Community: the good life
Today I feel like King Hezekiah.
Ok, we'll I don't know how King Hezekiah was all the time but I feel like King Hezekiah in one instance. I imagine him. He is walking up to the Temple. His hands are tightly clenched to a scroll bearing bad news. Sweat drips from his brow and he wipes it away in frustration. He has a hard time clarifying his many thoughts. He reaches the temple court and looks around the familiar atmosphere. The House of the Lord. It's so peaceful and yet his heart is not. In this place he has found rest and comfort. Now he comes with questions and fears. He does not hesitate to kneel as his robes fall around him. He spreads his scroll out and stares at it. It's so disrupting and he wishes he never had it. But he shows it to God, crying out for wisdom and help.
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, "O Lord Almighty, God of Isreal, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made Heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord and hear, open your eyes, O Lord and see…"
Isaiah 37:14-17
Now unlike Hezekiah, I have no physical army coming wanting to destroy my life or my family. But there is a constant battle going on over unity in community. The devil hates vulnerability. He hates love. He hates unity. He hates relationships. He hates freedom. So it's a battle. Right now I'm fighting to keep relationships intact. It is so much easier to avoid it. But it's so breaking to ignore it. I could fix it but without vulnerability, sacrifice, uncomfortabiltiy and honesty, there will never be a true breakthrough. I am laying down this unwanted scroll before God saying, "please fix this." I'm upset, distressed and wishing life could be all flowers and butterflies again. But it's not. With community it's gonna be a mix of laughter and messy tears.
After stressing over an argument with a housemate, and avoiding to fix it, my dad looked at me and said, "If it was easy then everyone would do it." But God calls us to do hard things. And there is so much goodness in it. I am growing in this thing called, life. I know if I don't deal with the lessons now then I'll just have to confront it later on. I'm going to fight and I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, no matter how hard it is.
Every hard thing is just a lesson and God is constantly showing me that this fight is not against flesh and blood but against the enemy. So I learn to bear with others in love as they bear with me and my insecurities. We learn communication. We devote ourselves to giving one another grace. Right now it may seem little but under the surface we are being trained to go out in the world and show others what The Lord is teaching us now.
Community has to have communication and unity. We will have unity by communicating. Whether its the small silly things, or the deep, vulnerable stories.
It is so good. Even when it seems bad. You know why?
Because that is what faith is.
