Flying High!

I didn’t know I could fly.  But that’s what I was doing!  With my arms stretched out like the wings of an airplane, I was gliding over the ocean waters, changing direction with a flip of my fingertips.  Speeding through the air faster than an eagle, I soared over land, passing above towns, rivers, and forests.  Then I was flying over the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, at least that’s where I think I was when I woke from my dream. 

For a while I lay on my thick mattress with a memory foam topper, snuggled under clean sheets and a warm blanket.  Dreams are nice to relive when they are pleasant ones.  However, within minutes, I’m out of bed, dressed in reality, and in the kitchen fixing breakfast - three scrambled eggs mixed with a slice of pepper-jack cheese and a dash of cream.  Before long I’m sitting at my polished desk in my ergonomic chair, reading the news for the day… 

Russia is invading Ukraine causing shock, worry, and fear around the globe.  In Uganda, two Muslim men murdered Pastor Barnabas Musana for his role in bringing Muslims to Christ.  In northern Mozambique, ISIS-linked militants in recent months have kidnapped and made sex-slaves out of 600+ women and girls.  In America, inflation is rising, our boarders are a mess, government is divided, crime is up, and the country continues its moral freefall.  Hmmm, and to think most people want to live in this world as long as they can!

As for me, my cancer is growing and my body is dying.  This past week has brought back some physical discomfort that I’ve experienced before.  Each time it diminishes, but the day will come when it will diminish no more.  I just don’t know when that will be.  Soon, perhaps.  But for now my day goes on.  I will do some household chores, prepare for a Bible study, continue reading my current book, and rest when I need to in my blue padded recliner.

Having lived and traveled in Asia, I’m keenly aware that most people in the world are not as priviledged as I am.  The majority live in squalor conditions with unstable jobs, no access to medical care, no savings, and little hope for a better future.  In the past, people have lived in rugged places, died on battlefields, or lived under the whip of slave-owning masters.  I breathe freedom’s air.  I live in a comfortable, temperature-controlled apartment.  I belong to an amazing organization (The International Mission Board) which has taken care of my needs.  I have a loving family who will watch after me when I need it.  Even with cancer, I cannot complain.  I am blessed.

Best of all, I live each day humbled in knowing that God, in His mercy, chose me “before the foundation of the world” to be a part of His forever family.  Salvation is precious to me because I know I don’t deserve it.  As Charles Spurgeon once said, “God must have chosen me before I was born because He most certainly would not have chosen me afterwards!”  Each day I also rest in God’s sovereignty, knowing He keeps His promises.  And He has promised me His kingdom (Luke 12:32).  At the moment of my ‘promotion’, He will complete the good work He began in me from the day when, by His grace, I first believed.