To Be Rescued.
I think about writing a lot. Kind of how I think about eating healthy. I know it's good for me, I wish I did more of it, but when the rubber meets the road I usually choose what's easiest and most convenient. Sometimes I wonder if that's how my entire life will pan out, living in a constant state of survival mode, or if some of these things are just for a season. I saw an article where an aspiring writer wrote to an established writer and made the comment that maybe in the next season she herself would commit more of her time to writing. The established writer then responded with an email that explained that she was awake at 4:00am in her bathroom closet because if you want to be a writer there will never be time so basically find the time. I don't think I'm ready to wake up at 4:00am to find the time to hide in my bedroom closet, but I think I should write more. Not because I have anything fancy that hasn't been said, but because I think there's personal value in it for me and because there are power in words. Power to connect people who haven't even met, power to encourage and show people that they aren't alone, and power to spread life and goodness. Tomorrow I know I'll choose my small window of alone time to take a nap or clean up the house or to watch Netflix, but today I'm making the time to write. But to be fair, it is not 4:00am.
I was watching TV earlier in the week, and a commercial for some new show was on. The episode was going to be about some doctor that had been kidnapped and would be executed in the next 72 hours. There was a small team of people who were appointed to rescue her, and they looked hard core and like BA's and the audience could only assume that the doctor would be rescued before the hour was over. Now, where were my children while I was glued to this commercial? Probably using crayons on my white walls, but they were quiet so I didn't even care. After the commercial was over, I realized that it had stirred some emotional reaction within me...what was it about this commercial for a show I wasn't even interested in that made me have some sort of connection with it? The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the concept or act of being rescued that hit a nerve. It made me wonder was that a personal desire, to be rescued, or a feminine desire or a human desire? Does everyone have an innate desire to be rescued? To be saved in a sense from various things in our lives?
When I look back throughout my own life, I can definitely see that theme of wanting to be rescued. As a little girl my lamb lovies needed to be rescued from the ferocious lion lovie, in high school I was desperate for a boy to rescue me from my own feelings and grief, in college I wanted to be rescued from feeling inadequate, and somehow I thought my marriage would rescue me from being broken and damaged. There's something romantic about the idea of someone or some thing plucking you out of something difficult, to hold you safely and eliminate the danger or hardship that was eminent. But, we're humans, and sometimes rescuing doesn't always happen or it's limited at best.
I can look back and see that I set a lot of people in my life up for failure in my desire for them to rescue me. Boyfriends, friends, parents...how could any human truly save me from life's hurts and scars? There are no real super heroes, and things don't usually end like they do in the movies. None of us will leave this life unscathed. It's easy to feel disappointed when people don't meet our expectations, but it's made me realize that even the person closest to you can't be responsible for rescuing you. I know there have been times of heartache where Chris has wished he could bind up those wounds and rescue me from external circumstances, but that's just not possible. I don't know that earthly rescuing really is possible. Often times, you can walk with the people you love the most through dark nights and support them, love them, pray for them, and be tangible help to them, but you can't actually deliver them from the affliction itself. In one sense this feels discouraging and helpless, but in another sense it takes the pressure off. If it's not possible to rescue, even if it's what we wish for down to our toes, we have to release ourselves from the pressure of rescuing and change directions to that of support, and love, and aid.
But if human rescuing isn't possible, why do many of us get sucked into that story line of being rescued? Why do we love movies like Taken where a dad moved heaven and earth to get his daughter back? Doesn't that just resonate with our humanity or is it just me? If you don't believe in God then you might get off the train here or be ready to roll your eyes or poke fun at some hokey, cheesy idea, but if you look at the actual work that God did in sending Jesus to fight for our souls and rescue us from ourselves I think it can answer the question of this deep desire to be rescued.
When we think of Jesus, people think all kinds of different things based on what they were taught or the experiences they've had with the church and its followers. Unfortunately, I think a decent handful of people have been severely wounded by the people of the church, and that's tainted what Jesus is actually about. But I think if we actually look at who Jesus is instead of letting imperfect humans muddy the water, I think we would see Jesus as the rescuer that He is. The whole pinnacle of the Christian story is Jesus as the rescuer. He wasn't dragged off the to cross in weakness and as a victim, but instead He went, with His power set aside to wildly and ferociously fight for every one of us.
We have innate desires to be rescued because there is a Rescuer. That desire isn't supposed to be left unfulfilled or at least it doesn't have to be. It's true that Jesus doesn't pluck us out of heartbreaking circumstances or make our scars disappear or create a life of ease for us. But He does rescue our souls from hopelessness and despair and gives us purpose and life. He's not a band aid or quick fix or there to make all your dreams come true. He moved heaven and earth to have the opportunity to rescue us. He wrote that story intentionally and intricately and wove that desire into our hearts. He scooped us up when we were drowning in our own filth and mistakes and hurt and darkness. He thought each of us worth rescuing.
Sometimes I feel anxious to talk about or write about God because I never want to misrepresent who God is or what He's about. I know God is a topic that often leads to defensiveness and negative emotions, and it can drudge up all sorts of things in people's hearts. I don't want to be misunderstood or to have people hang their misconceptions and judgements on me because of assumptions made. It's a delicate thing, really, and something I'm still trying to figure out how to do well. I don't have all the answers in the God department, and frankly, it's not my job to have them. But I do know that when I stopped trying to make everyone around me fill this need to be rescued, realizing no one could soothe that desire or need, and allowed the reality that God had already done the rescuing and wanted to do the work of healing and refining, that I am much more content and settled and no longer desperate. When I realize that something as big as God created an entire story to rescue His people, myself included, it just stirs something inside of me. And how can it not if we really understand it?
But maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm one of a few that has this weird desire to be rescued. And if that's the case, maybe I should have written this in my journal or watched Netflix. But something tells me I'm not the only one. Because we rarely are.
I was watching TV earlier in the week, and a commercial for some new show was on. The episode was going to be about some doctor that had been kidnapped and would be executed in the next 72 hours. There was a small team of people who were appointed to rescue her, and they looked hard core and like BA's and the audience could only assume that the doctor would be rescued before the hour was over. Now, where were my children while I was glued to this commercial? Probably using crayons on my white walls, but they were quiet so I didn't even care. After the commercial was over, I realized that it had stirred some emotional reaction within me...what was it about this commercial for a show I wasn't even interested in that made me have some sort of connection with it? The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was the concept or act of being rescued that hit a nerve. It made me wonder was that a personal desire, to be rescued, or a feminine desire or a human desire? Does everyone have an innate desire to be rescued? To be saved in a sense from various things in our lives?
When I look back throughout my own life, I can definitely see that theme of wanting to be rescued. As a little girl my lamb lovies needed to be rescued from the ferocious lion lovie, in high school I was desperate for a boy to rescue me from my own feelings and grief, in college I wanted to be rescued from feeling inadequate, and somehow I thought my marriage would rescue me from being broken and damaged. There's something romantic about the idea of someone or some thing plucking you out of something difficult, to hold you safely and eliminate the danger or hardship that was eminent. But, we're humans, and sometimes rescuing doesn't always happen or it's limited at best.
I can look back and see that I set a lot of people in my life up for failure in my desire for them to rescue me. Boyfriends, friends, parents...how could any human truly save me from life's hurts and scars? There are no real super heroes, and things don't usually end like they do in the movies. None of us will leave this life unscathed. It's easy to feel disappointed when people don't meet our expectations, but it's made me realize that even the person closest to you can't be responsible for rescuing you. I know there have been times of heartache where Chris has wished he could bind up those wounds and rescue me from external circumstances, but that's just not possible. I don't know that earthly rescuing really is possible. Often times, you can walk with the people you love the most through dark nights and support them, love them, pray for them, and be tangible help to them, but you can't actually deliver them from the affliction itself. In one sense this feels discouraging and helpless, but in another sense it takes the pressure off. If it's not possible to rescue, even if it's what we wish for down to our toes, we have to release ourselves from the pressure of rescuing and change directions to that of support, and love, and aid.
But if human rescuing isn't possible, why do many of us get sucked into that story line of being rescued? Why do we love movies like Taken where a dad moved heaven and earth to get his daughter back? Doesn't that just resonate with our humanity or is it just me? If you don't believe in God then you might get off the train here or be ready to roll your eyes or poke fun at some hokey, cheesy idea, but if you look at the actual work that God did in sending Jesus to fight for our souls and rescue us from ourselves I think it can answer the question of this deep desire to be rescued.
When we think of Jesus, people think all kinds of different things based on what they were taught or the experiences they've had with the church and its followers. Unfortunately, I think a decent handful of people have been severely wounded by the people of the church, and that's tainted what Jesus is actually about. But I think if we actually look at who Jesus is instead of letting imperfect humans muddy the water, I think we would see Jesus as the rescuer that He is. The whole pinnacle of the Christian story is Jesus as the rescuer. He wasn't dragged off the to cross in weakness and as a victim, but instead He went, with His power set aside to wildly and ferociously fight for every one of us.
We have innate desires to be rescued because there is a Rescuer. That desire isn't supposed to be left unfulfilled or at least it doesn't have to be. It's true that Jesus doesn't pluck us out of heartbreaking circumstances or make our scars disappear or create a life of ease for us. But He does rescue our souls from hopelessness and despair and gives us purpose and life. He's not a band aid or quick fix or there to make all your dreams come true. He moved heaven and earth to have the opportunity to rescue us. He wrote that story intentionally and intricately and wove that desire into our hearts. He scooped us up when we were drowning in our own filth and mistakes and hurt and darkness. He thought each of us worth rescuing.
Sometimes I feel anxious to talk about or write about God because I never want to misrepresent who God is or what He's about. I know God is a topic that often leads to defensiveness and negative emotions, and it can drudge up all sorts of things in people's hearts. I don't want to be misunderstood or to have people hang their misconceptions and judgements on me because of assumptions made. It's a delicate thing, really, and something I'm still trying to figure out how to do well. I don't have all the answers in the God department, and frankly, it's not my job to have them. But I do know that when I stopped trying to make everyone around me fill this need to be rescued, realizing no one could soothe that desire or need, and allowed the reality that God had already done the rescuing and wanted to do the work of healing and refining, that I am much more content and settled and no longer desperate. When I realize that something as big as God created an entire story to rescue His people, myself included, it just stirs something inside of me. And how can it not if we really understand it?
But maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm one of a few that has this weird desire to be rescued. And if that's the case, maybe I should have written this in my journal or watched Netflix. But something tells me I'm not the only one. Because we rarely are.
Over the last few years my heart has wanted so much to be rescued (and let's be real it still does). Thank you for today's reminder that I already have a rescuer. Sometimes we all need a little reminder.
ReplyDeleteGreat insight! The gospel can be summed up in four words....For God so loved! Love you and keep writing!❤
ReplyDeleteI like doing the rescuing. Maybe that's what I like about being a Dad and a Cop. Maybe it's a man thing. I think that's why men have such a hard time coming to Christ as our savior or going to a counselor or asking for help. We want to John Wayne our way through life. We want to pull our selves up by our own boot straps. Which by the way is impossible.
ReplyDelete