We all want to live a life of purpose. We all want to mean something, leave a footprint in the sand of our times. We want meaning.
Our problem is that we don't always see what God is doing in our lives. I often have people asking me "why?" when they find themselves in a difficult place. Why is God doing this? What is his plan? Doesn't he love me? How could he let this happen to us?
This morning I was reading in Isaiah and I came to another verse that wasn't there last time I read this book. How does that keep happening? Verses popping up that weren't there last time....Anyway, here is the verse, "...devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil."
When the author speaks of "taken away" he's talking about death. What God is saying in this time and to these people is that God is taking his people home by death to avoid the evil that is coming! Now, my feeble mind struggles with this. To die is a blessing from God to keep these saints from the evil that is soon to come? It's interesting to me that God sees death as a reward for righteousness in this passage. It's his way of keeping his children from the evil that is ahead for the nation of Israel.
So, I'm thinking about God's purposes and I have to tell you that his ways are so beyond me that I can't even describe it in words. What we might see as punishment, loss and defeat may actually be God's great grace in a person's life. What we see as failure may be connected to something God is working on that we may not see in our lifetime. We fret and fume. We complain to God and beg for a solution, but may not realize that his amazing plan for us might actually be a blessing....the very thing we see as a curse. How does he work all of this out? How do we find purpose for our lives when we are living with the unrevealed purposes of God? At times all we can do is say, as Jesus did in the garden, "Lord, I would love to do this some other way, but let's always do it your way." His purposes will always surprise us. At the very moment when we think we have failed he will show himself victorious in our lives.
Just a few thoughts on a passage I'm still thinking about.....
2 comments:
Do you get your ideas from my continuous struggles or am I just one of many who struggle with the same thing??
Lori,
I am a fellow traveler on the road with you. When I read this passage I couldn't believe what I was reading, so I had to read the whole passage again. It made me begin to think. The thoughts and reflections are the fruit of my own odyssey and struggles. It also makes me very aware of how little I understand what God is doing in my life.
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