The With-God Life
This year, we will be featuring a series of posts on the topic of soul care. This is the second in the series. For more resources on soul care, check out our recommended resources page at www.undercurrentsministries.com.
There is a wonderful little park down the street from my house where I take an almost daily walk with the Lord. I have been walking the trail of my neighborhood park for over a year and have noticed a lot. There is something special about walking among the same trees and plants over a long period of time and through all the seasons in a year. Having grown up overseas and moving about every 4 years, this is the first time in my life that I have been planted long enough to slow down and meditate on the more “mundane” rhythms of life. Or perhaps the practice comes with aging. Either way, one of the things I have noticed are the trees.
I have been observing the same trees for six seasons now and I find that I’m starting to be able to see unhealth in my park trees. There are a few trees that have quite a few dead branches. You can’t really tell this in the fall or winter months, but their bare limbs are very obvious in spring and summer. I have watched several of their naked limbs droop, shed their bark, and eventually break off in a storm. Something happened in the rings of their guts that slowly choked out the flow of life. And so, over time, fewer twigs swelled with new buds, leaves fell, unable to be regrown, and the whole limb began to wither. These trees bear several scars of other limbs breaking off. Based on the overall health of the tree, it’s safe to assume that those old scars also formed from the slow withering and death of a limb.
This is what happens to our own hearts and lives when we let the cares, allures, lies, and worries of this world slowly choke out God’s presence from our lives. You see, the healthy appearance of the bark on a limb and leaves sprouting off are evidence of healthy guts. Neither the bark nor the leaves determine the health of a tree, but the inner workings. So it is with us. How we look or how we behave does not determine the flourishing of our life. It is what happens on the inside that matters most.
Jesus spent his time here on earth untying the lies of what Israel thought it meant to be God’s chosen people and telling them instead how God defines his own people. In his discourse on the Mount, Jesus highlights a faulty train of thought in people. We judge people by their outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Thus, we are easily deceived by those who are masters of presentation. God, who knows the hearts of men, can see beyond the flashy outward presentations. To the shock of all those listening, Jesus tells his audience that many will masterfully put on polished behaviors and appearances but neglect to develop a relationship with himself. These people will have no place in God’s kingdom. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Did you catch what Jesus considers the important distinction between those whom he claims as his own and those whom he does not? It’s not how they behave that elects them. Verse twenty-three tells us plainly that it’s those whom he knows. The seed of the kingdom of God is not merely a ticket to salvation. He offers more than just salvation (which is more than enough!) He offers himself, for us to know him as we are fully known.
That is why Jesus spends so much time teaching us about relationships. Jesus says in John 10, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus knows exactly who his people are. Likewise, his people know him through a deep and loving relationship, like the relationship between the persons of the Trinity.
Later in the gospel of John, Jesus calls his people deeper, to linger with him and spend more time with him out of loving desire. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.” He then promises that lingering, spending time with him because you want to, is the very environment in which flourishing occurs. When you linger with the Lord, living by his standard is not burdensome but a joy. You want to live his way because it is the best experience you can have, regardless of how strong those storms are that try to toss you to and fro. He is the sure anchor for your soul.
Furthermore, we are shown throughout scripture that fulfillment and contentedness characterize those who follow Jesus and live by God’s standard. David sings, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The apostle Peter attests to this when given the opportunity to walk away from Jesus. He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
I’m sure at this point, you’re likely wondering what on earth this has to do with patient care. Everything! Kingdom work is a part of living in obedience to God, which is living by his standard. And just as the ramifications of rebellion carry untold measures of collateral damage, obedience and submission to God’s prescription carry untold measures of collateral glory.
When we love by God’s standard, his kingdom advances, one heart at a time. When we love others the way that he loves us, his blessings are passed on to those who are in darkness, hopelessness, and desperation. His love, overflowing in us as we linger with him, transforms the world. Isaiah prophesied this in Isaiah 35 saying,
“Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
The wild, empty, dead, lifeless, hopeless spaces will be transformed into areas of flourishing, righteousness, and direct access to God. The wording here should remind you of Eden, but made new. As foretold in Revelation, the culmination of God’s kingdom will come when heaven and earth meet again, and the world will be made new, like the Garden of Eden, and all will be redeemed. Sorrow will flee and joy will reign.
Friends, we should want that outcome for our patients. We have been invited into God’s kingdom work by living according to his prescription. We can trust his direction and boundaries because we know that he is good, loves us, and will never abandon us. And it is only when we are living our lives as closely to Christ as possible that his goodness, love, truth, and power overflow into our work.
Our Lord was never meant to be our last resort. He was always supposed to be our first thought, our moment-by-moment help, counsel, and comfort. I wonder how much our careers and patient interactions would change if we intentionally and habitually invited Jesus into our work. I have a feeling it would be nothing short of glorious.
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Written by Sara Danielle Hill
Sara is a nurse, writer, and founder of Undercurrents Ministries. For more information about Sara Hill and her writing, head over to saradaniellehill.com
