Sunday, July 22, 2012

God's presence

Yesterday was one of those bad days, filled with grief. I simply wanted to talk to my dad. And my brother Mark. In the wake of the theater massacre in Colorado, I was sick of gun violence and heavy laden knowing what it's like to have had my own brother murdered. And I was lonely. I missed Mike. The death thing times three, much too much in a short span of time.

But God never leaves me hanging out there too long without somehow sending words of consolation.

The sermon today at church was from Romans 8, about suffering and having hope in a broken world. This flawed world is not what we are living for--it is just what we have while we're waiting. We may not, indeed cannot understand God's purpose. But even in the midst of human heartache we should know that God is still our loving father. We reach out to Him. We receive God's grace in the midst of hardship and we hang on for dear life. Sometimes trusting God's goodness is all we have to get us through. Trust without understanding. For Christians earthly suffering is not the last word. In the end we'll have nothing but joy in the presence of God. Thank God! Literally.

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