What do we mean when we talk of living a nice, normal life while here on this earth?
I have thought about this often in the last weeks as I have traveled to and from UAB Hospital, where my husband has spent weeks recovering from major surgery. He had the left lobe of his liver removed, as well as the bile duct and his gallbladder. The jejunum of the small intestine was then resectioned directly to the remaining liver. It was Stage 2 cancer.
The surgeon does believe the surgery was successful in getting the cancer out. But every out-of-the-normal thing for recovering from this type of surgery has occurred in his body. This last visit is because he fell and started bleeding internally at the two drain sites. They discovered that he had another bacterial infection, which was causing high fevers.
Dear Lord, we need a reset button! A dear Christian Sister sent us a card that stated the need to hit the reset button, and I chuckled because that was exactly what I had been thinking.
I have concluded that our definition of a normal life is our desire for every day to be filled with doing the “stuff” we desire —family, work, friends, socializing, and entertainment. We want to have generally good days with the right balance of all of these.
Our lives have been so out of normal, and that is why I am questioning if the God we serve truly has that as His goal for our lives. Do we have this innate desire for each day to be much the same as the day before because this is Biblical, or is it because it best satisfies us?
I have told the Lord Jesus that I need to have my life be normal again. He chuckles as He says to me, “Define normal!” I looked up a definition of normal, and it says that it is “a state of experiencing the usual or expected. The ordinary way things should flow.”
In this life, there will be troubles, and seasons will come when we feel totally out of control. This has been such a time. We desperately need to find peace in our chaos and tumultuous thoughts.
The normal Christian life is not just a checklist of do’s and don’ts, and it is certainly not ordinary. Our normal existence is designed to be supernatural, and it cannot be lived by the world’s standard of normal. We must make a conscious choice to feed, exercise, and develop our inner spiritual person.
The life we live is supposed to be one of death to self to live a life of faith.
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NIV
This means sacrificing our own desires, ambitions, and glories and replacing them with those of Jesus Christ.
We can only do this by the power of our Lord through the faith He gives us by His abundant grace.
1 Corinthians 2:9-14 paints a beautiful picture of how we should expect to walk out our days while on this earth. The Apostle Paul spent much of his time trying to teach the early church how to live in light of their knowing, being, and doing while abiding in Jesus Christ.
A truly normal life for the Christian should consist of an abundance of love, joy, and peace (and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23), not an abundance of “stuff.”
In my opinion, the proper “Christian life” looks like sacrifice and self-giving love in all aspects of life. Am I giving to others what is the best parts of myself? Am I doing things purely for others’ sake and not my own? Am I patient and kind in my dealings with others? Do I make a genuine effort to alleviate the suffering of those around me and give away the graces I have been given for the sake of others?
From the days of the early church to today, the answer has been the same: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). As we surrender the self-life for the Christ life, God will revive us, both individually and corporately. The result will be life, joy, rest, increasing spiritual maturity, prayer, a desire for service, and a love for people.
Ricky and I have been truly blessed by an Army of Prayer Warriors who have interceded for every request we have made for Ricky’s recovery. This is the “normal” way we should be living as we travel this road to life everlasting!
Forget about the reset button and rely on the Holy Spirit to supply you with power to keep you “online.”
My Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, I am so weak. I want You to hit the reset button and put my life back to normal.
Still my screaming emotions. Wash over me with Your unfailing love and embrace me with Your strong arms.
Help me, Jesus, to die to my selfish desire not to have anything disrupt my seemingly peaceful life. Give me Your peace, which no one can understand apart from the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.
Help me to stand fast and then tell of Your goodness and greatness. I love You, Lord – help my weakness.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen and Amen
Rebekah Marsh
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#rebekahmarshblogs
