Waiting for takeoff
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12)
Here's what I believe. I believe that when we accept Jesus and he recreates our dead spirit, God makes us into what He originally thought us to be. I believe we become realigned with that part of Him we're called to represent to the rest of the world. Because of original sin (Adam and Eve, etc.), we were and are and forever will be something other than what God wanted when He created us (an understatement if ever there was one). And so Jesus comes and provides a substitutionary--more than archetypical--life and death for us, the gift of reconnection has been made possible for the asking and receiving. It really is simple as that. God wanted you. He loves you. He made you. You're here! Yay. I might have an imagination on me, but I can't surmise any better way to be than who I see myself as in light of Him. All of the hell we perceive and assume (and go through) prior to salvation is but one side of the gateway. This is why there's suffering. This is why there's war and famine and disease. I am uniquely blessed to live in a country where my creative ambitions can be (and are) given voice. The Gospel, however, seems to do its best work in the darkest of places. And just because I live in a "free" country doesn't mean there aren't pockets of darkness to navigate through. I digress. The hard work of "working out our own salvation with fear and trembling" is like planting a seed, knowing it's there beneath the surface, realizing it has to die prior to springing forth--and then waiting. What are we getting at? I would say that a lot of the suffering after salvation is akin to a seed breaking through the earth while reaching for the sky. Belief is hard work. Faith is pressing through where everything around you says to quit and go it alone. To fly blind (no such thing).
"For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons (and daughters) unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:10)
That word "captian" is arkaygos in Greek. It's translated as "author" later on in the epistle to the Hebrews (12:2): "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." The whole point of having been "thought up" by the Lord is herein. Helmed, even. Jesus is the captain. The pilot. The author. And when it says "for whom are all things, and by whom are all things", we see that we make up a necessary and integral part of God's Person. We're not called "the body of Christ" for nothing. God took a piece of Him, and made us. And then He remade us after we were irreparably broken.
Real quick: when you see a row of space between words that flows down through several lines, it's called a typographic river.
The Gravity
To kern letters in typesetting means to adjust their spacing. To move them further apart, or closer, whatever. To kern, botanically speaking, simply means to produce seeds. While they shallowly may not share the same root--etymologically speaking--dig deeper and I'm sure you'll find correlation. With reference to the boustrophedon parallel from yesterday, and the ox analogy. Look at what Paul says to the Corinthians: "For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn..." (1 Corinthians 9:9) While Paul might be talking about making one's living by preaching the Gospel (in other words, financially supporting our pastors and ministers), a wider way of seeing it is simply enjoying ourselves in spite of hard labor. Any creative endeavor takes hard work and persistence. At times, it can feel like we're drilling down (or up) through concrete. And what about just enjoying ourselves for its own sake? Anything we do, be it creative or pastoral or religious or secular should be done as unto the Lord. "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." (Colossians 3:18) I firmly believe that the joy that comes from doing the simplest, most mundane tasks--while steeped in the presence of God--is of more value than any vocation we would carve out for ourselves bereft of God's love and presence. Paul continues "...doth God care for oxen? (He seems to: see Jonah 4:11) Or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope." (9-10) In other words, what are we getting at? What's the point of having done anything for God at all? After He gives us the kernel of salvation, remaking us into who we originally were prior to the fall, what can we do? Really, the answer is look what we get to do. We have the privelege of living as unto the Lord. And anything that speaks to our heart, in a beautiful way, is God stirring us up to grow us into who He wants us to be. Who, I can guarantee you, we're most happy to be in light of Him.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (John 15:7-8)
God the Father really has no reason to withhold anything good from us. Why? He gave us salvation and aims to give us everything else we need. Being "justified by faith" realizes this: that without God, I am nothing, I am non-existent. But with Him? "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things." (Romans 8:32)
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man (and woman) that trusteth in thee." (Psalm 84:11-12)
The more you press in to God, the more you'll see who He sees you as.
Reach for the sky