I write this sitting at a Starbucks on the outskirts of Cincinnati. Besides myself, there are only two other customers in the place. But it still seems to be excessively noisy (I never noticed this about Starbucks until tonight). My thoughts have been hither, thither, and yon lately. Some positive, some negative. Some ordinary, some lofty. I guess I could be best described as contemplative. This is partly due to a recent listening of the audio dramatization of The Hiding Place, the story of Corrie ten Boom. I was convicted as I listened to this fascinating, and, at times, shocking story. I was inspired by their mindset. It was...convicting, to see their perspective on the situation. To them, it didn't matter so much if they were living comfortably in their home in Harlam, Holland, or at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany, they just wanted to serve others. Instead of questioning why God had allowed this horrible event to occur in their lives, they simply found joy in the fact that God had allowed them to serve so many people in the camp. It reminds me of a quote that I read:

“I think we have lost the old knowledge that happiness is overrated—that, in a way, life is overrated. We have lost, somehow, a sense of mystery—about us, our purpose, our meaning, our role. Our ancestors believed in two worlds, and understood this to be the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short one. We are the first generations of man that actually expected to find happiness here on earth, and our search for it has caused such—unhappiness. The reason: If you do not believe in another, higher world, if you believe only in the flat material world around you, if you believe that this is your only chance at happiness—if that is what you believe, then you are not disappointed when the world does not give you a good measure of its riches, you are despairing.” ~ Peggy Noonan

I've began to shift my paradigm of thought from focusing on my happiness here and now, to the eternal. Yes, this is something I've always known, this is something that I could check the right answer in the box on a test, but to truly sink in at a gut level and to have it as a mental pivot on which to point my thoughts down the right channel, was new. I'm sure you will read this, just as I would have a few months ago, and move on, unchanged. My simple, and unflattering words are not enough, in themselves, to apply this truth to you. So I pray that God will do what I cannot. And I ask you to stop for a few moments, look at your own life. Are the decisions you're making right now something you will be glad you made when you stand before Christ in eternity? It's something to think about.

Ryan

Tags: The Hiding Place, Bible