"One more thing,
friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take
off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just
as it did among you. And pray that we’ll be rescued from these
scoundrels who are trying to do us in." (2 Thessalonians
3:1-2MSG)
I just got back from a run
with my middle son. The human part of my brain says, "you can't
do this, you weren't made for this, stop wasting your time. You will
never be good enough to keep up with your son. Aren't you lucky he
possesses so much patience that he is able to stick with you through
this absurd phase of yours?" I read back over those words and I
can't believe that I talk to myself like that. I would never say such
things aloud, even to my worst enemy (if I had one, which I don't).
Maybe that isn't the human
part of my brain. Maybe that's Satan, the evil one or the scoundrel
that Paul is describing. Maybe that's my negative self talk that I am
slowly defeating with every single run. Because you know what? I know
that God gives me strength. I know that I can lean on God to carry me
through and provide the endurance that I need to just keep going. And
when I run with my baby? I can feel my heart filling up. I can feel
the feelings that I work so hard to suppress all the time because
what if I offend someone? What if I hurt someone's feelings or let
them down? What if I'm just not enough no matter how hard I try? I
tell myself that my feelings are wrong and that I have no right to
feel them because I am just not that important and I don't know if
that's true or not true but it doesn't matter. Because true or not,
God cares. He wants to hear about it. And I need to admit them to him
so that I can work through them.
And maybe none of that is
really what Paul meant when he said those words so beautifully so
many years ago. But when I see words like "race" and
"countryside" within the verse, I can't help but think of
those runs and all the parallels just waiting to be discovered. And
my mind jumps on this crazy train of thought and you've seen where it
takes me. Those are my real feelings.
"I can do all things
through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)
And those are God's real
words. They are meant for me. I can feel them coursing through me.
And I think of them over and over again every time I go for a run
with my thirteen year old baby boy. I get the pleasure of seeing
Jesus reflected back to me in his face as he cheers me on and
encourages me every step of the way, as he cares for my heart and
watches out for my endurance by asking if I need a break. He is being
Jesus with skin on for me and is being this amazing example. And I
have to wonder if maybe there is some little thing that I've done
right to have this awesome kid in my life?
And look at this:
"But the Lord is
faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And
we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to
do the things we commanded you." (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4NLT)
With every step that I took
today, especially as I was striving to finish the last few feet of
our path with my son silently cheering me on, I prayed these words in
my head. I reminded myself that God is my strength. He is faithful.
He will carry me through. The evil one's words are lies that I don't
need to believe because God made me strong and capable and faithful.
He gave me this unwavering desire to get done whatever I put my mind
to. He made me this way. And while I don't always see the value in
that, I can see it clearly when I am running behind my son. Because
it feels like everything is clearer when I am out there with him in
the silence of the countryside.
And I can't help but think
that all of those runs are like a symbol for life. How often do we
run, run, run until we collapse as moms? We run up and down the
stairs getting things done for our kids and our husbands. We find
lost things. We fix broken toys and broken hearts and broken knees
(the skin, not the bones. I don't have the training for bone repair
;) ). We run to the library to return forgotten books and run to the
store to get more milk or forgotten soap. But stuff isn't all we
forget. We often forget ourselves in the process.
And there's a parallel in
running for that as well. If I forget myself too long on a run, I
will collapse because I don't have the proper amount of oxygen
getting to my brain or the right amount of water coursing through my
body to keep things going. It's the same in our lives. If we forget
ourselves too long, we will collapse from exhaustion and be useless
to those around us. We must, must, must take care of ourselves too.
And I don't even know how
far I have strayed from the original verses at this point, but this
is where I feel Jesus leading and this is where I must go! There's a
parallel to the runs there too. When I am running with my baby, the
world is quieter. I can hear Jesus easier because there is nothing
else and no one else screaming for my attention. I need more of that,
more of the quiet in my life. I need to purposely carve out that time
because I will never stumble into it. I must allow Jesus to lead me
there. Am I the only one that feels this? I know that I can't be.
And that brings us to the
final verse for today:
"May the Lord lead your
hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God
and the patient endurance that comes from Christ." (2
Thessalonians 3:5NLT)
So here's the deal. This is
what I am desperately screaming out to God for today, not only for
myself but for all of my family, all of my friends, and all of the
people who read these words today. I pray that we can find our
patient endurance and that we can fully allow God to take control of
our hearts as we soak up the "full understanding and expression
of the love of God" that Paul is describing in this verse. These
are the vital components to the lives we are searching for- full
understanding and acceptance of God's unending love and patient
endurance in our lives. I pray that we can see us as God sees us. His
creations, fearfully and wonderfully made.
Be blessed today and don't
forget to be a blessing!
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