Scattered Pieces
I knew the meeting was going to be tough due to the nature
of the conversation that led up to it. Regardless, the time and place was set
and the encounter happened. It started out as small talk with exchanges about
life, God and family; and then it came. The volcano that had simmered for so
long was beginning to spew lava. I saw an opportunity to open the floodgates so
I took it. I hit hard and fast and before she knew it the pent up anger came
crashing to the surface. Now instead of seeing someone that was lost with
little hope of finding herself I now saw a person that had so much life and
love, but no means to express it.
Locked away in the darkest crevice of her mind and soul was the pain of a past that mere humans could not heal. Even though she knew that the God she loved was a forgiving God and a God of compassion, she also knew that she was not worthy to receive the grace promised her when our Father in heaven sent his son to redeem us of all of our transgressions. No matter how hard she tried, how many people she talked to, how much she prayed--the events of her past were crushing the spirit she needed to become the person God intended her to be.
Her life was scattered like pieces of a puzzle yet to be put together. Within those scattered pieces, however, was a ray of light and the hope that comes when God creates encounters to push Satan out and bring light to the darkness. As her light began to shine over the coming weeks it became clear that God's purpose for the encounter was much bigger than a healing for the one person. Oh no, God knew that in order to piece the puzzle together he had to bring a larger focus to a much bigger pain.
So it goes that as I tried to help it became clear that the manifestation of God himself was calling me to greater purpose and greater realization that I myself had to face the absence of reality of which I was living. God threw me a life preserver and masked it as a person in distress. I am sure that I was able to help this lady of whom I speak, but the real healing was just beginning.
These people of which I am referring to can be anyone and I am sure if you allow yourself to think you can find two names to fill in the gaps. God has a purpose for each and every one of us, but if we are to find the purpose to which we are called we have to be willing to face the giants in our lives that keep us bound in fear. It is so easy to go off on a mission in the name of God and help save the world only to find that the one person that was lost was yourself. Healing is a journey not a destination, and we are always on the path. To stray only makes the pain worse when the wound opens wider. Take stock in your life and allow God to come into the very core of your heart. Give up control of a life that does not even belong to you. To gain the rewards promised by the Cross of the true Christ we have to be willing to complete the scattered pieces of the puzzle that is before us. Life is not by chance and the encounters we wonder about could very well be God sending us a message that will guide our lives to the place where we are needed the most.
Do not allow another day to pass without realizing your purpose. Love more, share more, laugh more, and give more. When the pain is too much to bear lean on a friend that leans on God. I have learned the power of friendship in the last few days and I know that the friendships we share are truly heaven on earth.
Psalm 15 is a beautiful reminder of what God shares with us about friendship. "We all have people who are special to us, people who we love to greet because these people seem to make our day. When these people are distant or cold toward us, we suffer a sense of loss and rejection. It's as if a cloud comes over our lives and blocks out the sunshine. Until that relationship is restored, nothing seems to go right."
The goal of this meditation was merely to provoke thought and to allow you the opportunity to look deep into your own heart and soul to find the temple of Christ which dwells in each of us. Could it be that God is calling every one of us to be available for these God-encounters? And could it be these very encounters that God wants to use to rescue our own selves? May we learn to view the world through His eyes that we may serve unselfishly and find it within ourselves to love in a way that changes lives? And as we see the change in the lives God has put before us, may we also realize the change that is occurring WITHIN us.
May God’s peace and grace be with each of you
Dale Childress
Locked away in the darkest crevice of her mind and soul was the pain of a past that mere humans could not heal. Even though she knew that the God she loved was a forgiving God and a God of compassion, she also knew that she was not worthy to receive the grace promised her when our Father in heaven sent his son to redeem us of all of our transgressions. No matter how hard she tried, how many people she talked to, how much she prayed--the events of her past were crushing the spirit she needed to become the person God intended her to be.
Her life was scattered like pieces of a puzzle yet to be put together. Within those scattered pieces, however, was a ray of light and the hope that comes when God creates encounters to push Satan out and bring light to the darkness. As her light began to shine over the coming weeks it became clear that God's purpose for the encounter was much bigger than a healing for the one person. Oh no, God knew that in order to piece the puzzle together he had to bring a larger focus to a much bigger pain.
So it goes that as I tried to help it became clear that the manifestation of God himself was calling me to greater purpose and greater realization that I myself had to face the absence of reality of which I was living. God threw me a life preserver and masked it as a person in distress. I am sure that I was able to help this lady of whom I speak, but the real healing was just beginning.
These people of which I am referring to can be anyone and I am sure if you allow yourself to think you can find two names to fill in the gaps. God has a purpose for each and every one of us, but if we are to find the purpose to which we are called we have to be willing to face the giants in our lives that keep us bound in fear. It is so easy to go off on a mission in the name of God and help save the world only to find that the one person that was lost was yourself. Healing is a journey not a destination, and we are always on the path. To stray only makes the pain worse when the wound opens wider. Take stock in your life and allow God to come into the very core of your heart. Give up control of a life that does not even belong to you. To gain the rewards promised by the Cross of the true Christ we have to be willing to complete the scattered pieces of the puzzle that is before us. Life is not by chance and the encounters we wonder about could very well be God sending us a message that will guide our lives to the place where we are needed the most.
Do not allow another day to pass without realizing your purpose. Love more, share more, laugh more, and give more. When the pain is too much to bear lean on a friend that leans on God. I have learned the power of friendship in the last few days and I know that the friendships we share are truly heaven on earth.
Psalm 15 is a beautiful reminder of what God shares with us about friendship. "We all have people who are special to us, people who we love to greet because these people seem to make our day. When these people are distant or cold toward us, we suffer a sense of loss and rejection. It's as if a cloud comes over our lives and blocks out the sunshine. Until that relationship is restored, nothing seems to go right."
The goal of this meditation was merely to provoke thought and to allow you the opportunity to look deep into your own heart and soul to find the temple of Christ which dwells in each of us. Could it be that God is calling every one of us to be available for these God-encounters? And could it be these very encounters that God wants to use to rescue our own selves? May we learn to view the world through His eyes that we may serve unselfishly and find it within ourselves to love in a way that changes lives? And as we see the change in the lives God has put before us, may we also realize the change that is occurring WITHIN us.
May God’s peace and grace be with each of you
Dale Childress
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