status quo
Status quo is Latin
for "existing state." When we talk about the status quo, however, we
often mean it in a slightly bad way. When people want to maintain the status
quo, they are often resistant to progress.* Vocabulary.com
There is a scene
toward the end of the 2004 movie National
Treasure when the father/son archeologist/treasure hunter team are leading
a group of impatient and increasingly more violent bad guys deep underground,
searching for what could prove to be the largest lost treasure ever found. At one point when tempers were rising, the
father looks over to his son and says something akin to: “Status Quo son, we’ve got to keep the Status Quo!”
And that is
exactly what I have been thinking a lot about lately! I’ve come to realize that staying in the “existing state” or within the current
parameters of life is NOT always in the best interests for
us Christians! Let me explain…
If I understand
the basic meaning of “status quo” as “the existing state” then I understanding it as describing things
around me as staying as they have always been… without change. Well... that
may sound fine and dandy to some folks, but I have to admit that it sounds
pretty BORING to me!
Like I’ve said
many times before, my wife and I had always been pioneers who loved to discover
and explore new ideas and activities… especially
within our faith! When I took my
first delightful sip of the new coffee that I had recently purchased this morning,
I had to walk over to the cabinet to catch the name of the coffee. When I turned the bag around it was from Folgers
new “1850” family of brews and was
named “Pioneer Blend.” I
almost spit the coffee in mouth out as I burst into laughing thinking, “Well, of course I would like it!”
The characters in
the movie I mentioned above were telling each other that they needed to not
change or shake things up for it might cause the bad guys to react in a
negative way. Within our faith walk
though, I believe that we HAVE to actively change the “status
quo” in our lives on a regular basis in order to grow, be successful at
and fulfill the callings of God that each of us have been given.
One of the
hardest lessons that I learned with the journey we took for Piper’s health was in seeing some of the folks we loved, fight as hard as they could to keep their
status quo as Piper’s symptoms, lifestyle and connection to the family
increasingly changed. It was pretty
obvious from the very beginning that they really didn’t want to be too involved
in all the changes that were occurring.
I was following a
rabbit trail during my Bible study this morning when I happened across the
story in Luke 1:57-66 describing the events following the birth of John the
Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Verse 58 tells of how their neighbors and family responded to the
unexpected news declaring that: “Her
neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her, and they shared her joy.” (God’s Word
©) What caught my attention here was that idea that “they shared her joy.”
One thing that I
endeavored to do for both Piper’s and my sake (especially for her’s) throughout our ordeal, was to keep the joy
of the Lord flowing in our lives… even as
things seemed to get worse through the years. The further we ventured into the untraveled
roads of the disease that ravaged her body, the more important it seemed to “Always be joyful in the Lord!” (Philippians 4:4 God’s Word ©)
I knew my wife.
I knew of the vital importance that Piper put on living with a joyful
attitude and I also knew that according to God’s Word, that being sad was the WRONG
thing to do when you’re trusting in the Lord and on top of that… that “the joy you have in the LORD is your
(physical, spiritual, mental and emotional) strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Even as her facial features changed and
she could no longer demonstrate her joy through them, I could still see the
effects of His joy through the glistening in her bright brown eyes.
Sure, there were times when her eyes clouded over, but you know… it happened a lot more often when we still resided in California than
when we moved out here… Once here, it seemed like more people excepted the
changes in her and then chose to change their “status
quo,” and reach out to her by allowing His joy to guide their
emotions about her as well.
When Piper’s
symptoms began to make themselves physically known, as far as we were concerned,
we had NO choice but to CHANGE the status quo in our
lives. I firmly believe, and this has been backed up by numerous
members of our hospice team, that if we hadn’t changed the status
quo and GREATLY upgraded our regular intake of God’s Word and thereby
increase our faith… which gave us more
reason for His joy, then Piper would have passed many years previous to
when she actually entered heaven’s gates.
So… STATUS
QUO? Well, I am not even sure
that I like that term anymore… especially when it comes to my faith walk! Let’s
face it… I am in a place right now in my life where I have NO status
quo… to fall back on and to be honest… I’m kind of excited about that!
To my way of
thinking, if you always strive to keep the status quo and resist change, then
life will just pass you by! And if you
never change… well then… your faith
is NEVER
challenged and you’ll NEVER move on with God. I sure don’t want to be left behind! DO YOU?
Have a great week
ahead, and as you do, keep saying with me… “I
am expecting to change the STATUS QUO
in my life as I actively trust in the Lord and choose to keep and exhibit His
JOY as being strong in me!”
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