Don't Hang Around in Graveyards

(posted from our Dec. Newsletter)

A friend recently shared with me the theme of what God has been teaching him. It was this, “Don’t hang around in graveyards.” This clarified some of what God had been teaching us as well. While God does have a knack for resurrections, he also specializes in life. Isn’t life the whole reason for resurrection? LIFE… He breathed it into Adam. He came to bring “life abundant”. His Son is the “way, truth, and life, the bread of life”. The word life is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible (NIV).

Life breeds life. To share life is to share our stories. That is how life is revealed. Through the highs that we easily recognize as life and the near death lows we learn to recognize life in its fullness. However, to share our stories, we must first know them ourselves.

Knowing our own stories is what a lot of this last year and a half (and really the last 3) has been about for us. We are really learning to search through our own stories and look through the themes God has allowed to unfold to fully understand where and who we are. And it has been tough at times. But somehow it brings life. Not the problems-solved- in-thirty-minutes-sitcom-life, but life nonetheless.

Graveyards make us think gray. But life is wholly beautiful when painted with the full palate of colors and emotions. We don’t always like that, but it is true. We like the bright colors, but try to avoid the darker ones. But often times they are the ones that give life definition. They provide the contrast, the edges, and the borders that make a life robust and beautiful.

Are you hanging out in a graveyard? How do you know? Have you ever taken a real look at your environment? Look around. What do you hear, see, taste, smell, and feel? Do you hear the rumblings of death? Do you smell the stench of it? Do you taste its sourness each morning when you awake? Do you feel its weight as you walk through the day? Are you living in the land of fear, darkness, and whispers? Does all around you seem gray, stagnant, and devoid of life? Are those who surround you digging graves? Is cool clear water hard to come by? Maybe you think this is just how it is. But it’s not the way it was intended.

OR….Are you experiencing the transformation of life? How do you know? Are you growing rather than wilting? What about those around you? Are they experiencing life? Do you see colors? Are they ever increasingly vibrant and deep? Is there plenty of water? Do you find laughter, tears, smiles and scowls? Are there birth pains? Yes, life is painful. Abundant life is demanding.

How will you know if you don’t look around?

Most likely, if you are like us, your life seems to be like Pleasantville. Parts of it still seem gray and unchanged. BUT much more of it than ever before is coming alive in full vibrant Technicolor ® And somehow as your life becomes more….well…ALIVE, those around you do so as well. Yes, your life gives us life. And hopefully, our lives give you life. And all of this comes from The One who is life and gives life. We find it interesting that another word for the Holy Spirit is breath. Necessary for life, not so much for death.

What are we saying? Take stock of where you hang out, where you live. Look back and see how you got there (look all the way back to your beginning). Look forward and know that where you live today directly affects where you will live tomorrow.

Ask God for insight into all of this. Then ask him to move you ever increasingly toward life. Know your story. Share your story. Share in the stories of others. Give life. And live in places that give life.