Thank You Sir, May I Have Another

Have you figured out that in the Kingdom things seem to be upside down. I am convinced the closer our walk with God becomes the more we start to notice how opposite He is from the world we live in. God is trying to teach me something and I am slowly starting to listen. His world is other.

God is clear He wants all of me. The struggle for me then becomes. How much of my life am I willing to submit to Him? I ask God to fill me with His presence and He is always willing, but He understands better than I that the process at best can be a little uncomfortable and at times even down right painful. 

Here is one of the ways God is other. The world is all about pain avoidance. It promotes comfort, quick fixes and raising to top as quickly as possible and if you cut a few corners or walk over a few people on the way, so be it. God calls us to lay down our lives. A process that involves dying to self. But somehow in God's economy when we die to self we actually find life. Doesn't really jive with the typical day to day message we hear in the world. But maybe we need to listen with a different ear.

Last night on Lost. If you are not watching this show be reminded, God's grace is sufficient. Sawyer and Locke are having a conversation. Sharing a quick, not exact summary here. Sawyer is questioning Locke about some past events and the pain and discomfort they created for Locke. Sawyer basically says, "Don't you wish you had made a different decision and avoided the pain it caused. Locke's answer is "other".  He responds, "No, because I would not be where I am today." He understood that, discomfort for a time ended up being life giving.

Last night I picked up some anti-inflammatory cream for my elbow that a Dr had prescribed. I rubbed it on before I went to bed and this stuff lite me up. I thought my flesh was burning from the inside out and literally could not sleep for the majority of the night. I called the Pharmacist this morning wondering why he would give me battery acid in a tube to rub on a already aching elbow. He explained how the medicine worked to block pain receptors and said something very interesting. "This is going to sound counter intuitive, (ding-ding) but what you need to do when the pain gets to intense is put some more cream on." I am thinking, "are you nuts, I just lost a night of sleep because I put this cream on my elbow, and you are telling me the thing that cased the pain will actually help relive the pain if I put more on. Sounds like a bad plan to me.

His instruction was "other". It made no sense and I did not want to follow his directions. But I also want my elbow to heal. For two months I have had no relief with methods that were comfortable. So this morning I followed his advice even though I did not want to and so far it has not been as bad as it was last night. 

What if the pain we feel sometimes, even the pain we feel that is God inflicted, is pain that might lead to healing. What if God loves us so much, He would be willing to let us experience pain and that pain was our path to healing and wholeness. That my friend is other. It is counter intuitive. 

God's ways are not our ways. I tend to forget that some days. God is eternal and He sees through a  totally different lens. I believe God understands, a little pain that can move us closer to Him, to wholeness, healing and dependence on a loving God is well worth it in the long run.

Peace,todd