"I never wished so bad that my mom would open her eyes, if only for a
second to see me standing here next to her. I would tell her I love her.
My friends, my heart is broken to see my mom like this. But the truth
is, there is more meaning to life. But without God there is no meaning.
Without God there is just chaos, loneliness, unhappiness, desperation
and emptiness. For those who live life like this, without the hope of God, I don’t know how they get by.
The phrase, “It is what it is,” is not the truth. It doesn't have to
be. God, Jesus, Heaven, Hell, eternity, these things are all real. And
knowing this can give our life purpose. It can give our life meaning.
But only with God.
To believe that “life is all about us” is
the biggest lie we can tell ourselves. To the person who truly loves God
and walks with Him, who reads and obeys God's words, who strives to
know more and fellowships with God and other believers, that person
knows and understands that life is not about “them” and that its about
“Him,” the Lord our God. And when we can truly understand that… when we
can truly understand that all of us are but a breath, a mist that's here
for just a moment, only then can we start to put things into
perspective.
If this situation with my mom has taught me
anything it is this: Life is incredibly short. Much, much shorter than
we realize. But everything in the life we do have is about God. It’s
about understanding that we were created for a purpose, something bigger
and better than ourselves. Because this world is not our final
destination. All of us are going to die one day. It’s what we do and say
now that we’ll live with for the rest of eternity. Sadly, it’s taken me
38 years, a failed marriage, a near-death experience and a sick mom to
finally come to this realization: Everything in life is about God, not
me.
Even my mom, despite this terrible sickness she is
suffering, she sees how God is using her weakness to minister to others
around her about Him. And when mom could still talk, only just a couple
weeks ago, mom and I discussed the many things which God has done and is
still doing through her illness.
Yes, I wish and pray
everyday that God would heal her. But then I ask myself "why?" If Heaven
is our final destination and eternity with God is where we want to be,
why do I want to hold my mom back from that? Why do I want mom to live
on in such a troubled, sinful world? I realized, it’s my own
selfishness. It’s wanting my happiness over hers.
Even so, It
crushes my heart to think about life without my mom and to see my family
so sad. But I believe that mom is in the hands of God. And because
that’s where she is, that’s where I want to be also.
I can’t
make anyone believe in God. God gave us all free will to choose Him. He
did this because he wanted to have a genuine relationship with his
creation. He didn’t make us all robots programmed to love Him. He
created each one of us and breathed his life into each of us. And
because He did, we all have a desire to want to find out why we're here.
Who created us?
Some may read this post and think, "Oh, Paul,
this has made you too religious" or "Religion is how Paul is coping with
this." But I think the difference between “religion” and “Christianity"
is this: Religion is the search for something greater than ourselves.
Christianity is the understanding truth that there is a God and the
desire to have a relationship with Him. He’s our dad. He loves us and He
loves my mom. And, most importantly, He loves you."
Originally published to Facebook 10/15/17
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