"You turn graves into gardens"

I recently saw someone who was wearing a shirt with this caption on the top: “Life is good”.  Then on the bottom, it simply said “grateful”.  (The number 8 was in the middle of the word “grateful”; making it look a little like a sports jersey; this makes me think of the NBA playoffs, and I say “go Nuggets”).  I had mixed emotions as I contemplated the message of this shirt.

First off, one thing I hope to be part of the legacy of my life is my gratitude.  Not too long ago, for example, I had a conversation with someone about the gift of life; I said that every day is a gift and I’m here to remind people of this fact.  She agreed and encouraged me to continue on with this message.  I want to have an attitude of gratitude.  I don’t want to be a person who carps and complains about everything.  There is always something to be grateful for.  As a Christian man, even when it’s a bad day, I have a reason to sing praises to God.  Why?  Because my sins are forgiven, and I’m in friendship and fellowship with the Lord (see Psalm 32:1-2).

Having said that, for all its benefits, I confess to you that life has actually been very painful for me lately.  Thankfully, nobody close to me died or anything like that.  But it has been one of the most difficult chapters in my entire life.  No, that’s not hyperbole at all.  The opening words of Danny Gokey’s song “Tell your heart to beat again” captures my feelings of this time well: “You’re shattered like you’ve never been before.  The life you knew in a thousand pieces on the floor.  Words fall short in times like this; this world brings you to your knees.” 

However, as painful as it has been, I wouldn’t consider going back in time and working it out so that I could somehow escape this difficulty.  God has used this season to develop my character; to teach me so many important lessons that I would not have had the opportunity to learn, had they never happened.  In the coming days, perhaps I will get into some of these lessons, but for today, check out this passage from Psalm 34 that has fortified and comforted me:

“I sought the Lord and he answered me, and he delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.  This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (verses 4-6).  It’s interesting to note that this concept of God delivering from trouble is found multiple times in this Psalm.  It’s found again in verses 17 and 19.  Both verses are powerful, but I love verse 19 in particular: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous [I’ll say “amen” to that] but the Lord delivers him out of all of the them.”

Paul Asay, in his tremendous book on Batman that he titled: “God on the Streets of Gotham”, offers this insight: “When we put aside the “why” and push on with the challenges that lie before us, that’s often when we can see the path God has set in front of us better – see with more clarity the role he has in mind for us.  The pain sharpens us, molds us…and sometimes forces us to become more than what we are.”

Let me end my thoughts for today with worship and praise to God from a popular song by Elevation Worship titled “Graves into gardens”.  “I’ve searched the world but it couldn’t fill me, man’s empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough.  Then You came along, and put me back together…You turn mourning to dancing; You give beauty for ashes; You turn shame into glory, You’re the only one who can.  You turn graves into gardens; You turn bones into armies; You turn seas into highways, You’re the only One who can.”

God bless,

Kevin