There are a few different ways of coping. Fear, anger, depression, toughness and pretense are all ways of coping that some of us resort to but I'm going to talk a little about resignation. "This is the way life is and what God gave me and I'm going to accept it, praise the Lord!" Feel free to discuss this with me, perhaps I'm not seeing this subject clearly, but that attitude bothers me. To me, it seems to allow too much self pity and stagnancy. I just see that as passivity or depression in the guise of religion.
Religion my friends is so easy to assume. We know what's expected of us. For instance, we know we're expected to have our devotions. I dislike the term "having devotions." I don't have devotions. (Did I just hear you gasp? Here, give me your hand. I'll haul you up off the floor. And shut your mouth. Gaping doesn't become you.) Tell me. If an atheist says, "Excuse me, while I go have my devotions," what would you expect to see? An atheist is devoted to causes, just like you and I! If one applies the term to him or her you would expect to see him or her spending considerable time with his or her cause, allowing the cause to consume time, energy, and passion. 'Having devotions,' has become a term that we have applied to time spent ritualistically reading the Bible and possibly gaining something from it. It's religion. Pause with me and adjust your mind to something slightly different. How much passion do you feel? What consumes you in your prescribed 15 minutes to an hour of 'devotions?' Do you feel like you've reached your quota when you're done? Like you've done your duty and now you can move on? Like you've fueled your day so that because it's done you can go on with your day and be blessed by that time? Why, why, why my friends, is your Maker your duty?
When Jesus gasped his final breath, as his physical body shut down on the cross in excruciating pain, was he thinking, "Great! Now I get a certain amount of time per day with everybody who accepts me from now on?" Never! He was thinking, "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I WILL DIE SO THAT THEY CAN BE SPARED DEATH, SO THEY CAN BE WITH ME FOREVER!" It was about relationship with you and with me! Do we owe him duty? No, we owe him our very lives, our deepest love, our fealty, every breath!
I'm NOT saying I don't read my Bible. I do! I'm not saying I don't pray. I do! I spend time every day seeking to know God better. I drive down the road thanking Him for the beauty of the morning sky, His protection as I drive. I get to work and thank Him that I have a job to go to as a way to earn a living even when I'd rather be a stay-at-home mom. I come home and look at my children and think, "How privileged I am!" God is so good to me! He is my constant Companion! What I owe to Him. I am most unworthy of a Lover's death. I am undeserving of His relentless grace! Relationship and religion are two different things, friends, and relationship is what God wants from you!
Ok, religion is out of the way. To say, "God, when it hurts, I'll just endure it for your sake," is not enough. "It's your will for me, and I accept it," is not enough! I'm sorry. It isn't.
God wants you to thrive! He died so that you can have life abundantly. When the devil and his forces come against you, when loss occurs, when grief shatters and when pain seems to win and you cannot go on, to passively throw up your hands and say, "Whatever you want, God, You win," defeats His purpose!
Raise your hands! Cry out victoriously, "YOU WIN!" Reach out desperately! Embrace His will. You were designed for this! Pain and hurt call for healing. Loss calls for redemption. Disappointment demands hope. There is a Being who is abundantly able to work with all that and to give you more than you ask. That's why He died!
This does not mean that an offender will offer an apology or reconciliation. It doesn't mean that your loved one will be restored to life. Your wounded or ailing body may never be restored to health in your life span.
This is what you'll get. You will receive joy and peace in spite of devastation, because you have a nail scarred hand to hold onto and His Spirit to breath life into you! You have a Companion who has tasted your pain and rejection and felt in His body pain unto death and beyond to empathize with you. You will have courage and joy while your loved ones bodies are laid in the grave and the tears are gut wrenching because of the loss, because you know that because of Him you will see them again. In the uncertainty of your future, you have a Wise Counselor, to guide you through the devastation and into the Hope of a glorious future with Him forever. Though others hurt you, He is speaking against it, though you may feel all that hurt, He offers healing and perfect relationship with Him. He offers life. Take it. You were designed for that. Resignation is a crutch. Throw it away and accept your destiny!
