My JD Salesman was asked to 'give a tribute to Jesus' at the Good Friday service. Here it is:
"I feel I need to give a bit of an introduction so you will understand where I am coming from. I was raised in a solid christian home with God fearing parents. If the church was open, we were there. I learned of God's love, protection and provision. I thought I understood God fairly well but my God was pretty defined, predictable and therefore in a pretty small box. I believed in heaven and hell and that salvation was through Christ's shed blood and His resurrection and my admission that I was a sinner and needed to accept Jesus as my Saviour and sin-forgiver. I knew that God was in total control and that He designed everything both good and bad.
For the past dozen or so years God has been showing me how He was and is much bigger than my original concept of Him. Just a couple of weeks ago we buried the daughter of very close friends, mother of a 2, 5 and 8 year old, loving wife to a young husband. I was wrestling with how a loving God could either design her death or even allow her death. On top of being very sad, I was troubled and somewhat confused, searching for answers, searching for truth.
In our small group study that week we were studying in Luke, just happened to be on the Lord's prayer. The phrase 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven..' was heavy. Did God really will that Danielle die or did He just allow it? The Lord showed me, through the comments of one of our group, that either way the outcome was the same. Danielle had died. Did God design it or allow it, it didn't really make any difference. Karin often says that God is God and God is good. I had been keeping God in a box, a much bigger box than before but still confined to what I could understand. I am thankful that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit it showing me that God, our God, is bigger than any boundaries I could imagine. He is limitless, huge and I am slowly realizing that God is God and God is good. I don't need to understand the whys of the tough situations of life. and there is so much true freedom for me in that.
Isaiah 55: 8&9 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' "
2 comments:
A beautiful tribute. John Eldredge said (after losing his closest friend) that his choice was either 'understanding' or 'God'. Whether we lean into God or not, we won't have understanding on this side of eternity... but if we lean into God, we can find a peace. Its such a mystery to me, that we can experience peace even though we don't have understanding, but as you say (I love this) 'God is God, and God is good.' As we've been struggling with a loss in our family, Brad Jersak reminded me that comfort is not found in knowledge of the after life, or answers... comfort is found in God.
Good Easter to you and the JD Salesman. <3
I think that you are blessed to be married to a very wise man who is seeking to understand God being bigger than our small boxes. And praise God that He is bigger than the boxes we try to put Him in.
Post a Comment