The question is phrased in many different ways. From people who are close family & friends to people across the counter, the question comes to us.
And, of course, it seems to be an ongoing question that we are always asking ... of others, but also of our own self.
Certainly, there are times when the question is very specific ... How did the job interview go? ... How did you do on the exam? But very often, perhaps even most of the time, it is much more general and much more vague ... How are you?
Sometimes we know right off what the answer is ... I feel awful! Perhaps it is a nasty cold ... or the effects of chemotherapy ... or that ugly slip of the tongue that just injured someone for whom you dearly care. We don't even have to pause to consider our answer because it seems to be screaming loudly from our entire being.
However, sometimes when the question is asked one is truly unable to come up with an immediate answer. It may be that it is too early in the process or the situation for me to know how I feel about it ... or to understand what is really taking place ... or to realize what the consequences are going to be. I may feel torn between a number of thoughts and feelings ... there being certain aspects about which I am feeling positive and good ... but then there are little red flags popping up that give me pause and with the appearance of those flags, this tiny uneasy feeling that there be something very negative taking place here as well.
Having said all that, it seems to me that the whenever I consider the question ... whether I am asking it of myself or someone is asking it of me ... that the question itself sends me off in a less than satisfying and healthy direction. "I" become the focus. It becomes all about "ME." Very quickly the question places "ME" front and center.
And the truth be told, that is where I, by nature, want to be. And I am not unusual ... that is where each human being by nature want to be. Certainly sets the stage for conflict.
And in that Garden of Eden, when the man and the woman crossed the line and sought to become the "one" in the center of it all ... the "one" on the throne ... the "one" Creator ... to become "gods" ... there it might well be said that "all hell broke loose."
From Paradise to hell in an instant ... from life to death in the twinkling of an eye ... eternal life to eternal death. And, of course, conflict is immediately seen ... the man and the woman now in conflict with their Creator, their God, their Father ... seeing Him now as their enemy, one whom they do not trust, one whom they fear, one whom they hate ... they hated the sound of his presence and they hid. Very soon it becomes apparent that there is no longer trust between the man and the woman as the man is ready to sell out everything and everyone for the sake of his own skin, his own self. And Cain does no less.
St. Paul says, "in my flesh, I find no good thing." No matter how when I look or how carefully I look, in my sinful and broken nature there is no thing that is good in the sight of God. As Isaiah says, "Even our righteousness is as a filthy rag."
How am I doing? I am by nature spiritually blind, spiritually deaf, spiritually dead ... an enemy of God; that is, I am by nature one who hates God. That is my real situation in life ... in spite of what the devil and the world and my own sinful nature may be telling me ... in spite of my winning the lottery, or the Boston Marathon, or the World Series ... in spite of my many toys and all the good times we are having ... in spite of all that seems to be the "abundant and good life."
And deep down within the recesses of our being, we all know this to be true ... that we are lost and without certainty and hope ... God's law speaks to each of us there, no matter how much we may try to hide it or deny it.
God came to the man and the woman in the Garden ... finding them when they did not want to be found. He spoke to them of Jesus, the One who would crush the liar under His feet and redeem and rescue the man and the woman from death and hell, bringing them back into the Garden relationship with the one and only God and Creator ... a relationship of love and trust as it once had been.
In that moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the man and the woman were born again, brought from spiritual death to spiritual life. Once again they were empowered to see God as their God and Creator, their Father ... and in a new light as their Savior and Redeemer. By the power of the Holy Spirit they fixed their eyes on Him, they fixed their ears on His words, their hearts on His promises ... and in Him alone they were able to see and to find love and peace and joy and life and eternal salvation ... to find once again that "it was good" ... that God's words were true of His creation ... "It is good."
So it is with you and me ... God has found us, spoken to us, opened our eyes, enlivened our hearts with faith and life, empowered us to see Him as our God and Savior, empowered us to fix our eyes on Jesus ... and to find that indeed in Christ "it is good." Or as the Shunammite woman answered the question of the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4: 26, "It is well."( NIV - "Everything is all right.") And in that same faith, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, we sing, "lt is well, it is well, with my soul."
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