I'm Glad I'm Not Famous

I have been  thinking about how tough it was to be a young Christian woman. I really wanted to be known for having it all together. I would let you know if I knew any almost famous people-many times removed. I would humbly let you know of my wifely-and motherly and cooking skills. I would probably tell you  how much I studied the Bible and how many verses I had memorized. I always hated myself for that stuff-and repented often. I was very competitive -and wanted to be the best at ......something. My problem was  that I was good at a lot of things-but an expert at  nothing. You know-jack of all trades-master at nothing. I was pretty-but not beautiful; smart but not brilliant....and I was never really happy about that. I was competitive and wanted to be the best at everything. I got enough attention along the way to keep me puffed up...and repenting on a regular basis.

Somewhere along in middle age, some very intense suffering came my way & God used that suffering to change, if not extinct, my sin patterns. A lot of what I had aspired to do and be just melted into nothingness in the face of life changing pain.

Now I am in the end stages of life and the perspective here is just beautiful. That is because it takes time and experience and suffering and quite a bit of pain(at least for a stubborn sinner like me)to bring us to the place where we truly understand what is important in life.

Number 1 on my important list these days is loving , honoring and glorifying God. He is altogether lovely and worth every ounce of effort it takes to crucify the flesh-to the extent that his name and his fame is all we crave.

Number 2 on my list is loving others by being willing to sacrifice and pray and serve and give-and to do it till it almost hurts-so that the name and the fame of the Lord is magnified and perhaps you help someone else to crave him.

At the top of my list of repugnant things these days is to be popular or well known or dependent on what others think of me. It is wonderful to realize that God and God alone is the only one we need to approve of us-and that only because of the cross of Christ-by which we are accepted in the Beloved.

I am glad of heart to be a nobody in a nothing little town(in the eyes of the world). I love being an older woman and having a sphere of influence among the young women in my small Church. I am grateful to the Lord that I have never had to suffer the extraordinary temptations faced by the rich and famous.

Being old and being in the Lord is just cool. I love it-and would never want to go back to those days of my youth. Being close to seeing Christ is exciting-and makes you live in a much more sober way. 

No matter how old(or young )you are-time is short. Make very sure that God and God alone holds your rapt attention. Labor and spend yourself for that which endures forever-and crush under your feet all the tinsel and shiny nothings that the world tempts you with. The day that you look into the face of God-you will be very glad you did.