A crown of beauty instead of ashes

Over the last 2 years I’ve experienced a lot of change in my life.  Much of it, I didn’t desire at the time.  When I was served with divorce papers after being married for 25 years—I initially felt like a 2,000 lb boulder just landed on my chest.  When the additional realization hit that I was also facing the failure of our family business (Havilah’s Boutique) and the loss of my home and financial security I felt like my life was over.  It felt like my best days were long behind me.  The combination of shock, sadness and rejection was overwhelming.  Yet, I made the conscious decision to trust in Gods’ goodness.  Although I didn’t understand the hardship around me—I did understand and believe that God loved me and held me safely in the palm of his hand.  Sometimes when it appears like you’ve lost everything—you discover that Christ is all you need.  Over the last 2 years I’ve seen God’s hand at work in my life in so many ways.  I’ve seen him faithfully working in my children’s lives as they’ve walked through this hard season as well.  I’ve seen my relationship with my children grow stronger than it’s ever been.  I’ve seen Gods provision in allowing me to purchase a new car (as my older car was breaking down) and move into a home even though my credit was damaged severely.  Last year I saw God bring a beautiful woman and her 2 sons into my life.  The more we got to know each other it became apparent we both seemed to be on the same frequency --as she had also learned to depend on God as she went through her own journey through loss and pain.  She (Heather) had also lost her spouse, although not through divorce but through a fatal traffic accident.  As many of you know, Heather and I got engaged a few weeks back.  I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with this lovely woman and her amazing sons.  I dearly love them and I fully believe God has brought us together.  Now, instead of feeling my best days are behind me--instead I’m looking forward to the all the neat adventures that God has in store for us in the future.  If you are currently going through hardship and trauma—pour out your grief before God.  He loves you and wants to take the hardship and pain in your life and create something beautiful out of it.  In the book of Isaiah it says that it’s God’s desire to comfort those of us that mourn and to bestow on us a crown of beauty instead of ashes.  Im so grateful that I serve a God that hears our prayers, comforts us in our pain and dearly loves his children.     

 

Isaiah 61:1-3

 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise     instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

The Walking Dead.

  One of the most popular shows on TV right now is the "walking dead".  For those of you who haven't seen it--it’s a show about people living in a post-apocalyptic world filled with cannibalistic zombies.  The zombies walk around looking a lot like the living however there is one important difference--they are dead inside.  No feelings, emotions, passion--just a stagnant parody of life.    

   So often we go through life almost like the walking dead, stumbling through the motions of life with the "appearance" of being alive--when in reality we are emotionally dead inside.  In fact, many Christians go through life like the "frozen chosen"--going to church out of obligation without ever realizing that God wants us to live from our hearts.  When I first became a Christian as a 16 year old kid, my relationship with God was exciting and fresh.  I was so zealous to share with my friends all the new things I was learning and experiencing as a "Christ follower".  However, like many of us, that freshness began to fade.  We experience the hardships of life and we slowly begin to shut our heart down.  Because of that, our relationship with God becomes more of an intellectual pursuit than a heartfelt relationship.  We start to learn more "about" God instead of spending time getting to actually know God.  Well the problem with that is that God speaks primarily to our "hearts", not our intellect. Trying to hear God's voice with our heads is almost like trying to smell flowers with our ears.  We expend a lot of effort with minimal results. Well, I went on like this for years.  My relationship with God became a lot more about following certain rules or believing certain doctrine then enjoying a heartfelt relationship with my heavenly father.  When I began to feel distant from God, I began to work harder, thinking I needed to gain God's favor.  I got heavily involved in church activities, in Bible studies, etc.--but I felt that God was distant, cold and ambivalent.  It got very tiring working so hard trying to "earn" God's affection--never realizing that what I was working so hard to attain was something I already possessed.   I lived like that for years until life circumstances caused me to cry out in desperation to the one that loved me the most.  Those of you that know me are aware that almost 2 years ago--I hit the wall hard.  I lost everything I had been depending on for my identity and worth.  My family was fractured and I saw my 25 year marriage disintegrate before my eyes.  I was left numb, broken and powerless to do anything about what was happening around me.  The loss of the family business we worked so hard to start (Havilah's Boutique) was compounded by the enormous financial loss that resulted from that stores closing and its subsequent bankruptcy.  I saw my family home (of 17 years) sold with all equity going to the bank.  Most of my possessions were sold and I was left feeling alone and abandoned.  Instead of being bitter about my hardship however-- I cried out to God in my pain and brokenness.  It was then my loving my heavenly father faithfully met me in my pain.  Amazingly, the God that I met was quite different than whom I expected.  I discovered a creator who loves me like a good father loves his beloved son.  I found out that being a Christian was never about learning a bunch of "thou shalt not's".  I also discovered that being a Christian is also not about simply holding on through the pains of life until you die and go to heaven.  God's desire for you is not simply to survive--but God wants your heart to be alive and joyful as well.  Jesus didn't pay the ultimate price for our sins simply so that God would tolerate you.  God loves you so much that he sent Jesus willingly so that you can experience a relationship with your heavenly father that would transform your life.  How would it change your perception if you allowed the reality of that to permeate into the depths of your heart?  God loves YOU!  He knows you by name.  He sees you and earnestly desires a deeper relationship with you than simply Sunday morning church attendance.  He loves you despite your brokenness and wants you to experience the relationship with him that Jesus sacrifice made possible.  God wants to walk with you through this adventure called life and wants you to be able to experience the peace of knowing that He loves you and will never leave you.  Your heavenly father wants you to feel the joy of knowing him so that you can be "truly" alive instead of simply stumbling through life like the walking dead.

 John 10:10,  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Psalm 27:13,  "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

1 John 3:1,  "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."

Living in the matrix

Just yesterday I watched one of my favorite science fiction movies--“Matrix”.  In that movie the main character, a software engineer Thomas (Neo) Anderson, receives a cryptic message on his computer instructing him to “follow the white rabbit”.  This contact begins a series of events which culminates in a meeting with an individual named Morpheus.  During his meeting with Morpheus, Neo is asked if he wants to know what the matrix is.  He is then told that “It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth”.  Morpheus then gives him two pills.  Neo is informed that if he takes the blue pill, he “will forget everything that transpired and go back to life as normal.  However, if he takes the red pill, “you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”  After choosing to take the red pill, Neo finds out that there is a war that has been going on for thousands of years that he was completely unaware of.  He learns that his world is actually a wasteland devastated by an ancient war between humanity and machines.  The truth of that reality however had been concealed behind an elaborate façade created by malevolent cyber intelligence. 

    Have you ever felt like you might be living in a matrix?  That there is a reality behind the scenes that is far different than what you are currently experiencing?  I came to that realization myself just 18 months ago.  My “red pill” was going through the trauma of seeing the unwanted dissolution of my 25 year marriage combined with losing my home, my family’s business (Havilah’s Boutique) and my financial security.  Being in that place of desperation however often enables a person to see clearly what God is doing in and around them.  In my case that hardship caused me to fervently seek God in a way I never had before.  I discovered, just like Neo, there is a battle going on all around me that I had been unaware of.  We are in a battle that began long before we were born with an adversary much more sinister than the machines from the matrix.  This battle however is a spiritual one and our enemy and his forces are ever present whether we choose to acknowledge them or not.  I also became aware that my view of God’s desire to interact with me was flawed.  Our heavenly father isn’t satisfied only being involved with us on Sunday from 0930 to 1100 and he also isn’t a powerless deity content to sit on the sidelines.  If you are Christ follower going through hardship and what you are facing seems overwhelming, keep in mind that we serve a God, so powerful, that He created everything with just a spoken word.  We serve a God that isn’t bound by any law of science and can intervene in the natural world at will.  Our God can stop the rotation of the earth, part the seas, and even has dominion over life and death.  And that omniscient and omnipotent creator loves us profoundly and wants to partner with us in bringing his kingdom to earth.  We live in a magical world concealed behind a mask of normalcy to blind us from the truth.  To break out of it however all we need to do is know our true identity as princes and princesses in the kingdom, Know who our father is and have eyes to see what our father is doing.  So are you ready to take the red pill?

  

Ephesians 6:11-12  - “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Romans 8:38-39, " For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 91:1-16, He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.