Less is More - In Other Words

"I know a lot less about God,
but the things I know about God,
I know a whole lot more, for sure.”

Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King Live



 I just read Scraps and Snippets where Jennifer is hosting this week's conversation on the Chapman quote above.  What both Steven Curtis Chapman and Jennifer state in common is that there are some things that happen in this life that we will simply never understand, even when we are believers.  Some things are simply beyond our human comprehension.

It does not mean that God does not have a plan, but it does mean that we do not understand the plan in some tragic instances, and it most certainly acknowledges that we do not have to "like God's plan" in every instance.

It comes down to the old issue of whether we are supposed to "give thanks for everything" or be willing to "give thanks in everything."

In the first case, sorry, no, can't do it.  Thanks ? my child dies, my spouse betrays me, my friends forsake me, I fail the Lord.....  sorry, no, don't think so.

But can I learn, like the Apostle Paul did, that in everything I can learn to be content, and to be thankful in every situation?  Yes, that is possible.  Easy?  No.  Automatic?  No.  But possible, through His grace and sustaining love?  Definitely, yes.

As is the case with Jennifer, I too, like many of you have sustained some life-altering losses, which left me broken, and stumbling around wondering why God had allowed it all to happen.  During those dark days, I would often recite to myself the verses from Job, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  Bless be the name of the Lord."  (Job 1:21)

Two weeks ago we learned that my nephew, 39 years old, has bone cancer and is given less than a year to live by his doctors.  This is another hard thing to accept, even while we continue to pray that if the Lord wills, he can be healed; but if not, we will be able to do as Job did.  The word tells us that "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."  (Job1:22)

God does not cause sin and suffering.  We have Satan to thank for that - and our own human rebellion.  But God can, and will, take our suffering and turn it into something useful, and even positive,  when we allow Him to do so.  There is an old Bill Gaither song that says it best.... "All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life."

I could not agree more with the Chapman quote.  I "know" much less than I thought I knew many years ago, about God, about life, about what should and should not be.  By this, I mean I am far less certain in my own thinking, less dogmatic in my opinions.  But those few things that I do know, well, as someone I knew used to say, "I know that I know that I know."

I know that God loves me, that Jesus died for me, that my sins are forgiven and that He has prepared a place for me.  More than that, I do not need to know.  God Bless You .... Marsha Y.