Interesting sermon last night. Our senior pastor has been doing a series on failures in the Bible. Of course David and Peter immediately come to mind, but he concluded the series with Sarah.
Sarah waited a long time to have a child and thought she would never have one. Of course, she was 90, Abraham was 100. When God told them He would come back in a year and she would have a son, Sarah laughed.
It was not the failure to have children that was Sarah's failure, it was the failure to believe God. In God's Word, we find all kinds of promise for the future, including the promise that "for men, these things are impossible but with God, all things are possible." This is no trivial statement. All things means everything, all things means whatever it is that He should happen to promise us.
The immediate applicability is to our current world political and economic situation. For some of us, there are some pretty good trials. But God promised He would never leave us nor forsake us and that all things work together for the good of believers. We should take the lead from the story of Sarah, and never doubt His word.
30 August 2009
07 August 2009
From my friend Gabe, I got a nice email today commenting on God:
I love my cat. I will always love my cat, regardless of my cat's behavior. I may punish my cat for wrongdoing, but only to the extent that the action would hurt my cat, and, by proxy, hurt the love I have for my cat. I love my cat so much, that I would allow my cat to do nearly anything it wants, even if I don't like it, simply because I love him. My love for my cat is patient, and it is kind; it is also tolerant and pure in it's intent. My cat will never understand how much I love him, but that will never diminish the depth of my care. And although I know he can never truly reciprocate these feelings, I will forever hold him in my heart because my love requires no obligation.
At some point, we traded the true essence of God, Love, for an Angry, White-Bearded Old Man. We violate the first and most important commandment each and every time we assume to know what it is that God wants, thinks or does. There is no room in the heart of God for anger, or rage. Nor is there room for guilt nor punishment. Love would not posses these things. In my heart, I know this to be true, simply because "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."
-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
...which is exactly the way I feel about my cat.
I love my cat. I will always love my cat, regardless of my cat's behavior. I may punish my cat for wrongdoing, but only to the extent that the action would hurt my cat, and, by proxy, hurt the love I have for my cat. I love my cat so much, that I would allow my cat to do nearly anything it wants, even if I don't like it, simply because I love him. My love for my cat is patient, and it is kind; it is also tolerant and pure in it's intent. My cat will never understand how much I love him, but that will never diminish the depth of my care. And although I know he can never truly reciprocate these feelings, I will forever hold him in my heart because my love requires no obligation.
At some point, we traded the true essence of God, Love, for an Angry, White-Bearded Old Man. We violate the first and most important commandment each and every time we assume to know what it is that God wants, thinks or does. There is no room in the heart of God for anger, or rage. Nor is there room for guilt nor punishment. Love would not posses these things. In my heart, I know this to be true, simply because "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."
-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
...which is exactly the way I feel about my cat.
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