Climax

You know when you watch a movie there is always a moment when you think the heroin isn’t going to make it: the climax. It’s usually tense. The bad guy seems like he’s going to win. The good guy isn’t going to make it. I feel like this is my life. If I had to make a movie of our summer “adventure”, there would definitely be a climax in the middle.

We have gone through construction numerous times in the last five years. We built our house, built out our backyard, finished our downstairs with wood floors twice, and now we have renovated our home. Construction is always tense. Always.

As I was laying on my bed staring at a new hole in our ceiling, I thought about that climax. About a week ago, I didn’t think I was going to make it. We were climbing our construction mountain making progress when another toilet overflowed (a toilet overflow is the reason we’ve had to reconstruct our house). Not only were we dealing with more water, I received a text from a friend asking for prayer. Her friend had just gone through something so horrendous I honestly don’t know if I would survive it if I were her. On top of that, I got word that a Christian author and speaker who was a huge part of the writing conference I am a part of suddenly passed away at 38 years old leaving behind a husband and four young daughters. Have you ever heard that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice? Well, in that moment, I felt like the lightning was striking me over and over again.

I sat at the kitchen table (one of the two options of seating in our home right now), interrupted my husband, told him to prepare himself for my crazy, and let go. The tears came out so fiercely I couldn’t breath. It was all just too much. Too much death. Too much water. Too much. I didn’t think I was going to make it.

So, there I lay on my mattress on the floor watching our project manager make yet another hole in my ceiling. I saw the look on my husband’s face when I got home that day and he told me he had something to show me and I knew it wasn’t good. More water. More leaking. More drywall coming out. I had a choice in that moment: sink or swim (no pun intended).

I swam.

You see, I had made it through that moment in my movie when I didn’t think I would. The tension came and I defeated the bad guys. I survived all my wounds and made it through. I was still standing. So, when water tried to torment us yet again, I knew we’d make it. I knew this stress would not be wasted.

I am currently studying the Book of Ephesians. In this book, Paul talks a lot about his suffering and imprisonment. He, too, was the hero who you’d think wouldn’t make it. But he did. Not only did Paul make it through his toughest moments, he did it so gracefully that he changed the landscape of Christianity forever. He took what was supposed to take him down and turned it into the most glorious legacy ever.

Paul knew that his suffering would lead others to know his Savior. He understood that his misery and distress wasn’t going to be wasted. He also knew that he had a choice: sink or swim. And he swam.

You, my friend, will make it through your climax. You will climb your mountain and make it to the other side. Your suffering will not be wasted. He is not punishing you. He is not mad at you. Life is just hard sometimes. That’s part of what creates our need for a Savior.

So, the next time you are laying on your mattress on the floor staring at another hole in your ceiling like me, lay there with confidence knowing that you will make it to the other side.

… being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phillipians 1:6

Love & Blessings,

Meg