6-24-20 Fragile Everywhere& Not an Ounce of Stability
Fragile Everywhere & Not an Ounce of Stability :: By Candy Austin
Fragile – (of an object) easily broken or damaged; flimsy or insubstantial; easily destroyed. (of a person) not strong or sturdy; delicate and vulnerable.
Life is fragile everywhere we look; nothing is stable, not even sturdy, to say the least. We are all vulnerable and can only protect ourselves to a certain extent. Who can we turn to? Who can we rely on? Who will help us? Who will save us?
In recent weeks, my husband’s stepmom passed away; so, at a last-minute notice, we left for an 11-hour drive to attend her funeral. We mainly wanted to be there to comfort my husband’s dad who was in a lot of grief.
Within the first hour upon arrival, a certain family member found it necessary to ‘verbally wrestle with us’ on the topic of God and the Bible. This person ‘claims Christianity’ but, during this exchange, we found out 1) that they are mad at God, 2) that their beliefs are more in line with the common Agnostic or Atheist, and 3) that they love their sins too much to submit to God’s Authority.
My husband conversed with this person for a while, basically telling them that we are too small to comprehend all the ways of God and that God is infinite and can do anything beyond our ‘limited and finite comprehension.’
Isaiah 55:9, KJV “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Basically, we came to realize that this person does not want to submit to God’s Sovereignty; they choose to believe instead that the Bible is no more than ‘just another book.’ They think it was written by Jewish men who then ‘chose to omit multiple things’ for their religious purposes. Therefore, according to them, the Holy Bible is not really to be trusted; but pagan sources they find on the internet refuting and/or adding to the Bible are to be trusted instead.
On that note, I asked this person, “If we are not to trust the Bible, then who or what can we put our trust in?” Their response was, “To believe and trust in yourself.” I let them know that our hearts and minds are ‘desperately wicked’ so that we cannot trust in ourselves, to which they said, by my trusting in the Bible, I am therefore trusting in my wicked heart. I said, “No, I am trusting that God is Sovereign and that the Bible is True.” Not much was debated after I gave that answer. Afterwards, they thanked us profusely for coming.
1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the LORD God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
In a world that is falling apart at the seams literally day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute, there is absolutely nothing we can really rely on other than the one True Sovereign God who is also the Sustainer and Creator of all things! If only we could help our lost loved ones, prodigals, and deceived acquaintances to see this Truth! Since God is Sovereign, He gives us Freewill to choose, and it is up to each one of us to decide for ourselves.
‘Believe in yourself’ is an age-old mantra of many false religions and beliefs such as Humanism, Satanism, and New Age (Believe in yourself, Do as thou wilt, and any other unbiblical chants/meditations). Not only can we NOT put 100% trust or complete faith in any government, leader, family, and/or friends; we also cannot trust our own fragile and wicked selves! Sadly, most people are ‘self-deceived,’ and this mantra of ‘Believing in yourself’ only exacerbates this spiritually detrimental problem!
It was good to get to see our stepmom/MIL at the funeral home; they had her prepared just for us so we could come and say our goodbyes. She looked nice and peaceful lying there, but we know the real part of her (her soul) is no longer inside her earthly shell. For the past 2 years, she had been battling cancer; but, in the end, it ravaged her entire body due to living a very unhealthy lifestyle. Overall, it literally felt like we were saying ‘goodbye to a friend’ of the better part of nearly 30 years.
I am thankful that, for the past 5 years, the LORD gave me the opportunity to send them Gospel tracts, YouTube ministry videos, and handmade Crosses. I hope that they had made an impact before she passed. Once again, it is hard to know who is Truly Born Again when you do not see much spiritual fruit. Just saying one believes does not necessarily mean that person had ‘Saving Faith.’ Guess we will find out once we get to Heaven.
Over the past nearly 30 years when we would see each other, my step MIL always loved having me do her hair, whether it was cutting, styling, or curling it. She also loved having me do her makeup and nails as well. Truth be told, she was a ‘tell it like it is to your face’ kind of lady. Basically, a no-holds-barred, unruly, and obnoxious person most of the time, and everyone knew it.
In the end, we choose to remember the good side of her, such as being the only person who would reach out and call us every other week when no one else would, and for always telling us that she loved us through phone calls, cards, gifts, and letters. For this, we will always remember her.
By the time we left my Father-in-Law’s house, it seemed our being there accomplished what we had hoped by comforting him. Instead of him ‘melting down’ in our arms and necks over his loss, he seemed at ease and somewhat positive on the day of our departure. If we could ask for any prayer, it would be for this man’s salvation. He seems more open to the things of God now more than ever, but we hope it is not just for the ‘Fire Insurance,’ so to speak.
Bottom-line takeaway is this: everything in this world is temporary, even our temples which are our bodies (shells). Basically, we are fragile, vulnerable, delicate human beings that are only here for a little while. Our time here is so short that it barely makes a ‘blip’ on the radar screen of overall combined history! During our ordained time here, we are given a ‘monumental opportunity’ to choose where we will spend our Eternity! Either Heaven or Hell… we get to decide.
James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
Therefore, what we believe is paramount, beyond important, more than we can ever know on this side of Eternity! So, I leave you with this… choose you this day whom you will believe, whether it be in ‘pagan gods or the god of self.’ But as for me and my household, we will believe the LORD by believing in His Word!
Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
If we cannot trust in God and in His Word, tell me then, who we can trust?! Ultimately no one! Do not be like so many who have passed on like some of our loved ones who never took the time to ‘crack open’ their Bibles! If you believe God’s Word is Truth, then show it and take the time to read it and get to know Him before it is too late! Those that He does not know (through intimate Trust, Belief, True Saving Faith, & Relationship), He will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you!” Don’t let this be you….
Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Until next time… Maranatha!
(JESUS = THE WAY, THE TRUTH, & THE LIFE)
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