Making sense of life

Good Morning. 

Sometimes it seems like life just might get the better of us.  I mean, sometimes it just seems that we make it over one hurdle only to face another right on its heels … right?  The challenge is how to keep on keeping on, rather than merely hanging on--because truth be told, anyone can just hang on--but me, I want to be an overcomer.  For Jesus said, ‘take heart, I have overcome the world.’¹ In Jesus, you and I are meant to be overcomers. 

While I often see grinning television preachers, talking about how God just wants us to be happy, telling us we deserve it—well, I just don’t believe it is reality.  Rather I think that kind of thinking or teaching sets up people for crushing disappointment.  Christians live in the same broken world that the rest of humanity inhabits, and are not immune to sickness, heartache, disease or financial struggle.  But God calls us to trust him, and to follow and obey him, remembering always that his heart toward us is good.  Walking with a good God, following a good God, being in relationship with a loving God, makes all the difference in the world!

This morning, I got to be with my favorite girls in the whole world – Women of Passion.  To quiet our hearts, minds and tongues, I led with ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness,’ the old hymn of the faith.  Heck, I can remember standing next to my mama in church, holding her age-spotted hand, whilst we sang ‘…morning by morning, new mercies I see.’  The words draw me to the little-referenced book of Lamentations, to read Jeremiah’s words—“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; “great is your faithfulness!”²  Ah, yes.

So often we acquaint ourselves with a particular verse or verses, such as these verses that form the beautiful song celebrating God’s faithfulness, only to miss succeeding verses that are equally powerful.  Today I take comfort from these words, “I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.’  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  There it is again—out of Lamentations chapter three, the Lord is good—and believing that, well—it changes everything!³  Therefore, nothing that happens, nothing that comes our way, can change or alter the fact that God’s heart toward is oh, so good, and because of that, we can trust him. 

You see, life is going to happen.  There will be heartache, there will be setbacks, pain, disappointment and loss; all are parts of our human condition.  As I write, I have a dear friend, a husband and father of four,  looking for employment in a much too tight job market; I know of a wonderful Christian family caught in the throes of drug addiction with a beloved daughter, desperately wanting to see her break free and live; and personally, my oldest son recently sustained blunt force trauma to his head, and is trying to adjust to a new normal with a diagnosis of epilepsy, drivers’ license gone, etc.  Indeed these things happen, no matter who we are, and even when we belong to God.  But here’s the thing--walking with God means we can be overcomers, because the Lord is good to those who hope in him, as we read in Lamentations three.

But not only that, God promises we will never go it alone.  In the Old Testament and in the New Testament, he assures that he will never leave us.⁴ To Joshua, with a herculean task in front of him, God said, “This is my command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."⁵

And finally, as those who walk with God, we know how the story ends—one day our faith will be made sight--we will see his face--we will be with him forever.  And then life will make sense because our loving Father will set all things straight. 

Be courageous,

Christine

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