Shalom: The Way Things Were Intended to Be

I just finished reading one of the most incredible books I've ever experience.  It made me laugh, cry, dream, and grow in my writing journey.  But most of all, the book made me desire Jesus so, so much more.
So if you get a chance, you must read A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes  (see my full review here - there were slight negative elements I caution about in the review).  It's easily my second favorite fictional book (nothing can beat Narnia, sorry).  But the message is continuing to hit me, even after the book is done.  So that's this post.  I want to share what impacted me.  It might have spoilers.  It might not make sense.  It might be a lot like last week's post.
But I need to put my heart on paper (or in blog form).  Here it is.






















The book centers on one word.  A word that changed the way I see the world.

Shalom.
And Nadine offers a definition.

Shalom - wholeness and completeness in God.  The way things were intended to be.

Read it.  And read it again.
That is that I desire most right now.  Wholeness and completeness in God.  The way things were intended to be.
 Shalom.
It brings me back to Eden.  I've read Genesis 2-3, praying through the chapters and begging to find what we lost in the fall.
Because once upon a time, we lived with Christ.  The world was full of shalom.  It was the way things were intended to be.  We walked, talked, served, loved God.  There was no pain, no tears, no sin.  We just loved and were loved.
But that was lost.  We chose to break shalom and live for ourselves.  And even today, I see those little fragments of shalom around me.
I walk in our woods and see the towering trees reaching up to Heaven, their leaves praising God with every fleeting breeze.  The creek dances and sings a melody, schools of fish dash from my feet, leap around rocks, hide under dark crevices.  Flowers bloom.  Sun shines.  Shadows twirl.
It's shalom.
But then I go back to the world.  I see neighbors slamming doors, raising fists.  I hear arguments and selfishness in our voices, trash thrown out on the sides of the road, confusion that burns within me.
It's shalom that was broken by sin.






















All throughout A Time to Die, I saw the picture over and over again.  I saw glimpses of God's beauty, but there was also pain and brokenness.  That's why the book changed the way I see the world.
I don't want to live a normal Christian life.  I don't want to be like the rest of the world, because I want to find shalom - wholeness and completeness in Christ.
And sometimes I'm afraid that I'll become content and stagnant.  I don't want to grow comfortable and stop reaching for the prize I'm longing for.
But how can I find shalom when it's been so altered, so broken by the world?  Do I have to wait until Heaven to find the way things were intended to be?
Like I posted last week, I believe the problem comes when I seek shalom (or love or joy or anything) for itself.  I can't find it.  I can't attain it.
But Jesus is Shalom.
He is wholeness and completeness.  He is the way things were intended to be.
Jesus left the shalom in Heaven to become our Shalom on earth.  He healed the sick, loved the unlovable, rescued the captive.  He gave everything so that we could live.
My desire is to draw close to Him.  To find my wholeness and completeness in Jesus.  I want to return to the way things were intended to be back in Eden, when we were intimate with our Creator.
But I also want to become shalom to others.  I want to help them draw closer to Him and to discover who they were truly created to be.  I'm not worried about my future because He promised to complete it.

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

- Philippians 1:6

I hope you also are seeking this greater calling.  We don't know how long our lives will extend, but He has a purpose.  He has a calling for your life.
He will complete it, and you can find shalom in Him when you get serious and want Him more than anything else.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

- Matthew 7:7-8

Jesus will be found if you search for Him with all your heart.
Dear friend, seek Shalom - Jesus -  and don't ever lose sight of who He is.  Surrender every day to His calling.  Then you will find the way things were intended to be.
Eden was beautiful and perfect, but we broke that.  I want to go back to intimacy with God where we walk and talk with Him, where our lives revolve around Him, and He is our purpose.
So that's what I learned from A Time to Die.  Life has a purpose even in the brokenness because God has a plan.
Seek Jesus, and Shalom will be found, dear friend.

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

- Isaiah 55:6-7

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

-Hebrews 11:6

 ~♥~