Things I didn’t know then but am glad I know now!

Hello, my sweet readers.

I love you dearly.  I hope you know that.  I have an inkling of who reads this blog and I just got to say, I love you all.  You are uniquely gifted and beautiful and I love the distinct relationship we share.  Some of you, I wish I saw more often.  But you still seem to fill my life and heart even when our time together is limited.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for being mine.

Just had to say that.

Now, onto my post…

I was thinking today about all of us seemingly lost souls.  I don’t mean that in a super morbid way so stay with me.  I mean it more like this: we make our way through our days trying not to mess up or step on anyone’s toes and yet somehow, we always feel like we are.  We stumble and bump into fellow humans and try and keep all our ducks in a row and look forward to easier days that never seem to come and when our heads hit our pillows after a tedious day, we try and push away thoughts of disappointment because deep down inside, we believe there should be something more.

Ok, I guess that sounded darker than I expected.  But I do have a point.

My point is this:

God is good.  And life with Him is more.  It’s so much more.

But too often, we misinterpret His precious heart and we can’t see what He wants or has for us.

So, I just wanted to take some time to say this: I understand where you are if your life closely resembles the aforementioned dark paragraph.  But I’ve also seen life with Him…and for that, I can’t be quiet.  Because, again, I love you all too much.

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Did you grow up going to church?  I did.  I will forever be grateful to my parents for making that happen.  I didn’t know God then the way I know Him now…I learned a lot along the way.  But I know the spiritual foundation laid for me in my formative years made me want to know Him more…and became the launching pad for the greatest discoveries of my life.  Perhaps my church didn’t answer all my questions, but at least it got me thinking.

God indeed has good plans for us, just as Jeremiah says.  And He doesn’t make it a secret that to know Him more, is to know His goodness more.  Relationship is key.

There’s those things though; those things that keep us from wanting to come in closer.  Today, I call them “things I didn’t know then but am glad I know now” and I share them with you hoping they’ll enlighten…and make your daily walk feel less toilsome…  because that is the very promise of our Savior; “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”.

Some of my future blogs will address those things that keep us from coming to our God.  I’ll put them in the form of questions we’ve all asked…or at least, heard someone else ask.

Today’s question:

If God is good, why is there so much evil in this world?

Well, the search for that answer definitely began the unraveling that was to become my quarter life crisis.  In my early twenties, I was haunted by how much evil was playing out around me.  I lived in New York City during 9/11 and was blocks from the towers when they fell.  I saw a lot in New York but I never thought I’d see that.  It’s hard to believe in a loving God when life’s security vanishes and so many hearts are torn in the process.

But ultimately, that question saved my life and heart.  I had to doubt His existence before I got hungry enough to search for something that made sense to my head and would eventually fill my heart.

You know, most people around you believe in God.  Just ask them.  In your immediate sphere of influence, if you threw that question out there, you’d be surprised by how many friends and acquaintances actually believe in a creator.

They just don’t tend to believe he is good.

Which doesn’t make sense really.  I mean, if God was only looking for mankind to serve Him and do His will with nary a peep, wouldn’t He have just created us like machines?  Wouldn’t He have given Himself all the power and control?  Or if He was looking for us not to be machine-like necessarily but still totally sold out to Him with the deepest of affections, couldn’t He have just implanted that love and desire?  Certainly, if God was making it all about Himself, He could have found a creative way to make that work.

But the fact that He made us in His image, capable of experiencing our own emotions and making our own decisions proves He is indeed loving.  He gave us a choice.  He didn’t create machines.  He created humans; humans with whom He longs to be in relationship.  That speaks of tenderness.  That speaks of fondness.  That speaks of love.

The earliest sin was pride, fanning from the whispers of the fallen one who was himself snared by the very same deception he’s always tried to instill.  If we believe God can’t be trusted, we will look for a better way.

And we’ll be disappointed.

Because God promises He is the way, the truth and the life.

If you’ve never been remotely curious to find out if that’s true, I’d have to wonder how badly you’ve felt hurt by God.  And I’d want to encourage you to look a little deeper.  Because you’ll find that God was not and is not the author of your pain.

God never intended the world to look like this.  At creation, the world looked very different.  One day, it will again look like the paradise He always wanted for His beloved.  But, if we make choices that go against all He stands for, we invite in sin.  It’s funny to me how most of us make choices that aren’t of God and then we stand there dumbfounded when we can’t find Him in the midst.

We make the choice daily…to invite Him in or shut Him out.  When too many of those around us shut Him out, the world looks darker and uglier.  The effects of sin can be devastating.

But God still loves His children.  All of His children.

He could come back now to take those who believe home.  But He doesn’t.  Maybe He’s waiting for the ones who are still choosing sin.  Maybe He’s waiting to gather as many lost ones to His heart as possible.  In the meantime, those who look to Him find Him to be a refuge and a strength in the storm.

God is just.  If He wasn’t, we’d have little to no respect for Him and nothing would make sense.  If you’re turning to God, you can be fully confident and fully assured of His promises.  He will honor each and every one and He will bring you home.  If you choose Him, you choose good.  If you choose sin, you choose darkness. And God has to honor that choice, even if it breaks His heart.

Would God have given His beloved Son if He wasn’t trying so desperately to save us from our choices?

If you’re not choosing Him, ask yourself why.  If you believe, yet you struggle to come close, now is a good time to pose some questions of your own.  And if you need a friend to lovingly help you sort through, I’m here.

In that moment you no longer have to ask yourself whether God is good and you land on the side of “Yes, He is”, many other things will start to make sense…even if it takes some time.

We will explore more together next time…

until then, I speak His protection and goodness over you in Jesus’ name.  I would speak His love over you too but it’s already yours.

And always will be.