In our society today, many
people live dysfunctional lives. They are so used to the abnormality that they
do not know any other way to live. When well meaning people try to help them to
get organized and to find some healing, they often resented it or shy away in
fear from the offered help. I found this to be true over and over again
throughout my forty years as a Pastor’s wife.
This anomaly dumbfounded me every
time I encountered it. It took a major act of God for me to be able to relate
to similar circumstances.
Several months ago, the
husband of one of our church members offered to tile the floor of our home as a
gift to us. Our house only has four rooms; therefore, he had enough leftover
tile from other jobs he completed for other people that he could re-floor
almost our entire house with the remnants. Grateful for his generosity, we
packed up all of our belongings from one half of our house into boxes and into
the other half of our house. I envisioned myself enjoying my new floor in just
a few days.
Due to out of town
commitments on both of our parts, however, it took several weeks for the job to
begin. Living in this chaos, my stomach often wrung with stress because I
needed a particular item and did not know which of the many boxes stacked from
floor to ceiling held that necessary article. I also had my bedroom dresser in
the kitchen and my refrigerator and clothing armoire out in the entryway of the
house. My life was literally all boxed up!
When both of our schedules
finally coincided, we packed up our pets and an overnight bag in order to spend
the night in a borrowed condo. The next day the tile and grout cured and my
husband sealed the grout for longevity. We gleefully and very gratefully moved
back home and unpacked. We looked forward to finishing the rest of the job the
next week. So, we packed up the unfinished half of the house and moved it all
into the finished half.
Again, sickness, travel and
the holidays for all of us interfered with any more work getting done. I lived
for several more weeks with the refrigerator still in the foyer and everything
I use most often now packed up in boxes. Normally a very structured person, I
felt so out of control. Therefore, I relied on God to enable me to adjust to
these chaotic living conditions (Philippians 4:13). I eventually adapted and lived a very constructive
life, oblivious to the confusion reigning in our home.
A few weeks later, the tile
company called with the news that they could only tile one room. Once the grout
sealer cured, we joyfully moved the furniture back into our office and unpacked
all of my husband’s books and office supplies. Thankfully, we also returned the
refrigerator to the kitchen, since we were now able to fit the bedroom dresser
into the living room.
A month later, they came and
tiled the bedroom and bathroom. We were even able to set up our bed in the
entryway for the night, so we did not have to move out again. The finished
product is exceptionally beautiful and we still constantly thank this family
for their generosity and care for our home.
The point of this story is
this: Out of habit, I adapted to living in all of that confusion and disorder.
It felt familiar to me after a while. I learned a whole new system of
organization and the disarray actually felt normal. The day after they
completed the job, I realized I could finally restore my home to its original
order. Suddenly, I felt sick! Nausea and stress churned in my stomach again.
The thought of having order restored made me feel insecure and upset for some
reason.
As I prayed about this, God
gave me quite a revelation. The abnormal quite literally became so normal to
me, that the normal now felt abnormal. While pondering my strange feelings, I
realized it does not take the human mind very long to adapt to an unbalanced
order so completely, that we actually view the normal as abnormal and react in
fear to the restoration of order in our lives. Now I understood why people feel
so comfortable in their dysfunction, and why they react negatively when help is
offered.
The newest sitcoms today
speak of the “new normal.” What was once abnormal is now considered normal.
They purport that Biblical values are no longer the standard. We have the
frog-in-the-kettle syndrome. Society slowly accepted the unacceptable and the
atypical is now typical. Christians are called unfeeling, intolerant and are
accused of inciting hate crimes because we preach, live and stand up for
Biblical standards, which mainstream society ridicules.
In the “new normal”, people refuse to adhere to
God’s truth. Instead, they choose to believe Satan’s lies as the truth (Romans
1:25; 2 Timothy 4:4). The Bible gives us a warning, however. If anyone is ashamed of Jesus and
His words in this adulterous and sinful generation, then Jesus will be ashamed
of him when He comes back to earth in His Father's glory with His holy angels.
I beg you to ask yourself, “What good is it for a man to gain
the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36-38)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am so grateful for the generosity of Your people. My recollection of the chaos and disrepair of our home is a foggy memory now. The beauty of the floor far outweighs the inconvenience we experienced. Thank You also for using this experience to help me to understand that all humans adapt to the abnormal, and we all need patience and understanding with one another. I know that the “new normal” is only a sign of the end times, but I still mourn for those who believe the lie. I pray for all of those in my circle of influence; that they will hear Your voice and commit their life to You.
Thought for the Day:
The tendency of the abnormal
is to give the appearance of actually being normal. 