I'm watching in reverent wonder as my body heals itself.
Several days ago, I cut my finger with a long-serrated bread knife
as I sliced a bagel for a snack. Behold, I bled and experienced
pain! Washing out the wound with water and then gently
scrubbing it in hydrogen peroxide, I then wrapped it in a pressure
bandage and held it high over my head, mindful of the throbbing
that matched my increased heart rate. Frustrated that I was being
so careful and still this happened, I proceeded to spread
strawberry cream cheese on the bagel with one hand to indulge
my hunger.
Will I live through this? Of course.
Has it been a bother for the past four days? Yes.
Will I remember this 5 years from now? Not likely.
The fact is that these things happen. We don't ask for them and
would much rather avoid them. Yet our human condition dictates
that we are not in total control of our lives or the world
surrounding us. And most of us want very much to live in what
we think is safe and in our realm of jurisdiction.
And how is that working...for any of us?
Yup, just as I thought: you've cut yourself also. Or you are
battling cancer. Perhaps relationships have dismantled life,
actions of others adversely affecting without permission.
Maybe death has invaded life and love is companionless now.
Or your job and income have evaporated overnight due to
something we cannot see or control.
This is where I need contact with a Power larger than my
circumstance, higher than my perspective, more hopeful than my
anxious panic attack. Connection with God is what we are driven
to-in truth, connection is exactly the response which God wants
from us in the midst of any/all trials! That connection happens
through relationship with Jesus. Quite simple, really. He wants to
be found and we discover Him in the moments of our crisis.
And the Healer begins His work. I can type this more easily now
that my finger is healing; it wasn't possible several days ago. It is
progressive, this restoration process. My finger will take 10 days.
Your healing may take 10 years.
Instead of fighting "what is", I find that Jesus is with me in it.
I discover that He wants to give me the necessary strength
and wisdom to engage the process, while humbly confessing that
I am not in control and that I need help; help from Someone Who
has experienced ultimate loss raised high on a cross, help
from Someone Who couldn't stay dead as He yielded control to
God the Father.
Three days from now, three months from now, three years from
now...we'll have experienced God's faithfulness in the midst of
our living. And I'll have another story to tell...over half a bagel
smeared with cream cheese: God is good.
Come join us sometime for worship at St. John's Church
at 9:00 AM on Sundays! We're a bunch of hopeful, struggling
people of all ages willing to lean on God and each other to
make it through daily living-it might be that your edges will
fit in our puzzle!