It’s almost freaky how over the last several months I’ve had this recurring conversation with people. Each exchange has been due to its own special set of circumstances, and each has involved different people, but the overall theme remains the same.
The over-riding question that has prevailed is this:
Why do things always work out for people who stink? Cheat? Lie? Steal (company time & resources)? Do the wrong thing? Take the shortcuts? Take advantage? Are lazy? Why…yet it always seems to work out so well for them…why?
Why? WHY??? And why then especially when there are those of us out there bustin’ our hineys every day, doing the right thing, working our fingers to the bone, telling the truth, playing by the rules, paying our taxes, helping others, trying to make a real difference, giving to church, going to church, living right and yet we can’t seem to catch a break?
WHY?
The flippant, easy answer is this: Life ain’t fair, sister! So suck it up and deal with it.
But I think we do ourselves, our friends and colleagues, and especially our children, a real disservice when we reduce it to that.
I think the answer lies much deeper than that…I’m willing to bet my every worldly possession that it is because our reward is not on earth. It’s not like I’ve known this or been as sure as I am today about this for my whole life. In fact, it has taken lots of reading of scripture and praying and thinking over the last 39.999999 years to fully grow into it, but I am really, really sure now.
There are plenty of instances in which to contemplate the concept:
(And I don’t mean for these examples to sound judgmental…I’m just sure we’ve all witnessed at least one of these where it wasn’t based on judgment, but on cold, hard fact that this is what was happening.)
Why does the person at work seem to get rewarded over and over even though she doesn’t play by the rules?
Why am I working so hard with such little gain, while I watch her get ahead by cheating and lying?
Why did I do the work, but she got the credit?
Why is she favored when she so blatantly lacks integrity by cheating the company?
…and of course there are the obvious ones…
Why did he die young when he was such a good person?
Why does one neighbor’s family struggle financially when they always do the right thing, but another neighbor’s family has everything they need and more, yet they are so nasty to others?
Why does she, of all people, have to suffer with cancer?
From being passed up for things I worked hard for in school all the way to a very specific instance with a co-worker a couple of weeks ago, this question has come up in my life over and over again. So maybe I write this now as much to remind myself as anyone else…
The only answer I’ve got is that our reward is not on earth. Our reward will be in Heaven. And while the here and now sometimes FEELS like an eternity, it is merely a blip on the screen. But what we do now, during that “blip”, determines where we get to live…with whom we get to live…for what really will be eternity.
I wish I had more…but these are my insights and totally my personal takes on it:
**The phrase “we reap what we sow” has eternal implications!
**Satan likes people who don’t live right, who don’t play by the “rules”, so he makes sure that he sets them up well to live the following lie: there are no negative consequences for your actions. (This helps lure more people to him.)
**God doesn’t actually promise that life will be sweet and rosy because we believe in Him. He promises that with a new life in Christ we will have eternal life and will never be without Him. He promises that eternal life with Him will be paradise and it is worth waiting for.
**God is hoping to see that we’ll hang in there, that we’ll stick with Him, that we’ll believe His promises, no matter what. He wants to see if we are easily dissuaded or if our words (claiming we follow Him) and our actions (actually following Him) match. He wants to see how easily we give up and throw in the towel.
**God is testing our integrity and our worldliness…testing us to see if we’ll “sell out” to instant gratification at some point.
**Adversity can, if we choose to let it, cause us to become better, stronger people. God also hopes we’ll use what we learn from our experiences to help others, especially our children who are looking to us to see why they should remain on the straight and narrow.
**God will reward us greatly in eternity when time after time he sees us choosing the right actions and the right attitudes when we know there is no earthly gain.
**He is keeping a record, a “report card” of sorts, and He will have a student-teacher conference with us about it someday. On that day all justice will be served for the many things we did right…and the many times we fell short of His glory.
**Every single thing…yes, every last little thing, no matter how small it may seem…that you do in His name is adding to YOUR cache of treasure in Heaven.
**God sees all of the works that you do, the true intent behind each one, and the depth of the core of your belief in Him and love for Him.
Luke 6:23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in
heaven.”
Matthew 16:27 “He will reward each according to his works.”
Matthew 19:21 “You will have treasure in heaven.”
Luke 14:14 “You will be blessed…for you shall be repaid at the resurrection.”
I can often be found saying the following two statements aloud to myself (apparently I need a lot of reminders):
1. The high road is a lonely road, but it is the one I choose to take.
2. My reward is not on earth.
That’s all I’ve got…no other answers…but I’m really sure that I’m right. And I’m really sure that it’ll be worth it.
If you only read one more book in your lifetime, read A Life God Rewards by Bruce Wilkinson. One of the most poignant things he says (and there are many) is this, “Our eternal destination is the consequence of what we believe on earth. Our eternal compensation is the consequence of how we behave on earth.”
Personally, I’d rather “suck it up and deal with it” even though “life ain’t fair”, trusting in God’s every move, choosing the lonely high road over and over again, believing in a wonderful loving Savior, so that I can secure my rightful place at the Feet of the Throne.
Of course when I get there, one of my very first questions to Jesus will be, “Remember X at work (can’t type the names or the situation here…)? What the heck was up with that? Cause, man, did I get the short end of the stick on that one!!”
I sincerely hope He’ll explain and follow up with, “Hey, girl…how you handled that…well done, my good and faithful servant! I knew your heart then and I remember it now, and it contributed to your storehouse of treasure.”
My prayer for all of us:
Dear God, help us stay on the straight and narrow even when it seems like the tougher path. Help us hold fast to Biblical truths, and help us find strength in Christian friends who will encourage us to keep running toward you even when that’s not the easiest or most convenient thing. Give us the stamina we need to cling to you instead of being wooed by the instant gratification of this world. Help us to be patient now so that we may spend a beautiful eternity with you in Heaven. And most importantly, give us the insight and the honesty to use our life experiences to teach our children to do the same. Amen.
Question: Do you believe your reward is in Heaven…I mean really believe?
Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Are We There Yet?
"Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"
It surprised me that the question kept coming despite the fact that my twins are 11 and knew full well that while driving through Alabama on our way home from Florida, we were still states, and hours, away. We had been vacationing in the Florida pan handle, and had gotten to experience that wonderful, white, sugary sand, and sunsets even more beautiful than I remember seeing in Maui.
Living in Indiana, I'm reminded often of how life-giving the crops are that farmers grow here, how we produce materials such as limestone and coal. But living in the non-coastal, flat Midwest, I forget the power of the tide, the roar of the waves, the pull of the undercurrent, how spooky-yet-soothing it sounds at night. Every last bit of it is so gorgeous, so awe-inspiring and it all reminds me of the sheer force of nature.
Some call it Mother Nature.
I call it God, revealing himself through nature.
It’s a tangible way that God makes himself visible and available to us.
It’s a tangible way that He gives us some of His beauty, His creativity, His love for us, His force, His tenacity, His brilliance, if even just a glimpse.
While making the drive home to Indiana, we experienced some severe weather: wind, rain, lightning, hail. We listened anxiously to the radio as we approached the area just south of Nashville and the announcer told of tornadoes having touched down around Murfreesboro, TN. Those tornadoes were the cause of at least three deaths and multiple injuries ranging from minor to severe.
But when we drove through Murfreesboro, just about 2 hours after those tornadoes hit, everything was calm, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining.
It seemed so sad to me that people had just died a little while earlier due to the dramatic power of nature, their families maybe just all being notified by now and certainly still feeling that initial shock and pain, but nature had "moved on" to something so calm and beautiful having left them in its wake.
As Chad drove, I looked at every detail, noticing the signs of the dichotomy we were witnessing. I asked him out loud, "Don't you think it seems ironic, strange, that people just died, died, as a tornado literally tore through here just a little while ago, tore dreams and lives apart, but what we see now is just all of this gorgeous new spring life?" I was pointing to all of the blooms and blossoms.
Chad answered in the poignant way he always does, "I guess it's because life and death are so closely related."
You are so very right, my dear...so very right.
The power of God, displayed in those examples we were seeing in the force of nature, is just a mere drop in the bucket of what God can do. And it struck me as we heard about the lives that ended, that we also saw new life: fresh spring-green grass, new green leaves, calm spa-blue sky with wispy white clouds, gorgeous purple buds on trees ~ all of this beautiful new spring life that we are barely beginning to see farther north in Indiana.
For those of us who believe in Christ Jesus, death is not the end.
Luke 24:The Resurrection
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Life and death are so closely related. From death springs forth new and abundant life.
We can experience, while being alive in flesh and soul, the death of our old lives, old habits, old ways, old sins, and be born into a new, fresh, free way of existing in close relationship with Jesus here on earth.
And at some point we will die a physical death through old age, disease, an accident… yet our souls will await new bodies, perfected, made whole again, and we will have the joy of living forever on an earth made new with our Lord when He comes again.
1 Corinthians 15:51: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.
Luke 20:36: And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.
Revelation 21:4: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Romans 6:2-11: We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
1 John 5:13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
2 Corinthians 4: 13-18: It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This is what God offers us in His amazing power displayed in the birth, death, resurrection, and ascent of Christ.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our death...yours and mine...is so very closely related to life.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our own personal winter will turn to eternal spring paradise.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our ultimate destination is to dwell with our Lord. It's just that we'll need to wait a little longer till we get the answer to the question, "Are we there yet?"
Just rest in the assurance that one day we will be.
And for all of eternity.
It surprised me that the question kept coming despite the fact that my twins are 11 and knew full well that while driving through Alabama on our way home from Florida, we were still states, and hours, away. We had been vacationing in the Florida pan handle, and had gotten to experience that wonderful, white, sugary sand, and sunsets even more beautiful than I remember seeing in Maui.
Living in Indiana, I'm reminded often of how life-giving the crops are that farmers grow here, how we produce materials such as limestone and coal. But living in the non-coastal, flat Midwest, I forget the power of the tide, the roar of the waves, the pull of the undercurrent, how spooky-yet-soothing it sounds at night. Every last bit of it is so gorgeous, so awe-inspiring and it all reminds me of the sheer force of nature.
Some call it Mother Nature.
I call it God, revealing himself through nature.
It’s a tangible way that God makes himself visible and available to us.
It’s a tangible way that He gives us some of His beauty, His creativity, His love for us, His force, His tenacity, His brilliance, if even just a glimpse.
While making the drive home to Indiana, we experienced some severe weather: wind, rain, lightning, hail. We listened anxiously to the radio as we approached the area just south of Nashville and the announcer told of tornadoes having touched down around Murfreesboro, TN. Those tornadoes were the cause of at least three deaths and multiple injuries ranging from minor to severe.
But when we drove through Murfreesboro, just about 2 hours after those tornadoes hit, everything was calm, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining.
It seemed so sad to me that people had just died a little while earlier due to the dramatic power of nature, their families maybe just all being notified by now and certainly still feeling that initial shock and pain, but nature had "moved on" to something so calm and beautiful having left them in its wake.
As Chad drove, I looked at every detail, noticing the signs of the dichotomy we were witnessing. I asked him out loud, "Don't you think it seems ironic, strange, that people just died, died, as a tornado literally tore through here just a little while ago, tore dreams and lives apart, but what we see now is just all of this gorgeous new spring life?" I was pointing to all of the blooms and blossoms.
Chad answered in the poignant way he always does, "I guess it's because life and death are so closely related."
You are so very right, my dear...so very right.
The power of God, displayed in those examples we were seeing in the force of nature, is just a mere drop in the bucket of what God can do. And it struck me as we heard about the lives that ended, that we also saw new life: fresh spring-green grass, new green leaves, calm spa-blue sky with wispy white clouds, gorgeous purple buds on trees ~ all of this beautiful new spring life that we are barely beginning to see farther north in Indiana.
For those of us who believe in Christ Jesus, death is not the end.
Luke 24:The Resurrection
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Life and death are so closely related. From death springs forth new and abundant life.
We can experience, while being alive in flesh and soul, the death of our old lives, old habits, old ways, old sins, and be born into a new, fresh, free way of existing in close relationship with Jesus here on earth.
And at some point we will die a physical death through old age, disease, an accident… yet our souls will await new bodies, perfected, made whole again, and we will have the joy of living forever on an earth made new with our Lord when He comes again.
1 Corinthians 15:51: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.
Luke 20:36: And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.
Revelation 21:4: He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Romans 6:2-11: We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
1 John 5:13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
2 Corinthians 4: 13-18: It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This is what God offers us in His amazing power displayed in the birth, death, resurrection, and ascent of Christ.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our death...yours and mine...is so very closely related to life.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our own personal winter will turn to eternal spring paradise.
Because of Christ's resurrection, our ultimate destination is to dwell with our Lord. It's just that we'll need to wait a little longer till we get the answer to the question, "Are we there yet?"
Just rest in the assurance that one day we will be.
And for all of eternity.
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