Running doesn't bring safety.

Not even a month ago I was having extreme pain and itching on my forearms and neck. It would shatter my sleep with the sensation of white hot icepicks being driven into my flesh and nothing would cause it to relent. The itching and the pain correlated and scratching made both worse, and yet, I could. not. avoid. itching. After a short while of this, I would begin cursing and my attitude would turn bitter and resentful. A little research finally led me to the only thing that helped and that was an ice pack to deaden my nerves and help me fitfully return to sleep.

In these times, the thought passed through my mind to sell my soul to get rid of the agony (not that I have that option since God, you know, sort of owns my soul). Still, it was humiliating for me and a great cause of sorrow on my part that something so basic as an itch could bring me to my wits ends and fray my nerves so completely. The faith I spent so much time cultivating was broken quickly and the only thing holding me together was God's faithfulness.

I was reminded of Job from the Bible when he was afflicted with sores from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. His only recourse from the agony was to use a broken piece of pottery to scrape away fluids from the leaking pustules covering him. Yet, His hope in deliverance from God remained firm. He knew God to be His ultimate and only source of healing.

While I was meditating on the shallowness of my faith and lack of endurance, the thought of soldiers in trenches during World War I entered my mind. They lived with the rats and roaches, often with trench foot so bad the skin on their feet would slough off in great chunks. They were gassed and lived in full facial masks that made it almost impossible to exert oneself and breath at the same time. Enemy shelling would drive them deep underground for days at a time to the point that many soldiers would become "shell shocked" and lose control over their bodies and psyches.

What was the average soldier's response to this intense suffering? Did he leave the utter lack of comfort in the trenches for safety above ground? Did he remove his mask when he could barely breath to inhale the air outside? God no! Those soldiers knew that, though they suffered mightily in the inhumanity of the trenches, the danger out of the trenches and in the foul air was far greater. Certain death lurked in those dark shadows. Though they lived worse than brute beasts they accepted, even fatalistically, the life of suffering they were called to be in. There was no choice in the matter if they wanted to live. Their safety did not resolve around seeking comfort but in enduring a life of suffering for the promise of peace that was to come.

This was true for Job just as it is true for me and you. No one can avoid the pain in this life by running away from God who heals our pain. We are trapped in dying bodies that will suffer and die through all the pangs of that death. We are surrounded by a world that in its very nature seeks to destroy us and bring about a victory for wickedness. We are attacked on every side by demonic minions and our own convicting thoughts. In all this do we then turn to the world for solutions that it inherently cannot provide? Can the world kill us and also bring us to life? Is it wise to avoid God who is the wellspring of life? Not if you're being honest with yourself.

Our safety revolves around the only One who was able to enter into the enemy's trenches and silence their guns. He endured our agony to save us. That One is Jesus and only through trusting in Him alone are we able to come back into the light of day where the air is clean and the sun is bright. In Him alone are we able to remove the stifling masks that hid our faces for so long. It was for freedom that He set us free and only in Jesus can we live a life befitting the only creature to be made in God's image. Do not give up on God's healing for such light and transient causes of this world that is passing away. In just a little while we will finish the race of faith and enter into the heavenly courts where Jesus will look upon us face-to-face and His father will say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Love and sacrifice.

^{Hebrews 12:2-3}
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 13:15-16
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

For the past couple months, I've been mulling over some things that happened during Christmas. I was given a deeper understanding Jesus' life while with my grandparents in Colorado. My grandpa is in his 90's and really falling apart. He's had a couple of bad falls (are there any good ones?) and his shoulder was the size of a grapefruit. His back and chest were hurting in a number of places, too. I found all this out within minutes of my arrival and my mom immediately gave me the opportunity (voluntold me) to rub pain numbing cream on his torso. Helping my grandpa in this way was definitely out of my comfort zone especially after a six-hour drive. Still, I made a joke with him that I would be willing to wash his feet also if he asked. When I said that, I was struck with the thought that, for the most part, true love does not simply encompass romance or constitute a feeling. Love is a means by which we often sacrifice our own comfort and standing in order to do what is best for others.

It wasn't my desire to rub ointment on my grandfather but when I saw the thankfulness in his eyes and accepted his profuse thanks my heart changed. God gave me a better understanding of what Christ did for all of His children. I had met his need and that was of great importance. This, in turn, helped me to appreciate all that my own mom had done for her parents. She was getting pretty worn out from spending so much time taking care of them. It was a little difficult because, in part, they realized the burden my mom and her other siblings were bearing and seemed of the mind, at times, that it might just be best to move on from this life. I'm not sure how much conviction lied behind my grandparents' words when they were briefly mentioned, but I knew that my mom needed encouragement to continue blessing her parents.

I was able to pull my mom aside one day and let her know that all she was doing was worth it. In her loving service, she was giving dignity and honor to her parents in a way that she herself had received from them when she was just a child unable to care for herself. She was also teaching her parents, who were no longer self-sufficient, that there is great honor in accepting unconditional love when it is offered. My grandparent's acceptance of my mom's free love offering returned dignity to her because, though giving a gift is wonderful, a person must still receive it with a full heart for it to have its complete value. She met their needs and comforted them and, in return, everyone was able to see the love of Jesus as though He were receiving our suffering and giving us His love at that very moment.

Senator Boxer vs. Doctor Evil

In light of one of my embarrassing state representatives (Barbara Boxer) I can't imagine the President humiliating a general for calling him "sir." Come to think of it, while in the Marines, if I had called an officer by their rank (such as Captain) I would have been corrected because it's customary for an enlisted man (or even a junior ranking officer) to call the officer one is addressing as "sir" or "ma'am." "Sir" and "ma'am" are words of courtesy and respect where as "Senator" is simply a word connotative of one's position. You should enjoy this YouTube video regardless of whether or not you agree with me (there is more to read after the video).

If I may take the liberty of expounding upon this point as to how a true public servant should act we can look to our Christ. Consider Philippians 2:5-11 for a moment:

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

So we have a God who humbled Himself by coming to enjoy our life in the flesh with us (by experiencing temptation, illness, injury, and ultimately death) so that He would have the pleasure of our fellowship through forgiveness which could ultimately be bought only by the shedding of His blood. How does He prove to us His desire for such fellowship? It is written in John 15:13-15:

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

God, who is of a much higher estate than "Senator" Barbara Boxer, allows us to call on Him as our friend and never rubs His power in our face by demanding obeisance. God humbled Himself before us in accordance with His His nature to prove that, "...everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."