over the years

The worn hands that worked and froze and sweated for hours beyond imagining. 

The 62 year old wedding band. Solid gold. Won’t be broken. 

The pictures and people he points at and says of almost every face “gone.”

The pretty little lady in that ancient photo. She pipes up “I made that dress.”

Why I should spend more time with these people: they know life. Real life. They’re not worried about too much except that the cheese knife MUST go on the table with the cheese. 

After 80 years, they don’t keep too much. So what they do keep: pay close attention. 

The word. And close to heart. 

Each other. Until death do them part. 

And they keep going. Running the race before them. Looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. 

Lessons from Job - part 2

In grief, God is your treasure. “The magnificence of Job’s worship is because it was in grief, not because it replaced grief.” John Piper - Job: Reverent in Suffering

I didn't get this for the longest time. I struggled with suffering and worship. I felt guilty saying "Yes, God is good" and at the same time feeling the hurt, like crazy. I thought I was doing something wrong. I thought there was something I missed. If I knew the reasons for trusting God, and my faith was firm, why was this still hard?

Because it's the narrow road. It's promised trials. Knowing the purpose, and having the faith doesn't make running this race any less of a race, or any less of a climb. We're still going to run out of breath. We're still going to ache and grieve in exhaustion.

We are promised suffering. And we are promised Christ. Sometimes I wonder why I keep on doing the 'right things' even though it's not the key to making these trials feel less like trials. It's still a full blown trial with every bit of grief and hurt and sadness, but not alone. Not just grief, but God. Not just sadness, but joy too in looking to Jesus. Not just suffering, but faith. Do you see it? It's hope. Hope makes you 'walk through the valley of the shadow of death'. Without hope, you'd probably just set up camp there.

“Let those who suffer according to God’s will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator”
1 Peter 4:19

Lessons from Job - part 1

"Suffering is not dispensed willy-nilly among the people of God. It is apportioned to us as individually designed, expert therapy by the loving hand of our great Physician. And its aim is that our faith might be refined, our holiness might be enlarged, our soul might be saved, and our God might be glorified." - John Piper, Job: Rebuked in Suffering

Our Father disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - Hebrews 12:10–11