Picket Fences and Rainbows, Part Three

I enjoyed hearing from a few of you concerning things you believed made you a "good Christian." Some of your comments made me laugh, and others brought back some pretty strong and ugly memories. On the light side, many of you share my extreme dislike of hose and culottes. But one of the most hurtful things I heard concerned the treatment of women.

One reader wrote: "How about women are to be seen and not heard? Or women should never question a man in authority, pastor, husband, Sunday school teacher....ANY MAN for that matter! Obey and never ask why!!" In some families, this applied to any male in the family over the age of twelve! And in many, many churches, women could not prayer or read scripture if a male was in the audience. This puzzles me because God treats each of us as His children, and the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us.

Suffice it to say that many of the things we did in the name of being a good Christian really messed with our thought patterns and attitudes. A friend shared an article on Facebook this morning pointing out some of the common issues. Here's the link: The Sad Twisted Truth About Conservative Christianity's Effect on the Mind. And the promise that all will be well if we were "good kids" and "rejoiced always" and "praised the Lord anyway" fell through and hit the depths of our heart with a sickening and resounding thud.

We grew up. And some marriages failed. And some of our children turned away from God. And bad things happened. Not just a few bad things, and not just little things, but huge life-altering, OH GOD, WHY? things, one on top of another. And the picket fences broke and the paint peeled, and cancer, and sickness and death happened, and debts came, and the rainbows hid behind dark clouds or ended in the yard of some awful low life that didn't deserve the blessing like you did. Why? Why? Why?

And then, the Holy Spirit gently reminds us of the good things that actually do come from the source that all those long sermons and empty promises of our childhood claimed to use but messed up: God's Living Word. 

I Corinthians 4:7-12 (ESV). 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Pleasing God has nothing to do with wearing hose, cutting hair, working ourselves silly, and going to church every Sunday. It has everything to do with His provision and grace. We suffer because we live in a sinful, imperfect world as sinful, imperfect people, where the effects of sin cause bad, imperfect terrible things to happen. But God, says that he fills these sinful, imperfect vessels or "jars of clay" with treasure. Showing that He gives us the good things, and that we can not earn them. It's just Him. That's all. Period. 

So, where are our picket fences and rainbows? In I Corinthians 4, we read in verses 16 through 18:

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Our picket fences and rainbows come on this earth in the smile of a friend, the warmth of a child's hug, and for me-chocolate. 
But our eternal "picket fences and rainbows" wait ahead in Heaven, where all our struggles and worries will seem as silly and transient as the tears of a toddler crying over a perceived injustice. 

We have just a short time here in this imperfect, sinful, temporary world. Our destination is perfect, timeless, and forever! What now seems so monumental and virtually unbearable (and it is as long as we are here) will dissipate. Glory is ahead. We shall see Him! We won't even need picket fences, and the rainbows will circle the throne of God! 

That's a wonderful promise, something to really hold on to take us through these awful times. Heaven is waiting! 

Looking ahead!

Teapotjan

No Egg Shells in My Tea or on My Path

As I was chatting with a friend this morning, he mentioned a mutual acquaintance whose preaching had always been "cold and hard." And as I thought back to many of the sermons I heard, I realized that they fit that same description-cold and hard. Preachers listing sin after sin, pitfall after pitfall, painting a picture of our Savior sitting in Heaven constantly weeping over our failure to comply with God's standard of perfection. 

I felt as if the Christian life compared to walking on eggshells trying not to break any of them. Then, when one fragile shell met its doom forward progress stopped until we had repaired or replaced that shell, all the while trying not to break the ones where we were standing. It was sooooooo hard to be a good Christian all the time. But God is gooooood and He will deliver us from the eggshel. . . I mean sins. What kind of a joyous life can we live when that is our mindset? No wonder so many Christians looked like they just smelled rotten eggs. 

Guess what? If we have accepted Christ's gift of salvation we have already been delivered from our sins. It's a done deal. So our Christian pathway isn't littered with egg shells. Yes, we do need to be careful along our way to not veer off our path and stomp on the egg shells alongside us. But, no, we do not have to carefully tiptoe along so as not to upset our Creator. He wants us to keep our eyes on Him, and we can't do that if we have to look down and watch our step all the time. He's leading us and showing us the way. It's when we are not looking at Him that we'll be making scrambled eggs on the side of the road.

Life isn't easy for anyone. Christians and non-Christians alike suffer trials, and pitfalls, and terrible things. The difference? We have a God who leads us, and when we do crush an eggshell, He replaces for us as soon as we ask. 

I've come to the conclusion that the Christian life isn't a struggle. It's regular life that's a struggle. He told us that His burden is easy. So no more acting like walking on eggshells for me. I'll trust His guidance, and let His voice tell me when I have wandered off the path He has laid for my feet.

Skipping down the path!
Teapotjan