RUINED ROOF, RESTORED Lives

“…the roof always, always caves in.”

I read that line in Kate Bowler’s book, Have a Beautiful Terrible Day. And how true it is… for everybody. Sometime, somewhere, at some point in our lives, the roof will cave in on the sheltered existence we live in. In a split second, lives are changed dreams are crushed or delayed, and hope seems to be gone forever. It’s a fact of life guaranteed by Jesus’ words, “…In this world you will have trouble…” (John 16:33 NIV).

Too many of us stop reading right there. We ask ourselves, what then is the point of doing the best we can, believing in God, hoping for the best… if there is no escape from trouble, fear, and pain?

We need to read to the period at the end of the sentence: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We need to read and believe these Words of Hope in the midst of a collapsed roof.

Kate Bowler references the story of the four friends who broke through a man’s roof and lowered their friend down on a mat to get him inside to Jesus to be healed. Too often we think only of the end of the story – the miraculous healing of the paralyzed man and the faithfulness of the friends who did everything in their power to help him.

But the author points our attention in a different direction… to the guy in whose house all this happened. The crowds have cleared and nothing but the debris of the experience is left scattered around him. When he looks up through the hole through which the miracle came he surely must wonder, “What just happened here?” In doing so he represents all those who witnessed that which challenged their belief systems, opened their eyes, and caused them to look up… and had their own lives changed as a result. 

(photo credit: Unsplash/TomasMendes)

 

A QUERY on Repeat

They ask the question again and again.

“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”

A previous post mentioned the fact that I have a barred owl nest in a tree that grows out of my deck, and perhaps you know that the call of a barred owl sounds like this 9-word query, repeated over and over again. The only answer the owls every get to their question is that same query repeated back to them, sometimes before they’ve even reached the last word.

Who cooks for me? I have an answer! It’s my daughter-in-law, Becca, and a fabulous cook she is! My son and his wife are living with me temporarily, and I am enjoying every moment of their stay. Besides just the joy of having them around, an added benefit is that Becca loves to cook… while I do not… and she has been making the most fabulous meals on a nightly basis. I lay the blame for my current weight gain on her ability to navigate in the kitchen. She is especially gifted in the application of spice to food; important to one whose sense of smell has been practically nonexistent for years and therefore has to find other ways to boost the taste of food.

My taste buds don’t question her ability, that’s for sure!

"Ask and keep on asking..." (Matthew 7:7 AMP) 

(photo credit: Unsplash/MattWalsh)

 

PERSPECTIVE is PARAMOUNT

My friend’s colostomy surgery is today.

It’s not what he wanted. Still so young, battling two types of cancer… this was a step he wanted to avoid in his treatment plan. But God apparently (and always!) knows what’s best for us… and maybe the young man will afterwards see this as a blessing that brought unexpected physical comfort as he undergoes the rest of the process. And actually, he has no choice if he is to survive; a blocked bowl can prove deadly.

And so a change of perspective is in order. Acceptance and attitude adjustment can be achieved if we look to Jesus as an example. He, too, was faced with a path He didn’t want to walk. How did He handle it?

He surrendered. He gave in to God’s plan, no matter how difficult. He said to His Father, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42 KJV). He put the cup to His lips and drank.

Even as I write this, my friend is doing the same. He’s in surgery he didn’t want but has to have to get the healing he hopes to achieve. And as he does, so I hope his heart is fixed on the promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28 NKJV) …no matter how it tastes going down.

“Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)

(photo credit: Unsplash/NationalCancerInstitute)