Dear Friends,
Life is full. In addition to all the regular routines of life and ministry I traveled some 1200 miles, driving to north Georgia for a college reunion, visits with friends and even getting a glimpse of "fall". Amidst all the activity, divine appointments seem to continue; brief conversations, moments of connection and sensing the Kingdom of God in unexpected ways. During the time I visited with my good friend Cary Grubbs who had a massive stroke on September 16th. He is in a rehab hospital in Warm Springs, Georgia. We are praying for a full recovery that Jesus would raise him up and make him whole. The stroke has left him paralyzed on his left side.
I cannot answer why this happened. I am well schooled in the doctrines of providence and sovereignty. When tough things happen, when there are tragedies, catastrophic incidents of loss, earthquakes, tsunamis, terror attacks how do we answer the ever looming question, Where is God in this moment?
There is a common cultural reasoning in tragedy that leads to three places...
- God is all powerful, but not all loving
(God Does not care; He is the fatalist, distant deity) - God is all loving, but not all powerful
(God can't do anything - He is like the sympathetic
bartender who feels our pain but is unable to do
anything about it) - God does not exist
There is a Biblical Perspective
1. God is all Sovereign & Powerful
Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. Isaiah 46:9-11
2. God is all Loving and Merciful
The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6
3. God's Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways
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. Is 55: 8,9
The Old Testament lesson on Sunday from Job reminds us of these principles and we discover afresh Almighty God who is all loving, all powerful who is sovereign and who bids us to trust and believe. The Cross of Jesus is where the all powerful and all loving God of the universe is displayed most clearly; where judgment and mercy; tragedy and love meet. This is not an either/or concept but rather a BOTH / AND - we see it in the cross.
I will never understand it on this side of eternity. My finite mind cannot grasp the intricacy of these concepts. God calls me to believe and follow and though I may want more, when I get still and know His presence, that is more than enough...
in the mission,
Fr. Jon+
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Download a PDF of the Fall offerings at Incarnation -
CLICK HERE Download a PDF of Canterbury's Fall Offerings -
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