LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL - HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY

THE PATHWAY TO HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY - LESSON 12:  Life on the other side

Our last lesson focused on ‘the wall’.  For review .. what did we learn the wall is and what should we do when we hit one in life?

It may be difficult to discern precisely when we began the journey through the Wall and when we might be on the other side.  I know many people who have been through great sufferings and hit Walls yet the Walls did not change them.  They only bounced off them.  They returned to a similar, but different wall later…. And often they become more bitter angry than before.  So.. how do we know we are making progress or if we are, perhaps been on the other side?  There are four dynamics to consider as indicated by Pastor Scazzero:

1.  A greater level of brokenness.  People who have been through the wall are broken and humble.  You see much less judgment and prejudice in them.  Before we are broken, we may have tendencies to judge other people’s journeys.  We have an opinion and attitude about almost everyone who is different from us.  Jesus tells us in the first Beatitude:  Blessed are the poor in spirit – what does that mean?  It is the realization of our brokenness, our frailty, our humanness..  The word Jesus used to describe ‘broken in spirit’ is a term used to describe a beggar who had hit rock bottom, having been stripped of everything.  It is in this place, the end of ourselves that recognize our desperate need for God. 

Picture right now a person who knows they will die unless someone has mercy on them.  Can you imagine this person saying:

§        I wasn’t always like this; I graduated high school.

§        I don’t like the way you are looking at me.  Keep your money.

§        I earn more money than the rest of these beggars

§        Look t what that other beggar on the  corner is wearing. Doesn’t he have any shame?  

This reminds me of the scripture when the tax collector and Pharisee go before the Lord.. each had an approach significantly different.. “Luke 18:10-14 

¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
   ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
   ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

People on the other side of the Wall are freed from judging others. Of course, none of us are homeless beggars on the street, our judgment and pride take on a different form.. rather than the examples I mentioned, our comments would be something like this:

§        I can’t believe she calls herself a Christian

§        Their church is small and dead

§        Look at what he is doing.  There is no way he is a Christian

Besides getting some freedom from judgment, another way we know we have come to a place of brokenness is to consider how offendable we are.  If this is us we will know it by how we react to criticism and insults.. do we immediately pull back and react?   Do we go on the attack or basically disappear.  A broken person, who is secure in the love of God more often than not when criticized or insulted, they think “it is far worse than what you think!”  

“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall enjoy everything”. Said St. Francis of Assisi.  He realized that all of us, whether we realize it or not, in every instant must depend on the mercy of God for everything!

2.       A Greater Appreciation for Holy Unknowing (mystery)

Any of you like to have control?  You want to know exactly what God is doing, where He’s going and the exact route to get there?  Of course, I think we would all agree that – that is simply not how this faith walk works.  And.. to top it off.. God is utterly incomprehensible ..so.. we will never fully understand why He does or doesn’t do certain things.  If we haven’t fully come to this conclusion, we may still bargain with God.  This is how that looks: I obey and keep my part of the bargain.  Now, God, you bless me.  Do not allow any serious suffering.  Sound familiar?  Maybe you have never used these exact words, but maybe.. just maybe.. you felt this way.  I know I have.  I will never forget when my daughter was growing up – I was a fairly new Christian.  Here I am.. making all these changes in my life, learning how to parent God’s way, investing my life in serving God, learning, growing and it just seemed like every time I turned around I was having to deal with another challenge with my daughter.  We went through some very tough years – learning disabilities, friendship problems, issues with teachers, kids in the neighborhood, her moodiness and rebellion at times.  I am not kidding you.. there were times where I literally wanted to quit the job of being a parent and yes… I was angry with God and I didn’t ‘get’ why He wasn’t making everything ok.  Let’s face it.. I was doing all the right things.. so .. why wasn’t it working.  I ‘thought’ it was working for everyone else but not me.

Anyway… a mark in knowing we have gone through the wall is the realization that I simply do not always know what God is doing.  It is often a mystery. God is mysterious.  God is knowable, yet He is unknowable.  God is inside us and beside us, yet He is wholly different from us.  For this reason, Augustine wrote, “If you understand, it is not God you understand”.  

There are times in our life where things happen and they are a tragedy or so it seems.  However, in the end.. they become a blessing.  I remember an old song by Philips, Craig & Dean – the words basically speak to this … ‘the thorn becomes a blessing’.  And then there is the flip side.. sometimes something comes to us that seems like a blessing and it ends up being a detriment or hardship.  I heard some research recently about lottery winners – it was very sad to hear the devastation that followed in people’s lives after winning all that money. Of course that’s not the best example of a blessing from God per se’ but… I am sure the people who receive it feel like this is wonderful – a blessing -things are going to be great now.. and sadly, that is not what happens at all.  Many end up divorced, depressed, and broke.

So… this particular characteristic of life on the other side of the wall will help us be more childlike in our faith and we will have a deepened acceptance and even love for the mystery of God.  We will rest more easily and live more freely on the other side of the Wall, knowing that God is in control and worthy of our trust. 

3.  A Deeper Ability to Wait for God

An outgrowth of greater brokenness and holy unknowing is a greater capacity to wait upon the Lord.  Going through the Wall breaks something deep within us – that driving, grasping, fearful self-will that must produce…must make something happen.. must get it done for God (just in case He doesn’t).

We can all be impulsive.  We jump ahead of God because we don’t want to wait.  I would have to say.. that’s probably when I have made my greatest mistakes.. not waiting.   

Psalm 27:14 ¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
   be strong and take heart
   and wait for the LORD.   

and Psalm 130:5-6  “ ⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
   and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
   more than watchmen wait for the morning,
   more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I have finished people’s sentences.. made large purchases and other decisions way too quickly in the past.  Hmmm.. well.. I think I still finish people’s sentences but thankfully, I have improved in making decisions too quickly.  This is not to say that there are times that we have to decide quickly because there are times that we must and it is in those times that you pray and then act.. trusting that the Holy Spirit in you is working with your soul to do what God’s will is.  The wonderful thing is.. God knows the intention of our hearts.  If we truly want to be in His will and in line with what His desires are, we can trust our decisions and the outcomes.

However, there are times when God wants us to wait.  Just wait.. simply wait.  There are many life examples in the Bible of those who waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise to them – consider Abraham, Moses, Hannah.  What we need to be mindful of is that God is active in the waiting.  There is internal activity even in us in the waiting.  It is good.

Another characteristic of life on the other side is:

4. A Greater Detachment – detachment is the great secret of our interior peace.  What does this mean?   The critical issue in our lives is not ‘are we happy’, it is ‘am I free?’ Am I growing in the freedom God gave me?”  Paul addressed this central issue of detachment in 1 Cor 7:29-31 “ ²⁹ What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰ those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹ those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

We are to live our lives in the world – but always with the awareness that this world and all that I live in and experience, is not all there is.  I must keep eternity in mind and be free of the dominating power of things, pleasure, all the things this world offers.  The power struggle is always there…”God I must have.. God I need..God I want…  God answers ‘no.. you don’t need that – you need ME!’

When we put our claws into something and we don’t want to let it go, we are beyond enjoying them.  We now ‘must’ have them, we are convinced.  We must be aware of growing attachments. 

Richard Rohr wrote about the five essential truths that help us grow up into our God-given spirituality.  Those truths:

-        life is hard

-        you are not that important

-        your life is not about you

-        you are not in control

-        you are going to die

Going through the wall and developing maturity will enable us to embrace these truths – they are the reality that we no longer need to fight.

The journey with Jesus calls us to a life of undivided devotion to him.  This requires some simplification of our lives and removing distractions.  And it calls us to live in reality and truth.