“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

The "In" I'm glad I'm In

There are several places I've been in where I wish I hadn't even come close to. I've been:
  1. in trouble
  2. in hot water
  3. in a frenzy
  4. in a quandry
These are not good things to be in. It certainly makes everything going on around you seem minor.

To be in trouble, for instance, implies that trouble is all around you. You are completely encapsulated by your struggles. Nothing gets out, or goes in, without passing through trouble. Now, this may not always be the actual case, but that's certainly the implication of the phrase, as well as the three that follow it on my little list. And, of course, my biggest goal when I'm in one of these instances is to try to get out of it.

Now, this probably isn't very comforting or encouraging. However, as I was looking ahead at my devotional for tomorrow, I came across a thought that was in fact both of these things. It's related to another state that I am in.

No matter the source of the evil confronting you, if you are in God and thereby completely surrounded by Him, you must realize that it has first passed through Him before coming to you. (Streams in the Desert, L. B. Cowman, July 23). (emphases mine)

Now, I know that I am in God/Christ, but I never really thought about the implications of it--at least not in this way--until this morning. When I am in Christ, it means that Christ surrounds me, encapsulates me like a cocoon. Everything that reaches me--whether it is good or bad in my eyes--is allowed in by the Creator of the Universe. He is truly sovereign, and truly all-knowing.

When Marc had his first brain surgery, He was there--and he allowed it by His divine knowledge and mercy. When Marc's vision got worse for no apparent reason, God "saw it coming," if you will, and allowed it into the cocoon of my and Marc's position "in Christ." And when God moved a brother or sister in Christ to anonymously give us a very large amount of money when we really needed it, he let it slip right through that cocoon and into our waiting arms.

I'll never think of being "in Christ" the same again. And that is certainly an "in" I'm glad I'm in.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful, insightful, just the "in"spiration I needed today. So glad to hear pieces of your testimony.

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  2. Awesome thoughts today, Jo-dear. Love you dearly and miss you immensely. Ugh...

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  3. the phrase "in Christ" is so wonderful... and so big that I don't think we'll ever understand it all.

    Someone used the example of french toast to show our relationship with Christ. We are in Him and He is in us.

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  4. I love this, JoDear! So absolutely, amazingly comforting!! Something I needed to hear as I send my kids off--AWAY from me!--tomorrow. Thanks!
    Hugs!

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  5. Very insightful. I never looked at being "In God" in that way before either. It's so good to know that even the bad situations are being used by Him to strengthen me in one way or another. Praise God!

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