Tag: Resurrection

The Path of Progress

Published on by Jackie1 Comment

“God opens doors… and He closes them.”

She gave me such a simple answer to the many complex things life holds – but so relevant, and so true.

“And when God closes doors… He also opens doors.”

I’ve thought on this mystery a lot, how endings are not the end, but rather, they are a vital crux to beginning… the rest of your whole, yet-to-be discovered, life!

I’ve gotten to experience so many new things, because of doors that have been closed.

Much of what I value today I wouldn’t have in my life if I hadn’t gathered it along this winding way… a way that keeps leading me into new places, because I’ve first exited others.

There are people I love today who I met only because I walked through unlikely or even unwanted places. The open door to meeting them was caused by other doors closing.

I carry beautiful memories of chapters that were only meant to last for a season, but forever remain part of my story. Just because doors close doesn’t mean we pretend we weren’t ever in those places.

Who I am, in my very heart of hearts, is not the same person as I was a year ago, still more changed from the me of 2 years ago, and quite different from the version that existed 5 years ago!

And I’m learning to lean into this constant change – not to resist it, but to rest in it, because after the fact, I do always like the improvements God has made to who I am.

I know that 5 years from now, I’ll probably see the areas I was lacking in today. Things I think I’m doing well today, I’ll be thankful I have learned to do so much better. (Just a hunch, going by my opinion of my first year of teaching… I knew I was inexperienced, yes, but now I see much more clearly how much of a novice I really was!)

But that’s ok with me – I’m comfortable with finding delight in my progress up to this point, even though I know I’m a work that’s not yet reached completion.

As I navigate all the checkpoints on my path of progress through life, I don’t look back and call former places worthless just because I’m not there anymore.

No, every closed door symbolizes a valuable part of a journey!

… sometimes, it’s vital to walk through the death – an ending – of a chapter so that a resurrection – new life – can be added to the story.

But endings aren’t always erasers. We let go, we move forward, we live today – but endings are not like a death in that we need to bury that chapter.

We get to choose what we hold on to – no present-day circumstance can erase the things that once made us smile.

We can also choose to let go of memories that keep us trapped in pain – because a closed door is an invitation, giving us freedom to move on. (It doesn’t always feel as good as that sounds, but it is truth!)

As I move forward in life, it’s my personal goal to always carry only the good with me, but leave the things that weigh me down.

When new doors open, we can’t step through them if we’re holding on to baggage from yesterday too tightly… but we can always retain the beauty it gave us, and our lives become continually richer and fuller if we travel this way.

“When God closes doors, He opens doors, and when the doors open, He will lead you through them.”

God never takes away without also giving abundantly, if we turn to Him for healing and restoration.

Psalm 90:15 says, “Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery.” (NLT)

What an exciting concept to lean on! When we feel the pain of closed doors, we can look forward to an equal proportion of joy at the opening of another door!

“Tell your heart to beat again, close your eyes and breathe it in… Let the shadows fall away, step into the light of grace. Yesterday’s a closing door, you don’t live there anymore… say goodbye to where you’ve been, and tell your heart to beat again!” ~Tell Your Heart To Beat Again, Danny Gokey

Answered Prayers

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In the last year of my life, there have been so many questions. So many prayers. So many heartcries…

And now, it’s becoming clear that even where I could not see them, there have been So. Many. Answers.

Sometimes, God answers prayer in a far greater way than I ever imagined when I made the request.

A deeper way… a way that feels like He hasn’t heard… like He’s forgotten me, while in reality…

He is working all things together for the greater good.

Because every piece of the story, though they appear so random to me, is connected in the big picture that only God can see. He is weaving each individual thread into one masterpiece.

Lately, that has been made so clear as I examine the the why of suffering.

What if… there’s a purpose for all of it?

What if… this is part of the journey to a beautiful place?

Instead of asking, “Why?” in a tone of anguished defeat, I’m beginning to see all the possibilities in this and ask, “What if?”

And that question is loaded with great potentials, which still create more questions than answers…

But I’m content to rest in the idea that for now, that may be my answer.

To keep asking about the possible good outcomes this could create. To keep seeking them.

Through the challenges I’ve been faced with, I’ve wrestled with questions I never would have thought of asking before.

And the answers to those questions are only found in searching to know more of Who God is.

Now, in the heat of the battle, wrestling, searching, longing, seeking… I am becoming grateful for the gift of this journey.

Because my place in this broken world has been shaken, I’ve gotten homesick for my home… Heaven.

A desire for perfection was written into our hearts when we were born in Eden, but we all know this world is far removed from its original state. That’s why disappointments hurt… our instincts tell us it wasn’t meant to be this way.

But in the everyday moments, when life flows along smoothly, we forget who we are, why we’re here, and where we’re going. We can become quite focused on our earthly lives, and really would be fine with staying quite awhile.

That perspective changes quickly, though, when life holds disappointment.

When we are faced with pain, we remember the reality that we don’t belong here. We belong with Jesus, in Heaven.

And since we can’t go there yet, we seek to walk more closely with Him here… because He has made Himself available to share our lives if we will invite Him in.

Walking intimately with Jesus is like a prelude to Heaven, a security in an uncertain world.

It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever known.

And I wouldn’t have this experience if pain hadn’t made me long for Heaven… and therefore seek Jesus more than before…

I used to wonder why I was created with a deep compassion for those who are suffering, if my life has been so blessed.

I’ve felt the deep desire to walk alongside those who are struggling under the extreme challenges their lives hold… yet I’ve also wrestled with knowing that I haven’t experienced much pain in life. Because of that, anyone who has would be fully accurate if they would accuse me of not having the ability to understand.

For many years, I believed by faith that God is good, but my life circumstances had not seriously challenged that belief.

And now that I’ve personally had to wrestle with that question, I still believe that God is good. More than ever.

But when I say that… it’s so much deeper. Filled with new meaning. Because I have had to search out His goodness in the hard and holy places… and this, I’ve learned, is the sacredness of suffering.

To seek God and discover His goodness in the most unlikely places, and open a whole new journey into the depths of experiencing His greatness.

Now, with the new perspectives I’m given the opportunity to learn, maybe I will become more.

I knew I was lacking, and I wanted to be used for God’s service, but I couldn’t have chosen a way to effectively equip myself.

I wanted a closer experience of knowing Jesus… a greater thirst to understand God’s ways… a deeper journey into His heart.

And although I never would have chosen the methods I see God using to work in my life, I am slowly understanding how suffering can be a gift… because nothing else could cultivate these things in me the way suffering does.

What if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

Blessings, by Laura Story

What if these tears are to teach me the empathy I knew I was missing before?

What if instead of an ending, this is the beginning of an awesome journey I never could have imagined taking?

What if through loss, life could become filled with so much more?

*photography and design by Jackie, author of this blog. Lyrics on photos are excerpts from “Blessings” by Laura Story.

For the Greater Good

Published on by Jackie1 Comment

As I enter the garden this night, it appears peaceful and still. But within, a figure kneels on the ground in a desperate posture, shaking, groaning, fists clenched tightly… In the faint moonlight, I see His lips are moving. Straining to listen, I hear Him say, “If it be Thy will, let this cup pass from me… nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done.”

It’s a gutteral cry, from the depths of an anguished soul… yet beautifully surrendered. His friends lie sleeping nearby, seemingly unconcerned by His agony… there He kneels alone, on the brink of torture and death, but trusting His Father’s will in it all.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, 2023. About 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was the One described in the scene above, praying in Gethsemane as His disciples slept.

The solitude was shattered when Judas reappeared with an angry mob of Jewish leaders. The infamous betrayer. The rejection must have hurt Christ deeply… but not only that of Judas. The disciples who weren’t able to stay awake with Him in prayer… the Jewish leaders who should have been most excited about the Messiah being in their midst… and then, the whole human race as the crowd shouted, “Crucify Him!”

Why, when the truth was so obvious, could those in leadership not see it? Ordinary people heard and believed that Christ was the Promised One. But those who had studied the prophecies about Him the most would not. They had expected a king who would fulfill their wishes. Jesus came as a servant, yet convicted them of their sins. They could not accept that their interpretation of the scriptures had been wrong, so they would not accept Him. In their attempt to keep their image intact, they rejected the Truth.

And Jesus, Truth Himself, was silent on trial before them. He did not defend Himself or fight. He allowed them to push their false view of Him – a blasphemer of God, when in fact, He WAS God’s own Son – until they killed Him.

Why? He knew Who He was. Why did He give up so easily?

But looking back farther still…

Angels announced His birth and the shepherds testified of all they saw and heard.

A twelve year old boy astonished the scribes with His knowledge.

A Man was baptized, and a Voice was heard. “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased.”

Sermons were preached. Miracles were done. People were healed. The dead were raised.

The invitation was clear. “Come unto Me and I will give You rest.“

He declared His Identity publicly. “I and my Father are One.” “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

He didn’t go to the grave without making a ripple. He thoroughly showed and stated the message of Truth first… until He didn’t only make ripples, He created turbulent waves. And the more clearly He presented the Truth, the more adamantly it was rejected. He knew when the time had come to be silent. He knew His words were being wasted on an audience who had already determined not to listen with open minds and hearts.

God also knew that a greater victory could be won by stepping back from the heated debates in the temple… the time had come to lay it down.

So although it all appears so wrong that Jesus died… so much like Satan’s will was in control… God’s hand was over it all. It was His will that Jesus stopped telling them His message. He was silent in Pilate’s hall, and didn’t protest as they nailed Him to the cross. He suffered the injustice… the shame… the rejection…

and by all appearances, the Truth died.

Death had won.

But what an amazing victory when the grave was empty on the third day!

God allowed Satan that brief taste of victory.

Only because God saw the greater good.

Satan’s attempt to defeat Jesus really backfired.

Jesus died, yes. And because of His death, through the blood of the Perfect Sacrifice, salvation was made freely accessible to all humanity through the simple & sacred avenue of prayer!

The resurrection power would not exist, had there not been a death prior.

And so it is in all of our life circumstances. This world holds evil. Satan attacks us. Causes us pain. But God is always in control! God Alone sees the full picture which contains the greater good in every situation.

God will never allow Satan to do anything that will not lead to our greater good.

Our loving, all wise Father has a resurrection planned to follow every death He allows.

This Easter, trust Him with everything that seems to be dead in your life. He will bring a resurrection if you remain in Him… the dark grave which your crushed dreams lie in today has potentional to be the womb which will birth greater things than you can imagine!

No, the exact things you desired might not be granted in this life. What emerges from a monarch chrysalis is completely different than the worm that went into it… but the butterfly is far more beautiful. On the other hand, the last chapter of Job tells of God restoring the things that were lost, in greater abundance.

Regardless of how it may look, there will be a resurrection for the death of your dreams. Hold on to faith in Jesus, and I know you will love His choice for you.

Because when you let Him walk with you through the pain, you will always emerge more beautiful. He pours Himself into the cracks of every broken heart that is yielded to His will. And some sweet day, by God’s grace…

you will reach perfection when you pass through your physical death and awake in a complete resurrection.

Never again to be harmed by evil. Death forever conquered…

And oh, what a Glorious Morning!