Tuesday, October 28, 2008

This Too Shall Be Made Right...

Have you looked around lately?
Do things seem right?
Does the world seem like it's the way it's supposed to be?
My guess is that most of us would answer with an emphatic no. When we look around we see a busted up, hurting world. We see a war in Iraq that keeps dragging on...we see an economy that's on life-support...we see people loosing their jobs and their homes at an alarming rate...and if we take the time to look beyond our own nation's issues, we see a world groaning from the pains of poverty, illegal sex-trades, child starvation, genocide, oppressive governments, racism, sexism, environmental degradation, and on, and on...

Perhaps we don't even have to look beyond our own hearts to see pain and deep hurting.

So we're left with the question:

God, where are you in all of this?

Katie and I have been asking this question recently. We lost a pregnancy and a Dad within 7 months. We experienced loss like we never had before and we came face to face with the fallenness of our world in a brand new way. And so with every prayer for comfort came a prayer for understanding...God, where are you in all of this?

And He answered...

He answered in the cards we've received almost daily from people who loved us and assured us that they were praying for us.
He answered in the phone calls from friends that wanted to listen and gently remind us of God's steadfast love and goodness.
He answered in the emails, in the text messages, in the prayers we never heard but that we felt...
and He answered in the still small voice in our hearts that assured us that God's love and grace are bigger than our hurts.

God answered the question fully and yet not...

Our pain didn't disappear and our loss hasn't been forgotten.
God didn't ignore our grief but He blanketed it with faith, hope, and love.

Faith that the cross of Christ paid for all the sins of the world...
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

Hope that one day, Christ will repair our broken existence...
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. - Rev 21:1-4

And the Love of a community of people that love us because Jesus loved them first...
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. - John 13:34

There is no doubt that our world is messes up...real bad. But, for those who believe the good news of God, the Gospel, there is no doubt that one day all things will be made right.

I pray that might use our lives too such an end
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