"One thing is necessary...and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42
Maybe you’ve had something precious stolen from you. Something you built over years suddenly crashed to the ground: Your kids, your health, your reputation, your finances, your business. It seems the eagle has swooped in to devour what was yours.
But this is not the whole story for the children of God. When the entire emotional, financial, and physical landscape of our lives seems to be “laid waste,” by an unseen enemy, there is good news: We have the Greater Gideon.
How many times have I pushed and struggled against a ceiling, when the open door was on the ground? The kingdom of God is not like the world. In his kingdom the way up is down. The was to save your life is to lose it.
We don’t have to look far to see famine in our land today. We are a spiritually impoverished nation. We look to worldly leaders and influencers, but like the judges of Ruth, they are powerless to nourish us. We turn inward to try to help ourselves, save ourselves, love ourselves but find we are not the source of anything. There is only one who is able to feed us in famine, and not just feed us but flourish us.
Potty training for me is like childbirth. The first few accidents aren’t a big deal. A little deep breathing, and encouragement from my husband calms me down. Then the hours pass, the dirty laundry grows. The accidents get closer together and more painful.
Those saved by Christ don’t walk around with a bucket trying to catch runoff rain water. We walk around full of a fountain, welling up inside us for eternal life. We have the fountain. We are watered by Christ himself from within.
Maybe you’re quarantined in a difficult situation and your normal support system can’t help. Maybe you live alone and the social distancing is almost too much to bear. Maybe you don’t know how you will make it one more day trying to oversee every child’s online school work. Maybe your place is the frontline of this awful battle with the same mask you wore the last 7 days. The word of God goes out to all who have ears to hear: “The eternal God is your dwelling place.”