It has been kind of a slow day. I've just been working on homework and trying to get things together for the week. In the midst of all that, I got to thinking. It is nothing short of amazing what will happen in your mind when you simply devote it to thinking. So I decided to write down what I was thinking about. After playing drums for the Women's Rally last night, I had a chance to sit down with two awesome guys, Taylor Welch and Jimmy Grove. We just got to talking about life and different things and we started discussing how evil and twisted our world has become. It has certainly not taken long for the world we live in to become perverse and full of outrageous atrocities. Every once in a while, we see a glimmer of compassion and true heart, such as in the recent Haiti incident. However, for as many compassionate and beautiful people as there are in the world, it seems there are more evil, self-serving, and malignant people. Every day is a constant struggle between the heights of good and the depths of injustice.
When Jesus addresses the disciples in John 16:33, He starts off by saying that if you live long enough in this world, you will experience troubles. Not a very light, encouraging thing for him to say. If the verse ended there, we would all walk away from our Bibles feeling somewhat betrayed by our beliefs, but it doesn't end there. Jesus continues on to say that although we are sure to face horrible things, we can take heart in the fact that He has overcome all the world. No matter what we are currently walking through, Christ has overcome it. Whatever evil things we see, Christ has overcome them. God is above all things and at work in all things. There is nothing that this world can produce that He has not already seen, encountered and triumphed over. End of story.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
The Awesome Hope
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out” - Vaclav Havel
In a way, no one can avoid a night in the dark. Inevitably, there will be a moment in your life in which you understand far less than you would like to, know less than you expect to, see less than you long for, and perceive less than you desire. The weird thing is, I think that may be exactly how God wants it. Moments in which the Christian stands asking, "God, what are you doing?" or "Why is this happening?" are the moments which God cherishes most. This is not to suggest that God loves to confuse you, for the Bible shows that He is a God of ultimate order and revelation. However, in the moments where the path ahead of us is covered in a mist that blinds our eyes, we are forced to thrust out our hands in desperation, grasping for support. If nothing is there, we will surely fall. Then, when we are nearly at the end of ourselves (or sometimes even past the end) a hand does reach out to catch us, and in that moment we find grace and provision to be sweeter and more abundant than we ever imagined they could be.
It is at that realization that God is most glorified, as we are unable to give a response that is anything less than true praise. Uncertainty in our moment of need squeezes every ounce of genuine worship out of us when the final fulfillment of God's salvation is made apparent. In light of this, we must begin the difficult task of realizing that it is not our duty to be certain of the outcome of our situation, any more than it is God's duty to explain himself or his actions to us. Rather than standing secure in what we can manage for ourselves, we must find the sweet satisfaction in knowing that despite sickness, pain, fear, depression, doubt, darkness, despair, poverty, death, loss, confusion, insecurity, and rejection, God is working ALL things together according to His good and perfect will. That is a hope you can stand on.
In a way, no one can avoid a night in the dark. Inevitably, there will be a moment in your life in which you understand far less than you would like to, know less than you expect to, see less than you long for, and perceive less than you desire. The weird thing is, I think that may be exactly how God wants it. Moments in which the Christian stands asking, "God, what are you doing?" or "Why is this happening?" are the moments which God cherishes most. This is not to suggest that God loves to confuse you, for the Bible shows that He is a God of ultimate order and revelation. However, in the moments where the path ahead of us is covered in a mist that blinds our eyes, we are forced to thrust out our hands in desperation, grasping for support. If nothing is there, we will surely fall. Then, when we are nearly at the end of ourselves (or sometimes even past the end) a hand does reach out to catch us, and in that moment we find grace and provision to be sweeter and more abundant than we ever imagined they could be.
It is at that realization that God is most glorified, as we are unable to give a response that is anything less than true praise. Uncertainty in our moment of need squeezes every ounce of genuine worship out of us when the final fulfillment of God's salvation is made apparent. In light of this, we must begin the difficult task of realizing that it is not our duty to be certain of the outcome of our situation, any more than it is God's duty to explain himself or his actions to us. Rather than standing secure in what we can manage for ourselves, we must find the sweet satisfaction in knowing that despite sickness, pain, fear, depression, doubt, darkness, despair, poverty, death, loss, confusion, insecurity, and rejection, God is working ALL things together according to His good and perfect will. That is a hope you can stand on.
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