Suffering to "get" it

1 John 4: 7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love

 

It is my personal belief that no matter how much we love Christ or where we are in our spiritual maturity, we just can NOT "get" what life is really about until one of two things happens. Either we suffer pain and loss so great that it completely devours us, OR it is a spiritual gift from God. I refer to it as a gift because that type of faith is not easily obtained, trust me.

While it may be true that everyone suffers, (and I believe that with my whole heart) there are only a few who have been all consumed by it. By this I am speaking of those of us who have been rocked to our core and changed from the inside out because of our sufferings. If your every thought has not been consumed with pain or thoughts of how you will survive without your child or how your children may have to survive without you. You have not suffered the intense, raw pain I'm speaking of. Let me be clear in that I am not saying that we don't desperately need our friends who have not been through this kind of pain, we do! However, we need other sufferers who “get” us as well. We are an ever growing group of people who have been called to hold out our hand and sometimes our hearts to help others who suffer. We never know what goes through the mind of someone in that kind of pit. Its possible they can't SEE Jesus through the pain, but he is there and he is counting on US to be the body who steps up to hold them. Show them who we are and tell them we are still standing through our pain and suffering because Jesus holds us up. We can’t just hope they know we are there when they need us. We have to be intentional and step out on faith and just show up at their door.  

The longing for heaven like we who suffer have, comes from an almost urgent anticipation of the day our savior will wipe away every tear. On that day we will meet our savior and we will be whole and we will be WITH our children, ALL of them. We will be happy and whole again.

I have mentioned before that when I began my climb out of that horrible pit after Jackson went to heaven, I noticed immediately that my eyes were different.  The Lord had literally given me a brand new pair of eyes that took a long time (and still a work in progress) to get used to. I SEE things now. I'm literally not the same person I was before Jackson went to Heaven. Its hard to explain, but here is a prime example. I don't remember ever seeing someone in public and going out of my way to speak to them before my new eyes, in fact if memory serves me correctly (which is a questionable spot to even go) If I saw someone I would go the other way to avoid them all together. I mean who wants to get stuck talking to someone when you’re just in the grocery store to grab one thing? Well, me….now anyway. I get that I need to at least acknowledge that I see you right in front me. I can only imagine what people think of who I was before. Actually, I don't want to. It breaks my heart and brings me to my knees when I think about who I was before. I am literally heart broken as I type this thinking about what it took to make me SEE.

It should never take tragedy to obtain this kind of faith, but sadly it does. It does take that kind of suffering and up close wrestling with Jesus to make you SEE the face of your savior. SEE how our savior will come here and change your heart and heal your spirit. He does not only sit on a throne all day, He is here. and He is near to the broken hearted and he saves the crushed in spirit! I have SEEN what he can do. I don’t believe you obtain new eyes until you have seen the savior who offers them. You may have wrestled him for you new eyes or you were gifted with them.

Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.Lots of people know Jesus and are just as saved as Billy Graham and still are not gifted to "get" it. The thing is, I don't expect them to and I don't want them to ever have to "get" it. If its not a gift strait from God then you suffered to be able to finally "get" it. To get it is to finally “get” what it’s like to know without a doubt that this world is not our home, it’s NOT OUR HOME.

There are song writers who have never gone through what some of us do, yet they write the most beautiful lyrics that only one who "gets" it should sing. What a perfect thing that is, to be able to“get” it as a gift!

I know this is a long blog but for some reason my heart just weighs 1000 pounds today. I SEE so many who may think they "get" it but then they say or do something that proves opposite and let me say this THAT IS OK! Be thankful that you don't, I mean that. It’s a blessing that you don’t fully “get” it. We need those of you who have not suffered, we need you to intercede for us and stand when we cannot. God gave us all a purpose, those who “get” it and those who don’t. Though I may be jealous of those who don’t I know I need you every hour of every day. Though we may have different eyes we are all the body of Christ. It takes each of us to help pull the others up off of their faces when it’s just too hard. We need you, I need you.

To those of us who unfortunately do "get" it (and got it by suffering) we need to step up and show others that Jesus saves and He comes here to do it. This world means nothing, its only a second on an eternity time scale. We have got to put down the things that don't matter and pick up the people who do. Stop worrying, that’s not our job. Our only job on this earth is to bring glory to God.

Lord knows I need all my warriors no matter what eyes you have, if you “get” it or don’t. I know I need you, especially in the next week as Jackson's birthday approaches. Please keep those of us who suffer in your prayers. We need all the prayers we can get to remain upright, every day. Every single day we need you until the day our Lord returns we need you.