Blessings

I recently heard a song for the first time that moved me to tears. The song is called Blessings and the artist is Laura Story. I was listening to the lyrics and contemplating how God's greatest gifts often come in the most bewildering packages: babies loved and longed for, lost before taking a breath. Loving fathers suddenly taken out of children's lives. Devoted mothers loosing the cancer battle while trying to find ways to help their young children remember them. Dynamic people of faith killed by seemingly random events. Natural disasters wiping entire towns off the map. Beautiful young ladies killed in car wrecks before even getting a driver's license. Brilliant young men with voices lost in the sea of autism. Sweet innocent toddlers whose bodies are racked with the pains of degenerative disease. All these and more can cause us to shake our fists at God and demand explanation, or worse, turn our backs to him and refuse to listen. But as I have discovered, we learn very little when life is easy, times are good, bodies are healthy, and fears are few. The sovereignty of God is one of the absolute hardest and most painful lessons I ever had to learn, and it is one that He reiterates on occasion. It is not by any means pleasant or fun when those "lesson reviews" come. But remember that Romans 8:28 tells us "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Notice that this passage does not tell us that all things ARE good, it says that in all things GOD WORKS for our good. He uses circumstances in our lives to bring us closer to Him, to teach us His most important lessons, and to bring glory and honor to himself. One of my favorite illustrations of this was a scene I saw once in a movie. A character in the movie had been devastated and her heart hardened by terrible things that had happened in her life. She resisted any attempts to share the word of God and was hostile and hateful to the main character. In the climactic moment she grabbed a stunningly beautiful stained glass picture and threw it to the floor, shattering it into a million pieces and declared "this is my life. This is what happened to me. You can't fix it. No one can fix it. It will never be the same again." She then stormed off in angry tears. Later in the movie, the main character presented her with a gift. He had gathered up the pieces of the stained glass picture and formed them together into a stunningly beautiful vase. The symbolism was so beautiful. The exact same materials which made up the picture, now made up an object of completely different form and function, something which could never have existed had the picture not been shattered. The message is clear. God uses our most painful and most difficult experiences to break us in order that we can be molded and shaped into something new, something more wonderful, more beautiful, more useful, and more reflective of His great grace and redemption. Consider the lyrics in Miss Story's song: "What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near? What if the trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?" As I listened to the song I wept. I considered the words for days afterward. I thought of an area near my home where several weeks ago trains passing by sparked fires along the highway. For several miles along the road the ground was streaked with areas of charred blackened earth amidst the dry grasses of the last season. It looked horrible, ugly, and wasted in the days after the fire. But as days turned to weeks, winter gave way to spring, the sun warmed and rains began to fall, I watched something emerge. The areas which were burned are now the most vibrant lush green grass anywhere in the area. The areas which remained untouched by the fire are still brown and dead looking, the fresh growth straining to push up through the remains of the old. The fire, which was frightening and menacing, which fire fighters rushed to stop, was the mechanism God used to rid the land of the old, the dead, the encumbering leftovers from the past, and to prepare it to receive his life giving rain and sunshine. It was the destructive force of the fire that prepared the way for the creative powers of God to be displayed. God works this way in our lives also. When we are faced with our hardest challenges, our most difficult struggles, our most painful experiences, it is then that God is most at work. He is preparing our hearts, burning off the dross to make way for new and greater blessings. It is during these times that we do well to remember the last verses of Romans 8: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble of hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?....No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Facebook and the Body of Christ

While I am at work, I have a lot of time to think. While I cook, clean, do dishes, etc. my mind tends to wonder over many kinds of things. I sing songs that are stuck in my head, I spend time praying, and I contemplate things that are going on in my life. Things that trouble me, things that bring me joy, things that have happened, and things I look forward to. Tonight, as I considered the year gone by and the one just beginning, I found myself once again pondering….you guessed it…Facebook!

I know, I know, I've been yakking way to much about this subject lately. Perhaps I am one of those people you joke about who cares too much about social networking. But what has me troubled this time is a little different than what I've ranted about in the past. What got it all started for me this time was that "contest" that Wal-Mart put together in which people were asked to vote for their own community in order to determine which cities would receive portions of a huge sum of money Wal-Mart was giving to help the hungry. Had you heard about this one? The voting ended this afternoon (thank goodness). It had people posting insane numbers of wall posts on face book pages, begging their friends to click like and vote, and go to this page and vote, and click, and vote, and click click click, vote vote vote.

Now please, don't get me wrong. I know that hunger is a huge problem lurking in our communities all over our country. It is a serious problem, and one that deserves our attention. I am thankful that Wal-Mart was willing to throw a drop in their bucket of massive profits toward the issue. But it was by no means an altruistic effort. Turning the effort into a giant contest just made it distasteful to me. Hey Wal-Mart, if you want to help the community, just help the community! If you want to contribute to charity, just contribute! Don't cheapen the issue by making it into some cheesy Facebook game.

Perhaps I am just jaded. But do you remember back when women were asking each other to post the colors of their bras and the location of their purses to support breast cancer? How about when people were changing their profile pictures to cartoon characters and claiming that it was an effort to end child abuse? Come ON people! Use your BRAINS! Think this through, will you? What on EARTH difference is it going to make in any of these issues that you posted something on Facebook? Really? I think we are smarter than that. What disturbs me is that these silly games come along and make people feel good about themselves, as if they have actually done something good and positive in the world. "Who me? Oh yeah, I'm a good person! I support breast cancer research. I posted my bra color on Facebook. I've done my part." We have given people vehicles with which to alleviate their social guilt without actually DOING anything. And in the process, we have cheapened the very social issues we claim to be trying to support.

I wonder, how many of the people who played along with these silly games ever actually sat by the bedside of a bald friend as she struggled to survive? How many participated in a fundraising event or even dug into their own pocket and donated? How many brought meals to a grieving family after cancer claimed another life? How many people who posted cartoon characters on their profile ever interceded for a child who was being abused? How many ever called CPS to protect a child in danger? How many ever volunteered at Big Brothers Big Sisters? How many ever took a struggling young parent under their wing and helped them learn how to cope with stress and anger?

And of the people who harassed everyone they know about clicking and voting to help the hungry, how many do you suppose have ever volunteered time serving at a soup kitchen? How many actually went to Wal-Mart and bought food items and donated them to a local food pantry? How about any time of the year OTHER than Thanksgiving or Christmas? How many ever dug into their own finances to see what they could give to feed others?

Now I'm not saying that it was wrong to play along with these little Facebook games, or that those who did so were bad people. Far from it. What I am saying is that if we really truly care about these and other social issues in our communities, we will be working parallel to that in ways that are real and tangible. We will do things that require our time, attention, presence, and maybe at times our money. We will get out from behind our keyboards and get out there and get shoulder to shoulder with each other and do the work it takes to make our world better!
While I was thinking about all these things, it stung me that I am just as guilty of complacency as anyone. I have never been to a soup kitchen, worked with those less fortunate, or given of myself and my time to help people in times of crisis. But the Lord says, in Matthew chapter 25, "'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." and "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

So my resolution for 2011 is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I will seek and find ways to give of myself, of my time, talents, and blessings, to help those who need help. I will get out from behind my computer, and out from behind my bible, and I will get real. I will get physical. I will get emotional. I will put the weight of my convictions into action! Will you join me? Consider these lyrics from the song "If We Are the Body" by Casting Crowns:

We are the Body of Christ
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?