We Haven't Reached Our Pinnacle
Entropy is a consistent, physical, demonstrable, law of physics that defines the tendency of things to diminish, degrade, and move from order to disorder. Yeah, tell me about it. I feel it all the time. It is frustrating.
Inertia is also a consistent, physical, demonstrable law of physics that defines the tendency of things to do nothing or remain unchanged. Yep, you said it! Change is hard. Doing nothing and staying the same is much easier.
Though these are physical laws of physics they are equally true in the spiritual realm. And though you may doubt it or deny it, the Bible teaches us very clearly that we are more than just physical beings.
The best way I have found to describe humanity’s triune nature is by categorizing our being into three realities. We are body, soul, and spirit. The body is the part of you that is easiest to describe. It is your physical body, your hands, feet, skin, eyes, and hair.
The soul is also pretty easy to describe, though it cannot be seen, tasted, heard, or smelled. This is your mind and emotions. Your thoughts cannot be seen, but they are there. Your emotions cannot be seen, but they can be so powerful they can actually alter the physical body.
The spirit is not as easy to describe, but if you will hear me out, I think you will be able to detect it. There are those times in life where physically, mentally, and emotionally everything is “hunky dory” and yet, for some reason, you have a deep and brooding sadness, or heaviness, or emptiness. That, is your spirit within you. Or maybe you have visited someone in the hospital who is physically, mentally, and emotionally wrung out and messed up, yet there is a life and fire in their eyes. They are unafraid, though the prognosis is bad. They are full of love and peace, though there is pain or bad news all around. That is the spirit within them. It is the truest part of each person.
To personalize this example, I went to visit an extremely good man named Tim Smith in the hospital recently. He passed away peacefully last week with his beloved family and friends nearby.
I had known Tim for the last ten years and thoroughly enjoyed all of our times together. He was a kind, lively, and loving man in his 60’s and he really loved Jesus. As I would meet people who were friends or family of Tim, they would tell me stories of him “back in the day.” They would tell me of his legendary football career in high school. Many would account his incredible “feats of strength” as a fire fighter. And some of the pictures I was shown made it clear that he was a mighty physical force. But recently, in the hospital, with his skin off-color, his body fighting sickness, his heart barely beating, many tubes and wires connected to him, he showed one of the greatest examples of strength I have ever seen.
When I first showed up at the hospital he was in an induced coma. When I spoke to him and prayed with him his eyes began to twitch. Then, over the next few minutes we watched and cheered as he fought out of the induced coma. First, with great effort he opened his eyes. Next, he fought hard to get his eyes to roll to front and center and focus. Then, he looked right at us. Betsy, his wife, asked him if he wanted to keep fighting. He nodded his head and then, shocking us all, he fought with the arm restraints on his wrists and lifted his arms up like he was lifting a car off of a trapped child. It was incredible.
In this, Tim gave me another clear example of the spirit aspect of our humanity, just the like the Bible teaches. The spirit is the most important part of you. It is the part that governs your soul and body. It is the part of you that will live on forever according to Jesus and the Bible. And it is the part that we are focusing on strengthening during our fasting and prayer season at Living Streams Church.
We don’t want to see inertia and entropy win the day or the year called 2018. We don’t want status quo or same old/same old—even if the status quo and same old are pretty good. You and I have not reached our pinnacle. God’s plan for you is to move you from experiencing one degree of His glory to a greater degree of His glory, always and forever.
My prayer as you fast, pray, Sabbath, and listen, is the same as that of Paul long ago. When writing to some people he dearly loved in the Lord he said, “… we pray that God will fill your good ideas and acts of faith with His own energy so that it all amounts to something beautiful in God’s and your eyes.
David