Rise

File today’s post under the category of  “potential roadblocks becoming blessings”.

As we were headed to Ireland just over a week ago, a friendly Delta gate agent noticed that my passport expires this coming September.  I was OK for the Ireland trip, but I mentioned that I would be headed to the Philippines in just over a week (tomorrow) and planned to renew it right after my return.  She reminded me that the Philippines has a 6-month window prior to passport expiration where you cannot travel to the country.  This meant I needed to renew my passport…today.  A same-day passport renewal?  Certainly a roadblock.

In order to do that, I needed to hit the road at 430a ET this morning to drive to Chicago and be at the passport office when it opens at 730a CT.  The blessing?  I am now sitting in a park, writing this, and watching the sun rise over one of my favorite places in the whole world: Lake Michigan.

“Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise”

There are times when we seem to be in a spot where a roadblock may inhibit our ability to be blessed.  But never forget that the roadblock may be the thing that allows a blessing to occur.

“Sometimes my heart is on the ground
And hope is nowhere to be found
Love is a figment I once knew
And yet I hold on to what I know is true”

Today’s song, “Rise” by Shawn McDonald, has many wonderful elements to it.  Besides being a quiet yet upbeat way to start the day and the week, it has a true message of moving beyond our challenges (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ti1BikZrA).

We see the Apostle John writing in 1 John 4:4-5 about how we can determine whether something is of the Holy Spirit or from the world.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.”

Our ability to rise up from our most difficult challenges comes not from our own ability, but from He who is within us.  Jesus is greater, more powerful, more pervasive than anything in the world.  And because He is in you, you have a power greater than anything in the world that can knock you down.  The chorus of our song today:

“ ‘Cause He
Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise”

When we allow ourselves to stand aside, to die to the things of the world, Christ has room to move in and live.  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

So, how will a roadblock be turned into a blessing for you today?  Although you may feel like you are in the midst of ashes, having been burnt to the ground, choose the Truth and not the lies.  Rise.