My mother had a beautiful young friend who babysat for us when I was a girl. She was one of those rare souls who loved purely and simply, who readily shared a smile and laughter even while she was hiding her own pain. Her life was cut short by cancer, but she blessed all who knew her, even for a time. She injured her knee playing basketball and while trying to treat the injury, the doctors discovered an aggressive form of bone cancer.
She survived multiple amputations, and at one point, had my mother laughing uncontrollably because she came home to find her friend sitting cross-legged on the sofa, wagging the crutch which served as her temporary prosthetic on which she had placed a baby shoe. She told my mother than even after her leg was removed, she still felt her toes, and talk about an itch you can’t scratch! That was how she processed life. If God was in it, and she was confident that He was to the very end, then everything would be alright. Her cup was always overflowing, no matter how it might have looked.
For some, it’s easier to see what’s missing than what’s present. Family gatherings after a loss, an empty nest, a barren womb, an estranged relationship- our tendency is to focus on what or who is absent rather than on being present where we are and with whom in this moment. We often remove ourselves from our circumstances by being constantly absorbed in a task, busy on our devices, or lost in whatever is currently streaming in our ears. We can be so distracted by what’s going on in our own heads that we miss the person sitting across from us desperate for a smile or a word of kindness.
The Bible holds out Job as the model for love and loss, for all who suffer unjustly, and even for those whose friends turn against them. Job seems to have been given everything only to have it ripped away from him suddenly. We aren’t left wondering what he’s thinking because he holds nothing back, but throughout the book, we are assured that Job acts with integrity time and time again. On the day of his great loss, he worships God straightaway. When any of us would have been overcome with grief and laid on our beds sobbing or railing, Job worshipped.
”Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.“
Job 1:20-22 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/job.1.20-22.ESV
How is this possible? I am struck by Job’s awareness of God’s sovereignty. ”I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.“ (Job 42:2 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/job.42.2.ESV) Isaiah echoes this same confidence in God.
”“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.“
Isaiah 55:8-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.55.8-11.NLT
To be eternally-minded is to be God-focused, and we cannot unless the Holy Spirit is alive in us, well-nourished by the Word of God.
”And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus.
There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?”
They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
There were about twelve men in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.“
Acts 19:1-8 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/act.19.1-8.ESV
Some days I am so focused on checking off items on my to do list that I can walk by someone I know without really seeing them. Other times I can be so lost in reverie, or working out details inside my head, that I hear my husband’s words but they don’t register and I need to ask him to repeat them. I have been guilty of living too much in the future or the past, but I asked the Lord a long time ago to help me live in the moment. I want to be fully present with those He’s chosen to cross my path. Sure, there are times I forget. I sometimes get distracted. Life is complicated, but rather than waste time trying to figure it all out, I’m learning to surrender the details to almighty God.
”For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.
For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.“
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.17-18.NLT
”For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.
May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.“
Hebrews 13:14-16, 20-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.13.14-21.NLT
A Fitting Reply 