Who Are You?

With the current situation with my wife’s health, I have to be watchful that I do not spend very much time walking down memory lane!  Living in our past tends to obstruct the view we are painting, by our faith in God’s Word concerning her healing.  After a while, those memories also begin to hurt… and I’m talking about a deep heart-ache when I think too much on how my wife used to be, contrary to what I’m currently seeing before my eyes.  Once again though, I am thankful for the amount of Word that we have been pumping into ourselves, for time and time again I find that the emotional and at times very physical pain in me dissolves as my concentration changes from the thoughts of the natural to that of the supernatural realm.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14 the Apostle Paul tells us, “But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ.  Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ.  It’s like a fragrance that fills the air.” (God’s Word ©)  Once I yield my attention to the spiritual realm I catch a glimpse of our upcoming victory that the Word declares ALWAYS happens!

And you know… that’s the attitude that I like to carry with me throughout the day, whether I am in the house or out in public!  Over the years in ministry as well as in the secular jobs I have held, I have come across many folks who tend to live one way in their private lives, and a totally different one in public.  One of the many things I have learned in this war for Piper’s health that we are engaged in, is that how I live my private life, alone with her in the confines of our home and property, has to be the basis for everything else I do.  I strive on a daily bases to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10 ESV)

It is at home when I need to be strong for her and for me!  I do my best to take care of myself, but the greatest life style exercise that I have built into my daily routine is to get lots and lots of doses of the Word of life!  It keeps me going when things get a little rough, when there is no one around to encourage me or to lend me a hand! 

When we go out, I don’t have time to think about how I am acting in public.  To consider if the folks I pass in the store are hearing kind and Godly words emanating from me.  When we go out in the neighborhood, to the store or anywhere else… what you see is what you get!  What comes out of me in action, word or deed is who I am… The man that takes the time to get into the Word each and every day of my life.

I like how Paul put it in our verse from 2 Corinthians 2:14 where he says, “…Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ.  It’s like a fragrance that fills the air.”  The word translated “KNOW” comes from that word “ginosko” which describes a very intimate and personal knowing of Christ, as a husband and wife intimately “know” each other. 

This is a clear rendition of the young Piper I began to get to know in High School.  She didn’t necessarily use the name of Jesus very much in our increasingly longer and longer conversations, she just lived Him!  His nature just sort of oozed out of her.  You could see it in her bright, joyful eyes, in that killer smile of hers, in the carefree bounce in her step and even in the way she enunciated her words.  They just seemed to come across void of any judgement or criticism and encouraged anyone blessed enough to be within the sound of her voice!

What’s interesting is that to me, she seemed to be somewhat unique in the way she carried herself.  I didn’t necessarily see a lot of that “intimate knowing of Christ” in other’s that were close to her back then.  Over time I came to know that these folks were also strong Christians and loved the Lord, but yet seemed to not have the freedoms and joy that was the Piper I was coming to know and love.  For the others, their public life seemed to play out as if it was a scripted part of the movie of their lives.  It just wasn’t natural like my girl’s.  And over the years, as I have grown up in the Lord, I have come to realize that her life style is exactly the type of example that Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 2:14.

And back to Memory Lane… This came up as I was talking with Piper about this exact subject while preparing dinner last night.  I think Piper’s disposition was and continues to be all about the close and intimate relationship that she has always seemed to have with Jesus.  Like I said, it was never something she tried to be or act… it’s just who she is… Whether she knew it or not.

Even as the grips of Alzheimer’s began to take over, she still exuded the nature of the Son of God.  For instance, there was the time while we were back in California at one of her quarterly appointments with her Neurologist at the Brain Health Center in San Francisco.  When her named was called I helped her up to her feet, as she was still able to walk with assistance, but was talking less and less frequently.  As we began to walk across the waiting room, one of the other patients in the room stopped us and said to me, “You’re wife has a very sweet spirit about her!”

Well, of course, that blessed the socks off of me, and it goes to show that Piper didn’t even have to say or do a thing, but simply allow His nature to shine through her!  Again, I believe that this is what Paul was eluding to in the above scripture.  Would that describe you?

Have a great week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What or whose nature am I expecting to exemplify through my life today?”