Blahh Humbug or Beautiful Happiness?

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness; and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said; it is enough, now, O LORD take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.  I Kings 19:4

 Elijah felt sorry for himself. After great bravery and demonstrating God's magnificent power before the people who were drawn into worshipping the false god Baal, then slaying all the false prophets, he became frightened when his life was threatened by the evil Queen Jezebel. He ran for his life and asked God to take him away.

We might think to ourselves after reading this. "Oh Elijah, how could you?"

We could never think such a thing, could we? 

The day after Christmas, I felt so blahh humbuggish. (My new term for the after Christmas blues.) It was dreary and gloomy and now that the holiday was over there was the usual letdown. Plus the fact that Christmas is forever different now with Dad's homegoing To make things worse, when my husband came home that night we got into a little argument over the stupidest thing and he went off to bed and we hadn't really resolved it. So I stewed and went to bed early myself.

The next day, it continued to be gloomy and miserable and my attitude had not changed either. I felt terrible, but started to listen a message on Psalm 139.

Oh LORD thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou dost understand my thought from afar off   (verse 1,2)

Didn't God know that I would fail in arguing with my husband on December 26th? Didn't He understand the world and all its bad news, and the gloom of the day outside? 

For there is not a word on my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. (verses 4,5)

My despair started to lighten when I thought about how much He loves me, right here and now, not before I am sinlessly perfect but in my weakness and failure. That's what He came here for. For people who fail constantly. He came to be the perfect Person and stand in our place when God had to punish our sin.

I also thought of the greatness of His power as He knit me together in my mother's womb and created all the trillions of cells that would make my human body. (verse 13) What kind of God could plan such a wonderful machine as our human bodies?

I cannot escape from His love, no matter how I feel. Even as I age, I do not have to fear for He will still be my God then, even as He is right now.

Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs will I carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. Isaiah 46:4 

In the message, I was reminded that He was the One who created me, who understands me better than I understand myself. And I have this gift called eternal life. Even if I feel blahh humbug, right here, right now I have eternal life through my relationship with Jesus Christ.

What more could anyone want? We watch and read stories of rich and famous people. People who have everything their heart could desire.But just like Charlie Brown said, they aren't happy.  It is not enough. It will never be enough. 

Deep down, that One who made us and knows how each one of us ticks, is the only One who will (or even can) fill our craving souls. Most men are searching for happiness and it is right there, if only they would reach for it.

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

"so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." Acts 17:26-27

Suddenly I had this joy in my heart, a feeling of beautiful happiness. Even if the day is gray and gloomy, I have Christ, and the hope of a bright future which no man can take away from me. 

Anyone reading this post who does not yet know Jesus can have this same gift simply by receiving by faith the free gift of salvation that He stands waiting to share with you. You can start the new year of 2017 with a brand new faith and a hope that will last forever.

 

The Real Truth about Old Age

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." II Cor. 4:16-17


My outward man is perishing. I know it, I feel it in my bones. A new pain in my back seems to have made itself unwelcome, I can't keep up with the rapid pace at which my colored hair turns gray again, and most alarming of all, I've had little slips in my mind here and there. I hate to even admit it.

I think to myself, I don' t have the strength and vitality that I had even ten years ago. And I see my dear mother, who cries nearly every day about not being able to "get back" to where she was. She mourns it. But it's all a part of life, a life that can still be worthwhile, in spite of the fall of man in the garden and the subsequent curse.

 The above verse from II Corinthians tells me the real truth about old age. It does not have to be a b####. Our outward man perishes.The word for perish in the Greek lexicon is Strong's #1311, diaphtheiro. It means: to rot thoroughly, to ruin, corrupt, destroy, perish.

A seemingly unpleasant thought: we all have an appointment with death (unless we're  part of the Rapture generation). I recently read a classic book about the Civil War  called House Divided.  Over and over it described battlefields where bodies rotted and left a stench. How they suffered  in that "rich man's war."

I never really thought about the horror of the battlefield. But our very life is a battle, a battle with sin and death. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we get the great privilege of sharing  His great victory over it. He graciously removed its bitterness  and took away its stinger.

"O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?" I Cor. 15:55

If I grow in grace and knowledge of Him I don't have to fear death, or even fear old age. One time I snapped a picture of my aged father with his head held back, and eyes closed as he listened to my sister play Christmas music on her violin. I calligraphied a verse for him along with the photo:

"Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear,
Even I will carry, and I will deliver you." Isaiah 46:4

Old age is a part of God's plan. Paul says our life is a light affliction. How could he say that when he was stoned, whipped, imprisoned, shipwrecked, hunted down as a criminal and ended up with his head in a basket? We must conclude then that cancer, heart disease, strokes and broken bones and even broken minds can be just a light affliction. If we take His great salvation, this magnificent promise helps us endure and even flourish through all of life's trials.

We talked about the brevity of  life yesterday. Dad reminded us we're already in eternity, even here and now. When we cross over from this life to the next, we'll realize our entire time here was just a tiny speck on an endless line. That makes life, pain, and suffering bearable. We are only strangers passing through.