Smol tok nomo |
Smol tok nomo |
It's a funny thing about humans, we all want a place to belong. One way or another most of us find their place. Some are born right into their place, they never question their belonging, from day one they are fashioned and set up for their place simply by default. Others work hard, shine bright, and are sought by many with a place of their choosing. Still others (none of us I am sure) work diligently behind the scenes through the art of manipulation and make a place for themselves, even these misguided individuals are driven by a very real basic human need for a place. They buy into the lie that for me to have a place others cannot because there are only so many places. Then there are some who go years before they find their place, and maybe there are some who never do. …"I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:2 I really love to look at the life of Jesus. He had a place, you know that slightly honorable role of being on THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER." That's right, Jesus ruled the world, but yet he chose to leave that and come to earth and share in our sorrow and experience, the experience of the misplaced. Jesus should have been a firstborn who came into a decent Jewish upstanding family. However, whispers likely surrounded his birth, questions as to the validity of his Mother's pregnancy. Neighbors questioning "did Mary really have a virgin birth?" Family questioning "is Jesus really the Son of God?" From the beginning His place was jeopardized by questions of who he was, so even in the much lower place He was given on earth there wasn't really a place for him. He wasn't even born in His own home or community, rather they had to search desperately for a place for Him to be born, and guess what? There wasn't any room for Him in the inn so he entered this world misplaced and already marked by suspicion out in a stable with animals. Jesus didn't have a ministry position. Before you say, "blasphemy" hear me out. He was not a priest or scribe, he didn't pastor a church, or serve on an advisory board. He didn't sport the title of missionary or the one in charge. He roamed about finding all of those who had slipped through the cracks and ministered to them without any title or position. He was free to move where the Spirit led but at the cost of having no place. During His ministry he said, "the foxes have holes and the birds have nest but I don't have a place to lay my head." He was all God and all human, so his human side realized that lack, he had no place of his own and willingly chose to live that out for us. He never sought a place, He chose to sacrifice filling in the cracks and holes of the forgotten with no thought for Himself. Perhaps those who have had a place for so long cannot fully understand those of us who often feel misplaced, but Jesus does. I don't know many who are without a place when offered a place, would choose instead to sit with the marginalized and remain an outsider on purpose - but Jesus did. Over and over the more, I get to know this Jesus and His character my life is wrecked by the shock of someone so worthy as He. Jesus who had a great position in heaven, left heaven to experience the pain of the lowliest of humanity. What did He choose to say to us at His time of departure? Did He go on an on about golden streets, or did he talk about the no pain there, or the eternal life? All of these are good things, but what did He choose to tell us on His way out? Perhaps something that the misplaced of this world could cling onto in beautiful hope, " in my Father's house are many rooms." Not those who are born into it, not those who shine brightest, and certainly not those who step on others for it, but instead there is no short supply. He has enough rooms for all. Then the next line is my favorite and strikes at the very heart of the sojourners of this world, "I go to prepare a place for you." Those who have so long wanted a place, the misplaced children who are in this world but not of this world, He is preparing a place, for you! I am talking to you. You who are weary, trying desperately to do right and be right, you who are constantly torn between the decision of self and others and wonder who will choose you. He already told us you didn't choose me but I have chosen you. The great equalizer, He who is no respecter of persons, He has been preparing a place for you, personally. Not a general place where you may fit or you may participate, or you may be an audience for those involved, but a place specifically prepared for you. He has lived it, He has experienced it, and He is the one who can fix it. Oh and if you need a place to stay until that day comes to try this, abide in me (Christ) and I'll abide in you, but that's a blog for another day.
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AuthorWife, Mother, Missionary, Teacher, Friend ... just a few of the many titles I gladly wear. Never dreamed this is the journey God would take me on. Archives
July 2022
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