The Bases of Life….. May 2, 2014 By: Kylie Davis

Last night as I headed upstairs to give my three children a kiss goodnight, they were all in their rooms sleeping like beautiful angels.  The house was quiet, the intense chaos level had dropped to an almost silent decibel, nothing pressing was on the agenda, and I was tired.  I went to bed as usual, drifting off to sleep as I cradled Jesus close to my heart and prayed.  However, at 11 pm my husband called to tell me of the passing of a little boy my sons age.  Michael Blake was playing baseball in Fountain Inn last night.  I am sure his parents were watching as he hit the ball, rounded the bases and cheered him on.  There is something about being a mommy and seeing your little guy all dressed up in his clean crisp soon to be dirty uniform, rounding the bases while you scream go, go, go, but this was not one of those games.  God chose that moment to bring Michael home.  As medical crews that were present tried their best to revive Michael, God had other plans.  As my husband was telling me this, even though I was half asleep, my heart sank.  The lower area of your stomach that normally holds all the “butterflies” starting feeling very weird, there was pressure almost immediately in my chest and it felt hard to swallow.  I immediately felt pain for this family, complete brokenness for them in what they must be going through.  For a parent it’s heart breaking to hear about a little one going home to heaven sooner than we had expected, but especially for a mother, it makes every emotion even more tender.  I hung up the phone with my husband and I just laid there staring at the window.  My son, Hunter will be ten in June.  He plays baseball every other weekend and my husband has a heart disease.  It was raw emotion and just took over my body.  

Right now, ten hours later, my heart is still heavy, the tears are so close to falling not because I knew Michael, but because as a Mother, my heart is aching for her and their family.  Mother’s Day is next weekend, the day dedicated to us as a Mother, a nurturing, loving individual God hand picked to love and adore our own children.  Normally I would ask why, but today I know in my heart that God doesn’t need to tell us why, he simply tells us when.  It’s very difficult being on this side of life where nothing seems to make sense, but God knows why.  It’s hard not understanding the purpose of taking such a young, innocent boy home to heaven this early, but God knows the purpose.  It’s hard to fathom or know how to go forward in life without this son, brother, grandchild….but God knows how.  I know that grasping a hold of the concept that God knows all and is above all is hard during a difficult time like this because we as humans have compassion and we feel “real” feelings, but we are in a borrowed body, loaned to us by God to come to earth for the purpose he has set for our lives and that's it.  Once that purpose is finished we are called back home.  We as humans tend to think it’s our life, it’s our decisions, it’s our race to finish, but it’s absolute NOT, it’s God life, His will, His decisions and His race to get us where we are not finished, but merely done with our earthly duties, and called back home to live peacefully without fear, in an eternal home with God.  

Would I be this strong if it happened to me, absolutely not.  Would I cry, kick, scream, and get mad at God, absolutely and probably more.  I cannot say that I have nor would I ever want to walk in those shoes, but it’s not my shoes to fill, it’s Gods.  We can lose everything around us, but we can never lose God, Hope, Faith, and the drive to cast our burdens off our own shoulders and give them to Him.  He knew us before we knew ourselves, he knew the tasks we would need to accomplish before he brought us home, the days we would have, the impact on the lives we would touch and the inspiration we would leave those to carry on without us.  We cannot fathom that, we are only human, but God knew that and that’s the reason he sent himself in human form as Jesus to let us see that through him we can face anything and still have hope.  

When we are in the darkest places and feel that life is over as it seems due to the circumstances around us, we can still cling to hope.  God doesn’t promise us an easy life while we are here, in John 16 verse 33 he tells us in this world we will have hard times, but have peace because he has already overcome the world.  God knows it’s not easy for us, and he doesn’t expect us to be okay with that, he expects us to come to him when we are struggling to remember that He is in control.  I can imagine it’s very hard to look to God when things like this happen, and all of us that have children may be a little fearful of what underlying conditions may be going on in our children, or be a little scared when our little ones go onto a ball field, basketball court, football field, dance competition, whatever it may be, but we have to remember that our life was predestined before we knew about life, and it is clearly written in God’s book of life, what we will go through, and how we will be brought home...and when.  

We have to rest in peace knowing that times will be hard, confusing, and doubtful.  We are imperfect people living in an imperfect world, striving to be led by a perfect father.  Fear, doubt, struggles, they all go hand in hand with learning that everything that happens is out of our control, and once we understand that God is the one holding the cards of our life, we can put aside those emotions and just focus on Him.  He says to constantly look upon him, always, to never look right or left, but stay on the path of truth.  His truth is the light under our feet, the light that guides our path.  So the hope for me in this situation is that one day the question to why, will be answered.  The quest to know God, see God, hear God and understand the bumps along the roads we travel will all be explained.  God doesn’t want us to be tormented with grief, he wants us to look to Him and to understand just how much he loves us.  If you feel lost he is there, ask him to help you see him through the storm.  In Psalm 31:9, “Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress, my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.”  In Lamentations 3:31-33, “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.  Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.  For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”

As Perry Noble said, “if it ain’t good, God ain’t done yet,” and I believe we can apply this to every avenue of our life.  Things in this life aren’t going to be “good,” just okay, trouble isn’t “good,” its hardship, death isn’t “good,” its painful, growing in him through trials isn’t “good,” it’s confusing.  All these things don’t equal “good,” but we learn to push forward knowing since it “ain’t good” God ain’t done.  He is there as our father, not to harm us, not to bring pain, not to burden us down with grief, not to lure us in to disrupt our lives, not to shove us into despair, not to cause us to lose everything in an instant, not to bring a wave of affliction over our heads, not to cast down our hopes with arrows of hate, not to break all our dreams with one diagnosis of disaster, not to bring death, not to bring pain, not to bring sickness, none of these…  He simply loves us, and has a perfect plan for us, but it won’t be here, on this earth.  The seasons we spend on this earth are the grooming process for perfection to be instilled in us.  The installation is not complete until we leave the testing zone and head to the flight zone.  I believe Michael is in the flight zone right now, he is healthy, happy, and home free.  God is holding him and celebrating the life that he had planned for Michael, the life that is now finished on earth, but just beginning in heaven.  And above all else, the greatest news is that there is a chance to see those we love again, to be reunited with them in perfect holy peace, to know the answers to why and be content within ourselves for the rest of time, but it’s only through God that any of this can happen.  

So at this moment in your life, if you are lost, if you think this world is full of hate, cruelty, unhappiness, unfair, you are right and God would agree with you, but it doesn’t have to end there.  God wants you to fully submit your life to Him so that he can show you in His time the greatness that surpasses all the evil in the world, the greatness that takes every hope to life, and the greatness that shows you the eternal way to live in perfect peace & harmony.  It only takes a moment to accept Jesus into your heart, but it takes the life you have here to develop that relationship, always trusting and believing that even if you cannot see the why, God does and one day it will all be clear.  Hold on to that hope, let go of the wheel of life you are steering, release your life to Him.  He loves you and wants to guide you all the days of your life.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow, we only have right now.  

So right now, do you have the peace to know if tomorrow doesn’t come, is your life over, or will you meet those who have gone ahead of you when you cross through the gates.  It’s a small step to take for a lifetime of eternal peace, and it can be done right where you are at, quietly praying to our Father in Heaven.  With your eyes closed and your head bowed, pray this prayer:

Pray:

God I don’t know where I am at or what I am doing, but I know that my life without you isn’t right.  My life is nothing without you God.  Please come into my life, release me from this burden of living without you, forgive me of my sins and wash me clean in  blood of Christ.  I boldly accept you into my heart by confession of my faith.  I promise to live every single day as a child of God, and put God first in my life, In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

If you did this, tell someone, it’s a huge deal, I proudly welcome you into the family and look forward to seeing you all again, in Heaven.  If you are already a follower of God, the one thing I can leave you with that has helped me the most in the last week is in life throughout whatever you face, “if it ain’t good, then GOD ain’t done yet,” it’s the best outlook on life.  If you do not have a pastor you listen to, I highly recommend Pastor Perry Noble at Newspring, his messages are not sugar coated and will make you feel uneasy at times, but just know that is God wiggling the wrong out of ya!  

God Bless,