Saturday, November 10, 2007

hope for a tree

"You will never understand God completely. Now one of our problems is that we are always seeking to understand God. We are always asking God, 'Why, Lord, did You allow this? Why, God, has this happened to me? Why, Lord, am I in this condition?' We're trying to understand God. ... The answer is, we don't know the why's of God. God does many things that I do not understand. I don't understand why a child is born blind. I don't understand why someone is crippled for life. I don't understand why children starve to death. There are a lot of things that I don't understand. I don't understand why we have to suffer. I don't understand why we experience sorrow. ...

... That is why it is important that you have certain foundational truths upon which you stand. You see, there are certain things that I know. They are foundational truths, they are underneath, I rest upon these, I stand upon these. I know this: that God loves me. In spite of what happens, I know God loves me. In spite of what I might experience, I know God loves me. What tragedy might befall me in my path of life, I know that God loves me. And it's important that you know this. ... Because when you don't understand what's happening, you've gotta fall back on what you do understand, and I do understand God loves me. I do understand that God is far wiser than I am and He can see much more than I can see. I do know that my vision is very limited. I know that the spectrum that I can see is very small. I know that God has a much broader vision than I have. He can see the end from the beginning. Not only is His vision much broader than mine, but His wisdom is much expanded from mine.

And though I do not understand, thank God I no longer have to understand all of the things that have happened to me. As long as I understand that God loves me and my life is in His hand and that He is working in me according to love and His wisdom, doing what is best for me as He knows what is best. I, by faith, rest there. Lord, You know what's best for me. Lord, You love me. Lord, You're in control of my life. So, whatever. I don't understand why God allowed His own Son to suffer on the cross in order to redeem such as me. There are a lot of things about God that I don't understand. But it isn't necessary or important that I do understand them. It is only necessary that I commit my life completely to God, come what may."

-pastor chuck smith

"for there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease." -job 14:7