Mohala Maui (Petals Unfold on Maui)Sample

Mohala Maui 4 (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

It is a sad thing-- only 2% of women see themselves as beautiful... As life progresses, we may like even less what we see. Once smooth skin begins to wrinkle. Our bodies will inevitably decline. The joints will hurt. Climbing those stairs can get tough…okay, enough of this depressing stuff!

How can we talk about New Beginnings when everything seems in decline? Praise be to God! When we belong to Him, we can outwit the curse of this world!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

(2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

This Scripture nails it, and bluntly, doesn’t it? Outwardly, we are wasting away…but we do not lose heart because something far more significant is happening!

From the moment of birth, every day is getting closer to death. But here is a secret--when we come to God, the pattern is flipped. When we belong to God, we are granted eternal life! And in this system, things just keep getting better and better and better! Every single day is as fresh as the day we were born again! Eternity is endless new birth.

Okay, for sure, that image in the mirror has not changed. And the joints may only hurt more today than they did yesterday, but look at the encouragement; those are “light and momentary troubles,” they are just tiny glitches that will actually work into something fantastic.

Do you have a favorite gemstone? Red rubies? Blue turquoise? Rainbow opals? I was recently in a palace in Istanbul and saw giant emeralds blazing a color of green I never knew existed! As beautiful as all these gems are, there is a process to them becoming things of marvel. First, they must be found; usually, that means a lot of digging. Then they must be cut, which often means a sharp hit or slice, and then they must be ground and polished. The excess must be removed to maximize the beauty, color, and fire to finally create a real jewel.

God does this with each of us. He digs, He extracts, He cuts, He grinds, He polishes. It is not an easy or pleasant process. But, in the end, He adorns us with jewels of great beauty and value. Do you feel Him digging or cutting or grinding now? It hurts, doesn’t it? It feels terrible, right? Be sure, it will be worth it all.

In Kahului, I met a sweet old lady named Haru Endo. She taught Ikebana and had a photography shop with her husband, but I believe her life before that was hard labor in the hot sugar cane fields, day after day…grinding.

I remember distinctly that Haru san had a lot of wrinkles. Her face was covered with them. But I will never forget that there was something special about those wrinkles. Amazingly, they were actually beautiful! My mother once commented that Endo san’s wrinkles were all in the right place…her face radiated peace, joy, and contentment…a lifetime of hardships, but she shined with God’s gems. Beauty that had grown day by day…proof of real life…eternal life that was just barely getting started!

Be sure, friend, that it is worth it all. It might be tough, but every day, you can meet it again, fresh. It is a new day! Everything is new again. Those gems are going to dazzle.

Now smile, and make sure future wrinkles get going in the right direction!

Aloha oe. Thank you for existing.

Dr. Andy