Life as a Cardboard Box

I felt pressed to write an entry yesterday, so I did.  But I could have simply waited. With the heavy rains the last few days, the basement flooded. Our 17-year-old came up from her basement bedroom announcing, "It's an Amazon down there!"

And it was. This one-hundred-and-some-year-old house has five rooms in the basement--and four of them were floating. Surprise of surprises, cardboard does not weather water well.

The bottoms of boxes were soaked.  The contents, depending on their substance, were ruined.  Music, scrapbook material, Christmas wrappings dripped. In the complacency of life, boxes had been left on the floor--fabric patterns, song visuals. All that work and expense. Poof! Ruined. Gone.

And oh, how I was reminded that this body is not intended for eternity. Much like the cardboard boxes in the basement they fall apart, soak up disease, and decompose.

The hope, the promise, is that we will have new bodies, imperishable ones that will endure for eternity.

The warning is that I must guard against complacency and investing in those things that will not last; filling this frail box with unnecessary things that look pretty and make me happy at the moment, but have no eternal value.

And as we pulled our daughter's bed and furniture away from the walls, we saw things that would have remained hidden: food wrappers, pencils, paperwork. She hadn't planned on evacuating her room; there wasn't time to put things in place. It just happened. And so it is with us. Few have time to prepare in the end. It's all in the now.

As we traipsed in and out of the room with goods and towels, Henry, the goldfish, swam about unperturbed, well-suited to his environment. Regardless of what happened around him, he cared nothing for Christmas decorations, carpets, or clothing. Oh, to remember that beyond this life is one altogether different. What joy to live like Henry in a world of cardboard!

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming...

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” ³⁶ Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body....

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 
(1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 35-44, 58)

"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

The Image in the Mirror

Have you listened to your prayers lately? If you're like me, you have set times of prayer by yourself and with others, but you also carry on a conversation with God as you travel each day. God's Word is the mirror (James 1:23-25) and my actions reveal what I believe about what I see. But the image? Perhaps the image in the mirror is best reflected in my prayers. After reading the book of Esther, I have been challenged to evaluate how I truly think about God based on my prayers.

From the beginning of the book I was struck by Esther's willingness to take advice from Mordecai, her uncle, and Hegai, the king's eunuch (Esther 2:15, 20). She did not have all the answers, she did not know or pretend to know what would be best, so she relied on the wisdom of others. My willingness to listen to those in authority reflects my willingness to listen to God. If I am doing life on my own, I am not in fellowship with God or others; pride clouds each step of my day. To ask for and take advice is to live in humility. In prayer, do I ask and wait? Or do I tell and do?

Having read the entire book numerous times, I'm convinced it should be the book of Mordecai. The title, "Esther," is itself a tribute to his humility and wisdom. Although we don't hear his prayers, we see his actions. Mordecai intervened on the king's behalf without expectation of reward (Esther 2:22-23).  He refused to butter-up Haman like his countrymen who had grown accustomed to winning the favor of their oppressors (3:2). He was true to God regardless of reward or reprisal. Does my prayer life reflect a desire to please others and win their approval over the approval of God? Or do I pray for courage, strength and wisdom to please Him and Him alone?

Esther, after seeking Mordecai's counsel, put her life on the line. After three days of prayer and fasting, she invited King Ahasuerus and Haman to a meal that was already prepared (Esther 5:4). There are many ideas about why Queen Esther would do this, but I wonder if she wanted to know Haman for herself. She had seen the document of death (4:8), but being a woman of wisdom, she didn't assume the worst. Each of us knows someone of self-importance, like Haman, who exposes himself needlessly. There's a good chance Haman felt he was safe enough to openly despise Mordecai and the Jews at that first meal. When I am in a safe place, how do I regard others? Does my prayer life assume the best of people or the worst?

Finally, Esther didn't initiate her request. She wasn't demanding or combative or impatient. She trusted that God would meet her need in His timing--and there was plenty to spare, more than 8 months! When given an opportunity, she voiced concern for the safety of herself and her people, not judgment on Haman. She respected the king with her request, stating the problem, not the solution, in her initial outcry. Do my prayers reflect a deep trust and respect for God? Do I wait on Him, as a weaned child sitting contentedly on his mother's lap? Or do I demand and claw and beg? Do I approach Him with the problem or the solution?

This morning I am struck with a serious need to evaluate my prayer life and personal beliefs of God-who He is and what He can do. My prayer, held up to Scripture, exposes my greatest desires and personal view of God. By His grace, He will help me repent and grow in Christlikeness. Have you listened to your prayers lately?

Stuck

Today is one of those dreary, tiresome days and I don't. want. to. do. anything.
But--there are websites to update, emails to send, clothes to fold, floors to sweep, agents to contact. And I have nothing.  No drive.  No motivation.  No desire.
My prayer?  My only hope?  "God, move me. Wherever You would have me go; whatever You would have me do. If it were up to me, none of it wouldn't happen. Not today."
So here I am, procrastinating--but with an important message for each of us. God can, and will, move us. Sometimes I'm more willing, able and motivated than others--even that is a gift. On days like today, I realize that I can't make it happen.
"Move me, God. Move me."

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.

 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him....  Psalm 37:4-7

 

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5