What is it Like to be You?

We’ve all played “ice breaker” games with a group of people who we may know very little about. It’s a great way to get to know each other in a very open environment. But, instead of the usual questions: “What do you do for fun? What was your most embarrassing moment? What was your favorite vacation?”, what if this question were asked: “What is it like to be you?”

I assure you – it would depend on how we felt physically, mentally, socially, economically, relationally, and spiritually on that given day. If we felt good – no real aches or pains; if we were calm and at peace in our souls; if we were in a happy place with our spouse or friends; loved our job, and if we were in a right place with God, our answer may be something like: “It is great to be me because I am healthy, my family loves me, I have great friends, an awesome job, and God is so good to me!”

Good answer -- on a good day! And, if it were a faith confession of "speaking of things that be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17) -- it would still be a good answer. I may have answered it differently last week after recovering from a minor surgery. I developed an excruciating, painful skin issue. Having cloth of any kind next to my skin hurt beyond explanation (good thing I was alone). If I had been asked “What is it like to be you?”, though I would have tried desperately to describe myself in a faith-filled, upbeat, hallelujah voice, if I were honest to the bone, I would have told you that I felt miserable and in pain like I have never known. Being me would have come down to what I felt in that one season of time. I thought how I have taken my good health for granted. I thought about those who were living their lives without a thought about how good they feel and for those who were in far more pain than I was in. But fast forward to today when there is no more pain and suffering, I’d tell you “My life is like birds singing, bells ringing, blue skies, raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and walking on sunshine.”

This experience made me realize that I don’t want to take God and His blessings for granted in any way. God is good. Really, really, really good…..all the time!" Nothing that comes our way in this one life, is surprising to God. Why He allows us to experience tough times is up to Him – there is always a reason. Whether or not we understand His reasons, we must remember that God is good, just, loving, and merciful. When bad things happen to us that we simply don't understand, instead of doubting God’s goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5–6). I was saying that scripture a lot last week.

The best news of all is this one life here on earth is short-lived in light of eternity. It is the ensuring that whatever this life looks like here is nothing to be compared to what our lives will look like in heaven. As it has been written: "What no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and has not entered into heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

So, in reply to “What is it like to be you?”, I’m saying it is a blessed life of living one day at a time, embracing each and every moment of it, celebrating that I’m a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In sickness and in health, in death, we will never part….because He’s prepared a heavenly place for me……and YOU! And, then, when asked "What is it like to be you?", our answer will always...for eternity be...."HEAVENLY!"

Rose Gardens Need a Little Rain

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk in the morning and the sun was so bright coming through my office window from the East, that I had to move my computer. Then in the afternoon, the dark clouds were looming in the East. Rain was on its way. This has been an unusual summer. Though we have had some blistering temperatures, we have also had more rain than usual. I've learned not to complain about the heat, the cold or rain, because, here in Oklahoma, it's subject to change daily. We might as well.....go with the flow!

Isn't that like our personal "climates", too? One day we are bright with a sunny disposition. Things are going our way -- even the lights are turning green before we get to them. And, another day, it's cloudy, rainy with thunderstorms overtaking us. The thrills of that "shout-hallelujah" victory can be overtaken by that "woe is me"
agony of defeat.

It's inevitable that there will be ups and downs in our lives. Country Music singer, Lynn Anderson, made the song "Rose Garden" famous. The lyrics were: “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometime.”

When we read the writings of the Apostle Paul, we might think that he and Lynn Anderson were singing the same song. Paul talked a lot about suffering, but he also talked a lot about the peace of God. He was talking about a calm that comes because of God's love for us. The calm that comes even when the storm clouds gather. Paul even had the audacity to tell us to "rejoice in our sufferings"! He said in Romans 3:3-5 "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Are you kidding me? We're supposed to rejoice in our sufferings -- from being hospitalized because of an illness, to going through a divorce, to be faced with a bankruptcy, to dealing with the death of a loved one, to losing a job -- we are supposed to rejoice in those sufferings? He didn't mean for us to go "Hip hip hooray! I've lost my job; my husband passed away; the creditors are taking my car!" No, no, no. Instead, he meant that suffering is a part of life. No matter how many times we complain that life is not fair, Paul wants us to know that suffering (a little rain) is the part of our lives that helps us grow to those hope-filled people of character and determination.

What Lynn Anderson's song doesn't tell us, and what Paul wanted so desperately for us to know, is that our God loves us so much that He promised never to leave us alone. Yes, the rain comes AND suffering comes, but with God, we'll receive patient endurance. And patience leads to character. And character leads to hope. And hope will not disappoint us. That's a mighty fine recipe for pulling us from the darkest of times, to the sunshiniest times EVER. That's when we'll be singing "I'm walking on sunshine (whoa oh)! And don't it feel good!"