Some years ago one my children asked why he was having so much trouble in school. (Let's just say the state department of education ruled in his favor.) I told him I did not know, but I was confident that there were many possible outcomes such as running for school board or being a teacher or advocating for a child of his own that was struggling.
I felt confident telling him this because I do not believe God is capricious. God does not play with us or trick us or tease us. God does what God says. God does not forget. God does not loose interest. God does not discard the broken or have to plaster over flaws or sins or brokenness.
In fact, God uses every experience, every challenge, every loss, every moment of our lives, if we allow it. With every challenge we face we have a choice: we can become bitter or we can become tender. If the breaking of our heart, if the smashing of our egocentric self image, if the experiences of being weak, lonely, needy, broken, sick, exhausted, frightened or lost are given as an offering to God, they become, through the Spirit of God, the solid foundation upon which to build our lives, and the bricks and mortar of a passionate tenderness toward all God's children.
This is reflected in the oldest Bible stories, from Abraham, Moses, and David through Peter, Thomas and Paul and the stories of Christians today who have been redeemed from lives of selfishness, moral bankruptcy, crime, chemical dependency, materialism and brutality. It is my story and your story if you are willing, or willing to be made willing. It is the story of our loved ones in prison and the families who long for healing.
Almighty and All Powerful God, thank You for always loving us, for wooing us, for challenging us and creating us with purpose. Make straight the way for us to accept the molding and teaching and restoring necessary to make us tender and able to be Your hands and feet to each one we meet. AMEN
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
I felt confident telling him this because I do not believe God is capricious. God does not play with us or trick us or tease us. God does what God says. God does not forget. God does not loose interest. God does not discard the broken or have to plaster over flaws or sins or brokenness.
In fact, God uses every experience, every challenge, every loss, every moment of our lives, if we allow it. With every challenge we face we have a choice: we can become bitter or we can become tender. If the breaking of our heart, if the smashing of our egocentric self image, if the experiences of being weak, lonely, needy, broken, sick, exhausted, frightened or lost are given as an offering to God, they become, through the Spirit of God, the solid foundation upon which to build our lives, and the bricks and mortar of a passionate tenderness toward all God's children.
This is reflected in the oldest Bible stories, from Abraham, Moses, and David through Peter, Thomas and Paul and the stories of Christians today who have been redeemed from lives of selfishness, moral bankruptcy, crime, chemical dependency, materialism and brutality. It is my story and your story if you are willing, or willing to be made willing. It is the story of our loved ones in prison and the families who long for healing.
Almighty and All Powerful God, thank You for always loving us, for wooing us, for challenging us and creating us with purpose. Make straight the way for us to accept the molding and teaching and restoring necessary to make us tender and able to be Your hands and feet to each one we meet. AMEN
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
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