I was talking with a good friend just now, and had an urge to write something that began stewing in my mind.
The idea of thinking we deserve or do not deserve something seems very integral to being human.
we work hard: we deserve good pay. or a good result.
we do the right thing: we should incur no harm and good things should happen to us.
Proverbs is chock full of the cause/effect relationship in both righteous and riotous living.
however......as Alliekins told me in her personal study....Proverbs is split into 3 sections. The first with the idealistic way the world OUGHT to work, the second part tells us the way the world ACTUALLY works because of its fallen state, and the third part encourages us to live correctly regardless. because that is what is required.
whether we get the effect we expect or think we deserve or not.
God does not exist as a cosmic genie who gives me what i want. and he doesn't even do things because i'm good on one account and bad on another. good things happen to people regardless of their being "deserving" and bad things happen for the exact same reasons.
and if we're really honest, and remind ourselves that we are merely justified only by Christ's blood. then the only thing we actually deserve is death and destruction.
so......as hard it is. when i have an utterly crappy day. when people die. when i get sick. when the money is low. when that friend betrays me. when my face breaks out. when i get a flat tire on the way to work. when i really want a relationship and nothing looks promising. when i get taken advantage of, or hurt......or when it's a beautiful day. i find the perfect something and can afford it. i get to hold a baby. i have a good laugh with friends.....i have more than i need. i fall in love.
......The Lord gives. and He takes away. My choices do make a difference. but I deserve......nothing.
because if I did...I'd like to know how to answer the why question for our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before or are living now in nightmarish situations.
as i write this, i agree that it is hard to process.
I'd like to think that i earn things.
oh well.
my first advent calendar!
5 years ago
4 comments:
I like to think of God as my big Grandfatherly slot machine in the sky.
Brock is a hard act to follow, granted.
But Shelby and I were talking about this topic the other night and about some advice we had heard--that if we feel like we're suffering undeservedly, we should be thankful that God has counted us worthy to suffer alongside Him--that if we feel like we're not getting all the goods we expected, we should step back and remember to trust Him as a gift-giver.
I was comforted/appalled by that advice.
hmm.
yeah. there has to be happy medium of thought.
reading psalms is always interesting because of the sort of prayers David has.
Yes, we are not promised rosy-clouds and daisy fields. Christ hadn't, why on earth would we expect any different. It is, as Allie shared, a privilege and a blessing to walk with Him through these "light and momentary troubles."
Without the bad, how on earth would we learn to recognize and search out the deliciously good?
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