Crossing The Bridge

This week, on my way to Madisonville, I had to travel across "the bridge" in Vonore. As other times, I am always subdued, always looking down in the water, wondering, questioning, thoughtful. What happened that my son fell out of his boat here? As I started across, the song Jesus, I Believe was playing on the radio. I had written a portion of the lyrics from that song the day before on my Facebook and in my journal. At that moment, the exact words were being sung: "I'm standing on Your promises, I know Your Word is true. You're bigger than what I see, It's You in exchange for me. Even the impossible is Your reality. Jesus, I believe."




Other events have occurred while driving across the bridge. We call them "God Things." I think God is letting us know that He is aware and always with us. Coincidence? No. Christians have no coincidences.




Where would I be now, almost nine years later, had I not believed His Word and stood on God's promises? Losing a child, and in our case, an only child, is a hard test of faith. What if I had chosen to give up on God because life was being unfair and I knew God could have prevented the accident?


I shudder to think of the spiritual state of mind and heart I could be in had I walked away from God. I would be bitter, angry and resentful, always holding a grudge against God. I would be in self-pity, a "woe is me" attitude. That is how I am very capable of being.




But God has graced us with strength to get out of bed everyday and keep going. He has comforted us in ways that are supernatural and are hard to explain. He has set in our hearts a compulsion to help others through the books He allowed me to write, through the fishing tournament and speaking engagements. God has done all this! Philippians 1:12 says, "What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel."




There are paradoxes in the Christian faith: In sorrow, we find joy (2 Cor. 6:10); loss is gain (Phil. 3:8); spiritual blessings come by way of trials (James 1:2); losing our life for Christ's sake in order to find real life (Matt: 10:39); when I am weak, then I am strong, (2 Cor.12:10).


 Don't misunderstand me: I'm not saying it was good to lose our son - NEVER!  We want our son. We miss our son more than we can express in words. Death is part of the curse from sin. I hate death. Death has caused us more heartache and anguish of soul than could be imagined. It has been extremely hard on us. But why did spiritual blessings have to come through death? Was there no other way? I will never know. I do know this: Sorrow given to God, inspires us, even drives us to ministry. Sorrow has deepened our thoughts and our souls by allowing God to work in it and through it.




The lyrics from the song remind us that God is bigger than what we see and He sees the whole picture from beginning to end. There is purpose in afflictions and that is a stark reality.


Life is all about Jesus, not about us. It is "Him in exchange for me." His promises and Word is true. I take hold of the promise that says, because Christ lives, we also will live, (John 14:19). Because of that promise, my son lives as he has never lived before! And I am comforted.

BREVITY OF LIFE

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered - how fleeting my life is."                  Psalm 39:4 NLT


This day can't be repeated. We cannot go back and have a redo of our days to make up for what we may have lost, like opportunities to tell a loved one how much they mean to us or for accomplishing goals we let slip by. Perhaps we were rushed and didn't take the time to help someone or to be kind. Was there someone we needed to forgive, to make amends, and we chose not to?


There has been so many deaths lately of people we know or friends who have lost someone. Death is thought provoking. We are not promised tomorrow. We are not promised our next breath. Those who have experienced a sudden, unexpected loss of a loved one are very aware that life can change dramatically at any moment never to be the same again. Since this is my reality, I find myself thinking of life, death and heaven on a daily basis.


In my first book, there is a chapter entitled, "Death is a Teacher." The reality of our short span of life can teach us to make the most of every day, to set priorities and to trust in God. It gives perspective, compassion, and brings dependence of God and His ways which are above our ways. And the hard lesson: We are not in control of our destiny. If we allow it, many good lessons can come from the brevity of life. One is that is teaches us to focus our attention on what is most important and what really matters.


We are here "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). God has placed us in this century, in the area in which we live, and with the family we have. For what? Ephesians 2:10 NIV says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
That's why we are here. Whether we acknowledge this or not it is clear: we are made for Christ and His purposes.


I want to get this life thing right. I have messed up enough, especially in my younger days, and learned life's lessons the hard way. I can't go back and redo that now. I can only learn from my mistakes that I have been forgiven for and go forward making the most of today.


It is thought that Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, wrote Ecclesiastes in the Bible. He sums up life like this: "When all is said and done, here is the last word: worship in reverence the one True God, and keep His commands, for this is what God expects of every person" (Ecc.12:13-14 The Voice).


Time is running out. Let today be the first day of the rest of your life by allowing God, the one who gives you breath and life, to guide your every step.


"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."         James 4:14 NIV

COMPASSION

Since my husband and I are involved in the world of fishing, the missing angler in Florida has been all over my Facebook news feed. Struck by high waves, the angler was knocked out of the boat, as was his companion. The companion made it back to the boat and was treated for injuries and has now joined in the search for his friend. This was several days ago and rescue efforts have been unsuccessful.


How familiar parts of this horrible event is to my husband and me. We can't stop thinking about it. We pray for the angler to be found. We empathize with his waiting family. The compassion we feel is very strong and we do not even know these people, although we earnestly keep them in our thoughts and prayers.


Compassion is of God. He is the "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3).
The Word says to "be imitators of God" (Eph. 5:1). To copy His example. All through the New Testament we see Jesus' compassion to the brokenhearted (John 14:1-4), sick (physically and spiritually) (Luke 8:43-48, 19:1-10), diseased (Luke 17:11-19), and hungry (Mark 6:34-44) are just some examples.


So what does this mean for me if I am to imitate the Compassions of Jesus? I have asked God to give me eyes that see like He sees; grace and mercy to bestow as He does; and compassion like He provides. At times, I have found it unbearable, as in the occasion of the Florida toddler who was taken by an alligator. While I watched the news concerning this tragedy, I thought my heart would burst! What a horrible nightmare for those parents who witnessed that happening to their child. I was so overcome with compassion for this family, I asked God to take some of it away, it was too much to bear! It moved me to the point of writing the parents a letter and sending them my books in hope that through reading, they might gain a little comfort from a mom who had lost her precious adult child and relied on her God to comfort and console her heart. If the books would point these parents to Jesus for their comfort and strength, then to be overwhelmed by their tragic circumstance,  is worth very part of the sadness and sympathy.


Please join me in praying in the rescue efforts for the missing angler, Nik Kayler, and for the compassion and comfort of our great God and Savior to overwhelm them.


"The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion."  Psalm 116:5
"For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones." Isaiah 49:13
"Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail." Lam. 3:22
"This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.'" Zechariah 7:9