Managing Life

Managing Life

Most families have experienced times in their lives where a chaotic element is part of their day. And night. And week. Or maybe it is just mine! 

I often say that it feels like I've lived a lifetime before I arrive at work as the effort and chaos make a morning so very complex. Now I have very “lively” immediate family gatherings that have an element of setting you on the edge…

In the chaos of my time with extended and immediate family I have enjoyed the company, the sibling rivalry (both children and grandchildren), the food and drink, the events, and the often unflinchingly honest feedback! It is funny how all things can come together; a bit of ‘feedback’ and some verses that resonate, that results in an epiphany about life. We read the same Bible verses or hear the same spiritual truths in a couple of different contexts and think, 'Hello - what is it I need to be taking notice of?'. I have spent my summer re-reading Danielle Strickland’s A Beautiful Mess. It resonated with me in the situation I have described - that out of personal mess God is still there, using the mess for my benefit.  

The following passage resonated with  me: 

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." (M. Scott Peck p.29)

Smith Wigglesworth explains that "Great faith is a product of great fights. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials."  Out of personal sadness a beautiful order was formed, that is often forgiving one's self. 

The Message Bible is currently one of my favourite translations and over the course of the summer, Psalm 18 particularly resonated with me:

"GOD made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I’m alert to GOD’s ways; I don’t take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. GOD rewrote the text of my life   when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes." Psalm 18:20-27 (MSG)

Often I have found personal answers after uncomfortable situations. I have had to look at myself and face the truth about what was going on. I can only humble myself before God my father, who knows my heart better than myself. The passage from Thomas Merton’s Thoughts in Solitude, is a beautiful prayer that addresses the honesty required in times of challenge, and the honesty that comes to the surface when we are faced with personal chaos. 

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me. 

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following your will

does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this

You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem

to be lost in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

I am never alone. We are never alone. But I often need courage to face who I am with integrity, and courage to allow a transition from mess to order. The kind of courage God requires of me is to believe that He has got it. 

Even deeper still, is our courage to accept that not everything is fixable and we just might not know why or how or who is going to answer-for our particular situation in this life. That we might not get the opportunity to “help” someone understand how they made us feel.  Or encourage them to pay the price for their unkindness/crime/offensive behaviour/sin. However, there may be something deeper at work and we need to give it to God and wait to find out. 

But I am not patient. Although I am trying to be (rather than learning to be). If I am honest it is still a work in progress.

It is really about living our Christian lives with an open-handed posture of trust and re-creating this every morning. Letting go of the fear, trusting that God is in control and that God will continue to teach us - to teach me - by His grace, as I try to embrace his truth and accept that I am not in control. 

We can be people who spread God’s light and freedom, and expanse and truth, and guide others through the seasons. And we can invite people to be part of this process as well. We get to be a part of this incredible work of beauty which is God’s redemption of the world and this art called life. 

Andrea Grear

Principal - Secondary, South Plympton Campus