Part 2: A Hinge.

A hinge, or turning point...

There are many who live with this awkward humanness of the heart. Do you agree? It leaves us floundering in our faith, questioning, doubting, fearing… Unsure of what we need, or what we want? Who we are or who we want to be? It leaves us, as Paul attested to, doing what we do not want to do, and not doing what we do want to do. (Rom 7:15)

Consequently, living with tragedy and loss or a broken heart, or various other forms of suffering, seems to result ultimately in two life options… 1. A confused life, orchestrated around our human ability to cope. 2. Or a life that embraces poverty of spirit, which is the pathway to eternal life, that ushers in the kingdom of heaven.

God is teaching me about the hinge upon which swings the door of eternal life, spiritual transcendence, life in the Spirit, the whole kingdom of heaven being ushered in. 

The hinge is this: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

Could anything be more plain and simple?? It is the most plain and basic truth of the gospel story. How can it elude so many of us who suffer through various trials and testings?? How can we profess a faith in Christ, but miss the hinge upon which swings the door into the fullness of our salvation and freedom in Christ?? 

I do not believe in a prosperity gospel. I am much more partial to a Jesus who was called the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is 53:3). But I do long for the fullness of joy and salvation in Christ Jesus my Lord. I do long for life, joy, abundance, happiness, blessing… I long for:

• The comfort in my time of mourning (v.4)?? 
• The favour and inheritance I desire on the earth (v.5)?? 
• The fullness and satisfaction of my soul's hunger and thirst (v.6)?? 
• The mercy I long to receive from others (v.7)?? 
• The ability to see God through the sinful pollution of this world, to know and understand that He is, and rewards those who diligently seek Him (v.8, Heb 11:6)?? 
• The honour of a life lived as a son or daughter of the most high God, the most intimate fellowship with the Father, and the authority due His name (v.9)??
• To receive the most precious treasure of all of eternity, the rich and abundant kingdom of heaven, that reigns from everlasting to everlasting… (v.10)??

I used to think that God was calling me to embrace pain and suffering, that this would grow my soul. I believe this to be a part of the process, to join in the fellowship of His sufferings, but is a partial truth. God is teaching me rather to embrace the spiritual posture of the poor in spirit, whether in good times or in bad. For this posture is like a hinge that turns from our own strength and life of earthly limitations, and opens the door into a pathway of life… and life everlasting. 

…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:3)

Thank you, Father, for your faithfulness in teaching me and leading in the Way everlasting!!!

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
(Psalm 16:11)

For me, this is part of learning what it means to transcend suffering and loss, to find redemption in suffering… To discover how God can and will continue to lead me in healing and wholeness when my heart seems to declare that it cannot be so, that it will never be so…?? 

So lead me, Father, as You have and will continue to do… Lead me in the Way everlasting. (Ps 139:24)