I was asked about a month ago to do the devotion tonight at church for the adult group. Basically that means I will be leading music downstairs and then hightailing it upstairs to talk to the "big church". With all that's been going on this week (my nagging sinus troubles, my brother's illness which I will get into in a bit), I had almost decided to cancel. But I started writing and things began pouring out of me.
A little backstory: My brother had a tumor removed last Friday and we found out yesterday that it was cancerous. Tomorrow the doctor tells us what to do about it. Ben is in high spirits, and we're holding out hope that it's treatable or, better yet, gone. This has been weighing heavily on my mind, naturally, and so I had many questions for God. Typing this out proved to be very therapeutic.
So here it is:
I know people talk about the questions they would ask God. I’ve got a few.
First of all, I’d ask why He’d put up with people if we just fail?
Next I’d ask about sicknesses. Certain ones that we can’t cure. Where do they come from and why can’t they be explained?
I’d probably ask lastly why there are so many unexplainables in life?
Yet deep down I think I know the answer to that. Things happen that we can’t understand. Faith calls us to trust in Him as He works. That’s easier said than done. It takes some deep meditation and dedication. Love isn't exactly easy to understand.
So I’ve decided to break down my questions further. Find out for myself what it all means.
To find out why He’d put up with us even though we fail, my search defaults back to love.
1 John 3:1 says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him."Okay, so if the world knew Him, it would certainly be a better place. That’s a given. We fail because so many of our fellow people don’t know Him. That’s a call to action for us as Christians. We’re called to spread the word of God, the love of Christ, daily. So the answer to that question is that we are to fix the fact that people are failing. It’s our duty.
Next up is the sickness question. Sometimes we are given things to test our faith. Sometimes we reap what we’ve sown, sometimes we bring it on ourselves…other times, it’s a test, like Job faced. Or maybe it's a way to help someone else with a story of recovery.
2 Cor 4:16-18 says, "Therefore we do not give up, but even if the man we are outside is wasting away, certainly the man we are inside is being renewed from day to day. For though the tribulation is momentary and light, it works out for us a glory that is of more and more surpassing weight and is everlasting; while we keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting."The main verse I found to answer my last question is from Romans. I wonder why there are so many things I can’t explain. Why is that? Then I think back to the woman who was bleeding uncontrollably, yet Jesus healed her by her faith alone.
Romans 8-28. "All things work together for those that love the Lord".One of my bosses tells me this a lot. It’s great encouragement, and proof that we don’t have to know all the answers. Knowing who controls everything really can be good enough.
The couple remarks that they need something notarized.
