Someone sings a song about "Higher Ground" - I don't remember the details now, but it might be Barbara Streisand or Randy Travis (I realize that's quite a difference) but I can hear parts of the song in my head, "I'm standing on Higher Ground" or "Get me back to Higher Ground"...
What about Rocky Ground? Can anyone think of a song about standing on the Rocky Ground? The Bible tells us to rejoice in times of trouble, times of temptation, times of suffering,
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3
"We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given." Romans 5:2-5
"We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given." Romans 5:2-5
Do humans sometime create their own Rocky Ground, their own suffering? There are those people who always have some reason to be unhappy... are we all those people? Creating drama for our lives, so accustomed to the discontented feeling of living that we create our own suffering.
Do believers ever really know when they are in a desert or the wilderness on their journey? Or will hindsight reveal a small scope of perspective for the purpose of a season and whether it was in fact a season in a desert or wilderness?
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to support each other in our walks, but as Americans, we don't really want to admit if we're on Rocky Ground when we're supposed to be on Higher Ground.
I get tired of living so separated from my friends and family. I feel torn in every direction and exhausted from trying to keep up with friends scattered across the globe while making new friends in the location where I newly live. I'm currently in a relationship with a man in Nashville, my job is in Colorado, my parents are in Michigan, my best friend is in Texas, my church community is in Virginia... when people talk about "the world getting smaller" I think they have my life in mind.
But the world doesn't feel smaller. It feels big and isolating and often lonely. I don't want to date a man via webcast, and I don't want to keep in touch with friends via gchat, and I don't want to see my parents twice a year. Today I'm on Rocky Ground.
aww Brooke. I miss you... I am going to pray that God helps make your world a little more stable and a little smaller -- just for a bit anyway! Love you!
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