Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Out of the Rocking Chair and Back in the Game


Ready for my next big adventure with God.
photo by lusi, rgbstock.com
Everybody's dealing with something. Chronic illness or disease, aging body, depleted energy, on-going pain...something. Me? I'm dealing with all of those things, and I've got to admit that 10 years of dealing with this had pretty much put me on the sidelines of life. I found myself spending more and more time in the house. I withdrew from a lot of my activities and had made up my mind to just sort-of coast through the rest of my days, but today I realized that God is not okay with that plan.  He led me directly to this passage of scripture this morning...

"So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.  We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles.  We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I can't give up!  I woke up this morning and I'm still breathing, so God isn't finished with me yet. There's more to my story, more that He wants me to accomplish here. More people to love. A difference I can make. He wants to do more here, and he wants to do it through me.

Yes, I'm tired, but if I lean on Him, he will give me strength for each day...not just to "make it through," but to face the day with energetic, anticipation of the adventure we're on together.

The enemy just about neutralized me. His plan was to plant me in my rocking chair for the rest of my days, whining about my condition, but I refuse to give in!  Anything I am suffering here on earth will quickly fade away when my days are over. Until then, you'll find me doing everything I can with every moment I have left to be fully engaged in this phase of my journey.

What we see and experience on this side of eternity will last only for a short time, but  what we cannot see from this side (Heaven and the souls that will be there because we allowed God to use us) will last forever. The promise of a joy-filled, pain-free forever far outweighs this temporary suffering.

Prayer:
Father, thank you for this wake-up call. For the reminder that it's not over until it's over and that each day you will refresh me for the next leg of the journey. Thank you for your promise to walk each step of the way with me. Lead on, Lord. I'm ready.
 
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8 comments:

joy said...

Thanks Jan, for encouraging us all to go on with God. He is good and Ian ready! :-)

Elaine said...

A great encouragement, Jan!

Dena Mathe said...

A wonderful eye-opener and words of encouragement. You're such a blessing, Jan.

Jan Christiansen said...

Thank you, Joy, Elaine and Dena. You girls mentioned that I encourage you, but you have done the same for me. Thank you for dropping by Refreshed by the Word and taking the time to leave a comment. Big hugs to you from me!

May my words outlive me. said...

One of my favorite blog posts you've ever done, Jan. Such truth! Don't give up or give in, girlfriend. I would miss you terribly! Let's get into trouble to celebrate. Naw, I'm kidding. Love you.

Unknown said...

Thank you,Jan, for the reminder and the encouragement. This was spot on for me today!!!

Jan Christiansen said...

Leola - I'm all for getting into trouble! :)

Judy - I needed to write it as much as everyone needed to hear it. It's not over til God says it's over! :)

Jan Christiansen said...

Thank you, "Sa'dora" for dropping by and for your encouraging words. :)