'Course He's not Safe! But He's Good.'

Trusting in God should come naturally to us because it's what our original selves were meant to do. Before Adam and Eve (and if you or I, we'd do the SAME thing!) ate the apple in The Garden of Eden, our communion with God was as it should be. There was no shame, no silence from God, nothing in their lives that would try and drag them from The Only One who would and did fulfill all desires. Everything was exactly as it should be.

Now, thousands of years of sin in the world later, we struggle to trust in even a God who can make good out of the worst of the worst. We struggle to go to Him first because we have friends and family that will talk directly to us in a way that is quick and comfortable. Little effort is needed. We struggle in our desires for wealth, beauty, simplicity, and easy life, if you will. And none of this was a part of the life before the apple. The apple that brought sin into this world and separated us from a perfect communion with God.

And it brought a world that isn't whole. Isn't perfect. There is war and there is death. There is disease and murder. This world offers only temporary or if I may put it bluntly, false hope. You cannot rest in the words of humans. You cannot truly rest in anything you have on this earth. You will not take it with you when you die. So, where is the hope in that? The treasures on earth stay here, you do not. Is this what you want to cling on to for hope? Something that fades away?

I love Jesus and I have dedicated my life to following Him. But I'm still here in this world that offers pretty things, 3 steps to a simpler life, a healthy + happy family and so there's struggle still. I naturally want these things in the most perfect of ways. I long for a simple life, nice things, a happy + healthy family but what is different in me now is Who lives inside of me.

Having asked Jesus into my heart while I was a little girl started me on a path that brought nothing more or less than you, necessarily, other than hope. Eternal hope. Hope that breaks through any suffering here on this earth. Any pretty thing that tries to turn me away from God (as it promises happiness) now has a battle to fight in me. A battle against real Truth. That nothing or no one on earth can offer what only Jesus can.

This hope can go along with trust, too. As we wait for results on genetic testing for my other three, it is by far the most difficult thing we've had to face yet. Waiting and wondering. My heart aches at the thought of any of my other three being affected by such a terrible, "earthly hope"-shattering diagnosis. My older two more than likely do not have it...but Bexley. Oh, my sweet two-year-old Bexley is at the prime age for Batten's to take over and that scares me to my core.

A quote from C.S. Lewis'  Narnia Chronicle, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" where the children, Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmond enter into Narnia through a wardrobe in their uncles home. Edmond has already given allegiance to the witch while the other three go to the home of the Beavers. They tell the children that they will take them to see the King, Aslan.

"Is - is he a man?" asked Lucy
"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king I tell you."

So beautifully written. So true.

A life lived for Jesus promises trials. We are not exempt from a broken world affecting us, our lives, our bodies. We are not "safe" in this world. But God is still good. He is so, so good and the eternal safety in heaven, where all the suffering here on this earth will be made right, according to God's perfect will makes the suffering here worth it.

So, is God enough for you? Is He enough to walk this life with Him, here on earth to be able to say 2 Timothy 4:7 with full confidence?
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Or is your life, as it is, without Him too comfy and safe? Or maybe you do not feel a hope at all and you're intrigued?

Being intrigued is a beautiful thing, but actually taking a step forward, into the arms of Jesus who WILL get you through this life and all that comes with it, even with many blessings (I swear we feel blessed!!) has an eternal gift of wholeness and a perfect communion with Jesus, once again! Going back to a place like Eden.

For those who wonder how I show any righteousness. How I have peace? Please take a listen. This song explains it perfectly.