Nothing But a Blip!

“A blip!” Your watching a radar screen and then you see it but only for a second and then it’s gone; “a blip!” Now imagine if you will that blip is what your life here on earth is like; “nothing but a blip” that lasts for no more than a second. But the radar screen what does it represent? Eternity.

Your life here on earth in comparison to where you will live out eternity is this; nothing but a blip. Watch it; a blip is pretty short lived isn’t it? No wonder Paul could say with all assurity even in the midst of suffering:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Do you like Paul have an eternal mentality? Are you looking at your life here on earth as but a moment in comparison to where you will spend your days eternally? The prophet Isaiah said:

“All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Are not our very lives but as a flower or the grass of the fields? Here today yet gone tomorrow? Nothing but a “blip! on a radar screen? But… how we live it, yes, how we live it will determine everything.

We must have the mindset of Paul; eternal thinking. But for our light affliction. Are you suffering? Are you struggling? But for our light affliction. Your life here is only temporary. You are only sorjourning to a final destination. Yes, how you live it will determine everything.

For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

If you have received Christ as your personal Savior, if you have been born again, then your new life has already begun.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3)

Yes, eternal thinking; “our life on earth is nothing but a blip!” Why then should we worry about it? Why then should we live only to please it; our flesh? It is nothing but a blip. Rather, should we not live our lives to glorify our Father in heaven? Run the race as if to win it? Pass every test our enemy, Satan throws at us? Then great will your reward be in Heaven (Luke 6:20-23). For then we will get to spend all of eternity with the only one who truly completes us; Jesus. Yes, Jesus.

All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead , even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day that Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1: 3-9)

“A blip! Nothing but a blip!” So pass the test and run to win!

Turn it Around!

Whatever it is, “turn it around!” Turn it around and give it to God. Infact, run! run it back to Him. Whatever it is! give it to Him. Feelings of inadequacy, depression, or loss? Or what about anxiety, fears, and frustrations, addictions, situations, and temptations? Turn it around and give it to God, whatever it is. It’s a choice, all of it! There are thoughts and actions that will only lead you down one road and at the end of that road is death. So turn it around and give it to God, whatever it is! Can He not restore you? Can He not be your peace? Can He not fulfill in you every need? He wants to you know? He wants to be our everything. Can He not give us hope? Can He not rescue us? From ourselves or from the sins that so easily ensnare us? Can He not create in us a new heart? A clean heart? Can He not? He can! But only if we let Him. He can! So turn it around and give it to God, whatever it is!

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25).

(I think I write this post with the thought for those who struggle with addictions and habitual sin. If this is you please seek help because it’s out there just waiting for you! There is nothing that you cannot overcome with God’s help and believe me, He wants to help you, all you have to do is ask Him! Try settingcaptivesfree.com)

The Eleventh Hour

God is such a good Father, He really is and I guess today that’s what I want to reflect on; His goodness and His purposes. He has been working in my heart a lot over these last few weeks and teaching, always teaching. But He reminds me, that even in difficulties, even in trials He is still working, sometimes even orchestrating their very existence because of something He has purposed to work out in me or maybe someone else. That even in difficulties God will still turn them around and use them for our good and He does, He really does. “And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

It makes me think of Peter, when he and the other disciples were out on a boat in the middle of a storm (see Matthew 14) and here comes Jesus, walking on the water – yes, even in the middle of a storm and Peter seeing him goes out to meet Him, eyes on Him. It isn’t until he takes his eyes off of Jesus that he then starts to sink, noticing the waves around him, yet even then Jesus catches him, “I will not let you sink,” He says, or this is what I imagine He would say when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm, “I will not let you sink.” Christ is there and He holds our hand, we need only to keep our eyes on Him until He returns us to the safety of the boat and then, did you notice what happens? The storm ceases to exist.

You see, even in the midst of adversity, trials, or whatever we might find ourselves in, God will not allow the winds to blow forever, but while they do, we need only keep our eyes on Him.

From my journal the other day:

When we are in the thick of it – God comes. He takes us by the hand and upholds us. He speaks comfort to us. He is our strength. He gives us understanding, and though it may not be complete it is enough to sustain us. He is gracious and knows what we can and cannot handle and when it is we start to lose our grip on it, when it feels as though we ourselves might come undone, this, this is when God comes; and it is “The Eleventh Hour.”

Sandpaper

These last few days I’ve been doing a lot of introspection and that’s a good thing sometimes, take time to re-evalute and ask God. “Ask God what?”

Oh, alot of things actually, could be anything, but I’ve found it’s always best to take whatever it is and just ask Him, ask God. “Where am I going?” “What am I doing?” or “what’s this (whatever it is) all been about?” Makes me think of the verse, In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps (proverbs 16:9). Of course, a course!

And I suppose that’s what got me thinking this past week as I pulled out my journal; the course God and I have been on together and after reading over the last six years of my life sometimes the course God chooses is not always the easiest path or the path of least resistance hence, how I arrived at the title for this post; when God pulls out “the sandpaper.”

I have come to the conclusion that sandpaper is not fun. I have even told God, “God I do not like it, your sandpaper, and I do not care for you to pull out the sandpaper on me again.” But then reading through my journal I see over these last few years how necessary His sandpaper is, painful, but still necessary when it comes to our growth and walks with God.

Reading through my journal it seems that so much of it reads as years of wandering through a wilderness I think, just God and me, and me constantly questioning, “what’s this all about?” and then seeing His answer, “sandpaper” He tells me. Yes, more sandpaper, more shaping, molding. “Until what?” Well, until perhaps the lesson’s finally complete and we can then take a big sigh of relief and then? God hands us another one.

Yes, I’m afraid to say it but school with God never really lets out. It doesn’t. Oh, there’s times when some lessons are harder than others, and wilderness experiences don’t last forever (thank God for that) but as far as God’s teaching? God is always teaching. It’s just a matter of what tool He’s chosen to get our attention. Sometimes it’s easy, we hear His word, our eyes are opened. Sometimes it’s not and to reshape us, yes, He pulls out “the sandpaper.”

Over these last few days of introspection I started journaling again as I find it good to have something to go back and reflect on, to see the course God and I have been on together, sort of like a growth chart. It’s funny, my journal is almost full now, six years, and soon I will be able to start a new one. I’m sure too filled with more questions, lessons and occasional bouts with sandpaper but it is a journey nonetheless. Journaling is just a way perhaps to see the steps, but as the verse says, it is God who determines them and if sandpaper’s involved, remember, it’s just a growth lesson.

“And this too shall pass.”