Dear Daughters,
When you and I were in school we learned about some critters who are called Amphibians. The most common is the frog. If you put a frog into a tank of water without a dry place to crawl onto it will die, but if you place it in a terrarium with no water, it will also die. Amphibians need both water and dry ground to thrive.
As frogs need both realms in order to thrive, so we humans are designed to live in two worlds – both the seen and the unseen world. Of course, we are not cold-blooded creatures which all true amphibians are, yet we were intended to enjoy the benefits of two ecosystems, the physical and the spiritual, the earth and the heavens.
The natural world was created with such beauty, it is saturated with wonders pleasing to all our senses. Just look at your Facebook feed this time of year – vacations are being taken everywhere natural beauty exists. Walking through a dimly-lit forest or with sand between your toes on the beach of a beautiful lake is like taking a vitamin (N for nature). Simply untangling from technology can become a calm and peaceful reprieve. Dad and I love to drive along Lake Michigan during any season of the year, enjoying the summer lush green vegetation, the majestic autumn colors in the fall or the frozen splendor of the lake in the winter.
But along with this beauty of creation we were also made to live in the spiritual world, to draw upon the supernatural strength, life-giving hope and joy that only Jesus can provide. There are days when I feel totally alive, hopeful and trusting in God. There are also days when I forget Him, become disappointed with Him, causing my faith to feel flat or even fake. Hopelessness can become an infection in my soul, creeping in slowly and sometimes imperceptibly until I find myself in a dark pit.
Like an injured animal that cannot keep up with the herd, one can become vulnerable to the predator who wants to drag our soul into Desolation. We have an enemy of our soul who would like nothing more than for you and I to become hopeless and despairing of life.
John Eldredge writes about the human emotions, trying to live in this world using our own strength, watching the world become more divided and falling into chaos:
The symptoms [of Desolation] include a sort of dullness of heart, a poverty of spirit,
a barrenness of soul. Disappointment, so understandable given the circumstances,
collapses into disillusionment. Neither hope nor joy comes easily.
Because we are amphibians, we don’t have to rely on our own strength, but we have the Holy Spirit from whom to draw our strength. Surprisingly, as Paul wrote to his friends in Colossae,
We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul –
not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives.
It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy,
thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything
bright and beautiful that He has for us.
(Colossians 1:11-12)
Now when I think about God giving strength, I often assume that He would give strength to do exciting stuff like miracles or healings. But in this verse the simple fact of being able to endure through difficult life situations with joy and thanksgiving comes as strength from the Spirit. It’s nothing outwardly amazing, nothing that would make news headlines, but in today’s world it is rather rare to find people who have joy.
When we have a firm attachment to God – trusting His timing and wisdom – disillusionment, abandonment and other desolate feelings are eased.
As Brennan Manning has written,
Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.
This is the true self.
Every other identity is illusion.
If we try to rely only on our own strength we cannot thrive, just like the frog trying to live only on land or only in water. As human amphibians we need our physical strength undergirded with supernatural strength reigning in our body to endure – not just hang on – but to endure with joy and thanksgiving.
When many of Jesus’ disciples were turning away from Him because of difficulty, He asked 12 of his closest disciples,
Are you also going to leave?
Peter replied,
But Lord, where will we go? No one but You gives us the revelation of eternal life.
Continue to endure with joy by God’s supernatural strength.
Love, Mom
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