Rising Above Through Christ

RISE ABOVE

Gossip, slander,
words of hurt, words of hate
grumble, whine, complain, scream
 guilty as charged.
Jesus came
and covered all my sins
so why do I despair?
I no longer swear!
Well, maybe just once a year....
Those things I despise
I rise above with Christ's strength!
 
But wait...

There is more. Other levels, other layers
Beware
Look in the pit if you dare


What about meaningless strife?
What about pointless conflict?
What about wasteful chatter?
What about constant criticism? 
 I still murmur....
I still hurt others


I can't do it
I give up
It's too hard
I'm a wretch
I'm sorry.
I failed.
Again.
I tried.
Forgive me.
I can't.
Daddy, I wish I was better at being an over comer
I tried.
I bit my tongue so hard and now it hurts.
I hate myself.
Forgive me.... 

But wait...

I am forgiven.
 I don't have to do this alone,
Jesus faced these temptations
So He can help!
He is for me, not against me
He loves me forever
He gives me a way to rise above.
I didn't really understand before
It's through loving Him!
It's through Him loving me! 
Why do I forget?

I already have His love,
His church
His word
His power
His might
His strength
Three in one
Father, Son and Spirit.
 

And when I forget and fall

     He is there waiting.     

  Together we rise above.

© Tavane Nelson, March 3, 2015

There's nothing like being on holidays with others to test your ability to rise above strife. Being together 24/7 provides plenty of opportunities! This poem arose out of a daily reading from our small group study by James MacDonald, part of a series called Refresh. This particular  day was entitled "Aloof from Strife", based on Proverbs 20:3:

"What an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."

Free from work and the cares of home, I decided to dissect my entire day's worth of conversation and see how much of it was useful. Being a perfectionist, I discovered to my horror that there was not one useful word, and then I promptly fell into a depression. I admit, I am hard on myself.

The bible has a lot to say about the power of the tongue. I had worked on my nagging, swearing, yelling, arguing and all kinds of things and thought I had a remarkable improvement. Until this challenge, that is. I was amazed at how much of my conversation was based on nit picking. There also wasn't much building up of others. A lot of my words were useless and in fact many of my words invited arguments and quarreling instead of shutting it down.

And once you lay down the challenge to improve, all of a sudden it seems impossible!

A minor case in point: My daughter Rachael and her boyfriend Ryan asked my husband and I to play the card game 21. They had their own set of rules that we didn't understand but we agreed to play by their rules. We could not keep our mouths shut. It was hilarious. All my life I had played by another set of rules. Every time someone dealt, I just had to point out that the cards should be flipped face up after the first card. I said this about ten times.

Same thing happened every time people shared the win with the dealer if they both had 21.  I just had to point out the dealer automatically wins if he has a 21 even if anyone else has a 21. I pointed this fact out, not once, but multiple times. It was a compulsion. My tongue wouldn't stop! I was even trying my utmost not to say a single word about how wrong their rules were!

My husband fared no better. I lost track of how many times he said that their rules were not the real rules.

While this story is humorous, it does point to our human inclination of always wanting to force our own way, and our own rules upon others, instead of giving way gracefully on matters not worth fighting over. Too much time spent on meaningless strife can head towards destruction.  An irritated voice and angry looks over petty inconveniences can cause unnecessary harm to relationships. In the grand scheme of life and death, do those things really matter?

Thankfully, I was able to rise above my depression and put the focus back where it belongs -- on Him who cares so deeply for me. I can't squash this inclination. It's impossible. But with God, all things are possible. I might stumble here and there. I might forget who I am at times, but I am no longer a slave to sin.

  

My husband and I recently visited Savannah, Georgia. This is part of Factor's Walk, the Cotton Exchange area, where the buyers would stand above on a walkway to inspect and purchase cotton before it was shipped out. The cotton trade reminds us of the use of slaves in the cotton industry. Slavery was abolished in 1865. Jesus abolished our slavery to sin upon his death on the cross.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him (Christ) so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--
Romans 6:6