Our Sunday School class has been studying Holladay & Warren's Foundations, 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On. God has shown us tremendous lessons on why we believe what we believe and helped us to define our Christian worldview. We have studied topics such as the Bible, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, creation, salvation and sanctification. Our current topic is good and evil...what a bundle of questions this brings about! It is a somewhat intimidating topic to approach. However, we can always trust that while we will never know the answers to all things, God will make His Will known to us and reveal truths in His timing, as it is needed in our individual lives.
As I was preparing the lesson a few weeks ago, such a sweet moment arose between Jesus and me. I knew I should have written it down at the time but put it off. It irks me to know that Satan finds pleasure in these small instances when I choose not to share. Thank you to my dear small group sisters tonight who reminded me of the importance and effect of testimonies and God's work in our lives. What God reveals, let us not keep from sharing and building up the brethren...
In The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel writes concerning our desire to know the answers to questions concerning good and evil:
"I commissioned George Barna (or as I read during class, 'George Barnacle.' Just add it to the list of mispronounced words that only seem to arise during moments of public presentation.), the public-opinion pollster, to conduct a national survey in which he asked a scientifically selected cross-section of adults: 'If you could ask God only one question and you knew he would give you an answer, what would you ask?' The top response, offered by 17 percent of those who said they had a question, was: 'Why is there pain and suffering in the world?'"
Of course, this seems to be a popular question that we have all probably pondered at one point in our lives. And if we are truly being honest with God, there should be such rational questions. But how is that question going to help me here in the long run? If I know the answer, will it stop the pain and suffering? ...this knowledge brings me no arrows for my quiver of life. I continued to think upon what my question would be.
One. One question.
"What is Your will for my life?" ...no, He shows me this already.
"What am I doing wrong here on earth that you want me to change?" ...again, just pay attention and I know this answer.
"How can I please You more?" ...really, Ang? see first two extraneous thoughts.
Why is this so hard? There are so many questions. Something has to be more important than the rest. Aha!
"What will it be like in Heaven?" ...er. strike four. again, intriguing yet "point"less arrow of knowledge.
Something's missing. I'm standing before God - awesome, omniscient, all-powerful God - and all I can think to ask are questions that center around me. 'Your will for ME', 'how I can please you', 'what will MY life be like in Heaven'...me, me, me. It's not about me!
And then it hit me. I'm standing before God - awesome, omniscient, all-powerful God.
merciful, gracious, Almighty God.
I'm standing before God - My creator, my deepest love, my best friend.
My loving Father...my Dad.
There's only one compelling thing to do in this situation.
The one question is clear.
I can hardly contain my beating heart as I have the freedom to ask, with arms wide open and ready to run...
"May I?"
May I run into Your arms?
May I feel my Father's embrace?
May I get a giant ol' bear hug from the creator of hugs?!
May I know the love of my Father?!
The longing of our hearts is not to know all the answers from the Father,
but to know Him.
And as I was overjoyed with the excitement of that situation and my question to God, "May I run into Your arms?!", Satan stealthily said, "And what if the answer is 'No'?"
In a split second, the surety of my Father's love was doubted.
Would my earthly father ever deny my request for his presence and his love? Never! Not even in the worst of times...my parent's deepest love for me is never not given freely. How much more will my Heavenly Father give?!
It is in a moment such as this, when Satan comes to plant seeds of doubt in a subject that may be so easily believed...that we must turn to God and trust in His Word.
His Word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. When we ask to come to God, He is always waiting and the answer is always, "Yes, come dear children."
