Not a Minute Too Soon

John 10:10 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Maybe one of yours too. It talks about a thief who comes “only to steal and kill and destroy,” set against the contrasting intention of Christ, who comes that we may have “life, and have it abundantly.”

I think most of us believe in that truth. In theory. In the abundant, ever-filling, overflowing life that Jesus came to offer us. And we believe it’s hopefully waiting out there for us—if we can ever get past this one bump in the road. If we can ever just put this circumstance behind us. If we can ever get to feeling better, or get the car paid off, or get the school year finished, or get into a steady, lasting relationship. So we’re always looking for it later, after we lose weight or get married or become empty nesters . . . well, you fill in the blank.

But it turns out, abundant life is not something you experience when there are no impossible situations to deal with. Abundant life is what Jesus offers and His Spirit enables during the times when you’re right in the middle of them. It’s meant to be experienced when all is wrong around you while all is simultaneously, inexplicably, very right within you. It’s the smile that creeps to the corners of your lips when God fills your heart with a peace that runs contrary to the disturbance inside your reality. It’s the sense of divine adventure that pulsates in your soul even while you’re sitting in a square, gray cubicle crunching numbers all day long.

As soon as you connect your current circumstances to your God, He raises a banner of hope in your heart and mind. As soon as you believe He can do this—that He is able—something called abundant life actually shows up, right in the middle of the dreariness. Like a guy named Paul could tell you while sitting in prison.

And it all starts when you make the connection.

Your marriage may be hanging by a thread. Make the connection.

Your finances may be a disaster. Make the connection.

Your child may be living a reckless, rebellious lifestyle. Make the connection.

Your doctor may have shown you an X-ray you never wanted to see. Make the connection. Your God is here. Your God is able.

And now is when you need to believe it. Do you? You should.

Because now’s the time to get on with it.