Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Anyone have a rope???

WARNING: The following post is an attempt at honesty and transparency. That's not to say that my usual posts are full of lies and masks. At our home group meeting this past Monday, I realized that it's easy to be open and transparent when things are rosy... but I have a tendency to clam up during calamity. Ok... that was the disclaimer... onto the good stuff!

I can't believe that my last post was back in April... but who am I kidding? LOL I wish I could use my usual reason of being too busy, but while I have had a few trips and sessions, I am currently trapped in a doldrum. Like a sailing ship with no wind, I feel adrift on a becalmed sea.

Not that calm waters are a bad thing, but where there is NO wind, there is no movement. Not only is this a bad thing from a financial standpoint, in the spiritual realm it makes me question everything. I've had a number of events, gigs, and sessions either postpone or cancel outright. What the heck is going on?

I hear people talk about such times of drought, both physical and spiritual. It's an odd coincidence that much of our area is experiencng a severe drought. Grass once green and full of life now lies brown and shrivelled, the earth cracked and dry. I look around and see a very real image of my inner condition.

So what to do? As a Christ-follower, we have the answer to life's troubles... the Hope for the hopeless. Or at least that's what the ad campaign promised! But the truth is that we all have to traverse life's desert from time to time. We live in a world that is fallen and we have to live here. Cause and effect is the law of karma, but (as Bono has so eloquently pointed out), Grace has interrupted karma.

So if you are struggling like I am right now, we can take solace in the fact that we're not alone! And I'm not talking about knowing that someone else is in a crappy pit too! I'm talking about the true hope and truth that God is still sovereign and Christ's grace and mercy are still working. Listen to this incredible promise in Jeremiah 33:3...

"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.'

So what to do? Have faith that truth is truth even in this postmodern era... even when the bills aren't paid... even when love has turned to infidelity... when people lose loved ones to the ravages of disease... when people simply have life happen to them. Wherever you are and whatever your situation, God tells us to call... and not only is he listening, he's promised that he'll even answer!

Is that a rope being lowered into this pit?? Boy, and it's a good one too! Woo hoo!

GV