December 26th, 2023
Tuesday, December 26th
Revelation Through Relationship
By: Anna Williams
Grief is an intriguing companion. It can reside alongside joy and celebration. Anyone who has suffered loss can relate, I think. We can be in a room full of family and friends enjoying the holiday cheer whilst simultaneously feeling sadness and disappointment. It’s almost as though happiness augments the loss.
In some ways I almost wonder if believers struggle with grief more because we have preconceived notions of how we think God should respond in times of trouble. We almost feel a sense of disillusionment when life circumstances go horribly wrong.
“I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
– Job 42:2-3 NIV
Our disappointment at the perceived response or lack of response from God during hard times is more of a reflection of how we see him versus who he really is. The tough times call into question our beliefs and we must dig deeper to figure out what our faith is truly founded upon. This can cause a crisis of faith for some people because they refuse to look past the disappointment or push forward to better understanding.
This can happen in any relationship – we can either choose to be irrevocably hurt by something our spouse said or we can work towards better communication to understand and resolve the issue. If we truly believe that God created us and loved us enough to send his son to die for our salvation – then we must work to maintain and improve our understanding of him. After all, what other choice is there?
C.S. Lewis said in A Grief Observed that “My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it himself. He is the great iconoclast.” We cannot put God in a box because it could never begin to contain all that he is. We can never understand his purposes or reasons for why events unfold as they do. But we can trust him. We can draw near to him. We can stop obscuring his plans by trying to take control from him. We can have faith.
Revelation Through Relationship
By: Anna Williams
Grief is an intriguing companion. It can reside alongside joy and celebration. Anyone who has suffered loss can relate, I think. We can be in a room full of family and friends enjoying the holiday cheer whilst simultaneously feeling sadness and disappointment. It’s almost as though happiness augments the loss.
In some ways I almost wonder if believers struggle with grief more because we have preconceived notions of how we think God should respond in times of trouble. We almost feel a sense of disillusionment when life circumstances go horribly wrong.
“I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
– Job 42:2-3 NIV
Our disappointment at the perceived response or lack of response from God during hard times is more of a reflection of how we see him versus who he really is. The tough times call into question our beliefs and we must dig deeper to figure out what our faith is truly founded upon. This can cause a crisis of faith for some people because they refuse to look past the disappointment or push forward to better understanding.
This can happen in any relationship – we can either choose to be irrevocably hurt by something our spouse said or we can work towards better communication to understand and resolve the issue. If we truly believe that God created us and loved us enough to send his son to die for our salvation – then we must work to maintain and improve our understanding of him. After all, what other choice is there?
C.S. Lewis said in A Grief Observed that “My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it himself. He is the great iconoclast.” We cannot put God in a box because it could never begin to contain all that he is. We can never understand his purposes or reasons for why events unfold as they do. But we can trust him. We can draw near to him. We can stop obscuring his plans by trying to take control from him. We can have faith.
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