Currently, I am sitting on my plaid couch looking at the swatch of colors that make up its confusing, tasteless pattern. Gold, burgundy, green and navy blue intersect to make square boxes, maybe rectangles?
Needless to say, my couches are somewhat old. I think a couple decades ago the style was the talk of the town, especially in Scotland. Come to think about it, it reminds me a lot of a kilt. How about that for a little humor and maybe compassion for the pain my eyes have experienced for the past nine months?
The significance of the couches is what they represent every time I see and sit on them.
My husband and I have been married a little over eight months now and like every new couple, we needed furniture if we were to be able to sit and have people over to our home. Nine months ago I was on a desperate scavenger, trash picking, hand-me-down hunt for furniture that was functional and would fit through our somewhat small door-frame.
Hence the plaid furniture currently residing in my home. This was my something old, but it was my something free too.
While I type this story, I eagerly await my new couches. My tummy is full of butterflies! Finally, my house won't look like a rainbow of patterns, but rather an organized and somewhat symmetrical masterpiece. The old is becoming new.
The couch scenario is a good connect for me as I read the book of Romans. Hands down, this is one of the most heart-wrenching, hope-filling, overwhelmingly passionate books of the Bible. Paul is the designated writer and he has a message to share. So lets start with some background information of this man.
Romans lays out the theology (study of God) Paul clung to. If you don't know or need a refresher course, Paul was originally Saul, a persecutor of those who willingly, devotedly loved, served and believed in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, which was the only act that gave them a chance to reconcile their relationship with God.
Saul, under the influence of the Jewish law, interpreted that what he needed to do was get rid of these devote believers. Prison, persecution, death were all methods Saul used to silence the voices of those crying out this so-called "Savior's" name. These people were destroying the beauty of the law.
On the way to Damascus to carry out his murderous mission, Saul eye's were pierced with a light from heaven, causing him to fall to the ground. The voice of the Lord asked "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
I find this question particularly interesting. God asks Saul a question to which he already knows the answer. In my mind, I question God. Why don't you just strike him, Lord? Do you see what he is doing to your people? Wouldn't it be better if Saul was out of the picture?
But God doesn't strike him with a lightning bolt or incinerate him. Instead, he asks Saul a question he can already answer. Saul responds to the voice, "Who are you, Lord?" Notice the capital L? Saul knew he was talking to the Lord. The scene is somewhat baffling to me. Maybe it is because the grace of God is so astounding. Maybe it is because God is good and He is King of Kings and holds fast to the promise that He will take care of His children.
God altered Saul's route for life in moments by causing a blinding light to sear his vision and completely STOP him from persecuting any more of His children. This once strong persecutor became a blind man who had to be led by the hands of his companions, following the lead of this "Almighty God." But that isn't the end. Saul doesn't receive the Holy Spirit until he reaches the destination where God sends him. A man by the name of Ananias hosts Saul in his home and delivers the message of the Lord. Saul receives new sight that day.
On the road to Damascus, Saul had one goal, one end. He internalized a mission to destroy anything that lived to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. His focus was deadened by sin and blinded by his own passion and pride. BUT God chose Saul to be one of the greatest ambassadors and apostles of Jesus Christ. The persecutor became the persecuted. The old passed away with his blinded eyes and the new sight bloomed from that which had died.
Every time I sit on my new couches, I am reminded of my old ones. No matter how ghastly the pattern, it brings to memory what I've come through. In the same way, reading the story of Saul/Paul, I recall the day that God took the blinds off of my eyes and gave me sight. Mine didn't involve a blinding light, but it involved a heart-wrenching reality that I needed THE light. I was lost. I couldn't see. I couldn't discern. My life's purpose changed.
The old became new. So I rejoice and heartily concur with Paul as he writes in Romans 8:12-17
"So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."
I am no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.
