This little left leg, in a few weeks, will boast a new scar, somewhere next to an old one, maybe even through the old one, breaking scar tissue. This little tibia, once a bit bowed and slanted too much toward the inside of the knee is now corrected, standing straight and tall, ready for a guiding 8-plate to be removed. This femur, still a bit sluggish to cooperate, is getting an 8-plate of its own.
This little one isn't worried, not anxious, not him. He's looking forward to a nice pair of crutches. When you're six or seven, you leave surgery with a walker, but when you're nine, it's crutches, baby, and you suddenly become the third grade star --at least for a day or two!
This blogger, she's written a lot about perspective because God's granted her a bit of wisdom; given all the scars, she had to ask --and He's a gracious giver. She often wonders why He keeps giving, freely, abundantly to her --who fails and complains and wanders (and wonders). And He reminds her, quietly, gently that the gift isn't about her, isn't tied to her worth, her work, but to His.
The way an 8-plate works is by turning the leg in the right direction as it grows. (This blogger, she's crying, because all she wants is a Word from Him, and when He gives one, a clear one, she's overwhelmed by Him ... she's simply undone). We who believe, not just sign a card or raise a hand or call ourselves by His name, but we who Confess and Repent and Believe and Live, we have this guiding force within. His guiding force. His Spirit. Him. Ethan's plate was implanted, surgically, and can only be removed by cutting through skin and through bone. Our Spirit within, past skin, past bone --even the surgeon can't touch. Nothing can remove this God from His Children, nothing can separate us from His love. Who can undo the Seal of the Sealer? Not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature (Romans 8:38-39). Paul was convinced, and this blogger, she is too. For without this promise, this grace, this unmerited favor, this love, this Saviour, she's lost. Remember the failing and complaining and wandering and wondering. Without His Spirit, she'd never find her way back. But He promised, Paul gives us another Word, he was convinced and confident of ONE thing, and this blogger, she is too: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (1:6). He is going to perform this work IN me because I can't perform it myself. He began it, He performs it. He comes back for me. It's all about Him. What does that look like, Him performing in me? Like a puppet pulling strings? Like me without a voice, without a choice? Maybe like a knee turning, straightening, a guide in the background. Sometimes it's a painful turning, but a purposeful one: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Hebrews 12:6). Paul was struck down in his sin by his God who started the work in him: ...[I]t pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, This God who has set us apart tells us: Abide in me, and I in you (John 15:4).
Strong's defines abide:
to remain, abide
- in reference to place
- to sojourn, tarry
- not to depart
- to continue to be present
- to be held, kept, continually
What's key to our abiding when we fail, complain, wonder, and wander? Simply tarry there where we are "held, kept CONTINUALLY." When we are a part of the vine, we don't have to worry about tarrying, even, for His Spirit draws us, comforts us, brings His Word to our remembrance. He won't let us leave Him. When we feel unworthy, when our hearts are weary, we are reminded: For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things (1 John 3:20).
We can REST in Him, work for Him because His very Spirit compels us to do so. For, in the end, we will not say that it was our working, our praying, our witnessing, our studying that kept up secure in Him. Instead, we'll cry, "Jesus, He held us."
He receives All Glory All Praise!
Until that day, His Spirit keeps molding, turning, straightening, conforming us into His Image! Oh Glorious Day!
