Memorial Day...Everyday

The flags are flying this weekend, you see them everywhere - and the flags, the monuments, the veteran's cemeteries, the parades, the ceremonies, the day itself - are all memorials: things designed to preserve the memory of those who gave their lives for our freedom. In his Gettysburg Address, speaking of the men who had fought on that battlefield, Abraham Lincoln said that the world "...can never forget what they did here." We must remember the sacrifice of those who bought with their lives the great gift of freedom that we now enjoy.

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

But there is an even greater sacrifice than that...

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

...and it calls for a greater memorial - not made of stone or marble, and not confined to a certain place, a certain event, or a certain time.

But let me back up a little bit. As Memorial Day approached this year, I was not thinking about the traditional meaning of the holiday, or any variation thereof. I was just struggling, and had been for several weeks - a bit overwhelmed by...everything. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is certainly taking its toll: the symptoms of the disease and the side effects of the medicines are getting more difficult, and the depression that has "come along for the ride" has taken a turn for the worse. Because of that, the DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) surgery that I had finally made the decision to go for, hoping for a significant improvement, cannot take place - not until the depression is under control.

So, Sunday morning, as I reached for my Bible, my heart was heavy, and I felt quite lost. I was not "inspired" to read anything in particular - all I could do was revert to my "default" and do my daily reading: whatever Psalm was next, and pick up where I left off on my read-through-the-Bible schedule. I said a quick prayer, asking God to please speak to me through His word, and ease the ache in my heart - but, honestly, I didn't hold out much hope of that happening.

I read Psalm 114 - pretty short, and, at that time anyway, no help at all. When I saw that I had left off the Bible reading in Hosea (chapters 1-7), well, I didn't see how anything in that obscure little book, that I knew hardly anything about, would do any good. But I kept praying, and reading. When I got to chapter 6, the first three verses were the beginning of the answers to my prayers:

"Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day
That we may live before Him.
So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."

That was exactly what my thirsty heart needed to hear. As I let those beautiful words soak in, they reminded me of Michael W. Smith's song "Healing Rain", so I looked up the lyrics to that song, and this line became my prayer -"Come soak this dry heart with healing rain."

Then, I remembered something similar in Isaiah - found it in chapter 55:6-13:

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
For you will go out with joy,
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up;
And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up;
And it (the transformation of the desert) will be a memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."

That reminded me of something in Psalm 84, verses 5-7:

How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring,
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion.

And also this:

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)

From all of these wonderful passages, I understood this -

• Yes, God wounds and breaks, but He also heals. It is all under His control, He is sovereign, and we can trust Him, even when we don't understand - because His ways and His thoughts are so much higher than our own.
• We need to seek Him, to press on to know Him more.
• He is faithful, His presence is as sure as the dawn, He will always be with us, and He will send the healing rain of His word - to refresh and renew and rejuvenate our dry and weary hearts.
• And His word is sure - it will produce a harvest, it will transform the desert of our hearts into something green and verdant and fruitful.
• When we come to Him, rivers of living water will flow through us and from us, and will transform the dry land around us to springs of water.
• And when all of this happens, we become a memorial to the Lord.
• And all of this can happen...all because of Calvary.

The sacrifice of God the Son on the cross of Calvary, the sacrifice that paid the price for the sins of all of mankind, the sacrifice that bought our freedom - freedom from the penalty of sin, freedom from the power of sin, and one day freedom from the presence of sin - must never be forgotten.

And there are many "memorials" to what He has done - crosses displayed in sanctuaries, in prayer gardens, and hanging around our necks; churches from the simplest building to the grandest cathedral with their steeples reaching for the sky; and the celebration of the Lord's Supper itself - they are all memorials, designed to preserve the memory of Jesus, and His sacrifice that paid for our eternal life.

But they fall short, they are not enough - because the greatest memorial of the amazing grace of God as seen on the cross - is a life transformed. The transforming power of the cross can turn my heart from a dry, barren desert into fertile, fruitful, well-watered soil. And the abundant life that results is a memorial to the Lord, not just once a year, not just once a month, not just once a week - no, may He soak my heart with healing rain so that everyday of my life...is Memorial Day.

"For the joy set before us..."

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I wonder what exactly "the joy set before Him" was. Although I don't completely understand that, I have come to see that since we are to run the race according to Jesus' example, we also should endure whatever cross we are given to bear - for the joy set before us. There is quite a description of what Jesus has in store for those who overcome, for those who endure to the end, for those that finish the race - within His letters to the churches in the second and third chapters of Revelation.

Revelation can be a hard book to understand. I remember first studying it as a teenager in our church youth group. But I had not built much on that foundation over the years, until our Pastor began preaching through the book of Revelation, verse by verse, in the past year. There's still a lot that goes over my head, but there's a lot that's sinking in, and it is a blessing, just as God promised in verse 1:3 - "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."

In each letter, Jesus tells His churches, and He is also telling His Church, that He knows - He knows them, He knows what they are doing, He knows what their circumstances are; He tells them what they're doing right, and what they're doing wrong; He warns, but He also sets before them the "prize" - what they will receive if they endure, if they stay faithful, if they overcome.

When you put all of those promises together, well, it's just pretty awesome...

To the angel of the church in Ephesus:

"To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." (2:7)

To the angel of the church in Smyrna:

"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." (2:10)

"He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." (2:11)

To the angel of the church in Pergamum:

"To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it." (2:17)

To the angel of the church in Thyatira:

"And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;" (2:26-27)

"and I will give him the morning star." (2:28)

To the angel of the church in Sardis:

"He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." (3:5)

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name." (3:12)

To the angel of the church in Laodicea:

"He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (3:21)

And then, there is this...

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer by any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son." (Revelation 21:1-7)

Oh, how He loves you and me!

Be encouraged, stay faithful, run the race with endurance - for the joy He sets before us.

Amen.


"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

When my heart is overwhelmed...

Depression

I hate it. The very worst days of this Parkinson's Disease (PD) "journey" so far have not been because of any of the physical symptoms, pain, or discomfort. The very worst days have been caused by depression. Depression is horrible, and so many, many people suffer from it. It is often a part of the PD "package". And like PD itself, there are more questions than answers when trying to sort out what is causing it and what to do about it.

Why do so many people with PD also suffer from depression? It is not known whether it's a part of the chemical imbalance in the brain that is causing PD, or if it's just a result of having to deal with the disease itself. Maybe it's a combination of the two. Also, the more I learn about the medications prescribed to help ease the symptoms of PD, the more I see that the medications themselves can cause depression, or sometimes it's the withdrawal from those same meds that is the culprit. Maybe it's none of the above - maybe it's just life, itself. Or, maybe it's a combination of them all. Who knows?

So, what do you do? Do you try to figure out which drug may be causing the depression and try to get off of it? But what if withdrawal from that drug also causes depression? Do you add an anti-depressant to your ever-growing daily regimen of pills? Or do you tell your doctor you're tired of struggling with the meds, and sign up for brain surgery? Brain surgery, which by the way, can cause...depression. It's enough to make your head swim.

Although I am not sure right now what I need to do, I am determined to figure it out soon, with my doctor's help. Whether I need to stop taking a particular medication, or start taking a new one, or just move forward with the surgery - I will do whatever it takes to get as free as possible from the depression. But as I seek out the best medicine has to offer...my hope remains in the Lord.

Recently, when it was pretty bad, I did the only thing that I could do - I reached for my Bible. It's a good thing it happened to be sitting right next to me, otherwise I would not have had the energy, strength, or willpower to get up and get it. (Like I said, depression is horrible.) Although it's not easy to share all of this, if I'm going to share the journey, I'm going to share the whole thing - what's the point of "whitewashing" it, or leaving out the tough parts, and making it look "pretty". That wouldn't do any good at all.

So, whether you have PD or not, if you suffer from depression, or know someone that does - maybe this will help. It's not a magic pill - it didn't instantly make me feel better. But it helped me get through it - until I did.


What do you do when it's all just too much?
What do you do when the sadness won't lift?
What do you do when you agree with the enemy of your soul's accusations?
What do you do when you know it's not really that bad, but it feels like it is?

You reach for a lifeline - God's Word.

Hear my cry, O God;
Give heed to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
(Psalm 61:1-2)

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember Thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Thy waterfalls;
All Thy breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life."
(Psalm 42:5-8)

O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Thy holy hill,
And to Thy dwelling places.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God, my God."
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance, and my God."
(Psalm 43:3-5)

My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
(Psalm 62:1-2)

When I remember Thee on my bed,
I meditate on Thee in the night watches,
For Thou hast been my help,
And in the shadow of Thy wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to Thee;
Thy right hand upholds me.
(Psalm 63:6-8)

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior."
(Isaiah 43:1-3)

I do not fully understand why we have to go through things like this. But I do know that God will use it to "refine" us; He will use it for our good and His glory. He will use us to comfort and encourage others who share a similar struggle. And then there is this...

When the depression does lift, to say that things look brighter just doesn't do it justice. It's like a whole new world. It's like going from black and white - to color. It's like Dorothy falling asleep in Kansas, and waking up - in Oz. Come to think of it, maybe it's just a taste of what it'll be like when we leave this old world behind, and take our first steps - in glory.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)