Fresh start

Contentment. Where does it come from? There is no one better to ask than the apostle Paul. He was familiar with life’s extremes with challenging circumstances.

A massive block of white marble, twenty feet long from an old Roman quarry, was transported by oxen-drawn carts to the Mediterranean Sea, then carried on barges pulled by oxen up the Arno River to Florence, Italy. On the morning of September 13, 1501, Michelangelo began his work. Almost four years later, on June 8, 1504, it was completed. From that solid rock, Michelangelo envisioned and chiseled a masterpiece, the statue of David, that still stands in Florence today.

At one time, I was an enemy of God. My back was turned on him, and I was headed in a different direction. I wanted to be the one in charge of my life and refused to acknowledge God’s authority. I wasn’t an atheist. I believed that God existed, but he was distant, and I was content to keep it that way.

We can get settled in this life of ours. We describe our activities with words of permanence. We get married and “settle down.” We become “established” in our careers. We “build” a house. We acquire stuff—some cool stuff—that we appreciate and enjoy…sometimes a little too much.

Following the death of her infant daughter and husband, Sarah Winchester was crippled by grief. She tried to ease the heartache by building a house. Money was not an issue for the widow of the gun magnate, William Winchester. Each morning, she sat down with her architect to explain what she wanted done that day.

I grew up believing that I could lose my relationship with God. I could be a child of God in the morning, sin at lunch, and be kicked out of his family by the afternoon. I walked on spiritual eggshells. Insecurity characterized my spiritual walk. Sometimes, I was certain of heaven; other times, following an act of sin, I was on my way to hell.

“Condemned”—it’s a solemn word with heavy consequences. Often, it precedes the words “to die.” Condemned to die. Condemnation conveys hopelessness. In Scripture, the word describes physical death accompanied by spiritual and eternal death as well.

Jesus understands. He gets what it’s like to be misunderstood. He dealt with being mistreated. Jesus understands the pain of rejection, even having his closest friends abandon him in his time of need. Jesus experienced what it feels like to lose a loved one, a dad, a friend. Jesus understands physical pain. He knows what it means to cry…and cry out to God.

Our sin leaves us in a similar condition as Anna Lyndsey. Life is spent in the spiritual realm of darkness. But Jesus changes everything. Here’s what the apostle Paul tells us.