Shared Experience

"It's been 60 some odd years and it's still on my mind..."

A new series of war documentaries was on the other night. Images of a war flashed on the screen. In between the flashes were the real life soldiers who fought in the war. They told their story. They gave their own account. They shared their souls.

I can't seem to get one of the interviews out of my mind. You could see the toll the war had on his body. The wrinkles of his skin were deep and the furrow of his brow showed the worry from many years past. Behind his thick black framed glasses you could still see the pain and the horror of the ghosts he had seen with his now tear filled eyes. I felt for him. I feel for him. But no matter how well he could share his story, no matter how eloquent he was with his words, I can't feel what he felt. I didn't see what he saw. I can never know what it was truly like to fight in his war. I can never know his pain, his sorrow, his joys or his fears. I can only experience a slight twinge of feelings brought about by my imagination from hearing his words.

I want you to think about that.

No matter how much you want to, no matter how much you try, you can never truly know what someone else has been through, what someone else has seen or felt or thought. When asking two people about the same experience it's very likely you will get two completely different responses. Even if they are similar responses, they'll never be exactly the same. 

At times, this can seem a bit lonely. I would love for you to know what it feels like to stand on a balcony in Bogota, Colombia, sipping your early morning coffee as you watch suns light creep over the mountains. I would love for you to know what its like to walk the deserts of Mexico calling out in broken Spanish to the shacks lining the street to let them know where the Bible lesson was going to be for the day and for the first time in your life have a sense of belonging. I would love for you to know how it pains me to be in the States at times. The feeling like you don't belong. The longing to be elsewhere. I would love for you to long with me.I would love for you to feel the love from my family when I come home. I would love for you to know what it's like to have your niece smile at you and say your name. I would love for you to know...

But....then again. Those are times that are mine. Those are my feelings. Something that no one else in the world can have. No one, even if they've been there with me, has the exact same feeling that I do. Do I love to share my feelings? Of course. Do I want to share my experiences? Yes. It's just amazing to see that even when I do these thing, you will have a different experience or feelings that I will. Think of what a blessing it is to have unique emotions and sensations. Those are yours. Enjoy them. Share them. But remember they'll always be yours to do with as you please. Make the most of them.

In the same way and yet on so much more of a greater scale, we can not have the same thoughts or ideas that the Lord has. He knows how we feel, he knows each little pain, each little joy. But we can't reciprocate the knowledge back.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,"
       declares the LORD.
  "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Let's be honest here. I know with my earthly mind I couldn't handle the Lords thoughts. Besides, I like seeing his way unfold before me. I'll leave him to the knowing and I'll do the finding out. Go find out what God has in store for you today! Just know that he already knows how it's going to end up and he's taken care of you this far, he won't stop now!
Happy Tuesday!