Cycles and Circles, But…
In the midst of a forgettable podcast, I rose to catch the bait of an interesting chain of thought. I ran it back and listened a couple of times and here, to my recollection, is the gist of the idea.
Good times create weak people
Weak people create hard times
Hard times create strong people
Strong people create good times
If there is any truth in those lines, life might look like a looping play filled with a rotating cast of characters caught in a spin cycle. This may be one of those principles in search of examples, but on its face carries some truth. However, it is more descriptive than determinative of some times in life and in history.
Any normal person, faith-based or not, wants both to be strong in character while living in good times. No one I know looks forward to adversity, and I can't imagine anyone aspiring to becoming a weak person. Sometimes hard times do indeed come about as a result of poor leadership or inattention to trends that predict danger ahead when at present, times are good. On the other hand, nations, businesses, churches all tend to cycle up and down, good and bad, strong and weak.
In the midst of hard times, when we hope strong people will grow and emerge, folks of faith can wonder, "Where is God in all this?" Even in difficulties of our own making, faith can waver and trust can wander. While we may not blame God for our circumstances, we come close to that mindset. The difference lies in the God we follow. We might ask some version of these questions:
Why this?
Why me?
Why now?
In the midst of our messes Jesus isn't wringing his hands, hoping events even out and life get easier. I believe this is true because of the character and attributes of God that are echoed throughout scripture. A fine example of this can be found in Ephesians when two words resound into the void of hopeless times, "But God".
I remember the first time those two words drilled into my heart, and it was some years after I started my faith journey. Reading the letter to the Ephesian church, dictated by Paul while in prison in Rome, I got to what we have as the 2nd chapter. I knew the passage and had even taught it a few times, but this time, sitting in my closet/office at the church where I was interning, it looked completely new to me. Listen to the verses:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This is one of those bad-news/good-news contrasts one occasionally comes across.
The first paragraph vividly describes our spiritual state apart from God: dead. And there is no way around the Idea ... dead means dead. Spiritually unable to do anything enough to outlive our nature. That first sentence, even though it reads a bit archaic to the modern ear, carries a clear message: In terms of being right with God, no amount of good works, or selfless acts of kindness, or religious devotion can overcome my deadness. That's the bad news.
"But God" rings out like a ringing bell in still air, not just good news but GOOD NEWS!
His very nature of mercy and love drives him to reach to us
God does not wait for us to get better, but does life-giving work while we are still a mess
Because of Jesus, we are made alive with the intent for us to be with God
And positionally, in God's eyes, we are already established as citizens of his kingdom, safe at home
We live now and forever as trophies of his grace and love for all to see for all time
We may live in good times or in hard times, But God.
We might be led by strong leaders or corrupt ones, But God.
Your life might be wracked by waves of adversity or caves of loneliness, But God.
Abandonment? But God. Reversals? But God. Apparent dead ends? But God.
We follow a God who knows and understands and rescues and lifts up and leads and never forgets and walks with us through every bit of life. Regardless of the situation, God shows up. But here is the caveat. He will act, but often in ways that don't resemble how we imagine the best outcome. At this point we tip-toe into the land of faithful following in the fog. We are at our best as believers when we trust him, even when what we desire goes up in smoke. The key for you and me is to follow Jesus and live out what we know is true through the example he left for us.
The world may indeed follow cycles like I mentioned, and society may swing from strong to weak. But our citizenship is in his kingdom, not here, and that kingdom does not cycle or waver or weaken over time. We are best to look through the sometimes manic gyrations of elections and trends and passions to our Rock. But God can be our fixed point of reference regardless of the times or the leaders of those times.
This week, let's keep praying and moving, always on the lookout for the next But God moment. Let's go!
how about some music?
...and a couple of funnies
The teacher stood in front of her class of middle schoolers, and asked,
"If you had one dollar and you asked your father for another, how many dollars would you have?"
Little Johnny says, "One dollar."
The teacher replies, "You don't know your arithmetic, Johnny."
"You don't know my father, Teach!"
__________
My friend Ann and I were eating at a Chinese restaurant. When an elderly waiter set chopsticks at our places, Ann made a point of reaching into her purse and pulling out her own pair.
"As an environmentalist," she declared, "I do not approve of destroying bamboo forests for throwaway utensils."
The waiter inspected her chopsticks.
"Very beautiful," he said politely. "Ivory."