Nails

Psalm 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Still chewing on and savoring the sweetness of Romans 8:28. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

My landlord descended the stairs of his apartment. Standing on his dining table were two pieces of rubber slippers with nails pierced through them. Seated behind these props was me, his high maintenance tenant.

"I want to know to know who deliberately pierced my tires." I held back my angry tears and my finger, now a dagger, pointed to the nails. "I want the person who did this to know that I filed a police report. The next time this happens I will file a case against them."

My landlord walked around the table and ogled upright nails. "Please call the guard," he said to his assistant. I sat, waited and mulled over the word "good".

For good. God's perspective of "good" is different from mine. I equate "good" with comfort and situations going my way. God's perspective is something I don't always understand. He is not after my comfort. He is after my character and how this impacts others.

I've lived in my apartment for three and a half years and compared to the idyllic life of the suburbs I grew up in, I'm speaking fire trees, gentle winds, wide roads, and Gothic mansions, the discomforts of the crowded urban life I currently reside in, and I'm speaking pedicabs, the homeless pushing wheelbarrows, and thieves on the lookout side-view mirrors, feel like hard gritty nails pounding into the core of who I am. These nails are pounding on my ego, my patience, my sense of order, my world view, my sense of safety, my comfort. These nails are shattering the comforts I held on to and now I'm clinging to Christ, and Christ alone.

I've visited my landlords around twenty times these past years. I asked them to fix the trash system, clean up our drainage, ensure we have water 24 hours a day, hire a guard to minimize robberies, be vigilant about peeping toms and now look out for neighbors who scratch cars and flatten tires.

Now our trash is confined to an unobtrusive area. My sink doesn't overflow. There's running water twenty four hours a day. We have two guards and no robberies. The peeping tom was caught and my windows painted. It was a hassle to file these complaints. It took anger and time and marching into my landlord's home, while I figured out how to frame my complaints in a constructive manner. But God always turned these negative situations into something "good", not just for me, but for all my neighbors.

God is also after my character. In the past three years and half years, I've been humbled to the point where I know I'm nothing without God. My identity is not tied to my earthly family and the material comforts they provide. There's a silver cord that attaches who I am at my core to my Heavenly Father. I know how much He loves me. I know that He molds me through circumstances to increase my faith, be more persevering, and grow into a Christ-like leader. He plants His seed of peace, which surpasses all understanding. This is His definition of "good".

As I write about nails, I can't help but remember Christ. He is the King of all Kings. Yet He chose to live a humble earthly life as a carpenter and he chose to die a vicious death--crucifixion by being nailed to a cross, each hammer blow a consequence of our sins. His disciples couldn't understand how that could be "good". Yet Jesus chose to die for the greater good of all--the forgiveness of your sins so you can now enjoy and celebrate a personal relationship with the One who loves you the most, God.

Photo by Bitzcelt (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92661859@N00/2802290580/)