Part 1
They're sittin' in a circle on their
driveway, puffin' away white clouds into the night sky. You can see
Cumulonimbus exclusively next to my house. This is just another day
in a minority neighborhood.
“Oh great,”I mutter under breath
exhausted at their sight, and I just came from an awesome class at
church, my thoughts moan.
“I won't even
look at them,” and upon that note exit my car, shut the door behind
me, pop the trunk, retrieve my school bags from it, slam the trunk
shut and scuttle up the familiar brick driveway.
Halfway, to the
door, I consider what we talked about earlier in class: what in life
makes us feel acceptance, that on which we pride ourselves—all the
concepts were so illuminating.
And then I asked a
dangerous question concerning my loser neighbors:Why can't I stand
them? Sure, the inconsiderate parties until dawn and the ridiculously
loud music throughout the day don't help...but is that why I disdain
the sight of them? Then truth tagged my brain like a toddler off
Ritalin: I dislike them because they remind me of everything I'm not
doing.
I've dropped
gospel-bombs on that driveway and their impact has been unimpressive,
thank God for that, because if they actually showed interest in the
gospel, I might have to befriend them.
Oops.
Part 2
I'm a
sunny person by disposition but my family has historically struggled
with depression (even that was hard to type). So being who I am,
I've made it my crusade to pull them out of it.
It's
like I'll have these moments when I think I've got a good hold on
them before they're completely consumed by this pit, and then they
slip right through my phalanges.
“Why
do I feel so bad about them feeling low?” The second hard question
of the same night. “Because I find my acceptance in being their
savior.” God pats me on the head.
“You
couldn't save them if you wanted to,” He explains.
“But...you
might drop them Lord” I justify.
“That's
where you're wrong, I do the heavy lifting, you're here for support.
He ends the conversation, there will be no discussion.
I will
have my faith in God's strength tested over the next few months.
Please
pray for me.
Part 3
By the
second watch of the night, I'm humbled out, like a pup put in its
basket.
My cell
phone vibrates violently.
An email
from another publication to which I've submitted my writing: “We
would like to thank you...,” your typical denial letter: way too
long. They don't seem to get that a two page long “No” is still a
“No.” They could've just saved us both time.
I reply
back to the e-bag man: How could my submission be improved upon—don't
even think that's grammatically correct.
He
graciously responds, though my instinct is not to respond with grace,
but I do, by God's grace.
To build
your life upon men, means your comfort moves when they do.
But God
is not comfort: He is more than that.
God is
the soundtrack of grace that is to play in ours ears each day,
reminding us that big good things are coming.
For all
the “no's” and rebuke I received last night, I received three big
BIG “Yes's.”
To write
them out for you here, right now, would be foolish, but, essentially,
EACH of life's major questions have been answered in one night.
And that
is the kind of God we serve, one that makes pleasure out of our pain.
You
aren't going to drown, you're just in the perfect place to consume
the glorious flavor of God's new wine.
And it
is Good.
“Now
there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of
purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.Jesus said to the
servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to
the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to
the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the
feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it
came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the
master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone
serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then
the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This,
the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested
his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
-John
2:6-11
In Him,
Jean-Marc
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