Tag: suffering

In The Pain, God Is There

A reflection on how I’ve experienced God meeting with me, inspired by Elijah’s experience with God in 1 Kings 19:8-18.

I feel alone sometimes.

At times it feels like wandering.

Other times it feels like running for my life.

On the outside I can accomplish something big for God. People see it. God shows up. It proves my faith. Right?

Except on the inside I’m still not sure where He is when the big thing is over. Will I still be alone? Wandering? Running for my life?

And so I hide. From others. But mostly from God.

But then He comes and invites me to meet with Him.

And so I go to meet Him where I think He will be: in the big church event. The band. The choir. The singing. The preaching. The altar. It’s the place where people come to meet with God. Right?

But that’s not where He wants to meet with me.

And so I go to meet Him where I think He might be next: in the conference, the concert, the retreat. All the people. The unique setting. The exciting or heavy emotions. This is where big things happen in my life for God. Right?

But that’s not where He wants to meet with me.

And so I go to meet Him where He’s surely got to be: in the mission trip, the outreach, the doing. That’s where people need me. That’s where important things are accomplished. This is where God wants to work in big ways thru me. Right?

But that’s not where He wants to meet with me.

And so I’m unsure where He wants to meet with me.

Then the pain comes: death, sickness, loss, broken relationship, anger, anxiety, confusion, loneliness.

And in the pain. A voice. His voice. Quietly speaking:

You

are

not

alone,

I AM

here.

So this is where He wants to meet with me.

This is where He wants to speak to me.

This is where He wants to tune my heart to His.

In the stillness of my pain.

I was so busy looking to meet with Him in all the places I was told He would be. All the places I knew He should be. All the places outside of my pain.

But He was waiting. To meet with me. Right where I was. Right in the midst of my life. Right in the middle of my pain.

But He was waiting. To meet with me. Right where I was. Right in the midst of my life. Right in the middle of my pain.

Commentary:

I am not saying God has not “shown up” in my life, or doesn’t show up in people’s lives, at things like church events and retreats. I’m saying I never understood what truly being with God (and more accurate what God truly being with me) was like until I finally experienced Him meeting me right where I was at. It has been my experience that many of us go looking for God “out there,” instead of experiencing Him being with us “here” – right where we are.

I spent so much of my young adult life “looking for God in all the wrong places” (if I can play off a popular music lyric). I’m not sure it was taught to me more than caught. But I had grown up believing God was out there somewhere. In the religious experiences. In the displays of worship. Even in the miracles or on the “mission field.” I would have never said such a thing theologically. But practically it’s how I lived.

And then something shifted. Years ago really. But this COVID season has solidified it in a way that is actually changing my life.

It’s the very truth of the incarnation: He is not out there. He is right here.

With me. With us. Right where we are.

In our homes. In our workplaces. In our schools.

In the store. In the hospital. In the counseling session.

In our playing sports. In our vacations. In our gathering with friends.

And once I found Him here with me, it didn’t change the pain. The pain was still there. But I didn’t feel alone in the pain anymore. And I didn’t run from the pain anymore. Because God met with me in the pain.

You are not alone. God is with you.

He wants to meet with you in the pain.

Lent 2020 | Day 12: “Drink”

In this season of Lent, as we move ever forward towards the resurrection of Jesus, let us take a moment and reflect on what it means to drink. To drink in that which is good, and sometimes to drink in that which is not as good for the sake of others.

One of Jesus’s most famous statements is when he says, “Not my will, but your will be done.”

The context of this statement actually occurs in the Gospel of Matthew (26:42). And in that moment, Jesus is praying that the cup of God’s wrath would pass from him. But Jesus says to the Father, as he prays in the garden of Gethsemane, that if this will not pass without him drinking the cup, then he would drink it. Jesus would submit his will to the Father’s so that the Father’s will would be done.

One of the things that we often fail to see in life is how many times we must drink the bitter water of suffering. Jesus did this as an example to us, of what it would take for us to receive salvation. But there will be times in our lives where we will confronted with the opportunity to drink something that we would rather avoid, but we choose to do it anyway. Knowing that if we do it in righteousness, if we do it as an act of service for others, then we will receive a reward for it.

But there are other times when we must drink that which we would rather not. This may be the result of another’s actions or maybe even our own. But the cup must be emptied. In those instances, it cannot be avoided. The truth is that sometimes regardless of the reason, drinking of the cup is a manifestation of our willingness to surrender our own wills, to the will of God.

In this season of Lent, as we move ever forward towards the resurrection of Jesus, let us take a moment and reflect on what it means to drink. To drink in that which is good, and sometimes to drink in that which is not as good for the sake of others.

What lies before us today is this: there are times we must see our act of drinking as a service to God, or what as an act of service to others. I want to invite you to join me in learning to trust in God ever more deeply so that we might truly enjoy the riches and benefits of the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ regardless of the cup we have to drink.

Jesus suffered so that I could Live

There are few films that evoke the kind of emotions in the viewer that may have been felt by those who witnessed the final hours of Jesus’ life like The Passion of the Christ.

We watched the movie as a church this evening. It is the first time that I have watched since it was released in 2004. And for good reason. I just couldn’t watch it again but I made myself tonight.

While I know that it is a movie, I could not distance myself emotionally from what was depicted. And I guess I should not be able to. There is something so disturbingly horrifying to what Jesus endured. While the movie attempts to capture the physical realities, and I think the movie does a good job of pulling you into the emotional turmoil, it is the spiritual weight of what was happening that left me staggering yet again.

There is simply or human no way of touching this. And yet, this is what I find myself, as a believer in the one who was crucified, sensing most poignantly. The freedom I feel because of my faith in Jesus is rooted in the sacrifice of the Son of God. The hope that I have that my soul has been redeemed has been purchased by the shed blood of the Lamb of God. The peace that I have experienced in times of difficulty has been released unto me because of the promises of the Prince of Peace.

The reality of Easter is that in and through the death of Jesus life awaits for those who place their trust in Him. If we are to recapture the power of the Gospel, if we are to see the body of Christ infused with zeal, if we are to return, as a people, to our first love, we must not run from the sacrifice of the King of Kings. As a matter of fact, we must run to it. We must embrace our own death to this world. First, spiritually by faith. But second, actually through our own deaths when we breathe our last breath and step into eternity. Death by crucifixion is the price Jesus paid to provide for us the way of salvation. Death, as a result of sin, is the price we pay to bring about the consummation of our faith.

I remember listening to a message given my Dr. John Piper about missions. As I listened, a phrase struck me to the quick. He was describing the excitement and enthusiasm of the missionaries he was with even as they prayed for those who were in harms way. Dr. Piper described the experience and admonished his listens to consider what it meant to go into the mission field. He was trying to provide a context for the kind of focus and passion we are to have when we consider our journey of faith and calling to go into the world to make disciples. Listen to what he said.

Golgotha is not a suburb of Jerusalem. “Let us go with him outside the gat and suffer with him and bear reproach” (Hebrews 13:13).[Source]

How many times have I been dismissive of Jesus’ sacrifice and of the call to follow him, even to the cross? I say “dismissive” because whenever my resolve wanes, whenever my focus is blurred, whenever my fear causes me to falter, I have forgotten what it cost for me to be adopted into the family of God. It takes intentionality to keep the reality of Jesus’ death in proper perspective. Many, including me, forget how persistent a fight it is to keep the faith.

As I watched the movie tonight I was reminded of how much I have yet to learn. How much I have yet to surrender. And, maybe worse of all, how little I have really given up for the cause of Christ. I pray my surrender would only deepen as we approach another Resurrection Sunday.

Lent Day #25 | Mourning

When God leads in the dance called life, where we begin and where we end will seem like a dream that has come true.

In Psalm 30 we find one of the most raw and transparent reflections David ever penned. In it we see him praising God for his faithfulness in both discipline and in blessing. For David, the relationship he valued with God contained the possibility of both sides of the spectrum of love. God’s love includes both of these realities. As a matter of fact, I believe David would argue they are necessary if we are to claim fellowship with God as a father.

Let’s take just a moment and go through the Psalm.

1 I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 3 O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. 7 Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 8 I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication. 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (KJV)

What I find interesting is how David accepts as a given the reality of suffering in the human experience. It seems David was not thrown off by the fact of suffering and what it produces–mourning. Mourning is the sorrow we feel as we come to grips with the reality of our situation. As we process what has happened and we move into life with a different set of assumptions than we had before. Life after divorce, betrayal, death, depression. Life in the new normal.

Dancing into Morning, Psalm 30

As I read these words this morning I was struck by another assumption by the psalmist. This mourning we all must walk through is temporary. It is not supposed to last forever. Not because the pain has gone away, mind you. Rather, the reason it does not last is due to God’s ability to take what we have lost or has been taken from us and turn it for our good (Romans 8:28). Not all the events of our lives are good, but God can turn them toward good. He takes the tattered remains of our brokenness and reorganizes and reestablishes and recreates so we are no longer what we used to be.

David gives us insight into the nature of hope through our mourning not in spite of it. The shepherd-king is so sure of God’s transforming and redeeming promise he says, “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” It don’t know about you, but I desire for this to be how I live out my fellowship with God. When God leads in the dance called life, where we begin and where we end will seem like a dream that has come true.

Book Review | “The Bishop of Rwanda”

bishop-of-rwanda
DISCLAIMER: While I understand that this is one man’s retelling of the events, I will engage and comment based on the good faith effort of the author to represent the events he related.

There are few times that I can remember when I have read a book and been moved by its content. The Bishop of Rwanda by Bishop John Rucyahana is one of those books. It truly is not for the faint of heart. The gut wrenching, horrific events described (sometimes in graphic detail) are terrible to imagine and even more tormenting to the heart to know that other human beings endured. With the precision of a historian and the compassion of a pastor, Bishop John diagnoses the multiple streams that led to the murder of close to 800,000 of the nearly 1.2 million total Tutsis killed. Think of it for just a moment. The following description helps to put in perspective what that means.

“The typhoon of madness that swept through the country between April 7 and the third week of May accounted for 80 percent of the victims of the genocide. That means about eight hundred thousand people were murdered during those six weeks, making the daily killing rate at least five times that of the Nazi death camps.” [Kindle Location 1626]

The shear horror that was endured by the Tutsis and those who stood for and with them could not even be portrayed in film, described on paper or evoked through words. There is simply no way of understanding the full fledged depravity of the genocide. I would read descriptions of what happened and catch myself shaking my head at what I had just read. I know that we are almost two decades removed from the events Bishop John described, but there is a freshness to it all.

There are two aspects of the book that were particularly poignant. The first was the historical overview of what took place in Rwanda on a national-political level. The picture painted of the “imperialist” and colonial nations of Belgium and France are so unflattering as to be caricatures. The problem is that the truth will many times be unflattering and down right scathing. If even a portion of what was done by outside nations was done to Rwanda it reveals the tendency of the Western, first world nations to attempt to get away with whatever they can. The misconduct of the international community in the events leading up the genocide are not only deplorable, they are reprehensible. The intellectuals of the west failed to see the barbarism that was being unleashed in a small African country. The western world needs to look in the mirror and stop acting in such a duplicitous manner.

The second aspect of the book that stood out was the reality that what took place in the hearts and minds of the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity was of a spiritual nature first. Bishop John is quick to recognize the demonic currents underlying what took place among the general population. Even if those who killed were not motivated by hatred, to be carried along with the wave requires a kind of acquiescence to the spiritual forces at work. There is no doubt in Bishop John’s mind that the reason the effects of the propaganda and fear was so far reaching was because there was not true conversion among many who claimed to be Christian. The most disgusting of the acts enacted, and that go to the heart of my identity as a clergy person, were those of the religious leaders who became accomplices to the murders, sometimes even participating in them. It just doesn’t make sense!

As I finished the book and read of the changes that have come to Rwanda I was shocked to see that reconciliation was at the heart of the healing process. The programs and efforts by those who suffered and those who caused the suffering to reunite the nation were impressive and awe inspiring. Over and over again the reality of repentance and of forgiveness were put on display. Probably the greatest lesson that I will take away from reading The Bishop of Rwanda will be that forgiveness is a power designed by God himself. I leave you with the following insight forged in the crucible of suffering and pain.

“Forgiving something does not make the forgiven act less horrible, but it does break the power that act holds over you. The truth is that those who don’t forgive are dying from their unforgiveness. The bitterness eats them up. When you forgive, you are healthier and more alive.” [Kindle Location 2262]

The Dark Night Rises In Colorado

If anyone needed a reminder of the reality of suffering and sin, we have seen another example this morning in the early hours of The Dark Knight Rises premier. Reports are still being clarified, but the alleged suspect arrived and threw a tear gas like gas in the theater and then proceed to fire an unknown number of weapons and rounds of ammunition. As of this writing twelve are reported dead and over forty injured in a variety of ways. As many may be asking at this point in the day, “What was the point?”

The sad truth is that there may never be an answer that will satisfy those of us that are wondering. There will never be an answer that will ease the pain of the loss of life. Events like this occur far too often, but it is not until a sensational event takes place, like the one this morning that our attentions are sharply drawn. I am frustrated by this. I am angry that this has happened again. But, some of my frustration and some of my anger is pointed at a culture that insists that it understands the deepest longings of the human heart, mind and soul. We have become so enlightened that we are more ignorant and more perverse than ever before.

I find it somewhat ironic that James Holmes, the suspect that was arrested, was released from the University of Colorado where he was a PH.D. student in neuroscience.

While I was finishing my undergraduate degree, I had to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. It is an interesting tale of a man by the name of Tomáš. His defining characteristic is that he has an insatiable sexual appetite. And yet, he never seems to find any peace or satisfaction. Instead of finding a weightiness to his existence, Tomáš realizes that his being is unbearable light. There is no substance, no significance, nothing of value or worth to his life. As you read the book you find that it is not in the abundance of pleasure that you find meaning. This is the strange existential reality of life. While many of us who heard about this terrible event feel sorrow and mourn with those that have lost; and while we feel a righteous anger toward the one who committed these heinous acts, we eventually all turn our attentions inward.

We turn inward because we think about what we would have done if we had been there. We turn inward wondering how we would feel if we had been injured, known someone who died or second guessed our decision to get out without helping others. We turn inward because we all are faced with the undying and unrelenting question, “Am I doing anything with my life worth remembering?” This is a fundamental reality.

If we were honest with ourselves we would have to acknowledge the general self-centeredness of our lives. I hate to even admit it, but it is true. We more often than not are looking out for “good ole #1.” What do we have in our lives that helps us to counteract this? The only example we have is Jesus’ self-less love for sinners. Jesus died for those that deserved it least. We are the reason for his death and suffering and he is the reason for our life and joy.

Paul says it this way in Philippians 2:

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NKJV)

The mind of Christ, as Paul calls it describes the change that takes place within those who follow Jesus. This change affects everything that we do, especially how we see and respond to tragedies like the one that occurred this morning. I do not make any claims in knowing how Jesus would respond to this event. I do think that it would include sorrow, weeping and a desire to serve those affected.

A dark night rose last night. It just was not the one that everyone was looking forward to.

Related articles

The Epistle of Joy and A Theology of Suffering

In the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians there is an interesting dichotomy developing. Paul gave thanks for what God was doing in his life and in the life of the believers in Philippi. He then turns his attention to what is happening to him. And what is that? He is in prison because of his preaching of the Gospel. He is doing exactly what God wants him to do and he gets thrown in jail.

There is no easy road to evangelism. It is paved with the rough stones of adversity. There is no beautiful scenery. There is only the destruction of sin and the carnage of willful disobedience. Jesus never promised that the task of communicating the message of salvation was going to be easy. Whenever we grumble that it isn’t we have not paid attention to what Jesus taught us on the matter.

There are several passages in the first chapter that truly reveal this paradox of faith. How can Paul write such encouragement when he is shackled to a wall or guard all day long? How can he rejoice because of his situation? I just doesn’t make sense. What are we missing that Paul seems to have understood?

Here are a few samples of what I mean.

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel… 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

These three verses are Paul’s introduction to what he believed about his current state. He did not see being in jail and suffering as a concern. He was actually pleased at the effect that it was having on those around him. The entire guard had heard the Gospel, and many of the believers outside had been stirred to action as well. It really does challenge our modern, American sensibilities to think that going to jail for our faith is a good thing. But, Paul doesn’t stop there. He goes and says the following.

15  Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Paul knew that there are some people preaching the Gospel for the wrong reasons. They were out there for profit, for acclaim or, as Paul writes, to make it more difficult on Paul! Can you image that. You are sitting in prison and someone dislikes you so much that they are intentionally trying to make things worse. And yet, Paul looks past all of that and says that the reason is irrelevant to him because the truth is being proclaimed. Now, those preaching for the wrong reason will be held accountable, but God is so good that he will even use these wrong motives to accomplish his ultimate purpose.

But again, this is not the end of what Paul said. He continues.

19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 

Really?! It is hard for you to decide whether you want to stay on earth or go to heaven? I sometimes wonder why we don’t talk like this? And then I realize that many of us are not willing to go where Paul went. Paul knew and understood something that many in the Western church have not learned to even acknowledge. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I believe that Paul’s commitment to the proclamation and spread of the Gospel had a lot to do with it. The power of evangelism to motivate and refocus the believer is largely lost in our day.

Here is Paul’s final salvo in the chapter 1.

29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul really does lay out for us his theology here on the subject of suffering and the Gospel. There is a mysterious way in which our faith in Jesus will lead to some form of suffering. If we are not making any effort to spread the Gospel to those whom God sends along our journey, we will find no resistance. The intentional advancement of the Good News of Jesus is what causes friction between what we believe as followers of Jesus and what the world is leaning towards. We are not merely interested in propagating a religion. We want to produce fruit because of a relationship with Jesus the Savior.

Related articles

Worshiping God when suffering IS a part of His plan.

I was reading this morning in 1 Peter and came across these two verses.

“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:17, ESV)

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19, ESV)

Peter seems to imply that there my be times when suffering IS included in God’s plan for us. Not only does this sound wrong, there are many within the Christian community that teach and believe that this would never happen. But, they do this in contradiction to what the Bible plainly says. This is an inconvenient truth. We have to deal with the reality of what God says in His word, rather than trying to make it say something that it does not.

While there may be times in our lives were we live in fear that suffering may come into our lives, we should remember that God is fully aware of all that is taking place around us. There is nothing that escapes God’s observing eyes. If we believe in God’s love; if we believe in God’s grace; if we believe that God will work all things out for our good, then we have be careful not to make every experience of suffering into a time to complain and gripe and doubt God’s plan. If and when we suffer, we must make sure that we suffer justly. The fact that we do not suffer more is the true miracle if God’s love.

The question that took shape this afternoon was this:

Can I worship God if the suffering I
endure IS because of something in God’s plan which
God has chosen not to reveal to me?

When we think about what is happening around us it can be so easy to lose sight of the greatness and grandness of God. But, suffering has a way of adjusting our focus. If suffering happens outside of God’s will then we have no reason to fear. God will see us through. So, what do we do when we are confronted with the possibility, and according the Peter, the actuality that suffering is a part of God’s plans? Will we retreat from what the Bible says, or will we allow God to shape our view of the world? Because suffering has such a powerful effect on us, we are confronted with the varied array of assumptions that we may have made about how God works in the world. Assumptions that must be changed if we are going to live in obedience to God and His Word.

The challenge that Peter sets before us is this: when we find ourselves suffering from the concussion that suffering inflicts on our lives and heart, will we be able to “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator?” A faithful Creator. God’s faithfulness toward us should never be called into question. As pilgrims on the journey of faith, we need to trust that God’s view of the events and circumstances of history are controlled and guarded against sabotage by His sovereign reign.

I came across this song some months ago and I found that it captures, in a powerful way, what Peter is communicating here in his letter.

You can hear Laura Story tell the story behind the song here.

Related articles

Only Jesus Can Make Sense of Disease and Pain

I came across this video of Kari Jobe singing “Healer” to a young girl who, from the video, is obviously suffering from something. I don’t know what it is. I don’t need to know. What I know is that only Jesus can make sense of this.

There are many reasons, now after 13 years of dedicated service to Jesus, that I believe that Jesus and the faith that he calls us to is the one true faith available to all mankind. Christianity is the only religion that calls us to accept and trust the dying and humiliated prophet INTO death as the means of passing through from this expression of life to the next.

Probably the most remarkable conversion story related in the bible is found in Luke 23. Why do I say this? I say it because the man that “accepted” Jesus couldn’t have made a bigger mistake. It had to have been the most irrational decision he could have made. Look at it for yourself.

39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43, ESV)

Where was the man when he placed his faith in Jesus? He was on the cross right next to Jesus’ cross. The image that must have been before him was not an inspiring one. As graphic as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was, it did no justice to the reality that the robber witnessed. The idealized images of Jesus are not what converted this man. It wasn’t even the hope of resurrection that motivated the wish of redemption (it could hardly be categorized as hope).

This is the same criminal who earlier had joined in with the crowd to make fun and mock Jesus!

44And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (Matthew 27:44, ESV)

I am getting to place where I am running out of clever arguments for why someone should believe in Jesus or that God exists. I am starting to understand why the cross is foolishness to some.

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25, ESV)

I am more convinced that only Jesus can make sense of the insensible. And I have made some peace with the fact that I will never fully understand all that takes place on this earth. As a matter of fact, I am growing to enjoy the fact that I don’t know everything and that everything doesn’t need to be explained to me.

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%