The Here and Now. The There and Then

I think a lot of people have a big problem understanding the concept of eternity.  It's a bit confusing frankly.  Most people tend to think of eternity as someplace we go after we die.  You hear phrases which seem to echo this belief all the time.  "Where we will spend all eternity".  "He/she is in eternity now."  "Do this or do that ( fill in the blank) or you will not see eternity".  The problem with this kind of thinking is this: eternity is both a future promise and a present reality.

Eternity means ALL of time.  From the beginning to the end.  This also encompasses the part  which we currently live in.  We are living in eternity now.  Part of it anyway.  There was time before us.  There will be time after us.  It is all part of eternity.  Then there is eternal life which comes after our pulses stop.  The here and now where we currently reside.  The there and then where we will someday be.  Are you confused yet?  

I used to struggle to understand this but not so much anymore.  Jesus said His kingdom was both a present reality and a coming promise.  He spent a whole lot of time talking about the kingdom of heaven.  He went to great lengths to help people understand what it is like and what it will be like when we are all there.  We live in that kingdom now in a sense.  Those in Christ are kingdom people living in a fallen world.  I think of it this way. The beauty we experience here is a down payment on that which is to come.  We see glimpses, we live bits and pieces of the kingdom of heaven while we are in the flesh and on the earth.  We can't live there all the time because this is not our home. God doesn't want us to get too comfortable here.  Our True Home comes after we die.  It is then that we go Home to stay forever, once and for all.  Where "there will be no more sorrow, and no more weeping.  Where He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.". Such a beautiful promise.....

What I have experienced here, however, are moments, hours, short periods of time, where this kingdom on earth and that one in heaven have merged and overlapped.  It is as if a veil is pulled away and we can walk into that other world.  This is the most wonderful experience imaginable.  I have had it while holding a friend's hands in prayer.  While seeing the sunrise reflected in a double rainbow after an early morning storm.  During a worship service singing something gloriously beautiful.  During early morning walks along the river while engaged in deep conversation with God.  Reading the works of AW Tozer.  These things have pulled back the veil and allowed me to dwell elsewhere for awhile.  I know that I am here.  Yet I am elsewhere at the same time.  The two kingdoms merge.  They are separate and distinct places, yet one and the same.  Both are true somehow.  That is the nature of the things of God.  They are profoundly mysterious.  

So what does any of this matter?  I don't know.  Probably little to anyone who might pause to read my ponderings.  Being Irish and a bit of a poet, I love to let my mind wander down distant trails and examine profound concepts.  Its a personality quirk, I guess!  But keeping eternity in its proper perspective also helps me to view the world around me in a way that is meaningful and hope filled.  In the here and now, it helps me to function as I need to in order to fulfill the work of this kingdom while I wait in joyful expectation of the next one in the there and then...... 

Shalom!

Living in the Refiner's Fire

I have a confession to make. I have sung Handel's Messiah a couple of times in the past. I love "The Messiah". It's generally awesome in every way. But there is one piece of music in it that always gives me the giggles a bit. And that piece is called " He is like a Refiner's Fire". It's just a bit pretentious, frankly. Big male solo, usually sing by a bass. Something about the vocal runs in it make me want to laugh out loud. The real life reality of life in the Refiner's Fire is no laughing matter, however.

What is the Refiner's fire? It's the divine process by which God refines out all of our impurities in order to leave nothing behind but pure gold. If you read up on refining gold you will learn that this is the final stage of removing the impurities after the smelting process. It involves reheating the gold in an extremely hot furnace and mixing in borax and soda ash which helps to separate out the the pure gold from other less precious metals. Intense heat from a really hot furnace. Are we having fun yet?

Life with God is so like this. We often make the mistake of believing that if we follow Christ and are "good Christian people" everything should be a-okay. We shouldnt have problems, right? We've been lead astray by lots of false prophets on this one, kids. People hawking the Prosperity Gospel (Pat Robertson)and feel good theology (Joel Osteen)have us all confused. Scripture is resplendent with example after example of ways in which God uses fire to remake, remold, and purify. But that fire is always a refining fire- never a consuming one. There is a difference. How is a fire controlled so that purification occurs and consumption is avoided? It's all in the Hands of the Refiner.

How does the process work? Usually something like this: there is something in our lives that we need to trust God with and we are struggling to maintain control of it ourselves. We won't submit or give it up. Or - there is some trait, or character flaw, or damaged emotion in us that needs to be rooted out. But we can't seem to see it. There are areas of stubbornness in all of us that we cling to. We resist. We cannot submit even though we may very clearly have the sense that we need to change, yield. We refuse. That's when God steps in to give us a hand. He loves us too much to leave us in this broken, sinful state. So he does the merciful thing. He turns up the heat. Huh? Did I just write that? Yes, I did. If that doesn't make any sense to you it's because you have been fed a pack of lies about the way God works. And now do we react? We begin to try to jump out of the fire. Fire is hot and it hurts like hell. We do not want to stay in it. Who would?

I think this is where a little understanding about what is happening goes a long way. There is pointless pain and then there is pain with a purpose. And God only practices the latter, never the former. My teacher always says you must understand the difference between being hurt and being harmed. God allows us to be hurt in this life. But he never allows harm to come to us. He has reassured us that nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from his love. Not ever. He also promises to be with us to the end of the age. How can we possibly experience harm given these promises? We can't. But we get plenty of hurt in this life. And the reason for that is so that we can be refined into pure gold.

I'm in a season of being refined by fire. I don't much like it and I don't know how long it's gonna last. Probably as long as I remain stubborn and unyielding, and given what I know about me, you might as well break out the marshmellows. The blaze will be burning for awhile. Pull up a log. Get comfortable. Start singing a couple rounds of Kum by yah. It's gonna be a long night....

I don't much like being refined. That's just the truth. But I am willing to stick it out. Because in the end I'd rather not be stuck with the impurities in my heart and soul. I realize that I can step out of this fire anytime I choose. But I'd rather trust in this:

1 Peter 1:6-7
"Now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Shalom!

Root Bound

Yesterday my husband and I engaged in a much over due work project.  We transplanted 2 very large climbing vines and a climbing rose bush which each occupy a corner of our pergola.  We planted these years ago when we completed our patio renovation project.  Because they are potted they do what potted plants eventually do~ they outgrow their pots.  They become root bound and unhealthy and then they begin to die.  Our plants had grown to the point that they were now winding thru the top of the pergola as planned, but they were clearly struggling.  I noticed this last year and I knew that we needed to repot them into bigger containers~ I just balked at the thought of it.  It was going to be a lot of work and expense.  And so I dragged my feet and ignored the difficult task at hand for a whole other season.  It cost me one of the vines.  By this spring, one of the jasmines was dead. So finally yesterday we did what we should have done a long time ago.  We tore into the too small pots and began to extract the vines amd the rose bush.  It was an ugly process.  They were severely root bound.  Once we managed to extract them ( breaking a few of the pots in the process), I began to take a shovel and beat the root ball in order to loosen and decompact the roots.  I had the thought as I was doing this that it might be painful for the plants.  But it needed to be done before we repotted them, so that the roots would have room to spread out and breathe.  The final step involved planting the new climbing rose bush I had purchased to replace the dead vine. We now have 2 jasmine vines and 2 Lady Banks climbing roses at the 4 corners of our pergola.  And for now- they are in pots which better suit their current size and can accommodate for more growth. Our lives are like my vines.  Often times we become root bound without even realizing it.  Though we may be cramped and uncomfortable, we cling to our familiar pot.  We realize how hard it will be, and how much effort it will take to be transplanted into a different sort of pot and so we resist being moved.  The problem is ~ if we resist too much, or too long, we begin to die and we may not even be aware of it. God is a better Gardner than I am.  It makes sense. He is the original garden designer, is He not?  He created a garden for his first children to live in.  Not a castle, not a fortress, not a Taj Mahal ~ but a garden.  And because He is a wonderful Gardner He never waits too long before He transplants us into new pots so that we will continue to grow and not die.  The Christian journey is not about being comfortable.  It is not about resting or remaining in a happy, comfortable pot.  It is about continual growth and transformation.  Thus, God breaks our old familiar pots, tears into our root bound souls, and transplants us into bigger containers where we can continue to grow.  And if He is successful with us, the process repeats itself over and over.  Much to the chagrin of the plant at times.... I, like my vines, am being repotted right now. And I don't like it one darn bit!   I like the pot I'm in, damn it!  I don't want to move.  And yet there is a sense in which if I do not yield to the Gardner and His will for my life I will die just like my unfortunate vine.  As I said ~ God is a much better Gardner than I am.  Though I despise this process of tearing apart my roots because it is painful and messy, God has looked at my life and determined that I need a bigger pot to grow in.  And so He has gone to work transplanting me.  I didn't have to give up my lovely, comfortable pot. The decision to allow God to move me was always mine.  I could cling to the familiar and resist the changes God is seeking to bring into my life.  Or I can trust Him that it is time to disturb my roots, tear them apart, and repot me into a container of His choosing.  It's not an easy choice.  But ultimately, for me~ there is only one. Shalom!