"GRAVEYARD GRAPEVINE"
"GRAVEYARD GRAPEVINE"
Being a Christian is not easy and nowhere in God's Word does it say it will be a walk in the park. In fact, the Holy Bible tells us we will have trouble and woe. (John 16:33)
Each and everyone of us has Adam & Eve's DNA which gives all of us a propensity to enjoy the carnal natures we inherited. This includes Christians who must wrestle daily with our attraction to various sins.
There is an old Cherokee proverb that goes like this;
A native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one."
The grandson asked him, which wolf will win the fight in your heart? The grandfather answered: "The one I feed".
So it is with us as Christians who wrestle daily as to which "wolf" to feed. While we as Christians have a bigger struggle with trying to avoid capitulating to our carnal natures, we have an "ace in the hole" non-Christians do not which is we are forgiven when we give in to sin.
It is easy to worship the Almighty Father when things are rosy and going our way but God wants to see our level of commitment and outright moxie when we are in immense pain with no end or hope in sight.
When we feel like someone has their boot on our necks and kicking us to excruciating pain both physically and mentally, it never fails we feel like God is a thousand miles away with ear plugs and looking the other way. It is yet another genetic trait we inherited from Adam and Eve as the human psyche goes through the emotions of feeling close then feeling distant from someone we love and this includes God.
St. John of the Cross refers to these distant feeling periods as "spiritual dryness". Another old Cherokee proverb describes these distant feeling periods as "winter heart".
Besides Jesus, David probably had the closest friendship with God of anyone. God took pleasure in calling him “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). Yet, David complained numerous times of God being distant and abandoning him which is found in about dozen verses throughout Psalms so this is a very common plight for Christians, especially when we are in pain and/or feeling hopeless.
Yet, we are assured by the Lord "….I will never leave you or abandon you". (Hebrews 13:5)
Regardless of how we "feel", we can rest assured God is with us and will never leave us. Emotions are misleading and especially emotions we inherited from Adam and Eve. It is why God tells us our hearts are deceitful and misleading. (Jeremiah 17:9)
Father God, thank You for loving us so much You provided a way for our sins to all be forgiven and enjoy a luxurious suite in Heaven with You for eternity. Thank You for never leaving us nor forsaking us and we ask Your forgiveness when we think You have abandoned us.
Lord, we know the "Good News From the Graveyard" grapevine was Your tomb was empty giving You a conquering victory over sin and death for us. Thank You and may we always remember this good news in good times and especially in bad times!