Update:
Right now my biggest struggle revolves around my sitting and sleeping
position. I am always on my backside and
it has become more difficult to find a comfortable position. I am always shifting and leaning this way and
that in an attempt to find relief.
Nothing feels good for long. In bed,
I am use to squirming. I use to
constantly change positions from my left side to my right side and back again
throughout the night. At work, I would
get up and walk or just stand up every hour or so. I would adjust my office chair all the
time. Tilt the seat; adjust the lumbar;
play with the height. Now everything is
on my backside without much variation.
My rear end gets uncomfortable and there is only so much change that I
can manage in the wheelchair, recliner or in my bed. I know that eventually this season of my life
will pass and I’ll get to walk, won’t have my leg brace on as much, and
hopefully can resume sleeping on my side.
I long for those days because right now I don’t sleep for more than two
hours as a time and I can’t sit in my recliner or wheelchair for very long
without it becoming uncomfortable.
Okay, yesterday, I talked about playing the hand that life deals
you. Today, I admit that I don’t like
this particular card. But it is in my
hand so I have to play around it and not get so focused upon this one bad card
in a hand of mostly good cards. To
paraphrase the Apostle Paul, I need to be content in any “position” I find
myself in. Philippians 4:11b “…for I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances.” Please pray that I find either relief
or am able to be content with the discomfort.
I had a pleasant evening yesterday.
I ate dinner with not only my wife, but my daughter, Ruth and her
husband, Cody; as we’ll as my son, Joshua, and his girlfriend, Sarah. Then we all watched one of my all-time, favorite
goofy movies, Rocketman. I was pretty washed out when it was over but
it was so enjoyable to talk and laugh together that it was well worth it.
Thought for the Day:
If you watched the movie, The
Chronicles of Narnia, or read the
books it is based upon, you’ll remember the conversation about Aslan, the Lion. “Is He safe?
No, but He is good.” Throughout the
series, it is stated that Aslan is "not a tame lion," since, despite
his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful and can be dangerous. In C.S. Lewis’ books, Aslan represents God,
specifically Jesus Christ. This idea
that ‘God is not safe, but His is good’ has always sort of bothered me. With my recent change in life, I think I
understand what he meant a little bit more.
Hopefully
I can explain without it becoming too confusing. I believe that God is sovereign; that is,
there is nothing that occurs that God has not allowed. I am trying to be careful NOT to suggest that
all the evil, illness, and disasters in the world occur because God wants it to
happen. Rather, because of mankind
allowing sin into this world, it has negatively affected everything around us. The world was not supposed to be like this. But because God gives us the ability to
choose to obey or disobey Him; life has consequences. Some of those consequences are that evil, illness,
and disaster are a part of our lives now.
God is powerful enough to stop it all and completely remove sin and its consequences
from the world. However, He has chosen
to give us free will and our actions have consequences. Since He has chosen to grant free will, He
cannot also remove sin and evil without eradicating all of mankind along with
it.
Along
with this is the idea that God is like a good sports coach. He wants the best
for us. A good coach knows that players
don’t improve their game unless they have been pushed. Practices can be brutal; but all that pain
has a purpose; to make the player stronger, faster, and better. A coach may seem cruel and mean to his
players; he isn’t but a player may not understand that when he is being yelled at
and required to do more push-ups or run another lap. But actually the coach cares for the players
and is doing everything to make them better.
Because
God cares for me and wants the best for me; He cannot sit back and not do a bit
of coaching. Everything that happens in
my life is either good for me OR could be used to my benefit in some
fashion. God blesses me with a faithful,
loving wife—that is GOOD! God allows my
foot to be amputated—uh, trick
question!!! It is bad and yet I
can learn so many positive lessons from it that I cannot look on it as entirely
bad—it has benefits as well.
God
ordains for this to happen or allows it to happen to me. So Aslan reminds me of loving and trusting God. Is He good?
Definitely. He is holy and
righteous and He only wants the best for me.
Is He safe? Goodness, NO!!! Entrusting yourself to God can be a “dangerous”
thing. Going back to the Aslan illustration,
he isn’t tame. He’s a wild animal. That is to say just like a wild animal thinks
and reacts differently than a person does—God thinks and acts differently than
people do. But I am okay with that. I don’t know what is going to happen in my
life; but I trust God. It may not be
what I would want or desire; but I am certain that God has decided that it is
either good for me or it can be put to good use in my life. So with a little fear and trepidation as well
as a whole lot of trust and faith in Him, I say to the Lord, “Bring it on!”
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