But what if I can't let go? Are all wounds meant o be healed? There are people that have to live with horror for a reason. I am reading Job and the advice from his friends is pretty familiar to the way we console each other. What Job's friends didn't take into account was that his pain was no accident and had nothing to do with his sin. Why is it so hard for us to accept that some are going to live lives in pain because God chooses not to heal us? The church tells you to lay all of your problems down at the feet of Jesus and be healed. But the Bible never promises physical or mental healing during this lifetime. So yeah, we can lay them down, but it won't always take away the pain or sorrow. I think we are supposed to feel that. Why else would God give us a nervous system? To show us when something is seriously wrong. Ecclesiastes gives one of my favorite passages. Like the song.
Eccl. 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
I like it because I have been through so much of these things and it brings me joy knowing that I am not alone. God says there is a time for these things. I used to feel bad because I was so sad all the time and everyone kept telling me that I am not letting God's Spirit control me, that I was holding on to this stuff for whatever reason. I agree I am holding on to it. But what if I can't let it go? Not won't let it go. What if it is there for a reason. I am sad. Right now in fact. Right now is a time to be silent. I time to mourn, a time to scatter stones. After the sun sets it will be time to uproot, but for now, silence.
Monday, April 14, 2008
A Time
I'm a simple person to figure out. I usually write it all down here. I try not to pretend to be anything. I am what I am and that's good enough until it's not anymore. I want my kids to remember me smiling when I'm gone. Integrity is the very basis of a good life. I love my God, my wife, my kids, my friends, and I try to love all of the rest of you.
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I agree. I dont think people embrace their feelings enough only think of ways to rid them. They are there for a reason to teach or tell you something.I'm sure you're able to relate to alot of people bc of you're experiences, and they are thankful for that.
ReplyDeleteThat passage from Ecclesiastes is also one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI'm praying for you Adam.
ReplyDeleteThank you J. I can always use that. To have a virtual stranger across the country playing my name to God is an honor and I cherish that. I am praying for you too.
ReplyDelete"God says there is a time for these things" -- but doesn't that just beg the question? What good is god if he just tells us what we already know? What good is god if he has a big master plan in which the solving of problems / healing of pain / lifting of sadness may fit, and may not? I've seen a lot of master plans. Many of them have seemed quite good and beautiful and so on. Not even the very best of them have been so good as to countenance and counterbalance the fact that a few dozen people would have to die from terrible cancer for their sake. None of them have been grand enough to counterbalance mothers having to watch their children die from starvation or malaria. None of them have been good enough to counterbalance the horrors of the Holocaust, 9/11, the rape of Nanking or the Congo, or the Christmas Tsunami of 2005. It's all well and good to speak of god's higher plan, but if there's a god and if that god is good and all-powerful, he has a great deal to answer for.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe we will have a lot to answer for. God didn't cause the holocaust, he didn't orchestrate 911, God doesn't cause starvation. We did those things. We did those things because of sin in the world. We are all plagued with it. We are a violent and self-serving people who are hell bent of ruining everything. Who are we to even question a perfect God as imperfect people? Who are we to sit in judgment of the actions of God? We make mistakes daily and think with minds that are flawed and seemingly unable to get a grip on reality. If we can't see God's master plan we get angry with Him. But who told us that we are entitled to see God's master plan? Sometimes we get to see something great happen, miracles, healing, happiness, children born. And sometimes we see the awful, children die, people killing, natural disasters, and all of that. This is all due to the fact that the world is dying and plagued with sin. God said that in the garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, they brought death to the whole creation, and so have we. I am not blaming things like 911 or New Orleans or anything on that particular places sin, don't get me wrong, but it was the a product of the fall of mankind. Maybe this sounds silly to you, believing in God, but with some thought, think of the alternatives. We created ourselves out of some explosion somewhere in space from things that created themselves, then kept changing from one appearance to another for millions of years never leaving behind any fossil evidence. Come on, that is so unbelievable it reeks of humor.
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