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| by Nathan Groninger |
Nathan is Stephanie's husband and the man who has served as Vice President for MtM for the past three years.
Hello Friends and Supporters of More than Music, Inc.
When Stephanie asked me to write this month's installment of From the Heart I went through a bunch of options about which to write. I prayed about it and felt impressed that I should just share "from my heart" on what is going on in my life right now. This week I have thought about the roles in which I find myself. As most of you know, I am now the father of two (one of whom, is a beautiful, amazing, and demanding baby) and the husband of my beautiful, talented, and wonderful wife. On top of that, I am a businessman engaged in strenuous entrepreneurial work, a board member of More than Music, and have numerous other roles to perform. The above roles are all blessings to me, but they do all carry their own responsiblities and demands. Sometimes it just feels like I am pulled in so many directions and stretched so thin that it is hard to remember that... "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." II Corinthians 4:8-9 I don't know about you, but when I get up in the morning after four hours of sleep because the baby had a hard night, and then I face a stressful situation at work that demands my best, when even functioning at a reasonable level feels nearly impossible... It makes it hard to praise God. It makes it sometimes hard to trust. Sometimes getting out of bed in the morning to face the challenges that await, seems a moment of pure heroism, if you calculate the risk and sometimes how much easier it feels like it would be just to toss it all in at those moments. The vast majority of people I know would easily, in a moment of honesty, confess that they are hard pressed. But how many, in that same moment of honesty, would confess to having the resources necessary to embody the above scripture passage's example of a victorious believer who is still trusting and hopeful in the midst of all of the trials that we face every day. "Hard Pressed, but Not Crushed": Instead of "not crushed," I see so many people, including myself at times, let their God-given hopes and dreams, the very things of beauty that God placed in their hearts, the very things that make them who they are (a unique expression of God's Poetry to the world) become dead and lifeless. Sounds crushed to me. "Perplexed, but not in Despair": OK, I can buy this one. Sounds like the super spiritual person described here is me. Perplexed, yup, I fit the bill...but wait, it goes on... not in despair. What exactly does that mean? Many people I know would say they are not in despair. They have it all together, but if you look closer at them (and at my own life too) I think that we would find plenty of despair. It may not look like depression, but what is it when we find ourselves straying from the prayer closet (because we just don't functionally believe in a "real world" sense that God will come through for us), find ourselves absorbed in that negative addiction to lessen the pain (too much TV, too much internet, a fantasy life out of control, alcohol, ice cream, video games, shopping, gambling, etc.), and live a life that is carefully engineered to insulate us from most, if not all, activities that God might ask us to if He were to blow our world open with the enormity of His love. It sounds a little like despair to me. "Persecuted, but Not Abandoned; Struck Down, but Not Destroyed": Most Christians I know are persecuted for their beliefs in some way or another, but how many sense Christ standing there with them, with His arm around their shoulder as they feel the intense pain of being rejected by those they are trying to reach. As for being struck down and not destroyed, I know some who, through circumstance and sometimes choice, have lost everything... their marriage, their kids, their careers... but how many have emerged from that without a fundamental piece of their identity obliterated. As a follower of Jesus I believe that there is a way to get from our reality to His reality. How do we do that then? Mother Teresa had a saying. Loosely paraphrased, it goes like this, "When there is so much pain in loving that I cannot take it anymore, I continue to love. And then I find that there is no more pain... Only love." It is one of God's greatest mysteries. He who seeks to gain his life will lose it, and he who loses his life will gain it. The great reverse. We, as the people of God, must be willing to suspend ourselves over the abyss of our fear and say in the words of Queen Esther, "If I perish, I perish." The thing that must perish in us (and me) is our pride, and our self-reliance. It must be replaced with humility and God reliance. Then as we are hard pressed, we are not crushed. We know that beyond this life and our present earthly reality, love is the ultimate reality. This gives us the hope that makes us uncrushable. Then as we are perplexed, we are not in despair. Yes, we often have no idea what is going on around us, or even how God is working for our good, but we have so discovered the personal reality of God's love that despair (or despair/distraction) is not an option. Next, we will be able to see that, as we are persecuted, we are not abandoned. Jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us. He never has, and He never will. When you were crying "by yourself," it never was "by yourself." In the words of the Jewish man who described God's reaction to the holocaust. "He weeps". It makes sense. The shortest verse in the bible is also one of the most powerful, "Jesus wept." A God like that does not abandon His loved ones. Finally, even though the enemy may strike us down, he will not destroy us. He has no power to take what is most precious... our souls that have been filled with God's love. God is Love. Love always has been and always will be. It is the most powerful and eternal force in the universe, but we must choose (regardless of how hard it may feel in the moment) for it to have its full impact. I will pray for you and I ask for your prayer for me as well. Let's pray that we can all realize this Love together. |
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Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us. We
hope you are growing closer to the Father's heart day
by day.
Even as we struggle and wrestle our way through life...there is a love and peace that can undergird us. It's the same love that Christ carried with Him all the way to the cross for you and me. A love of supernatural origin that can live within us in whatever role we must fill from day to day. May you live out of that love today. |
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