(That's Pumbaa the warthog, for anyone who is not a Lion King fan.)
I really should be packing right now. We're leaving this afternoon to go out of town for a couple days, and my only preparations have consisted of throwing a suitcase and a couple pairs of underwear on my bed. And naturally my two-year-old knocked one pair onto the floor, because he is consistently trying to thwart my progress in every area of life.
 |
| The great distractor himself |
I'm sure others have this problem- I just can't seem to concentrate on the task at hand when something else is on my mind. Today that something is the five year anniversary of my niece's stillborn birth. I won't recount the whole story, but I have shared much of it before. For obvious reasons, though, I think about the impact of this day every year.
This year my thoughts have been about how little attention my sister and her husband have drawn to themselves over the years, if that makes sense. We all know someone who is constantly crying, "Woe is me!" This is not them.
Certainly they mourned. They were heartbroken. They still think of her and remember the powerful legacy her short life has had. And yet, they don't dwell on the pain of the moment. They turned to God for strength and peace, and He supplies it still.
What makes the difference between these two sorts of people? Why are some people always dwelling on their misery, and some people are able to put the past behind them?
This post is not meant to be an extensive answer to this question. I really do need to get back to my packing and my underwear-throwing children. I just had one quick thought that I wanted to put out there. It's based on Ephesians chapter 4.
22...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Some people are always harping on what everyone else around them should stop doing. I get it. There really are lots of terrible things people do, but in addition to being annoying, they're not addressing the full issue. What I love about this passage is that there is always a replacement for whatever we shouldn't be doing.
If you lie, don't just stop lying. Replace your lies with truth to uplift others.
If you struggle with anger, don't just stop being angry. Simply stop using it as an excuse to blow up at everyone around you, and work it out calmly and quickly with those around you instead.
If you steal, don't just stop stealing. Work to earn your money, and then give to those in need.
And so on and so forth.
The old man is not just taken off. It is replaced by the new man. That new man is given to us by Christ and Christ alone. Ravi Zacharias said on the subject, "Jesus Christ didn't come into this world to make bad people good; He came into this world to make dead people live." We can't change who we are by ourselves, not in a way that means anything.
My sister and brother-in-law have not forgotten what happened. They have simply used their tragedy as a catalyst for change. Rather than dwelling on the pain, they allowed Christ to replace it with peace. They share their story and help others who are in similar heartbreaking situations.
What a challenge for me, to replace my struggles with something profitable. To stop dwelling on the past and let God make a new future. Old man off and new man on. Letting the Spirit renew me each and every day, sometimes each and every hour.
This is just one more demonstration of how my good is for God's glory.
And now, I need to go put off my distracted mind and replace it with a focused one! (It's the little man's nap time.)
