The journey is too hard for you." And he went on that energy for 40 days. Read 1 Kings 19 for more details.

If I am going to keep entering the living hell of broken lives around me, I will need to have connections with the energy Source. I will also need the humility to say that they are His gift to me, teaching me how to grieve, how to live, and Who He really is.