28 Feb - 6 Mar
What matters?
I’m back again, live in the virtual fresh. To summarise this week, it was a month’s worth of content. In my estimation (not that I am the first to make such a suggestion), some days are weeks, some weeks are months, and so on. Midway through the week I noted, “I’m not enjoying life right now. I don’t have the excitement I’d like or that passion. I’m clinging to any remnant of hope- even when the Lord does mighty things, this feels more like rescue missions rather than the end of war. You keep fighting until you die, no day of rest.” I agree this is some dense material, but I’d be surprised if others failed to resonate with it. At the start of the week this was also me, “I am not trying to be relatable. Christ is enough, as at the mention of his name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. I will boldly proclaim his name- no man can stand in His presence. On one side his humanity, the other side his divinity. Forget not where he came from, with whom He is One.“ So you can see that there’s been a contrast of emotions- the highs and lows difficult to manage.
Amidst all the fatigue, the peace, the stress and everything in between, I found solace in what truly matters to me. I didn’t have to work for approval, nor did my successes or failures determine the acceptance I received from God. The burden to be great was lifted, I didn’t have to force excellence upon myself or cultivate virtues. I simply had to live out the identity I had within me, for better or worse, in sickness and in health.
Taking Christ’s example in Philippians 2:5-11, humility was the key to his success, as in this he received divine enablement to fulfil his purpose on Earth. It is of great comfort to know that my excellence comes from the power I have within me. It makes my life’s goal one of yielding and submission- an achievable task for the lowly of heart. I submit to a greater power, sometimes unwillingly, always requiring an element of faith.
My hope is that for all reading and seeking help, these words of Moses will be an encouragement: “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! Hear, O earth, the words that I say! Let my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!”-Deuteronomy 32:1-4 NLT
On a lighter note, I watched Memento. What a great film it is. I’ve rewatched the opening scene multiple times and FaceTimed people to watch it with me. A movie which shows one clinging to the past strength, remembering the former days. Leonard, the lead actor, stated at the end of the movie “I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world is still here.” Reflecting on this, I thought of a man with a defiant heart, battle worn, thinking that he could only lose if he accept defeated. In his words, “I still have what it takes to remember, I can still lead my own life, decide my own fate.”
That was my week summarized- I hope it finds you well.
To another week: tsl.