Some Faith

I am completely and utterly heartbroken this morning. I got the news just after midnight last night that a child, one who hadn't yet learned many of the joys of life, had passed away. Luke Sexton lived only a few days in this world, yet he and his God-loving parents don't even know the tremendous impact they have made on lives everywhere. Sure, babies are born with health problems and pass away just days after birth all the time. Sure, some babies never even make it to their own birthday. However, this story is different. This story involves two young parents totally distraught at the sight of their baby boy born with a heart condition, that wouldn't give up, and furthermore trusted God fully. It is inspiring to say the least. I don't know how I would have handled the same situation myself. Blog posts written daily, texts and e-mails spread around, and Bible verses about perseverance and a "good" God were the Sexton's answer.

I have been burdened for baby Luke and this family myself, and the character and faith mustered by a young Christian couple have made me well up inside. How could a couple stricken with such bad luck be so optimistic? How could they choose to see the sunshine in the rain?

Luke 1:37 stands as the verse on the blog for baby Luke's status updates, and as a perfect theme for a pitiful situation. It reads: "For nothing is impossible with God." It is straight to the point, bold, and hopeful. Security is found in this verse. However, now, at a time when it seems that it was not God's will to impact the world with another day for baby Luke, I turn to a verse I know so well; a verse I turned to when I was dealing with loss. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose." We have no idea what good can come from this. Our incredibly feeble minds can't comprehend the plan God has in mind for the Sextons. I do know however, that He won't ever put on us more than we can bear, and from the heart I know that the Sextons love the Lord. If there is anything apparent from this whole period, it is that Luke had a fighting spirit and the courage to stick it out as long as he did, and his parents dearly love and depend on Christ. I think this can be a strong example for the rest of us to take a look at our own faith and see how we measure up today. How much do we trust Him and His plan?

We love you baby Luke.

Swimming Down

I recently wrote a new song entitled "Forgotten" in which I repeatedly mention "swimming down" and question why I am doing so. The song eludes to our sins being cast into the sea of forgetfulness and how we, for whatever reason, constantly seem to be trying to retrieve them. As it so clearly says in Micah 7:19, "You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."
Doesn't that sound wonderful? I think we buy into that when we first find salvation or when we decide to fully devote ourselves to Christ's service. We say, "My sins are not only forgiven, but forgotten. Now I can move on too." That is so true. However, we never leave it there. We let it creep back in on us. Or maybe we don't ever even have the afore-mentioned thought process. Possibly, we come into Christianity with our doubts of our worth. The truth is, we really don't have worth until we come to Christ. We are as wretched sinners unworthy of the prize He has afforded. How can we begin to accept ourselves as deserving, when we are so clearly not?
It breaks down like this for me: however unworthy and ill-deserving I ever have been, still am, or will become, the Bible speaks truth for everyone. Maybe our problem forgetting is that we have a bigger problem accepting forgiveness.
We who have been called to a greater service must learn to accept forgiveness so we can tell others of the debt paid by a King who lives close by. Accept forgiveness. Live in that forgiveness pursuing purity. Tell others about this great forgiveness. After we become more comfortable with forgiveness we can start to forget. God is forgetting our sins when we pray with sincerity. Now we need to forget and move on. Let sin live in the past so it cannot thrive in the present.