Post by Josh on Apr 23, 2010 19:51:34 GMT -8
An email I received from a friend of a friend, which I want to pass on because it has some really great content on the subject of suffering, asking God why, etc..? with a little excerpt from the author of The Shack.
Yesterday, April 20, 2010, ____________ and I took an 8 hour drive through Joshua Tree National Park while staying at WorldMark Indio out on the desert. It was a physical reminder of this season between Passover and Pentecost. This season of 50 days is called the “counting of the omer”
”. …On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer. … The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.” (quoted from the Judaism 101 web site at www.jewfaq.org/holidayb.htm)
For those of us who have been grafted into the stalk of the Olive Tree (Rom 8), we call Shavu’ot “Pentecost” as described in Acts 2. But the Old Testament type and shadow of Pentecost occurred at the foot of Mt. Sinai 50 days after Passover. God tried to write the law (Torah) on the hearts of the Israelites but they would not have it. Instead they said to speak to Moses so God had to resort to speaking to them through Moses.
Thanks be to God that he sent Holy Spirit at Pentecost to speak to those who have ears to hear. We no longer need to depend on a particular person for our communication with God.
Our day in Joshua Tree National Park was very sunny but we had quite high winds - 30mph sustained and gusts higher. It reminded me of Deut 32:10-12 which says, "He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, 12 so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. NKJV
Little did we know when we scheduled our stay 10 months ago that we would be in a desert like the children of Israel. So their journey has become a study for us in walking a journey that requires us to trust the Lord as he leads us through our howling wilderness (Delight’s diagnosis of ALS).
I have been wresting with the "why" question in view of our journey with ___________'s condition. Last Falll while in Victoria B.C., we heard Graham Cooke talking about this idea of asking "why". He said not to ask "why" but to ask "what are you trying to teach me".
This Spring we went to IHOP-NW in Federal Way, WA to hear Bob Sorge. Bob has been afflicted for 18 years with a voice condition because of a botched surgery. It is painful for him to speak. In spite of this he still speaks on the topic of affliction and has written several books on the subject. He said don't worry about asking "why" - God can handle your why questions.
Today I got Paul Young's (author of "The Shack") newsletter in which he wrote ...
"I also get a text and photo from a friend, a Doctor, who last night delivered a horribly deformed baby girl. “Just delivered a baby with a horrible genetic syndrome. Hearing the awful cries of the mommy. Life changes so fast. She can’t close her eyes because her head is so abnormal. Who thinks this stuff up?” I think this last statement is indirectly a shot at God, or at least an honest question. Since there is a God who is love and who is powerful; why the great sadness, why the devastation, why genetic abnormalities? This little baby did not ask for this, nor did the parents who are now grieving the loss of all their dreams and hopes for their child.
I remember the man born blind and the disciples asking why this happened. “Was it because he sinned, or because his parents sinned?” Jesus totally ignores the ‘why’ question except to nullify both reasons the disciples had offered, and then says, “In this situation today, the glory of God will be manifested.” At first you might think that what is manifested is the miracle that heals his eyes, but the true manifestation of the glory of God is much bigger than that, it is the entire healing process of this man who journeys into a relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So why doesn’t God just step in and make a miracle out of this mess and heal this baby? There is that why question again. Don’t know. The more significant important question is not a why question at all, but has to do with what we believe is the character and nature of God. Is God good all the time? Is God involved in the details of our lives, regardless of whether we understand why or not? I don’t understand why God withholds a miracle here and extends one there, but I believe that God is the keeper of the whys. I do know that suffering is a part of this damaged world, and that all manner of grace emerges from it. Suffering stops us in our routines, and interrupts our normalcy. If we allow it, we will be driven into community where we will share our suffering. If we don’t, we will run deeper into isolation and independence, which will in turn, in time, drive us back toward relationship and healing. Judging the character of God as capricious and untrustworthy will also drive us into our selves, into independence where all we have is our own control. Lots of tough questions, real and honest questions.
In Houston, TX, I will be speaking tomorrow at a Hospice Benefit. Tonight I attended a supper hosted by the organizers. I rarely repeat speaking engagements, but this is an exception. Hospice became a very special organization during my Father-in-law, Willard’s passing in 2002. We all called him Willie and he is the ‘Willie’ in the book. Hospice was a constant help and present comfort during the last days before Willie fell asleep. People who work for Hospice will tell you that they occupy a very holy space, the thin place between this life and the next."
So, I guess I have come to the position that we can ask "why" as long as it is with an open heart knowing that the Lord may not want to answer. That seems to be the situation for us. I guess we have come full circle. We are back at Deut 32:10-12 with the Lord leading us, encircling us, instructing us, keeping us, hovering over us, spreading out His wings over us and taking us up on His wings.
He has something specific in mind as He seeks to prepare our hearts for the inheritance that lay before us. God must have a prepared heart for a prepared people who will inherit a prepared place in Him. So we are counting the omer to prepare our hearts to receive more of Holy Spirit.
As you too encounter your own “howling wilderness” consider what Paul said to the Corinthians …
2 Cor 4:17-18
17For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],
18Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting. AMP
Yesterday, April 20, 2010, ____________ and I took an 8 hour drive through Joshua Tree National Park while staying at WorldMark Indio out on the desert. It was a physical reminder of this season between Passover and Pentecost. This season of 50 days is called the “counting of the omer”
”. …On the second day of Passover, in the days of the Temple, an omer of barley was cut down and brought to the Temple as an offering. This grain offering was referred to as the Omer. … The counting is intended to remind us of the link between Passover, which commemorates the Exodus, and Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. It reminds us that the redemption from slavery was not complete until we received the Torah.” (quoted from the Judaism 101 web site at www.jewfaq.org/holidayb.htm)
For those of us who have been grafted into the stalk of the Olive Tree (Rom 8), we call Shavu’ot “Pentecost” as described in Acts 2. But the Old Testament type and shadow of Pentecost occurred at the foot of Mt. Sinai 50 days after Passover. God tried to write the law (Torah) on the hearts of the Israelites but they would not have it. Instead they said to speak to Moses so God had to resort to speaking to them through Moses.
Thanks be to God that he sent Holy Spirit at Pentecost to speak to those who have ears to hear. We no longer need to depend on a particular person for our communication with God.
Our day in Joshua Tree National Park was very sunny but we had quite high winds - 30mph sustained and gusts higher. It reminded me of Deut 32:10-12 which says, "He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, 12 so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. NKJV
Little did we know when we scheduled our stay 10 months ago that we would be in a desert like the children of Israel. So their journey has become a study for us in walking a journey that requires us to trust the Lord as he leads us through our howling wilderness (Delight’s diagnosis of ALS).
I have been wresting with the "why" question in view of our journey with ___________'s condition. Last Falll while in Victoria B.C., we heard Graham Cooke talking about this idea of asking "why". He said not to ask "why" but to ask "what are you trying to teach me".
This Spring we went to IHOP-NW in Federal Way, WA to hear Bob Sorge. Bob has been afflicted for 18 years with a voice condition because of a botched surgery. It is painful for him to speak. In spite of this he still speaks on the topic of affliction and has written several books on the subject. He said don't worry about asking "why" - God can handle your why questions.
Today I got Paul Young's (author of "The Shack") newsletter in which he wrote ...
"I also get a text and photo from a friend, a Doctor, who last night delivered a horribly deformed baby girl. “Just delivered a baby with a horrible genetic syndrome. Hearing the awful cries of the mommy. Life changes so fast. She can’t close her eyes because her head is so abnormal. Who thinks this stuff up?” I think this last statement is indirectly a shot at God, or at least an honest question. Since there is a God who is love and who is powerful; why the great sadness, why the devastation, why genetic abnormalities? This little baby did not ask for this, nor did the parents who are now grieving the loss of all their dreams and hopes for their child.
I remember the man born blind and the disciples asking why this happened. “Was it because he sinned, or because his parents sinned?” Jesus totally ignores the ‘why’ question except to nullify both reasons the disciples had offered, and then says, “In this situation today, the glory of God will be manifested.” At first you might think that what is manifested is the miracle that heals his eyes, but the true manifestation of the glory of God is much bigger than that, it is the entire healing process of this man who journeys into a relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So why doesn’t God just step in and make a miracle out of this mess and heal this baby? There is that why question again. Don’t know. The more significant important question is not a why question at all, but has to do with what we believe is the character and nature of God. Is God good all the time? Is God involved in the details of our lives, regardless of whether we understand why or not? I don’t understand why God withholds a miracle here and extends one there, but I believe that God is the keeper of the whys. I do know that suffering is a part of this damaged world, and that all manner of grace emerges from it. Suffering stops us in our routines, and interrupts our normalcy. If we allow it, we will be driven into community where we will share our suffering. If we don’t, we will run deeper into isolation and independence, which will in turn, in time, drive us back toward relationship and healing. Judging the character of God as capricious and untrustworthy will also drive us into our selves, into independence where all we have is our own control. Lots of tough questions, real and honest questions.
In Houston, TX, I will be speaking tomorrow at a Hospice Benefit. Tonight I attended a supper hosted by the organizers. I rarely repeat speaking engagements, but this is an exception. Hospice became a very special organization during my Father-in-law, Willard’s passing in 2002. We all called him Willie and he is the ‘Willie’ in the book. Hospice was a constant help and present comfort during the last days before Willie fell asleep. People who work for Hospice will tell you that they occupy a very holy space, the thin place between this life and the next."
So, I guess I have come to the position that we can ask "why" as long as it is with an open heart knowing that the Lord may not want to answer. That seems to be the situation for us. I guess we have come full circle. We are back at Deut 32:10-12 with the Lord leading us, encircling us, instructing us, keeping us, hovering over us, spreading out His wings over us and taking us up on His wings.
He has something specific in mind as He seeks to prepare our hearts for the inheritance that lay before us. God must have a prepared heart for a prepared people who will inherit a prepared place in Him. So we are counting the omer to prepare our hearts to receive more of Holy Spirit.
As you too encounter your own “howling wilderness” consider what Paul said to the Corinthians …
2 Cor 4:17-18
17For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!],
18Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting. AMP