Are You Ready?

When you read my title for this post you might instantly want to finish it with "For Some Football?". For many of us, this iconic song signaled the beginning of fall and the exciting season of that hard hitting game to be seen on a Monday night! That is until some executives somewhere decided it should be Sunday or Thursday or any other day that was not the Monday we were used to! However, now the Monday games are back on and all seems right with the world again! Unfortunately, the world is not all right or back to normal because of something as simple as a tv executive decision. My title for this post actually comes from a statement my husband made last night that got me thinking a lot. We were discussing the impending death of one of the members of our community and Mark made the statement, "I hope he was ready." This was not a judgmental statement but rather just an observation that this was an unexpected happening and that none of us knows for sure when death will greet us. It made me stop and think "Am I ready?"

This life can turn on a dime. You can be on the mountaintop and in the blink of an eye the whole world can change. I'm sure all of you can insert your own example here but here are some of my own. Death of my grandfather of an unexpected heart attack. Life changed forever. Death of a former student soon after his college graduation. Life changed forever. Death of a former student twenty minutes after speaking to her. Life changed forever. Death of my brother from pancreatic cancer. Life changed forever. The truth is this. In this fallen world death is going to come. For all of us. It doesn't matter who you are, where you live, or what you have done in your life. All of us will face this moment eventually and for some sooner than we think. This whole idea of death used to make me shudder. It made me want to change the subject. It made me want to run for my life the other direction. It made me bitter. It made me scream "Unfair!" It scared me.

Then I started to learn something from God that was very valuable.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

I believe this statement with all my heart. For this reason I am ready. I no longer fear death. In fact the idea of living with God and his Son forever and seeing those who believed, that have gone before me is an exciting one. But don't get me wrong. I am not saying that death is easy. I am not saying that those who are left behind don't mourn and suffer. I am not saying that we don't miss those who have died. I am not saying that all my questions about this life and death are answered. What I can say is that each of us can be ready. It is not about who is good or bad. It is not about meeting an agenda of rules or expectations. It is not about understanding everything that goes on in this world. It is not even about you. It is about what God did for us because of his love for us. It is about believing what God says is true. It is about faith. It doesn't rely on logical proof or material evidence. So my question is this. Are you ready?

Walk By Faith

I'm not sure that anyone has noticed but it has been almost two months since my last blog. You see, I began to think as the world does. I wanted to feel important. I wanted to be recognized. I wanted others to respond to my posts. I wanted to feel like I was making a difference. You'll see that there was a lot of me wanting to take the credit for what I was writing here. I had to take some time off and think about what this blog is about-His Glory, not Cherrie's glory. Plus, I had to admit I was a little disappointed. I had felt God tugging at my heart to write these blogs for quite a while and I had expected something dramatic to happen if I answered yes. Perhaps someone would be touched by my blogs and come back to the Lord. Perhaps a person would be brought to faith. Maybe someone would react in a different way than they normally do. Maybe others would read the blogs and feel they could go on with life as they relied on Jesus, not on themselves.

I began to feel like my blog was not that important. So over the past two months I have been thinking and listening to God. This is what I have discovered. First of all, this blog is not about me. If I can't make it God's then I don't want to blog or at least not under the name of "His Glory". Secondly, it is not up to me to make things happen. God is the one that will open hearts and change people-not me! He might do it dramatically or he might do it quietly. I may never know the way he uses the words I write here. What it amounts to is that I will do what he asks and he will take care of the rest. One of my favorite songs is "Walk by Faith" by Jeremy Camp.
These words remind me I need to walk by faith and not by sight.

"Well, I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well, because this broken road
Prepares your will for me.

Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all of my years
With one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do."

God also reminds me in his Word that whatever I write in his name will not go forth without results. He tells us this in Isaiah, chapter five, verses eight through eleven.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire."

So, I will continue to say yes and write for His Glory and He will accomplish what is needed and I will walk by faith. Thanks be to God!