This morning I posted my Facebook status as having been introduced to what a real problem is and that the definition of what a real problem is has been rearranged in my life.
This is in response to a day of sitting on the floor with a two year old bone marrow transplant patient struggling to breathe and fighting for her life. She’s hooked up to multiple IV’s pouring steroids into her body in hopes that the new cells won’t be rejected by her system. This brought on the side effect of filling her with water bloating her tummy out like a football and making it difficult to sleep or be comfortable in any position. She is on day 5 of 100 days of watching for rejection. This is a long road to travel for anyone and this two year old has a baby sister, two older sisters and two step-sisters, along with her mom and dad none of whom asked for this or planned this for the lives of their family.
When I see the commitment and love mom has for her baby girl, the sacrifices and devotion given by the entire family, the fight little Aryonna has in her to keep breathing and live, and the care the medical staff has for sustaining life, I know I am seeing what God is like. I know that God is love and love does not mean the absence of pain or trouble, but of acceptance, endurance, and faithfulness.
I know of a lady who for years has had a substance abuse problem, dysfunctional behaviors in relationships, and she has made bad choice after bad choice in how to find sustenance and provide for herself on the streets and yet she has found herself open before God saying she has nowhere else to go but to be honest with God and find her way back to Him.
I know a young couple who want to start their new life together on the right foot with God’s blessing and direction but have reservations about who is telling the truth out there. They have heard of God’s truth all their lives having been told one thing but having seen another. They want to serve God with all their heart, they want life to be good and pleasing to Him, but they have found they can’t trust what they’ve been told so they are keeping all of the things God has for them at an arm’s length because they don’t want to bring contradiction into their lives any longer. So, they are just staying away from God for now.
Interestingly, in all three of these situations their churches have told them that they are the problem. Their choices have made them bad people. They have been labeled as displeasing to God because they are travelling a different journey than the expected norm of the local church behaviors. I ask myself, “Has anyone read John 8:11 recently? How about John 3:17 or, Revelation 22:17?” Jesus and His church are all about the real life situations of people; their stories are all over the Bible!
Nothing has changed except we have attempted to redefine the meaning of God’s love. We want it to be the absence of pain; but Jesus said that He was here to comfort those who mourn, meaning there will be pain. We want it to be the elimination of dysfunctional behaviors and bad choices; but Jesus said He was here to set the captives free and bind up those who are brokenhearted, meaning there will be those who do selfish things and make bad choices. We want it to be sanitized and clean, what we call holy, before God and each other; but Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us and teach us in the ways of holiness – it can’t be done by holding each other to a man-made standard of behaviors, because if the fruits of the Spirit are growing in us the more we will become productive and useful in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8).
Yeah, the church is supposed to be made up of the whosoever will and that means a lot of brokenness and a lot of pain and a lot of people who aren't all God wants us to be yet. I heard someone say once that if you find a perfect church, don't join it because it won't be anymore. The message of the Holy Spirit and the message of the church is supposed to be the same; "Come." Let the thirsty ones come-anyone who wants to. Let them come and drink the water of life without charge. (Revelation 22:17)
