Tragedies...Where are you God?

Verse of the Week:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Tragedies...Where are you God?

Why God? Why?  I had just received tragic news via text that one of my friends had lost her baby boy. Later she asked her friends to pray that God's glory be revealed in this situation.  So I began to pray for exactly that, but while praying for her throughout the week, a new question formed in my mind: How is God's glory ever shown in such awful tragedies?  How is His glory shown when a couple who wants kids keep having miscarriages, or when a family who was so excited about having a girl lost their daughter at birth, or when a husband and wife who want to have kids cannot conceive. As I pondered the question, I began to remember one of my favorite heros of all times, Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie was sent to a concentration camp during World War II for hiding Jews in her home. There in the camp she encountered senseless tragedies and watched numbers upon numbers of people die.  She saw an evil in that camp that no living human being should ever see.

One day when I was younger I remember watching Corrie on TV talking about her experiences in the camp. She said something that I will never forget,

 "There is no pit so deep, that He is not deeper still."

There is no tragedy so awful that God is not present in it all. His glory can still be seen in the worst of worst times and in the darkest hour. "How?"  I asked and prayed, "How can God's glory be seen when there is nothing but evil present?" Then God brought a verse to my mind from the book of 1 John.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.  [...] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:9, 12)

God's glory is revealed through people and their love for one another. People see Christ through the lives of other people. God's glory is in his followers, and He is made known through they way that they respond to situations in their lives.

No matter how deep Corrie's pit was, God was still there, evident through the life of Corrie and her sister Betsy in that concentration camp.  Together the sisters were able to share the gospel and provide comfort and love to countless women even in the darkest of times.  In the worst of the worst, Christ was there in the life of his followers.

Another scripture comes to mind...

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

When Christians face senseless tragedies and trials, they have a chance to show their faith, though refined by fire, is genuine and real. And when they show the world Christ in the darkest of situations, Christ's glory is revealed.

I used to think that at the end of verse 7, when it talks about Christ being revealed, that it meant when Christ returns to this earth, but then I realized that it goes much deeper than that. Christ is revealed through the lives of those who love Him, whose deep faith sets them apart from a world who has no hope without Christ.

I look at that couple I was praying for, and realized something.  God's glory is indeed being shown in this awful tragedy.  His glory is being shown in that baby boy's parents who have shown such a deep faith and trust in God in the midst of it all.  Their attitude in the midst of it all has indeed glorified God. Instead of drowning in a sea of bitterness and hatred, they have risen above it all and continued living life full of hope and love because they know who holds that sweet boy in the palm of His hands.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

Thank you Lord for showing me where your glory is truly shown.

My Home Outside of the Womb

Verse of the Week:  

..."No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

My Home Outside of the Womb

Life is a miracle.  Seeing our second son being born once again reminded me how miraculous life truly is.  Our son started off smaller than a poppy seed and came out an 8 pound 12 oz giant.  During the course of 9 months, he learned to move his arms and legs, swallow, see light with his eyes, and hear mommy's voice and heartbeat for the first time. He learned to breath fluid, suck his thumb, and poop all while he was safely curled up in the warmth of  his sac, growing and receiving nutrients from his Mama. What a beautiful life he had already lived before entering this world.  

I wonder if it was hard on him to leave the safety and security of his womb at birth and enter into this huge scary world.  I am so glad he did.  He would have missed so much if he hadn't.  He would have missed seeing colors, learning to crawl, walk, and throw a ball.  He would have missed receiving hugs and kisses from his brother, Mama, and Dada. He would have missed seeing the trees, moon, stars, grass, and flowers.  He would have missed touching a puppy's soft fur, feeling the coolness of sand, and stroking the smooth back of a turtle's shell.  He would have missed playing with his brother, tasting yummy treats, and drinking cool water on a hot summer day. He would have missed his Mama's laugh, Dada's funny singing, and His brother's wrestling. He would have missed so much if he had stayed in the womb....

I wonder about heaven....I will admit that there are times when death scares me, because I fear the unknown.  Sometimes I feel like I am in the dark womb of this world, clueless about what is on the other side of eternity.  Like Carson felt safe and secure in his womb, I feel safe and secure in this world, because it is all I know; heaven seems so scary.  However, I know I would miss so much if I never went there.  As it says in  1 Corinthians 2:9,  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."  I can not even conceive in my mind what God has prepared for those who have received Jesus in their hearts.  He has prepared blessings that I cannot even begin to imagine...Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)  

There is a story I remember someone telling me about a dog.  The dog wanted to get through a door to another room.  He had never seen the room and didn't know what was in it, but he was anxious for the door to open so that he could enter because he knew one thing...his owner was on the other side.  He knew home was where his master was, no matter what was in that room.  Heaven maybe scary, but I have nothing to fear, because on the other side of that door, my heavenly Father is there.  I will be home safe in the arms of my Father, no matter what.  Our home is not on earth, but in heaven where Jesus is.  So, like Carson, I plan to enjoy my life in the womb, and grow and prepare for the other side...And when death comes, I will finally be home.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20