Sue Thomas Ministries

Tag: god

  • Stranded In Time

    Stranded In Time

    Belong to Eternity but stranded in Time. These are such picturesque words!

    It is that fragile balance of the “already, but not yet.”

    His promises are ours now, but there is a Day coming when we will experience them in a richer fullness. For example, Jesus already overcame death through His resurrection. I rejoice for what it means in my life now and the power of the cross today. And yet! There is more coming! One day death will be totally destroyed! Never to exist again.

    I don’t know if Sue knew this song by Michael Card, but she definitely used this phrase a lot with me.

    “Thumbs, I never wanted you to feel all this stress. All I ever wanted for you is to have joy in the journey.”

    I wish I could tell her what I have been discovering, and I’m using that word, discover, in the way that you would discover with unexpected delight that there are real living sand-dollars lying on the beach at your feet…

    I am discovering the quietness of the sand against the roar of the ocean. Discovering that rooted feeling of the sand between my toes while at the same time losing myself gazing into the endless horizon. Discovering that piercing sorrow and exhilarating joy definitely can exist side by side in breathtaking harmony like the sand and the sea.

    “There is a wonder and wildness to life…”

    That feeling of belonging to Eternity which fills us with unfading joy, but at the same time realizing that in this given moment we are stranded in Time, a place that holds sorrow.

    And somehow, in some way, by the Lord’s grace, I feel like I’m coming through while reaching forward to Eternity with my own face tipped upward to catch the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in a way that I’ve never experienced before. 2 Cor. 4

    He IS the light we can love on the way…while stranded in Time.

    Belonging to and looking forward to Eternity…we find joy in the Hope of the Glory of God!

    Romans 5 puts it this way. “Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” NLT

    So, friends, keep looking forward and upward!

    Here are the full words of the song by Michael Card.

    “There is a joy in the journey,
    There’s a light we can love on the way.
    There is a wonder and wildness to life,
    And freedom for those who obey.

    All those who seek it shall find it,
    A pardon for all who believe.
    Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

    To all who’ve been born of the Spirit
    And who share incarnation with him;
    Who belong to eternity, stranded in time,
    And weary of struggling with sin.

    Forget not the hope
    That’s before you,
    And never stop counting the cost.
    Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?”

  • Stepping On Shore

    Stepping On Shore

    Such a meaningful song! Have you ever heard it?

    I love songs about Heaven even more since people that I love have left Here to go There.

    Some of you have shared that you’ve recently lost your mother, or your dad, or a sister or a very dear friend. It changes your perspective, doesn’t it? Your entire purpose and meaning of life gets rattled but in time you will find more clarity. So hang on. It will get better!

    I lost my own Dad almost 18 years ago. He was a pastor, and a pillar in the family. He had an energy for living that was similar to Sue’s. He dreamed of big things, and yet found contentment and joy in little things. Even a terminal diagnosis did not rob him of that enthusiasm.

    I vividly remember being at my sister’s with Daddy. He was sitting on the couch watching his little grandchildren playing. They were happily oblivious to the glistening moisture in his eyes. Tears were betraying the ache in his heart because deep inside he knew he would not be there for them as they grew up.

    But even as leukemia was eating his energy those final weeks, he continued to write “to do lists” of people he wanted to call, and projects he wanted to complete.

    For a long time whenever I found one of those scraps of paper with his daily goals and plans for the future, my own tears burned at the realization that his life had been cut short leaving unfulfilled business still hanging around.

    But now when I look back I see in the bigger picture that the enthusiasm and longing for living that God had given him is being satisfied this very moment in Eternal Life!

    I can see that same thing in the life of Sue. Her hopes and plans and dreams were just a foretaste of what was to come.

    For those who love Jesus, this life is only meant to be the appetizer before the main meal. It is meant to wake up our senses and tickle our taste buds, and make us hungry for heaven.

    And with that perspective, I can see Sue, who increasingly struggled with walking, confidently striding up, stepping on shore and finding it heaven…

    Who was losing her sense of touch and feeling in her hands and feet, to reaching out and touching a hand. The thrill that must have gone through her to realize it was the hand of Jesus!

    And, with her struggles to breathe, due to her MS, stage 4 lung cancer, and then COVID, and her reliance on a non-invasive ventilator for deep breathing, taking her final breath here, then with her next breath taking in new air and finding it celestial! Ah, how sweet must be the air of heaven!

    Heaven.. our Eternal Home.

    Oh! That will be glory for me!
    When by His grace I shall look on His face,
    That will be glory…be glory for me!

  • I Choose Joy

    You will not define me, sorrow! I choose joy!

    Throughout this past year, after I discovered this video, these defiant yet triumphant words became part of the fabric of my life. I even have the link saved on the home screen of my phone so that when I need words of encouragement, I can “speak truth to myself.”

    John Piper is an old friend of Sue’s going back to the early ’80s when they were both young in ministry. I have a very sweet memory of sitting at the Piper’s dining room table a few years ago over a simple Sunday dinner of soup and bread while watching Sue and “Johnny” (as she called him) catch up through a very animated and lively conversation.

    In this video John Piper put into words what I witnessed in the life of Sue Thomas. She faced the difficulties of each day with this kind of humility and honesty.

    Sorrow is so complex. In those darkest of days we just need simple steps.

    “Weep. Grieve. Feel.
    then
    Wash. Trust. Embrace.”

    Wherever you are, and whatever you’re facing today, I hope these timeless words speak hope!

    (Here’s the audio transcript)

    “Occasionally, weep deeply over the life that you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Feel the pain. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you.

    The reason for that counsel is 1 Thessalonians 4:13, where Paul says, “We do not want you to be uninformed . . . about those who are asleep” — about those who have died — “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” So, there’s real grieving, which he expects, and there’s hope. Grieving is real, losses are real, pain is real — really felt, really expressed — and hope is real that changes it profoundly.

    I have in mind two kinds of losses: those who had something precious and lost it, and those who hoped for something precious and never had it. It works both ways. Sixty years go by, and forty years on you think, “I’ve come to terms with that,” and then one morning it breaks over you, and you weep about a 40-year old loss, or a 40-year “never have,” and my counsel is, yes, go ahead, embrace that moment. Weep.

    But then, say to your weeping after a season, “No. You will not define me, sorrow, because my God has said, ‘No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly’ (Psalm 84:11). Therefore, even though it was good in one sense, and I miss it in one sense, I trust my God, and he has not withheld anything that is good for me.” Yes, let there be weeping in those seasons — feel the losses. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life He’s given you.”