Birthday aftermath

Tim Tebow, in his one-year devotional titled “Mission Possible” writes,

“In Bible times, high-temperature flame was a process used to purify gold…the clean gold was placed in a crucible over a hot fire or in a hot furnace.  After a period of time, dross formed on the surface, and the refiner skimmed it off, leaving behind only pure gold…I’ve read that some refiners considered their work finished when they could see a reflection of themselves in the crucible-cradled gold. 

“The Bible is replete with images containing “refining by fire” language.  It’s a process that obviously is uncomfortable and excruciating at times but requires a greater work than searing pain.  It bears a refined image of Jesus Christ in our lives…when we stay and trust in the process, yes, even in the pain, we will become more and more like Jesus” (from the 6/24 reading titled “Stay in the Heat”). 

As I process life in the aftermath of my birthday, I look forward to the future with hope and gratitude in my heart.  However, I also have to admit that this past year has been filled with some incredibly difficult episodes.  You say, “Wow.  You ought to share in detail what happened.”  No, the happenings aren’t as important as what I felt like as a result of these episodes. 

I seriously felt like Humpty Dumpty who had fallen, and was shattered into a million pieces.  And, as the poem goes, “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.”  Do you know why?  As Michael Youssef once put it, the king’s horses and men couldn’t fix Humpty because only the King Himself can!   I want to forever inscribe my gratitude to God; He took my broken pieces, and healed me.  God is real!  He is faithful and He is good! 

But this is more than just celebratory birthday aftermath.  Many years ago, I sang a Don Moen song at a church, and I still sing it to God to this day.  The chorus says, “Lord, I offer my life to You, everything I’ve been through use it for Your glory.”  I vulnerably share my heart with you on my mind.  Maybe you are in a dark place in your life right now.  Perhaps you feel completely shattered.  I want to encourage you to look to God. 

The opening verses of Isaiah 61 are powerful.  This is a passage that was/is fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 61:1 (b) says, “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted.  To proclaim liberty to the captives.” Verse 3 says, “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”  This is what God for me, and I trust He will do the same for you.  Look to Him in child-like faith.   

Not long ago, I heard a riveting sermon where the pastor was speaking about how God uses the suffering in our lives.  And this is true even in the lives of unbelievers.  He quoted from Michael J. Fox’s 2002 book “Lucky Man” as one illustration.  Michael is not a Christian, but I love this quote from his book.  In chapter one, he writes,

“If you were to rush into this room right now and announce that you had struck a deal – with God, Allah, Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Bill Gates, whomever – in which the ten years since my diagnosis could be magically be taken away, traded in for ten more years as the person I was before – I would without hesitation tell you to take a hike…I would never want to go back to that life – a sheltered, narrow existence fueled by fear and made liveable by insulation, isolation, and self-indulgence.”

Obviously I’m not Michael J. Fox.  I have not lived with Parkinson’s disease; I have not suffered like he has suffered; I can’t begin to imagine the hard road he has had to walk.  All of that said, I agree with him in reference to my own recent negative life experiences.  I too would not want to magically be spared the pain of this past year.  He has used these hard episodes, through the fire, to refine me to be more like Jesus.    

God bless,

Kevin