In “other” Words on the Horizon

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“Don’t blame suffering the world on the anger of God. He’s not mad; he didn’t mess up. Follow our troubles to their headwaters, and you won’t find any angry or befuddled God. But you will find a sovereign God.
Your pain has a purpose.

Your problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end — the glory of God.”

~ Max Lucado ~
It’s Not About Me

A couple of months ago, I attended a Christian social event with a group of friends at which the subject of the Southern California wildfires came up in conversation.

One of the women seated at our table shared that earlier that day, she had watched a televangelist opine that the fires constituted God’s punishment. As my good friend kicked me under the table, I found myself compelled to ask, in the most innocent tone I could muster, “Punishment for what exactly?” I already knew the answer, but had to hear it from her lips in order to believe it.

Just as I knew she would, she proceeded to explain that the fires were God’s way of sending a message to Californians about our “acceptance of homosexuality” and otherwise overly-permissive culture. She also mentioned the “horrible” things that our children are learning in public schools.

As my friend’s kicks became more emphatic and my shins started to ache, I decided to let it go with a simple, “Well, I don’t believe that’s how God works.” Then I quickly changed the subject to something benign like the unseasonably warm weather, resumed eating my typically flavorless banquet-variety chicken breast, and heard my friend breathe a huge sigh of relief as she too continued eating her dinner.

But when the event ended, my friend and I spent a good deal of time sitting in my car talking about the idea of why terrible things happen to wonderful people. Her family knows a lot about that subject: They are among the most steadfastly faithful folks I have ever known, even as they have endured tremendous hardships over the years. If anyone deserves to question why good people must endure difficulties, my friend does. But she continues to believe that there is a plan for her life and those of her loved ones. And she does not buy into the “God is punishing us” school of thought.

The conversation brought me back to Max Lucado’s wonderful book, It’s Not About Me: Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy. I love the way that Lucado writes. I don’t always agree with his theological stances and Biblical interpretations, but I appreciate his no-nonsense, direct approach.

On this point, Lucado reminds us of the blind man. When the disciples asked Jesus what sin he or his parents had committed that caused him to be born blind, Jesus responded that sin was not to blame. Rather, he was born sightless “so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1-3)

It is a difficult concept to grasp and still harder to accept and live out on a daily basis.

To illustrate, Lucado recounts the story of a friend battling cancer. He was losing his faith as healing eluded him and the doctors were able to stay the disease’s impact.

Rather, relief came when he realized that he had the power to reflect God and resigned himself to the knowledge that his sickness was “in the scope of God’s sovereign plan.” As Lucado describes it,

[h]is cancer paraded the power to Jesus down the Main Street of his world. He, the blind man, Lazarus, and millions of others form a unique society: selected to suffer for God’s glory. His light prisms through their aching lives and spills forth in a cascade of colors. God-glimpses.

From this perspective, the philosophy of the woman at the social gathering can be seen as diametrically opposite from the Divine Creator’s actual purpose. In other words, it is not about punishment or retribution at all. Instead, life’s adversities, challenges, and conflicts can all be viewed as opportunities for us to grow in our faith.

Do your prayers seem to be unanswered? What you request and what you receive aren’t matching up? Don’t think God is not listening. Indeed he is. He may have higher plans.

Each one of our earthly struggles constitutes an opportunity to not just live out our faith, but to model a life of faith for those with whom we come into contact. To see the principle in action and prove Lucado’s theorem, I needed look no further than into the face of my good friend who, despite all the obstacles she and her family have faced over the many years that we have been known each other, has never lost faith or believed she or her love ones were being singled out to suffer as a consequence of some transgression.

The Divine Creator does not cause fires, earthquakes, illness, horrible accidents and the like in order to punish us for our sinful natures. Instead, catastrophes occur because this is a broken world and we sometimes misuse the gift of free will. Lucado points out that, to believe otherwise, you “need to scissor from your Bible some tender passages such as:

God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.

Psalm 103:8-11

I chose the Lucado quote and this topic at this time of year because I can’t think of a better time to ponder it. Although Andy Williams sang about “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” the holiday season is a decidedly difficult time for many people. They feel out of step as they listen to happy carols about perfect families gathering together. They wonder if they are being punished for some prior wrongdoing because they are not part of a Norman Rockwell-esque family. They question whether the Newborn King has forgotten them as the holidays approach but they still don’t have a job, the foreclosure notices from the bank keep arriving in the mailbox or the doctor confirms a devastating prognosis.

There is no better time to display the “works of God” in our lives than during the holiday season. Christmastime affords us an opportunity to “parade the power of Jesus down the Main Streets” that we traverse each day, not just to remind ourselves to be faithful and committed to the sovereign plan for our own lives, but also to model that behavior for those around us who are also facing enormous challenges.

Now more than any other time of the year, we are called to be a reflection of the love that came into the world in the most humble circumstances imaginable — in a stable on a quiet, otherwise unremarkable night long, long ago.

An entry in the Carnival of Christian Women.