Living

"Because here, against the ugly things, is grace, forgiveness, and hope."

I’VE BEEN SEARCHING for the meaning of life. Minister Bill Johnson says there are some things we can only do on this earth. We can only praise God in the midst of difficult circumstances while living here. In Heaven, we’ll praise Him plenty, but this is where we mourn, where we keep standing despite the odds. I would take it one further. Here is where we see VICTORY. A child survives cancer here. A man opens his wallet for a homeless man here. Injured wild creatures are restored to health here. A woman in a small town is rescued from death.

My praise is twice as meaningful now because of what I’ve went through, what Jesus walked WITH ME through. Because I was never alone. In Heaven, it will be me praising Him for all the beauty around me, but on earth, it is me praising Him because of all His beauty around me. Because here, against the ugly things, is grace, forgiveness, and hope. It is a devilish lie that says there is no hope. Deception, a false view of God, convinces the mind to give up. It is in loss that I see how good He is. It is in this truth that I see the reasoning of what we will leave behind. Things don’t matter but people do, and I want my heart to be satisfied that I’ve done all I can to live before I’m given forever.

A short life fought for is honorable. A long life lived despite valleys and canyons shines like a light to those who see it. To be in Heaven is glorious, I’m sure of it. But to be in Heaven, having praised Him when I stumbled and He stood me up again, when the wolves nipped at my heels, and the water got deep but I chose to run, chose to swim, how much greater will His Presence be?

There is much to be said for living. In the dark place, images of yourself all around you, it doesn’t seem like it, and selfishness takes over. It becomes “my pain” which no one understands, and “my suffering” which I wish would end. The wicked one puts giving up on a silver platter, hiding the length of it, and what amazing life on earth we will miss. A man with no legs inspired me with his strength. He can do with his upper body what I cannot fathom. A son’s care for his mentally aged father touches my heart. “Keep living, Dad,” he said, when his dad’s care must make life difficult.

What can I live here that will strengthen me? Make me wiser? What can I show of the Savior’s heart by OVERCOMING all I’ve come up against? To sit down seems easy, to let go like a relief, but it’s in the CHANGING of me into something better, something filled with PRAISES I can only give on earth, that I will find fulfillment. And isn’t that what everyone is looking for? Pain alters our viewpoint. Jesus asks us to look through it at His face and to lean in and listen because He’s speaking, and what He says all sums up in, “You can do this.”

We are what we meditate on. All those things running through our head affect our outlook. So choose wisely, and set down the lies of darkness in favor of the Word of God and hope for the future.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18 BSB)

Image by Nika Akin from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com