STRESS!! It consumes, divides and doubles. You would think that a little quiet time would be welcome, but that’s not always the case. In fact, for many of us quiet time may invite the most intimidating minutes of our day.
A quiet awakening
I should have welcomed opportunity for more sleep, for my night had been nearly sleepless. Yet after awakening to near silence before dawn I turned off the alarm and remained awake.
What was on my mind? Everything. And I must confess that my first thought was not,
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
We arose as usual, beginning the necessary routines of each day. The dog stretched and hurried toward the door. Routine, but required, we set out on today’s event full journey. Charlie followed his nose along previously blazed paths oblivious to my attempt of a hurried pace along a cold continuous sidewalk.
Running from work
A jogger ran by, buds in her ears and pulse-monitoring watch on her wrist. She tracks more than time and steps. On warmer days I sensed her daily pace, caught in her mini-marathon between school drop-off and her gym or coffee shop. A man drove by in his loud pizza-logoed car, bobbing his head to a beat of some music inside.
Charlie walked further, but I was no different from these running to and from work. I could have been busy in some song or sense of life’s sprint, but this day all was quiet except multiplying messages of a mind caught up in my ‘what to do next’ and ‘why did I do that.”
Once I had driven miles between accounts with my mind also cruising well above the speed limit of a time-constrained goal list. I once listened to anything louder than my passing thoughts; nostalgic classics or current upbeat songs by young musicians full of life. Yet work always approached with the day’s music fleeting to where carefree sounds, singing and smiles fade into hope of a different journey.
As I thought ahead to work I considered a place filled with well-meaning souls, busy building barns most will never see. Eight or so hours without running to places where we have time to count the costs before the laying of foundations of futility.
An unexpected glimpse at quiet sleep
Unexplored paths led by tugs of long leash from long-wandered straight paths of purpose, we returned to a road taken by only a few headed to their cul-de-sac of journey’s end.
A sight behind an open blind of dawn-lit window imprints image of both past and future. The man lay sleeping peacefully in a hospital bed, between his room’s window and rising metal tree with clear bags of liquid extending long lines dripping life into failing flesh and relief into the delay of decay.
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
A mere breath, vapour, a fleeting shadow are the lives of mankind. Souls caught in the image of God trapped in failing flesh. What question of man precedes such astute observation though the looking-glass of life?
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; 2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.
Charlie had inadvertently led me to a path where in the near silence of our morning walk I had to remember our path toward a final rest. So many have passed this way before us, yet today in an unwelcome misstep I glanced briefly into my own future as well as a sudden step back into a memory of a deathbed before.
By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
It had been brought into my own living room. She had been sick for months and they couldn’t figure it out. Doctors were busy and work went on while family and life rushed about. A trip to the ER told more of the disruption of life to come.
After giving up on work and her parents moving in, trips from doctor to hospital and home again… to a bed not our own…
Once I sat by her inadvertently on her oxygen tube. It was that kind of sudden realization that the breath of life we take so granted becomes perilously cumbersome to draw in for just one more moment. She would live fully just two score and ten, one more month and one more night to say ‘Good-bye, I love you.’
The days of our years are threescore years and ten;
and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labour and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger?
even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Charlie and I turned off into home, just a short way along our temporary path of these days. I remained lost in contemplative prayer and unexpectedly fond memory, for I knew just how temporary was this life for her and for me.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…
“..and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
‘Padiddle,’ it came to me as I was driving home at dusk one evening. Padiddle, where did that come from? Then I remembered.
I had not grown up with it, for our family had played other travel games in the car. In fact, as I observed a car in traffic with no lights on at all, the very moment from 45 years ago came to me.
The car in my rearview mirror had only one headlight, which from a perspective of safety was just a little better than a car with no lights whatsoever. ‘Padiddle,’ I thought. I had first heard it from my first wife (so many years before). She went back to her daddy after just a little more than a year of our young marriage. I was devastated, but recalling some of our happier moments brought a smile to my heart.
Failures from our past
I had failed in that marriage forty-five years ago and in other relationships/marriages since. Of course I was part to blame; but I was never the one to give up on my vows or run out on my marriage. I had even had a successful, ‘until death us do part’ marriage which lasted more than two decades. Nevertheless, even after all these years guilt and regrets remain from my marriage to the bride of my youth.
Why couldn’t I have gotten it right – the first time… or those other times? Why didn’t I see the hurt in store from the most-intimate of relationships?
“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? – Luke 6:39
Embarking into the mysterious journey of a dating relationship can be a most blinding experience. We listen to our own hearts and hormones. We look to others for advice, if anyone at all. Seldom do even the faithful seek to be equally yoked; thus we run into the love of a new relationship at different speeds.
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9
A further examination into this description of our blind hearts will reveal more convicting words than sick. (Who has not been described as ‘love sick?’) Think of it more like עָקַב beyond cure, exceedingly corrupt or desperately wicked, to name a few.
Truly, failed relationships recall times of great darkness. Yet in Christ we have a Light brighter than the darkness of the world. … in him is no darkness at all.
Relationships often rush forward without tail lights to warn, ‘don’t follow too close.’ An oncoming unexpected one of the opposite sex approaches you with only one dull light, frequently trespassing God’s centerline in their approach to winning your love.
Will you swerve to miss the impact of the pain ahead? Or will you too cross the center line of God’s will?
A Promise we can hold
So what is it we have, if we look to the Lord for hope in our marriages?
Although Jesus was never married to a woman, for our Lord is married to His church; Christ gives couples a new hope to which we can hold.
[ctt title=”Christ\’s promise of forgiveness releases us from the deserved guilt for the wickedness of our past and the continued trespasses of our flawed daily lives.” tweet=”https://ctt.ec/EjeI4+” coverup=”EjeI4″]
If the Lord is part of our marriage, He will not leave us stranded or deserted or alone once more.
Although the intent of this quote of the Law in the letter of Hebrews is not specific to marriage, it applies to the character of Christ. Taken in context, a look a the preceding verse will also encourage.
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
[ctt title=”Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” tweet=”Hebrews 13:4 https://ctt.ec/b6Qkc+” coverup=”b6Qkc”]
May I remind us of Jesus’ words to the Apostle Philip, who followed Him three years?
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? – John 14:9
I find it most encouraging in our marriage that Jesus, who said,
‘Let your yes be yes and your no be no;’
Jesus, who watches over the lost sheep and our Lord who teaches that ‘the two become one;’
He who IS and was, the One judge of all souls at the end of the age assures us:
14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
31“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:43
[ctt title=”A marriage without forgiveness is one soul without light.” tweet=”Love forgives, as the Lord lifts guilt from the forgiven.” coverup=”Va0Wr”]
Have you replaced your missing Light?
In Christ Jesus we have forgiveness of sins. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. John 3:18a
This includes your partner in marriage. Jesus includes you, as well. Believe in the forgiveness of of your sins of the past. Just replace the light and turn back to your Lord and Savior.
John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Padiddle, I say. We cannot have just half the light the Lord intends for our marriage.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
Replace the darkness of the broken light of your failing love. For He IS our Light. Our love cannot shine clearly for others, even the one we love, without Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Each husband and every wife need the complete Light of Christ in the oneness of their marriage; for He IS the One who says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
‘Faint not at my tribulations or do not ‘lose heart over what I am suffering for you.’ The Apostle Paul writes these words differing some by translation [KJV or ESV].
Do you lose heart when you or a loved one suffers? Do you faint at the thought of a loved one experiencing tribulations before their death?
Most of us have at least one hurting loved one who comes to mind. A leader esteemed by like-minded followers does not want them to give up over any trial he must endure. Understand Paul’s heart is compassion for his followers.
Tribulations θλῖψις
Paul’s choice of words from the Greek, thlipsis, paints familiar imagery to those who suffer. He chooses a metaphor for oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits; the picture of a pressing, pressing together or pressure. We recognize the tension of relationship when one suffers and another can do nothing about it.
Paul and the Apostles knew the pressure and persecution, as did the saints of the church. In fact, Jesus had used the same word of prophesy to the Apostles before His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Our Lord tells of the signs of the end of the age.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Fellow believer and saint, do you sense this in these last days? What encouragement for the saints of the church of Ephesus at the beginning of these last days!
Jesus continues with the description a great tribulation:
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
Therefore, do not lose heart.
Paul, Peter, John, even our Lord Jesus Christ have written what must take place. Returning to Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, let’s close with the encouragement of his meaning.
‘Wherefore I desire that ye faint not… Ephesians 3:13a KJV
And what is it to faint from an enormous undertaking of faith? Faint ἐκκακέω ekkakeō – to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted.
Does this describe your battle? Paul, the one who has suffered for his witness of Christ calls on the saints of Ephesus to faint not. In Christ we must persevere, winning over the defeat of sin, suffering and death. Our suffering indeed becomes our glory through the Lord. Paul goes on to urge us to prayer.
Jesus speaks of it as well, adding in the same way that we must faint not and calling us to prayer.
Tribulations and the Dishonest Judge
Luke 17:33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
[ctt title=”And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” tweet=”And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” coverup=”9eI20″]
2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.
7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Our glory in Christ
When Jesus comes, will he find faith on earth? Will Christ find faith in Ephesus or in your city? Surely the Lord has declared your tribulations and suffering will come to an end.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 21:3-5a [KJV]
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
[ctt title=”Beloved saint, do not lose heart over tribulations and sufferings. For the Lord redeems His own and the glory of the Lord reigns forever.” tweet=”Beloved saint, do not lose heart over tribulations and sufferings. For the Lord redeems His own and the glory of the Lord reigns forever.” coverup=”EbKeq”]
Amen.
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14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.