I’ve been continuing to read “It’s Not Fair: Learning to Love the Life You Didn’t Choose” by Melanie Dale. The book is really unique and I can relate to a lot of what she discusses as she asks questions that many of us ask regarding why God allows suffering, allows bad things to happen to people. Then I read a post that our daughter shared relating to returning to America after almost three years out of the country. The suffering she and her family see on a regular basis is much different than what many people experience in the US - but again it’s a question of processing why things happen. And I don’t begin know the answers. But I do know this:
God sees things from a perspective that is so different than my limited, finite, human perspective. He knows what we are all dealing with. He weeps WITH us, as Pastor Tim shared last weekend. And His plans are for good for us - bigger picture than this temporary situation in which we currently find ourselves.
In the book, Melanie Dale quotes another author, Philip Yancey, and I love these words!!
“The fact that Jesus came to earth where he suffered and died does not remove pain from our lives. But it does show that God did not sit idly by and watch us suffer in isolation. He became one of us. Thus, in Jesus, God gives us an up-close and personal look at his response to human suffering. All our queries about God and suffering should, in fact, be filtered through what we know about Jesus.”
That is the real gift of Christmas for me this year. Yes, a baby was born. But what that baby did as He grew into someone just like us - and how He lived and died in the most “unfair” of circumstances - reminds me that He can most certainly be trusted with my circumstances!! 🙂
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NLT
No comments:
Post a Comment