The Tension of Grey

Good morning All,


The rain is falling, the sun is rising and silence fills the house as all of the munchkins and their friends are still sleeping soundly. For a moment there is peace. This is that place in between, between the sweet oblivion of sleep and the constant urgency of children's demands, between no stimulation for a while and over stimulation as a half dozen different kids seek your attention, between rest and work. Between it is where we live and frankly where I think God intended for us to live. We hear all of this talk about Christianity being black and white and that these is no grey, that color in between; but it has been my experience that Christianity like life is mainly gray! Before I slip off that slope and end up somewhere I didn't intend to this morning I am going to abruptly change directions.

Well not so much change directions but take control of the wheel. What I wanted to share this morning was a different revelation about that gray tension, that space between than simply a moral understanding or a theological understanding. You see this morning has been quite wonderful and I have found myself in a new kind of in between. As I was journaling about God in my life today at this moment I became acutely aware that His presence not just today but always lifts my shoulders in a state of hope and drivenness. That state carries me forward to serve the Kingdom, to serve my family and friends, to serve my community which are all things that should lead to tiredness and unrest as I seek to serve more and more, but at the same time that my shoulders are being lifted in hope they are equally being relaxed with contentment and joy.

There is that other understanding of grey, that tension of inbetweenness. How can I be lifted and driven by hope, while at the same time find contentment. If I am content shouldn't I not be driven? If I am being lifted to a state of service shouldn't I not be relaxed? That is the funny thing about life in God. He defies our understanding at time and gives us that privilege of living in between. The tension of the grey doesn't always have to be a stressful tension, it can be a peaceful one that knows both driven hope and contented joy. This morning I have had the privilege of experiencing both and I just wanted to share the observation with each of you. May your day today be marked by both hope for the Kingdom and how you are going to serve it and contented joy at the sheer peace that God brings to your life.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron