Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


5.08.2005  

Mommy's Day

Just got off the phone with my Mommy. That's a good thing, considering it's Mother's Day. The strange thing about that? She called me, not the other way around. Understand, however, that I don't feel guilty about that; after all, who calls their mother at 7 in the morning on Mother's Day? Certainly not I! She didn't call for Mother's Day, anyway. She was calling to encourage me with some things she'd been reading lately...yeah, my Mommy rocks :)

One of the things that came to mind while we conversed was the conviction that my life is not mine. As she spoke, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's teaching on costly discipleship rustled through my brainwaves, and I thought about the various ways I declare to the Lord that He is not Lord of my life. *Sigh*. It seems to me as though He's removing much of the blindness in my heart and showing me a greater degree of my sin than ever before. Yet, as I was telling Andrew yesterday, I find that as I venture back in my mind to gaze upon seemingly insurmountable prior seasons of life, an encouraging grain of truth is revealed. Those seasons, difficult as they were, had me heavily in fetters; yet this season, although it in some ways surpasses those prior in its uncertainty and discouragement, does not seem to hamper me quite so horribly. Mom said it's because I'm growing...that's funny, 'cause I think I actually lost some weight. (Yeah, isn't that horrible, Scott?)

I told Mom that she was reminding me of something I told some of the youth at our Galatians study on Wednesday. (We've finally gotten through verse three after four weeks...woohoo!) Paul, when writing his epistles to the other churches, would include in the greeting some sort of praise to God for or affirmation of the faithfulness of those to whom he wrote. Ephesians: "To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus." Philippians: "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all..." Colossians: "To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae..." The other churches that Paul wrote to received some sort of affirmation as well, yet Galatians included no such greeting. But what was the reason of Paul's pained writing? It was not to condemn; rather, his severe tone was one that was meant to restore them to the grace and peace that was given to them in Christ! That was his ultimate purpose, for the Galatian church had embraced a distorted view of the gospel.

Paul sees beyond their current circumstance and was writing with a passion borne of having beheld the glory of God that is revealed in Christ. He writes having known that the Galatians have beheld the same glory, yet have turned away from it into darkness once more. There is a Godly sorrow and hope that intermingles in his writing, for he knows that the Galatians have within their callous hearts the eternal hope of the gospel. Therefore, it is through a passionate conveyance of such sadness and hope that Paul hopes to enflame their hearts once more with the glorious hope of the gospel.

That's how I described the state of my heart to my Mom. There's a hope that goes beyond the current circumstance and a sorrow that intermingles sweetly with that hope. In fact, as I step back and see all that the Lord is doing, what I'm struck by is how much the Lord uses all this junk to orchestrate something far greater than I could ever imagine. Indeed, it's glorious :)

Oh, one more thing. Yesterday, Andrew was describing certain characteristics of a group of individuals who shall remain nameless. He said that they consider themselves very fashion-conscious, and that many of them work at Abercrombie & Fitch. My immediate response was, I must confess, one of wry amusement: "How the heck in the world can they consider themselves fashion-conscious when they work at Abercrombie?!?!?!?!" Uch was, to say the least, quite amused ;)

posted by Bolo | 2:01 PM
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