Sep 28 2019 I Corinthians 7:10-24

Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you.

In the midst of Paul’s rant about marriage, circumcision and slavery, comes this gem. He’s going on about how men and women are supposed to handle becoming widowed, or divorced. It’s handled differently for men and women, but that was a sign of the times. He talks about if you’re circumcised or not, it makes no matter, and slave or free, equally it makes no matter.

To be clear, it does matter if one is a slave or not. I’m not sure Paul was defending slavery, and if so, of course I don’t agree. But part of what he was saying is that we are freed in Christ, regardless of our human condition And I think Paul’s message goes further. For every crummy condition we have on this earth, for every immoral and unjust policy and person, God has redeemed and restored us and the situation we’re in, already.

My husband and I had visions and plans of what I was going to do when we moved to Portland. I think they were inspired and focused on my faith. I think they were God’s will. But now, it’s clear that is not what’s happening. We are caretaking for a sick loved one, with a complex, permanent, and ever-changing disease. My future for the foreseeable future is very different.

It is fair to say that I’ve been grieving the future that won’t be. I’ve been holding on to a plan or intentions that no longer make sense. The dissonance between my planned future and my likely future have created no shortage of angst and anxiety, as I continued to try to fashion my tomorrows, based on my plans from my yesterdays. 

This morning, I’m thinking about Paul’s reminder to live the life I have, not pine for the life I intended. Maybe it’s about contentment, figuring out how to find peace in the current situation. I am not suggesting that God made loved one sick so I’d have something to do. But now that we’re all in this situation, I might as well live this life I have with intention and contentment, as much as possible.

On good days, my husband and I marvel that we’ve got this new reality, and we feel very well equipped. On harder days, we wonder why. And while I may never understand the why, Paul is reminding me to live the life I have, not the one I’d planned.