Hidden

 "For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossian 3:3

In the wonderful book, "The Way Of The Dragon Or The Way Of The Lamb," authors Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel, tell of their interview with theologian James Houston and his wife Rita. Rita was in the beginning stages of Alzheimers, and they spoke of the great challenges they faced together over this awful disease. James shared that Rita worried that as the disease advanced, "she would forget Jesus." James looked at her and said, "I remind her that what matters is not whether you remember Him, but that He remembers you."

I've a close pastor friend whose precious wife suffers from this disease as well. I remember him telling me that he believed that though her brain was steadily losing the capacity she once knew, still, within, she was somehow able to connect with the reality of Jesus Christ. That even in this affliction, He would be with her, and somehow, she would know it. As Colossians 3:3 promises, our real life is hidden in Christ.

Alzheimers, a host of other diseases, crippling accidents, and eventually, the last enemy, death, none can touch our real life that is hidden in Him. Our outward bodies and lives will decay and fade. Here in the remaining years of my life, I can literally feel the vitality and strength I once had fading away. I'm not moved. I know what my real life is and where it is found; hidden in Him. I know that should I lose even my ability to cognitively reason, I will not be forgotten by Him, and that somehow, even in that place, He will continue to minister life to me. Nothing that this world, the enemy that operates through it, or the death that is surely a part of it can change that. My real life, the real person I am, is hidden in Christ, and if you are one who has chosen to follow Him with all your heart, so is yours. Our real life is not and can never be found in this world that is passing away. It's found in His Kingdom that is eternal. When we know that, nothing can take away the sure hope we have in Christ the Lord.

May His Spirit whisper into our hearts right now, wherever our circumstances may find us, that what matters is not whether we can see, hear, sense, or even remember Him, but that at all times, He sees, hears, and remembers us. He remembers me, and He remembers you. That is the wonder and joy of being hidden in Christ. May we never cease to know it....and even should our ability to remember it fade away, He will know it....always.

Blessings,

Pastor O