"At the end of the day. . ." What does that mean? Seems like this cliche is way over used. "I don't think it means what you think it means." I guess it has something to do with after all things have been considered, where do you wind up. Having the ability to envision the destination before arriving, coupled with being able to communicate vision and motivate people to go there, it is reasonable to assume that I can know where I am going. But current reality is that I am only getting one step at a time. I have to take the next step before the next one is revealed.
"God works in mysterious ways." Sure does. But is there comfort in knowing that. Seems like a phrase to use when you are totally frustrated with where you are. This is usually coupled with "everything happens for a reason." It is like the plane crash years ago where the reporters found a man who had missed the flight. He was emphatic that God had protected him and did not allow him to get on that doomed plane. Great testimony and he was careful to praise God for being late to the airport. But if that is true, that God protected him, then what does it say about the 243 other people who did get on the plane? Are there 244 reasons for the plane crash, only one of which resulted in survival? Rather than blame God for all the bad that happens because there is a reason for it, I prefer to think that God can take the bad and cause something good to come from it.
"When the going gets tough, . . ." So many different ways to finish that one. Truth is the tough realize they are not so tough when the tough going keeps on going. Everyone has a breaking point. Seems like that is the purpose of tough going. Not to figure out how much one can take, but to get to the place of dependence on God. Takes longer for some to get there.
At one of the darkest moments of my life, I summoned a wise man to help make some sense of it all. Here is what the wise man said...
ReplyDelete"People will try to console you and tell you things like 'God has a plan', and 'everything happens for a reason'. Some times, life just sucks."
It is funny that I had used some of the same cliches to try to help others deal with loss or sorrow, but this simple message had a profound impact on my life. I am not sure I will ever know the reason for losing a child through miscarriage, and I am not sure what leson I was supposed to learn through the situation. All I know is that the simple words of a wise man brought comfort and a sense of healing. Without the loss of one, I would not have the joy of another. Not that I will ever get over losing the one, or forget about the one, but I know that some times things don't make sense. I find it interesting that we can run to God easily when things don't make sense, but we run away from God and to ourselves when things go our way...only to have things not make sense again and we are right back on the treadmill. Some how we need to figure out how to get off of the roller coaster and say the same words that Job used in Job 1:20 "...The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."