There have been some beautiful days here in England. The locals have told me that the weather has been more temperate than it normally would be for this time of year. It is 0530 and in an hour I'll be forming up for unit PT. I wish this morning was a beautiful day.But it isn't. It is cold -- 43 degrees...and rainy. And windy, blustery actually. So, PT this morning probably won't be much fun.
I wish it were different. But wishing doesn't make it so.
It is amazing though how often we live as though wishing did make it so. I am a called and ordained Christian minister (of the Lutheran confession). I say that upfront because I believe in integrity. I believe folks have a right to know where someone is coming from. So getting back to my point about wishing something were so doesn't make it so.
Now sometimes having a dream is good. When I was 24 and weighed 320 I dreamed about not weighing 320 -- and that helped motivate me to do something about it.
But there are some things I know that can't change. Sometimes I think it would have been cool to live in a different place and time and I daydream about this or maybe write about it (yes, I am one of many who are working on a book). But that doesn't make it so. I live here in 2010.
There have been times I wished my bank account had something else to say. But wishing didn't make it so.
There were times I wish I had a day off, but again truth is truth.
Sometimes I have read things in the Scripture and thought boy I wish that were different. If I were God I might have done things differently. But in spite of our wishes (and often our actions and presumptions) we are not God nor gods. God is our creator. And the Bible says what it says. And I believe that the Bible says what God has to say to us. And I believe he means what He says.
Yes, sometimes I don't fully understand. I was having a discussion with a fellow minister last night about a particular item on which the church is divided. If left up to me I would side with that individual. But it isn't left up to me. Wishing something were different doesn't make it so. There are times when dealing with God and reality that you have to accept what is given and trust. God is our Creator. I figure since He made us He knows something about how we are designed to fit together.
But the world is fallen and things aren't goign as designed. Sickness was not part of the original design. I have family who are fighting cancer. As I get older there are days I feel mortality in my bones. I've lost friends. I've seen first hand the damage that sin does to the lives of people from those who were sexually assaulted or fallen victim to substance abuse, and it goes on and on. Not part of the original design. Flawed. Fallen. Sinful. I remember talking to one alcoholic who has what is probably an inherited (as it runs in his family) predisposition to an overwhelming desire for alcohol who wavered between feeling worthless one minute to blaming God for creating him that way. Neither is true. The truth is that sin has effected us all - to some it has a much bigger impact and to some lesser -- but it effects us all (and it is fatal as we all die). Not part of the original design but true. Wishing it were different doesn't make it different. Pretending sin isn't sin doesn't make it not sin. Blaming God for creating us this way and using that as an excuse to live it out rather than recognizing it for what it is doesn't change it.
Truth is truth. God's Word says truth and I believe God knows what He is talking about.
But there is reason to dream and to hope. Because that same Word offers hope in the gift of Jesus and the promise of everlasting life. Yes it is faith. Yes it is hope. Yes is a dream I hope and believe will come true. Dreams can come true -- I did loose 160 pounds. Things can change. Miracles do happen. But in the case of everlasting life it is not just an empty hope that runs against all evidence - it is a hope that clings to God's Word. God's Word speak truth and I believe God knows what He is talking about.
So in the fall of life -- with winter ahead -- I believe spring is around the corner. So what are a few colder dreary days. The truth of "now" cannot overcome the promise of spring.
