{"id":3290,"date":"2024-06-11T19:47:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T19:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/?p=3290"},"modified":"2024-07-16T00:47:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T00:47:08","slug":"please-mind-the-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/?p=3290","title":{"rendered":"Please, Mind the Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

\n

My husband and I recently took our daughter to Europe as a college graduation present.\u00a0 We used London\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n

subway system, <\/span>The Tube, <\/span>to get <\/span>everywhere we went.\u00a0 Each time the doors got ready to open, a female<\/span><\/p>\n

voice sporting a friendly British accent kindly reminded passengers, \u201cPlease mind the gap\u201d to keep them from<\/span><\/p>\n

falling and getting injured.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

All week, we found much humor in doing impressions of the announcement in our lame British accents.\u00a0 My<\/span><\/p>\n

husband even bought a <\/span>Mind the Gap <\/span>t-shirt to avoid forgetting this iconic expression.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

While I transferred his t-shirt from the washer to the dryer recently, I realized my life once included a much more<\/span><\/p>\n

dangerous gap than the one reflected by the words on my husband\u2019s souvenir. This threatening gap held the <\/span><\/p>\n

potential to keep me permanently separated from my Creator who longs to give me eternal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The cold, hard truth is that God is righteous and I am not. Because of this, an expansive\u00a0gap, known as my fleshly<\/span><\/p>\n

sinful nature, stood between us. That <\/span>is until I made a momentous decision as a young girl so it doesn\u2019t anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The best news of all is that I didn\u2019t have to <\/span>work <\/span>to overcome the separation.\u00a0 My good Shepherd sacrificed <\/span><\/p>\n

His Son for all humanity so this divide could be <\/span>erased. <\/span>Although the initial work had to start with me choosing<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus, Christ physically <\/span>minded the gap <\/span>for m<\/span>e. The work was done and paid for through His death and<\/span><\/p>\n

resurrection. Unlike the great effort I exerted to safely step off a subway train, no effort of mine could ever <\/span><\/p>\n

clean me up enough to look more pleasing to God.\u00a0 He loves me because of who I am, not because of what I <\/span><\/p>\n

do or don\u2019t do.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the most life-giving treasure of closing this gap lies in its power to rescue me from the sins I continue<\/span><\/p>\n

committing every single day.\u00a0 Becoming a follower of Jesus certainly <\/span>did not make me perfect. <\/span>I will be a<\/span><\/p>\n

sinner until I go Home. Instead, it means I serve a <\/span>perfect God <\/span>who fiercely loves me in spite of <\/span>my <\/span><\/p>\n

imperfections<\/span>.\u00a0 I am a perfectly broken vessel whom He chooses to use to carry out His divine purposes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Just as important are the everyday, sustaining treasures that lie in the collection of God’s attributes that make<\/span><\/p>\n

survival in this broken, dark world possible.\u00a0 <\/span>God\u2019s profound comfort, guidance, love, faithfulness,<\/span><\/p>\n

goodness, provision, presence, sustaining grace, mercy, forgiveness, and wisdom are all ready and<\/span><\/p>\n

waiting for those who seek and know Him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s undeniable that this world is full of trials, pain, and heartache.\u00a0 It would be fair to say that my life has<\/span><\/p>\n

included an overabundance of adversity.\u00a0 Living day in and day out for forty-two years with a pervasive and<\/span><\/p>\n

demanding visual impairment and then tragically, out-of-nowhere, losing my son to suicide four years ago<\/span><\/p>\n

definitely rank at the top of the suffering charts. God\u2019s presence, power, and promises are the only explanation<\/span><\/p>\n

for my survival of such hardship and struggle. I would be lying if I attributed it to MY own strength, resilience, <\/span><\/p>\n

or perseverance. My ability to get back up and continue standing today is solely based on the treasures I<\/span><\/p>\n

received when I decided to <\/span>mind the gap <\/span>that\u00a0 impacted the reality of my eternal residence.\u00a0 Every piece of <\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s character works in me and through me to help me press on in spite of affliction.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The same treasures are available for you, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to wait for the gap to slowly shrink over time.\u00a0 It will instantly evaporate as though it never <\/span><\/p>\n

existed the moment you trust in Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe life feels really good for you right now and you\u2019re wondering why you would waste your time even<\/span><\/p>\n

considering such a useless subject.\u00a0 It\u2019s tempting to put off <\/span>minding the gap <\/span>when we\u2019re young, busy, and <\/span><\/p>\n

wholeheartedly \u201cliving it up.\u201d\u00a0 Or while life is smooth sailing and shows no potential for imminent danger anytime<\/span><\/p>\n

soon. The lies that tell us a relationship with God will cramp our style and consume our time are dangerously<\/span><\/p>\n

convincing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, though, that none of us knows when our world could come crashing down around us.\u00a0 Or when <\/span><\/p>\n

we or our loved ones will take our last breath.\u00a0 There may not be time to <\/span>mind the gap <\/span>at the scene of the<\/span><\/p>\n

fatal car crash, when the heart attack strikes, or as the violent criminal enters the public space we decided to<\/span><\/p>\n

visit.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nSo, imagine me speaking these words in my best British accent,\u00a0 \u201cPlease, <\/span>mind the gap <\/span>if you haven\u2019t already<\/span> while the opportunity still awaits.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband and I recently took our daughter to Europe as a college graduation present.\u00a0 We used London\u2019s subway system, The Tube, to get everywhere we went.\u00a0 Each time the doors got ready to open, a female voice sporting a friendly British accent kindly reminded passengers, \u201cPlease mind the gap\u201d to keep them from falling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Please-Mind-the-Gap-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Please-Mind-the-Gap-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"survivingmypas","author_link":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/survivingmypastbecauseofmyfuture.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}