Every once in a great while, you get to stand on the edge of
the world and think…
People think that I get sent to destinations, but it’s
actually to people. And people are all the same, in need of a Creator, but their
access to said Creator and even how they approach thinking about Him varies
widely depending on a person’s gender, religious experience or social
background. There are a million factors that go into being what is human—and my
visible experience has been different from many others in that I have gotten to
‘see’ more of humanity than may be common…and yet it doesn’t change what we
‘need’.
I have heard a lot of talk lately about how far we have gone
from the truth—that America as a whole is depraved, lost, beyond redemption. It
can seem like a lot of worthless talk from worthless mouths: people who speak
to hear their own opinion legitimized but who refuse to have hope, to believe,
to point out real issues. (If a real issue, like the fact that we are all very
much trapped in this system which Christians call sin and can only escape
ourselves by seeking a Savior, were breached—heavens to Betsy!) I see a lot of
name calling without foundational truth or even anything that people want to
stand on. It’s true, it may be easier to have no opinion—claiming tolerance—and
simply go with the flow of where our government is headed today; or, finding your
voice, tear apart what another person believes until the cows come home. But in
the end, none of this is actually doing you any good—or anyone around you.
You—yes, YOU—need to stand on the edge of the world and
think.
We take our moments—all the time—to organize our thoughts
and repaint them so they look nice. We love to analyze what goes on in our
heads with a sigh and think, “Yes, I am on the right track. Look at the
successes. Look at my ‘merit badges’. Look how good other people think I am.”
Brain blast: I am asking you to reexamine yourself not in
the face of what other people say about you, what you believe about you or what
you have been told about you, but in the face of…
Well, what is the ultimate truth? People trump all other
people who claim an absolute, saying that it’s not possible to have absolutes,
that its wrong to say some things are absolutely wrong or absolutely right,
but—I just have to start disagreeing. This is part of the brain exam: what is
true for you? What do you absolutely stand by? If you’re a Christian and you
can’t say ‘the Bible’ or ‘the Word of God’, then something is going on in you
that I think you’ll want to discuss or start to share with a pastor, mentor,
someone you trust and look up to.
We are not reinventing the wheel here, because we’re not
meant to. It says God’s Word will never fail, that everything else fades, but
it will remain true. It stands for much further and more steadfast than you or
I could ever imagine within our eighty years. It is the foundation, it is what
the entire world is founded on—and when its gone, God’s word remains. I think
you ought to sit up and start paying attention to this book.
Because we can’t waste this time anymore. We’re standing on
the edge of the world and for many people, it really doesn’t look good. It
looks like long hours and underpaid wages and strange leaders who speak half-truths
that we desperately try to interpret. I am not saying—and will never say—that
you should not keep abreast of the topics of the day—I believe, and live out,
that an awareness of the world around me is fundamental and must be pursued
whether it takes you next door or across an ocean: but never at the cost of
knowing the full Truth of the Bible and the glory therein contained. He has much to say about the issues facing us and His word is true....Invest in knowing that truth--spend time reading the words He gave to us.
See, man
was never meant for just this earth, but a whole realm of glory beyond, where
we, Sons and Daughters of the King, will live our forever lives in His gaze.
You were actually made for much more than this and that foundation will bring
you hope.
I don’t know how the world will change in the next fifty
years—I’m standing here with you, at the edge. I am gazing forward, knowing
that the next years may bring more sorrow and pain. We may see toppling of
governments or world wars—who can know? But alongside a dignified assessment of
where my world is at is also this joy: Jesus has come for us. We are not
unknown and when we pray…sometimes mountains fall. Death gives way. We come
into all that we were made to be.
I am going to invest in that which changes my world—the people
who surround me. I am going to focus on doing my small part well and seeking the
Holy Spirit’s counsel and guidance. I am going to keep learning about the hope
that is mine—and yours—as we learn the way of our Savior, Jesus. I am going to never
give up on knowing that no matter what may happen in my immediate
circumstances, my God is in the heavens and He does all that He pleases (Psalm 115:13). I do
not have to worry or be afraid—because my hope is not lost.
It can never be lost.
It’s in Him.
