About Paul being a prisoner, a conduit, and a servant (Eph.3) and Gary said:
“…there is an interplay between my … ability to make decisions and what God’s doing, and I guess, if you sift through some of that sort of craziness, underneath, underneath… it’s… God’s got my best interests at heart, and I’m going to trust that.”
This is where I’m at since Wednesday –and especially Friday– in a big way.
We struggle to make the _right decision_, sometimes when the ‘right’ answer isn’t as important as trust.
Man: Rabbi, should I buy a Chrysler?
Rabbi Krustofsky: Eh, couldn’t you rephrase that as a, as an ethical question?
Man : Um… Is it right to buy a Chrysler?
Rabbi Krustofsky: Oh, yes! [chuckles] For great is the car with power steering and dynaflow suspension!
-The Simpsons, “Like Father, Like Clown” 24 Oct 1991
Of course, we want to follow God’s plan for us, and get with His program.
Beyond and beneath ‘getting it right,’ though, God has promised to be with us. God isn’t with us because we’re getting it right, we’re (struggling) to get it right because God is with us. We talked about this in the Advent cycle, Dec. 2006 right? The incarnation makes this absolutely plain. ““The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”” (Mat 1:23; Isa. 7:14)
This ‘with us’ doesn’t mean happy days always or easy choices, and may even, as for Paul, include persecution. It does mean, though, that God’s abiding love –if sometimes frustratingly non-specific on what may ultimately be ‘minor’ details– is real, constant, and lavish.
1 response so far ↓
About Paul being a prisoner, a conduit, and a servant (Eph.3) and Gary said:
“…there is an interplay between my … ability to make decisions and what God’s doing, and I guess, if you sift through some of that sort of craziness, underneath, underneath… it’s… God’s got my best interests at heart, and I’m going to trust that.”
This is where I’m at since Wednesday –and especially Friday– in a big way.
We struggle to make the _right decision_, sometimes when the ‘right’ answer isn’t as important as trust.
Man: Rabbi, should I buy a Chrysler?
Rabbi Krustofsky: Eh, couldn’t you rephrase that as a, as an ethical question?
Man : Um… Is it right to buy a Chrysler?
Rabbi Krustofsky: Oh, yes! [chuckles] For great is the car with power steering and dynaflow suspension!
-The Simpsons, “Like Father, Like Clown” 24 Oct 1991
Of course, we want to follow God’s plan for us, and get with His program.
Beyond and beneath ‘getting it right,’ though, God has promised to be with us. God isn’t with us because we’re getting it right, we’re (struggling) to get it right because God is with us. We talked about this in the Advent cycle, Dec. 2006 right? The incarnation makes this absolutely plain. ““The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”” (Mat 1:23; Isa. 7:14)
This ‘with us’ doesn’t mean happy days always or easy choices, and may even, as for Paul, include persecution. It does mean, though, that God’s abiding love –if sometimes frustratingly non-specific on what may ultimately be ‘minor’ details– is real, constant, and lavish.
Thanks cyber-Gary.