At Some Point---It Will All Be Washed To The Sea

Life is all about tension....
We live in a time of tension.
May not like it....
May not believe it...
But it is there and you can't deny it.
John Wimber referred to this tension as "a time between the times", or we live in an age between the first appearance of Christ and His 2nd appearance which is a future event.
Tension brought about by the return of Christ and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.
The completeness of the Kingdom...
The fullness of the Kingdom.
Paul states that we live in this "Present Evil Age".....And that we, in fact, have been rescued by God from it.
Funny...some day's I don't feel rescued.
Aren't you glad that God doesn't operate on feelings....
Imagine Him looking at us and thinking to Himself, "You know, I wiped out once, I could do it again. In fact, I feel like doing it!" Feelings are not a good measurement to live by.
Enjoy them when they are good, but don't put too much stock in them.
I've seen many a person crash and burn because of the uppity and down-di-ty side of feelings.
On top with God one moment.....glory bumps and angels dancing on the head of a pin....
Down in the valley the very next moment crying out..."Oh God, am I even saved?"

I guess the thing I'm seeing now, at this point in my life, is a kind of  "head in the sand" attitude when it comes to life. Don't mention bad things! Don't say anything about suffering or pain. Please, oh please, don't talk about entering into the fellowship of Christ's suffering. Now there are 3 kind of sufferings that we have to deal with in life here on planet earth.

1.) The kind of suffering that comes with simply being a human. It may be a physical disease such as cancer or M.S.
Then there is .....
2.) The kind of suffering that comes with really bad decisions that we make. We have a tendency to make some whopper's, and then want God to come and straighten everything out.
Then there is the last king.
3.) The kind of suffering that comes from being a child of the King......a follower of Jesus Christ. So called friends that you use to run with suddenly want nothing to do with you.

No matter what type of suffering it is that comes to us....If we stay the course and keep following Jesus....
If we cling to........rely on..........trust in........lay hold of Him, by faith...then, as Mark Heard sings in the song, "My tears will be washed to the sea."
Dare I say that a part of me desires to be with Him? Death wish? No. Life wish.
But, like Paul, I realize that there are still a lot of people out there who don't know or haven't heard about my Jesus. So, I guess I'll hang around for a while.

I guess the message that I want to convey this morning is that no matter where you find yourself....emotionally and spiritually....lift your vision. Look a little higher above your current state and see the grace and mercy that God is pouring out on you. Don't drive your tent pegs down in the darkness and make camp there, but keep moving...keep trusting...keep believing that God is who He claims to be and will do what He has promised He will do.Believe me, it is worth it.

God on you....
mb