A working definition of Circumstances might be the individual's perception of his or her overall environment for a period of time. Whenever you get into this subjective terrain it may seem like anything goes. The bible is not afraid to address our circumstances. How we define our reality may be the most important venue for our faith.
Here would be the usual spot for a bible verse. In pushing past that point, the hope is an extension to make my point. What if I could offer a metaphor that explains a lot of our experiences?
You might look at circumstances like a giant pot of stew. Two cooks stand over the pot. The enemy is tossing in yucky stuff, trying to change the flavor of the stew so no one will want to eat it. He is tossing in hypocrites, false religions, bad experiences and lies. God, with ladle in hand, has a second pot off to the side that the enemy has no access to. When everything is properly cooked, he will fish out all the ingredients he wanted to keep and put them into the second pot. Everything else He will dump, including the 'other cook'.
We are swimming right now with ingredients that have not an ounce of permanency. Ugly memories? They will be flushed away with joy. Horrible people? They will either be well seasoned with grace or they will be forever dismissed. Lies? Everything will be revealed. I don't know how the elect are meant to experience the stew. Somehow while we may seem saturated with the flavors of the world around us, God imparts a unique 'taste' to us so that we begin to flavor the ingredients around us.
Jesus said [Matt 13: 47-50] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come down and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
I had a creative writing teacher who like to pose the “So What” Test. Applying that test to these ideas produces some interesting 'So What's”.
The response to events becomes more artistic rather then an emotional choice. Why? If you are reduced (and that's also a cooking term) to an “If/Then” statement then all of your power has been stripped from you. Other people can simply manufacture the required IF and then the subsequent THEN will proceed without any conscious choice from you. That is not the freedom we have in Christ. The Apostles were killed rather than change their story. To the very end of their earthly existence, they expressed there was a choice.
Another interesting “So What” is what meaning do you attach to a temporary 'bad taste'. We even say that certain events 'gave us a bad taste'. There is no point to denying the severity of suffering or the real demands it places on us. There is a point to where we choose to focus. The beauty of our faith is that it both acknowledges the sacrifice caused by suffering and points to very real relief. It's temprorary. From a geological standpoint, we're a blip of time and after we've lived and loved our 'blip' we have ageless, unlimited time to enjoy perfection without suffering.
Our circumstances matter to God probably more than even to us. This 'stew' of perception and relationship with cause and effect is part of God's realm where He rules. Our prayers flavor circumstances. When we understand that we have REAL power to affect REAL change, then suddenly we care. Apathy is the outward symptom of the belief that nothing can be done to change things. Why try? There's no point. If you do understand that you can change your environment, your relationships and ultimately your world then let passions flow because it matters. The stew is mutable. The stew can be changed. If I can convince you that your prayers, your responses have global, historical impact then nothing will be ordinary again. The gift of Jesus to us, His brothers and sisters is powerful in the changing of circumstances. Life will never taste the same with Jesus with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment