Been in a funk and drought of late? I certainly have. It’s almost like being a rung out washcloth; hung up to dry as a lifeless and stiff version of your former self. It feels like the very life has been rung out of me. And I’ve been asking some scary questions during this season. Questions we don’t like to ask, because we then have to find the answers to them. You know the gut wrenching, hard questions. Like; ‘Where do we go when hope runs out, when we’re empty, when there’s nothing left?’
Yes, I know all the cliché-ish Christian-ease answers. And yes, I’ve been treated for depression. They offer nothing of substance or permanence. My inner core; that person I really am on the inside has been shaken repeatedly for the past decade. After several church crashes and personal failures. I think I’ve come to an awaking of monumental proportions; for me at least.
Even though I have a fabulous, supportive, and loving wife and a wonderful family and many faithful friends-they don’t seem to touch this deepest inner need. I’ve been blessed with many personal ‘signs and wonders’ traveled the world for years, written books and spoken about Christ to tens of thousands of people.
I’ve even received (to my amazement) accolades and rewards from organizations and the 41st President of the United States. I have even been named ‘A Recovery Hero’ by one international Christian organization this year. And yet; none of these blessings reach to the depths of my heart and soul. I feel like I’m just entering the recovery journey.
Most were truly touched by Holy Spirit through me. I don’t want to sound like I’m trivializing or diminishing the work of God’s amazing grace in and through me. But, the only thing I did was say ‘yes’ to Jesus when he asked me to follow him. I opened my heart for him to dwell there. How about you, can you identify with this level of transparency?
Here is the awakening; ‘Christ in me is my only hope of glory!” All of the shaking, soul funk, personal failures and drought times have driven me further into the core of ‘whose’ and ‘who’ I am. I can no longer go to those outer places to find solace or identity. It’s not found in churches, friendships, family or successes. I must continually delve into the ‘inner journey’ of my heart, where Christ dwells, to find any hope or fulfillment. All of the above has brought me to this single focused search.
“Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, (yes, that Pharisee voice shouts self doubt within all of us) answered. “The kingdom of God doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar”. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? (Here comes the reason for all the shaking, trials and tribulations. We can no longer look for it, as if it has not yet come.) Because God’s kingdom is already among you.”
He went on to say to his disciples, ‘The days are coming (I believe they have arrived) when you are going to be desperately homesick for just a glimpse of one of the days of the Son of Man, and you want see a thing. And they’ll say to you, ‘Look over there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Don’t fall for any of that nonsense. The arrival of the Son of Man is not something you go out to see. He simply comes.” (Our true authentic faith must say to us that he simply has come and we by faith have received him.) Luke 17: 20-24, The Message, parentheses and emphasis added.
“The arrival of the Son of Man isn’t something you go ‘out’ to see. He comes like swift lightening to you!” Matthew 24: 27, The Message. Can you see the storm clouds brewing? Many are saying, ‘Here he is’ or ‘there he is!’ Don’t waste spiritual energy looking for him in a place or an experience.
Go inside; by faith, to the tabernacle of your heart and listen for his still, small voice within. He has simply come! Anchor your faith and hope there! Then you will be certain to see him when he does come in the swift lightening. The present storms can become faith moments; which are, ‘oh, that was you’ awakenings for us until His second coming. The hope of his second coming purifies and anchors our true, inner life to Him.
In the grip of the hope of His 2nd coming, Ron Ross
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