You Don't Have Time for That!

Diagnosed with terminal cancer at thirty-three, Carly worked to maintain a joyful spirit. Weakened but hopeful, she asked her girlfriend Beth to go shopping with her for a new dress. After selecting a few dresses she called Beth into the dressing room. Donning a smart royal blue jersey wrap, she pointed to herself in the mirror and asked, “Do I look fat?” Beth shook her head and grunted, “You don’t have time for that!”

This story kicked me right in the gut. I realized whether we’re ill or not, in the kingdom of God we don’t have time for “that”—for worrying about our weight, or whether we’re admired, or covering up the pain with a substance or activity, or… You know what your “that” is.

Jesus had something to say about this, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25). I regularly remind myself of this woman’s wise reply and Jesus’s words. My desire is for my heart to be focused on the kingdom of God, not on myself—on my body size or wardrobe. As a child of God these things no longer identify me.

Through prayer and Bible study, God will put up a mirror and we’ll begin to see our attitudes, beliefs, and motives from a very different perspective—his. One of the purposes of Scripture is to show us the truth about our own human nature. Self-examination is a light shedding process; the light of truth penetrates and exposes deception. Jesus said the truth will set us free (see John 8:32).

God gives us our experiences so we might be able to examine them under his light. We learn that his fingerprints have been on them our entire life…even before we were born. Even the worst chapters of your life are full of his presence.

God promises he will “bestow on you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3). Can it get any better than that?

This is an excerpt from the book "Something Happened On My Way To Hell" by author Kimberly Davidson