The old Beatles' song lamenting "One is the loneliest number" certainly rings true in the sense of being out on your own with no one to love or support you. Being part of a community is a basic need that humanity shares. There are very few true "lone wolves," most preferring and even needing to travel in a pack.
However, "one" can be the most inclusive number in the sense of unity or being one in spirit or purpose or fellowship. There is safety, mutual support and camaraderie when a group pulls together as one. And, from the outside looking in, there is a message of familial love and group support that is appealing and compelling.
As misplaced as it may be, that is the draw of inner-city gangs that promise a place where one belongs, where one finds safety, support and solace. But if you take that oneness away, even a church with a spot on message of mercy and grace and salvation has little or no appeal. People aren't convinced of our Christian claim if we exhibit a fellowship farce.
It is not the message that "we are the one true church" that appeals to the hearts and minds of mankind, it is the mingling of hearts and minds of the church community that proves our case. As Jesus so plainly put it, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (Jn 13:35).
Perhaps the greatest failure of the Christendom is the lack of that unity, that the church is anything but one having been divided over the centuries into countless denominational groups that approach each other with suspicion and often animosity if they approach one another at all. With the amount of finger-pointing, bickering and outright condemnation from one church group to another, it is a wonder anyone ever hears the message of Christ.
This "lack of one," this division of spirit, purpose and common regard results in a serious weakening of the church, the family and the nation. Look how each has deteriorated in our country. For our country to truly be "Great Again," this oneness is critical. We need the strengthening of the bonds of fellowship in our families, in the Christian Community and in our nation itself.
Jesus warned us two millennia ago: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand" (Matt 12:25). An Lincoln reiterated two centuries ago on the occasion of being selected as Illinois' Republican senator, speaking our against slavery: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Nothing has changed since the time of our Lord or of Lincoln. We face perilous times from a position of weakness that can only be overcome by our coming together in our families, our Christian community and our nation. Jus' Say'n.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Thursday, December 8, 2016
In God We Trust?
It's right there on our currency, "In God We Trust." But do we? Or perhaps a better question: In what God do we trust? In whom or what do we trust? Well, as a nation born out of a pursuit for religious freedom and one in which 90% are religious and 70% affirm the Christian Faith - it is certainly God or at least a god in whom we trust. Right? Yeah, not necessarily.
Being religious doesn't mean that one even looks beyond his own nose to find the object of his trust: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people---robbers, evildoers, adulterers---or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'" (Lk 18:10-12).
Some people, like the Pharisee above, seem to believe that the axis of the universe runs directly through themselves. He viewed himself as the center of his world and the source of his righteousness. He is kind of like the student who only asks a question in order to showcase how much he/she knows. Or the employee who asks his boss for an opinion only to have an opportunity to give his/her own. Or the reporter who poses a question only to point out his pre-conceived notion.
Many are so full of themselves that they become a god unto themselves. Others only project out a bit further to locate their god. They put their trust in a good education, a good job, good health as glory in how healthy, wealthy and/or wise they may be. For many, it is no further than the US currency in their pocket or stocks in their portfolio or the amount in their IRA. Americans, too often look to the money upon which the inscription, In God We Trust, instead of God himself.
Let me tell you from personal experience that the things we possess are only an illusion, which can evaporate in a moment. I had a business, a new house, money in the bank and a retirement plan that all disappeared as medical bills overwhelmed my late wife and me a losing battle with cancer. Health, wealth and wise planning did not sustain me. In the end, none were left.
I was left with but one thing to sustain me - my faith in God. And I found that when I lost everything but faith in Him, He was all that I needed. God alone is worthy of our trust for God alone will remain when everything else leaves us to our self. Treasures of earth, just as Jesus warned in Matthew 6:19, will run out rust out or be taken away, but the Treasure of heaven will endure.
While everything else in which we might trust will fade, God alone will never leave us (cf. Jn 14:18) - He is worthy of our trust and He alone will prove trustworthy. In God We [should] Trust. Do you? Jus' Ask'n.
Being religious doesn't mean that one even looks beyond his own nose to find the object of his trust: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people---robbers, evildoers, adulterers---or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'" (Lk 18:10-12).
Some people, like the Pharisee above, seem to believe that the axis of the universe runs directly through themselves. He viewed himself as the center of his world and the source of his righteousness. He is kind of like the student who only asks a question in order to showcase how much he/she knows. Or the employee who asks his boss for an opinion only to have an opportunity to give his/her own. Or the reporter who poses a question only to point out his pre-conceived notion.
Many are so full of themselves that they become a god unto themselves. Others only project out a bit further to locate their god. They put their trust in a good education, a good job, good health as glory in how healthy, wealthy and/or wise they may be. For many, it is no further than the US currency in their pocket or stocks in their portfolio or the amount in their IRA. Americans, too often look to the money upon which the inscription, In God We Trust, instead of God himself.
Let me tell you from personal experience that the things we possess are only an illusion, which can evaporate in a moment. I had a business, a new house, money in the bank and a retirement plan that all disappeared as medical bills overwhelmed my late wife and me a losing battle with cancer. Health, wealth and wise planning did not sustain me. In the end, none were left.
I was left with but one thing to sustain me - my faith in God. And I found that when I lost everything but faith in Him, He was all that I needed. God alone is worthy of our trust for God alone will remain when everything else leaves us to our self. Treasures of earth, just as Jesus warned in Matthew 6:19, will run out rust out or be taken away, but the Treasure of heaven will endure.
While everything else in which we might trust will fade, God alone will never leave us (cf. Jn 14:18) - He is worthy of our trust and He alone will prove trustworthy. In God We [should] Trust. Do you? Jus' Ask'n.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Atheists' Christmas Billboards
I recently saw a news report about atheists putting up billboards denouncing Christmas. I went to Google and found several examples such as "Who Needs Christ for Christmas? Nobody!" Really? Apart from Christ, there is no Christmas. If there were no Christ, there would be no Christmas. Whatever some choose to make of Christmas, it only and ever began because of our recognition of God's Gift to mankind - Christ.
But why do atheists go to so much trouble to debunk the meaning of Christmas if they believe the whole thing to be a myth? Why is there such a resistance to others celebrating the birth of someone they don't think ever existed? I don't hear them rearing up against Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. No one cares if you believe in myths. They may feel you are foolish or silly or sad, but there is no need to make a big deal of it.
But, there is a need for atheists to make a big deal about our faith in Christ and our celebrating his birth. Why? Because they are threatened by our faith. They are threatened by the very thought of a divine standard of good and evil. They are threatened by the truth that man is not the zenith of all things, self-made and self-determined.
There is something in them that wars against the very idea of God, of Someone to whom man must answer, to whom man must one day yield. But if they really believed, in their core, that there was no God, no Christ to be in Christmas, how could they be threatened? Why wouldn't they simply shake their heads at the silliness of we Christians? Because, in their core is a spark of divine that begins to burn when the truth is being revealed around them and their inner darkness is challenged by the light.
Man is made in the image of God (cf. Gen 1:27) and that image burns within us even as many try to cover it over and snuff it out. Regardless of our desire to be other, we are children of God - often rebellious children, but children nonetheless. It is the reality of God, of His Son of His Spirit that calls our spirits that creates their concern, their hostility, their desire to remove His very name from the public square.
You really can't take Christ out of Christmas, he is the only reason it came to be in the first place. Atheists and those of non-Christian beliefs of any stripe can choose not to celebrate Christmas just as we can choose to celebrate it. Why not, in this era of so-called tolerance, do not the atheists just tolerate our choice to worship as we tolerate their choice not to? Jus' Ask'n.
But why do atheists go to so much trouble to debunk the meaning of Christmas if they believe the whole thing to be a myth? Why is there such a resistance to others celebrating the birth of someone they don't think ever existed? I don't hear them rearing up against Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. No one cares if you believe in myths. They may feel you are foolish or silly or sad, but there is no need to make a big deal of it.
But, there is a need for atheists to make a big deal about our faith in Christ and our celebrating his birth. Why? Because they are threatened by our faith. They are threatened by the very thought of a divine standard of good and evil. They are threatened by the truth that man is not the zenith of all things, self-made and self-determined.
There is something in them that wars against the very idea of God, of Someone to whom man must answer, to whom man must one day yield. But if they really believed, in their core, that there was no God, no Christ to be in Christmas, how could they be threatened? Why wouldn't they simply shake their heads at the silliness of we Christians? Because, in their core is a spark of divine that begins to burn when the truth is being revealed around them and their inner darkness is challenged by the light.
Man is made in the image of God (cf. Gen 1:27) and that image burns within us even as many try to cover it over and snuff it out. Regardless of our desire to be other, we are children of God - often rebellious children, but children nonetheless. It is the reality of God, of His Son of His Spirit that calls our spirits that creates their concern, their hostility, their desire to remove His very name from the public square.
You really can't take Christ out of Christmas, he is the only reason it came to be in the first place. Atheists and those of non-Christian beliefs of any stripe can choose not to celebrate Christmas just as we can choose to celebrate it. Why not, in this era of so-called tolerance, do not the atheists just tolerate our choice to worship as we tolerate their choice not to? Jus' Ask'n.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
No Religious Affliation
Before I visit one of my new hospice patients, I read over the admission assessment and the facesheet which gives me a good snapshot of their history. One of the things I'm always sure to look for is their religious background - it helps me know how to begin speaking to them from a spiritual perspective.
This one particular patient's chart indicated that he had "No Religious Affiliation," which would suggest that he was not particularly religious and would not likely want me to come in quoting the Bible talking about religious things in general.
What I did do was ask him, "How are you doing today?" He answered, "I'm doing pretty good today." I then said, "You know, that's just how Jesus said to approach life, one day at a time: 'Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own" (Matt 6:34).
He nodded in agreement saying, "That's very profound." I nodded back and went on to talk about the fact that while God never gives us more than we can handle each day, that each day has enough but not too much trouble, we often tend to take the worries of tomorrow and the regrets of yesterday, and pile the on top of today's problems - then we come to the breaking point.
We had a very open and productive conversation based, not on religion but on the words of Jesus as a guide. I didn't ask him about his church background or tell him mine. I didn't bring up any religious points or have any religious agenda, I just asked him how he was doing and supported his feeling with the words of Christ.
From that point forward, we talked a lot about faith and spiritual truths. As it turns out, he has a good deal of faith in Christ but not much in the church. I wasn't there to get him into a church, I was there to give him spiritual support and give rise to his faith, and sharing the words of Jesus is the best way to provide that foundation and lay the groundwork for hope in what can be a hopeless circumstance.
I didn't come to him with a prepared speech or with a particular agenda of what religious truths he needed to hear at that moment. I came, asking the Holy Spirit for guidance and bringing the light of Christ into the darkness of one's terminal state. I did not dwell on the fact of his dying but on the reality of his being alive for today and sharing words of life coming from the Source of Life.
You can do the same. It doesn't need to be a hospice patient who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. We are all dying and we all have a sense of our mortality. Regardless of religious affiliation, everyone needs to hear the words of life and as Peter said to Jesus, when asked if he planned to walk away from Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68). Jus' Say'n.
This one particular patient's chart indicated that he had "No Religious Affiliation," which would suggest that he was not particularly religious and would not likely want me to come in quoting the Bible talking about religious things in general.
What I did do was ask him, "How are you doing today?" He answered, "I'm doing pretty good today." I then said, "You know, that's just how Jesus said to approach life, one day at a time: 'Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own" (Matt 6:34).
He nodded in agreement saying, "That's very profound." I nodded back and went on to talk about the fact that while God never gives us more than we can handle each day, that each day has enough but not too much trouble, we often tend to take the worries of tomorrow and the regrets of yesterday, and pile the on top of today's problems - then we come to the breaking point.
We had a very open and productive conversation based, not on religion but on the words of Jesus as a guide. I didn't ask him about his church background or tell him mine. I didn't bring up any religious points or have any religious agenda, I just asked him how he was doing and supported his feeling with the words of Christ.
From that point forward, we talked a lot about faith and spiritual truths. As it turns out, he has a good deal of faith in Christ but not much in the church. I wasn't there to get him into a church, I was there to give him spiritual support and give rise to his faith, and sharing the words of Jesus is the best way to provide that foundation and lay the groundwork for hope in what can be a hopeless circumstance.
I didn't come to him with a prepared speech or with a particular agenda of what religious truths he needed to hear at that moment. I came, asking the Holy Spirit for guidance and bringing the light of Christ into the darkness of one's terminal state. I did not dwell on the fact of his dying but on the reality of his being alive for today and sharing words of life coming from the Source of Life.
You can do the same. It doesn't need to be a hospice patient who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. We are all dying and we all have a sense of our mortality. Regardless of religious affiliation, everyone needs to hear the words of life and as Peter said to Jesus, when asked if he planned to walk away from Jesus: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68). Jus' Say'n.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Praying Without Words
I have often heard people lament, "I don't know how to pray, I just don't know what to say."? Perhaps you feel that way yourself. While the words just seem to roll off the tongue of others, your tongue just seems to roll up in your mouth refusing to allow even a syllable to slide down to tip, let alone an entire sentence to leap into the airways giving voice to your concerns or praise.
So what do you do when you just don't know the words to say or the construct in which to put them? How does one pray without words, without knowing what to say? Just say that! What? Just begin to praying admitting you don't have the words, that you don't know what to say.
When you sincerely want to communicate with God, you don't have to put together a well planned, liturgically accurate, grammatical masterpiece. You only need to come before God with the desire to communicate, to open the heart flow between you and our Father. It isn't what you say, it's why you want to say it. Sometimes, as Randy Travis put it in song, "You say it best when you say nothing at all."
God understands our inabilities, he made us. When we are unable to pray, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (Rom 8:26). When we can't, He can. When our words stick to our tongues like glue, the Father retrieves them: "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God" (v. 27).
The other day, I was talking to a young man who had just lost his bride of four years. He was in terrible pain, I didn't know anything to say that could take away his pain or even really help in the moment so I just admitted my inability, relying on the Spirit to help communicate my care and concern. The young man replied to me, "It helps just to have someone to talk to, someone to listen to me. I appreciate it more than you can know."
I didn't know what words to use or how to put them, but God did. In that conversation, the Spirit was at work between us and what I felt was of little help turned out to communicate between my heart and his enough so that as we ended our conversation, he said to me, "I would really like it if you would just check in on me again, if we could talk some more." I assured him I would. Be in contact this week. And do you know what? I have no idea what I will say. But God does.
Prayer is a conversation with God. Just like between the young man and myself. We need to communicate with God not because we have words to say but because there is something to communicate. Let God be in charge of the words, just come to him in the spirit of prayer, just come with the desire to open communication between His heart and yours. He will make it so. Jus' Say'n.
So what do you do when you just don't know the words to say or the construct in which to put them? How does one pray without words, without knowing what to say? Just say that! What? Just begin to praying admitting you don't have the words, that you don't know what to say.
When you sincerely want to communicate with God, you don't have to put together a well planned, liturgically accurate, grammatical masterpiece. You only need to come before God with the desire to communicate, to open the heart flow between you and our Father. It isn't what you say, it's why you want to say it. Sometimes, as Randy Travis put it in song, "You say it best when you say nothing at all."
God understands our inabilities, he made us. When we are unable to pray, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans" (Rom 8:26). When we can't, He can. When our words stick to our tongues like glue, the Father retrieves them: "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God" (v. 27).
The other day, I was talking to a young man who had just lost his bride of four years. He was in terrible pain, I didn't know anything to say that could take away his pain or even really help in the moment so I just admitted my inability, relying on the Spirit to help communicate my care and concern. The young man replied to me, "It helps just to have someone to talk to, someone to listen to me. I appreciate it more than you can know."
I didn't know what words to use or how to put them, but God did. In that conversation, the Spirit was at work between us and what I felt was of little help turned out to communicate between my heart and his enough so that as we ended our conversation, he said to me, "I would really like it if you would just check in on me again, if we could talk some more." I assured him I would. Be in contact this week. And do you know what? I have no idea what I will say. But God does.
Prayer is a conversation with God. Just like between the young man and myself. We need to communicate with God not because we have words to say but because there is something to communicate. Let God be in charge of the words, just come to him in the spirit of prayer, just come with the desire to open communication between His heart and yours. He will make it so. Jus' Say'n.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Normal
Do you ever feel weird, different or just a few degrees off plum? Do you ever wish your child wasn't so hyper, so chatty, so quiet? Do you ever find yourself trying hard to fit into the crowd but just don't quite find a place? Do you ever feel like a square peg individual in a round hole world?
Would you like to know why? It is because you're not normal! There, it has been said. YOU ARE NOT NORMAL! By the way, neither am I nor the person down the street or around the world. While we tend to try to fit in with the herd, we were not made to be another of the same, you were made a unique individual: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14).
We are not made to be another just like the other, to go with the flow, to be one of the many - we were designed with skills, abilities, bents, attributes and inclinations that make us different - that prevents us from being normal or one more of the same. Imagine if that were not true. How boring would life be? What if your spouse were just like you? What if everyone at the office were just like you? What if everyone you knew was just like you? Are you thinking Zombie Apocalypse yet?
Listen to what the Bible has to say: "Now if the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:15-20).
We don't have to go along to get along. We don't need to be like the rest to be a part of the group. We don't need to be normal - we need to be ourselves, the person God made you, made me, made others to be. Then we can bring into the group our unique vision, talent, likes, understanding and abilities to enhance the community - to bring what God gave each one of us to the mix.
We don't have to go along to get along. Instead, we need to bring along those quirky, weird, unusual, different qualities and find a way to fit them into the whole, to find your place in the community not just take up another space.
Who wrote the book of normal? And why would we want to be normal anyway? Why not be who God made you to be and add flavor and spice to the world? Don't be normal, be you. Don't parrot the party line, add your insight. Don't just join the crowd, increase the community. Be the fearfully and wonderfully made individual God made you to be. Jus' Say'n.
Would you like to know why? It is because you're not normal! There, it has been said. YOU ARE NOT NORMAL! By the way, neither am I nor the person down the street or around the world. While we tend to try to fit in with the herd, we were not made to be another of the same, you were made a unique individual: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14).
We are not made to be another just like the other, to go with the flow, to be one of the many - we were designed with skills, abilities, bents, attributes and inclinations that make us different - that prevents us from being normal or one more of the same. Imagine if that were not true. How boring would life be? What if your spouse were just like you? What if everyone at the office were just like you? What if everyone you knew was just like you? Are you thinking Zombie Apocalypse yet?
Listen to what the Bible has to say: "Now if the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body" (1 Cor 12:15-20).
We don't have to go along to get along. We don't need to be like the rest to be a part of the group. We don't need to be normal - we need to be ourselves, the person God made you, made me, made others to be. Then we can bring into the group our unique vision, talent, likes, understanding and abilities to enhance the community - to bring what God gave each one of us to the mix.
We don't have to go along to get along. Instead, we need to bring along those quirky, weird, unusual, different qualities and find a way to fit them into the whole, to find your place in the community not just take up another space.
Who wrote the book of normal? And why would we want to be normal anyway? Why not be who God made you to be and add flavor and spice to the world? Don't be normal, be you. Don't parrot the party line, add your insight. Don't just join the crowd, increase the community. Be the fearfully and wonderfully made individual God made you to be. Jus' Say'n.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Blessing Bad
In the AMC television series, "Breaking Bad," mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher, Walter White thinks life can hardly get worse with his salary barely covering the bills, his wife getting pregnant as they struggle caring for a teen with cerebral palsy when he is diagnoses with terminal cancer.
As the burdens of life pile up, Walter is weighed down to the breaking point wherein he chooses to turn an old RV into a meth lab on wheels in order to make as much money as he can so he can provide for his family both as he comes to his end and beyond.
Experiencing a number of bad breaks, Walter breaks bad himself and chooses a path that winds up costing him the family that he sought to protect and provide, while turning him into a criminal he never dreamed he would be and hating his life in a way he never imagined.
It is easy to sympathize with Walter's struggle and hard not to applauded his efforts to provide for his family, regardless of the fact that we know how wrong producing such a terrible drug to be released into society actually is and the hurt it causes to others. There is a sense that he is simply being swept away by forces beyond his control. Seriously, how can one blame him?
Well, I can't blame him for circumstances beyond his control or his feeling of being overwhelmed and backed into a corner. But he is responsible for his decision to hang on to his bad fortune, compounding it with bad choices that lead him in a spiraling down pattern of destruction instead of offering them up to God who "...works for the good of those who love him..." (Rom 8:28).
Paul isn't promising that God insures that only good things and good outcomes happened to his children but he is saying that God can bring good out of terrible loss, pain and suffering. His promise assures us that far from being the end, that suffering can be groundwork of a new beginning as we "...glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame..." (Rom 5:3-5)
I know what it is like to face a future where there appears to be no way to continue, nothing but loss on the horizon. I know what it is like to lose my home, my business, my savings, my personal property and even my wife - everything; everything, that is, except my faith in God and his goodness.
Do I understand why it happened? No, not really. I do understand how. But ore importantly, I understand Who, Who it was and is that stands by me, giving me strength and making a way in the providing "songs in the night" (Ps 77:6).
Here's the point: While we may not know how or even agreed with what God allows, God is in the business of blessing bad - of making good come out of the ashes of evil. Whatever it is that you are going through, do not choose to go it alone, taking matter in your own hands. Go with God, and allow him to bless the bad instead of you turning from the good. Jus' Say'n.
As the burdens of life pile up, Walter is weighed down to the breaking point wherein he chooses to turn an old RV into a meth lab on wheels in order to make as much money as he can so he can provide for his family both as he comes to his end and beyond.
Experiencing a number of bad breaks, Walter breaks bad himself and chooses a path that winds up costing him the family that he sought to protect and provide, while turning him into a criminal he never dreamed he would be and hating his life in a way he never imagined.
It is easy to sympathize with Walter's struggle and hard not to applauded his efforts to provide for his family, regardless of the fact that we know how wrong producing such a terrible drug to be released into society actually is and the hurt it causes to others. There is a sense that he is simply being swept away by forces beyond his control. Seriously, how can one blame him?
Well, I can't blame him for circumstances beyond his control or his feeling of being overwhelmed and backed into a corner. But he is responsible for his decision to hang on to his bad fortune, compounding it with bad choices that lead him in a spiraling down pattern of destruction instead of offering them up to God who "...works for the good of those who love him..." (Rom 8:28).
Paul isn't promising that God insures that only good things and good outcomes happened to his children but he is saying that God can bring good out of terrible loss, pain and suffering. His promise assures us that far from being the end, that suffering can be groundwork of a new beginning as we "...glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame..." (Rom 5:3-5)
I know what it is like to face a future where there appears to be no way to continue, nothing but loss on the horizon. I know what it is like to lose my home, my business, my savings, my personal property and even my wife - everything; everything, that is, except my faith in God and his goodness.
Do I understand why it happened? No, not really. I do understand how. But ore importantly, I understand Who, Who it was and is that stands by me, giving me strength and making a way in the providing "songs in the night" (Ps 77:6).
Here's the point: While we may not know how or even agreed with what God allows, God is in the business of blessing bad - of making good come out of the ashes of evil. Whatever it is that you are going through, do not choose to go it alone, taking matter in your own hands. Go with God, and allow him to bless the bad instead of you turning from the good. Jus' Say'n.
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