May
24
2014
Not Supposed To Be Here
Posted in Daily Living 4 Comments
A severe thunderstorm came through our county last night.
The sky grew very dark and ominous.
The wind kicked up.
The leaves turned over and showed their underside.
Children playing outside took cover.
There was no time to cover the plants that had just been potted.
There was no time to take down the hanging plants that were swaying furiously.
There was just enough time to close the patio umbrella so that it would not fly away.
Without warning, it began to hail.
Hail the size of golf balls pounding the roofs and skylights.
Hail that danced over the gutters playing percussion as part of its choreography.
Hail that lay on the ground; a coating of pseudo-snow in May.
Our little town fared better than most, though we did lose power.
We always do.
There we were, in the end of May, with balls of ice on the patio furniture.
It’s not supposed to be that way.
Did you ever think of how many, it’s not supposed to be that way, you experience?
Loved ones are not supposed to get sick.
Children are not supposed to die before their parents.
Marriages are not supposed to come to an end.
Politicians are not supposed to trample truth for the sake of re-election.
It’s not supposed not be this way.
Young people are not supposed to be trapped in a lifestyle of addictions.
Young girls are not supposed to hate their bodies and feel inadequate.
Young boys are not supposed to be lured by Internet pornography.
Young children are not supposed to be little adults, robotic-ally pushed through school.
Church is not supposed to be a country club.
People are not supposed to live with a consumer mentality.
Friends are not supposed to be just a number on a Facebook page.
Relationships are not supposed to be disposable.
Everyone can fill in the blanks of their own life.
Everyone has an, I’m not supposed to be here, time.
Jesus did.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
Jesus was not supposed to be here.
Jesus belonged in heaven, with His Father.
Jesus, who was without sin, did not deserve to suffer and die.
It was supposed to be us on that cross.
We complain when things are not the way they’re supposed to be.
We grumble when we have to wait and when we have to suffer.
We are angry when we don’t get what we want.
Jesus was silent, like a sheep before the shearers. (Isaiah 53:7)
Well, we’re not Jesus, many would say.
We certainly are not!
But if we are in Christ, we are being sanctified, made holy, every day.
We are being conformed more and more into His likeness.
That is a painful process at times.
We will go through many times of, I’m not supposed to be here.
It feels like you are walking around with two left feet.
It is living here, but longing for there.
I’m not supposed to be here.
If you feel that way, good!
You are becoming more and more like Jesus.
Living in the world but not of the world.
Passing through this place, making a difference for Him, but longing for Home.
The apostle, Peter, in his first letter, called us aliens and strangers in the world.
(1 Peter 2:11)
The writer of Hebrews said, For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:14)
We are not supposed to be here.
We were created for so much more.
That is the longing we all have that can never be satisfied.
You are not longing for something here that you don’t have.
You are longing for something there that you will have.
God put that longing in us, so that nothing truly satisfies us, except Him.
God is the missing piece we are all looking for.
Once you know that He is the missing piece, stillness comes over your soul.
You stop your searching, but you never stop your longing.
You do your Kingdom work here, but you long for Sabbath Rest there.
You love others well here, because you want them to know how to get there.
Your, I’m not supposed to be here, becomes, I am supposed to be here.
You are supposed to be here until He brings you Home.
Be still.
Let His peace wash over you.
Know that what you’re longing for is Him.
When you know that you’re not supposed to be here, it makes being here a bit better.
You know you are here, now, in this place, by God’s sovereign design.
He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:26-28)
We are supposed to be here.
We have work to do for His Kingdom.
Kingdom work so that others will know that here is just a temporary place.
Kingdom work so that others will know the Object of our longing.
Amen & Amen! Thanks for sharing Diane. If the world could know Him the way He wants us to know Him, what a better place this world would be. Christ really is our only way to a TRUE PEACE!
You are so right, Alan.
There is no peace apart from Him.
Nothing truly satisfies.
There will always be a longing that only He can fill.
Gina
So well said!
Thank you, Diane. I am delighted that you were blessed.
Gina