Thursday, August 18, 2022

The Worst That Could Happen Can't Happen

What's the worst that could happen?

That was a question I asked myself many times. Usually, right before I did something incredibly stupid. The truth is, I never found out. Not because I didn't get caught, but because the worst never came (by God's grace). And, as a follower of Jesus Christ, it never will. It's true my life has been transformed; I no longer live the way I did before and I no longer desire to live that way. The likelihood of spending a night in a jail cell because I broke into a construction site is much less than it was way back when. However, there's more. As a follower of Jesus, the "worst that could happen" has been completely taken off the table. Imagine that! In Christ, "the worst that could happen" will never happen to me. Now I'm not talking some prosperity stuff, some name it/ claim it perversion of Scripture. What I mean is, the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone is dying without a relationship with Jesus. And it will not happen to me.

That leaves me free to do anything God tells me to do! I can love the people who hate me. I can give as much as God tells me to give, cheerfully. I can pray without ceasing and rejoice even in trouble. I can believe in things I haven't even seen come to fruition if God has promised them. I can give my life back to God in whatever way He designs without worrying about failure. Obedience is my success. Some of the greatest acts of kindness and selflessness were done in obedience to God. Some of those even cost men and women their lives. But the worst thing that could happen didn't happen to them either. 

Whether you believe it or not, this time on earth is not the end. We were never made to live this way, in a corrupt and decaying world, in sick and deteriorating bodies. Sin is the cause for the way we live today. The Bible says all of creation suffers the consequences of mankind's choice and awaits the day it will be free. But in the meantime, here we are. This is a season of decision making --deciding to serve God or reject Him; and a season of opportunity --the opportunity to live as if the worst that could happen will never happen to us or to live as if we don't care if it does. When I used to follow that question with an act of sheer stupidity, it was because I thought I could "beat the odds," or I could handle the consequences; and there are plenty of people out there today living their lives in the same manner. They've decided to reject God and their rejection is carried along only by their arrogance or by what they imagine the worst could ever be. God's word is clear, dying outside of the righteousness of Christ is as bad as it gets.

But for those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, the worst that could happen is no longer an option. God uses everything for our good. The sufferings of this life on earth are reminders that we are not as spectacular as we believe ourselves to be, nor are we as important; they remind us how generous God is and how we much we, in and of ourselves, lack; they remind us what Jesus obediently endured for us; they lift our eyes from chronic navel-gazing to training all of our consciousness on Christ. In all of this we move toward becoming more like Jesus. Even death renders us in the presence of our Lord and Redeemer. And that is the best that could happen.

Monday, August 15, 2022

Friendship Sweeter Than Cupcakes

Have you ever considered just how much God loves you? Better than that, have you ever taken the time to really consider the many ways He demonstrates He loves you each day? James 1:17 says,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Every good and every perfect gift are from God who, though He is the Creator and Sustainer of the heavenly bodies, does not shift and change, rise and set as they do. He is consistent and does not show favoritism, shining on one while plunging others into darkness. We all have been given the opportunity to know Him, to spend eternity with Him, and to experience His abundant blessings. And He never stops giving! One of my favorite blessings has come in the form of friendship.

A few years back, one of my coworkers asked my maiden name. Upon hearing it, he said he thought we had a mutual friend. "Who's your friend?" I asked. "Heath," was his reply.

I don't know about you, but there aren't too many Heaths in my life. In fact, there's only one. And to be honest, this Heath is so special, I don't think another would compare even if there was one. Heath and I went to elementary school together. Just before junior high, I switched schools, and we lost touch; but the memory of his thousand-watt smile and his incredible drawings never faded --Oh! and his mom; his mom is where he got his "special." That woman was amazing! 

Heath and I love to stroll down memory lane. We talk about classmates and parties and plays and teachers. We talk about our mothers, both "homeroom moms" for our class. Heath raves about Mom's "famous" cupcakes and how much he liked having her around. From time to time, we'll do breakfast, and I bring her along. He treats her like a celebrity every time! We talk about the games we played on the playground, field trips, and the great songs we learned in Mrs. Mina's music class. We share what our lives were like outside of school, something we never really discussed when we were kids. And though it is wonderful fun, there is a much deeper blessing in it: seeing my life through someone else's eyes. 

I have seen my childhood through the lens of pain, betrayal, addiction, dysfunction. I have seen the "good stuff" Mom did --the decorating, the cupcakes-- as ways she pretended to the world that we were normal despite the chaos in which we lived. To me, it has been a callous denial of the injuries I suffered. But Heath reminds me that school was a safe place, full of caring and talented teachers who taught for the love of teaching in a time when local schools were a place of community in which parents were fully invested. And it was a place of character and childhood wonder. Heath remembers Mom's cupcakes with joy: colorful treats, a special labor that made our classroom parties a little more sweet. To him, they are the product of someone who cared enough to make our childhood memorable. His enthusiasm is contagious and I begin to see them not through the eyes of a hurt and broken woman, but through the eyes of a child, loved by a lifelong friend and blessed by the Father who loves her enough to send him to her. In this season, I have received a good and perfect gift in a friendship sweeter than cupcakes!