Safe

My daughter came stumbling into our room at 4 a.m.
“I had a bad dream”, she said as she crawled into bed.
Did she want to talk about it?
An immediate, adamant “No!”
Ten minutes she was sound asleep safe in her dad’s arms.

Safe
When she experienced this bad thing she went to where she would feel safe.

Later in the morning she told me about her bad dream and it wasn’t as scary to her in the 7 am brightness as it had been in the dark. Could we have explained that it wasn’t that bad and just a dream to her in the middle of the night? Not a chance, at that point she just needed to feel surrounded and protected.

When trouble comes, overwhelming troubles like the constant crashing of waves on the seashore, where do you go to be safe?

I wrap myself in scripture and claim the promises that God is…
a refuge and help in time of need (Psalms 46)
the Shepherd who supplies my needs and walks with me through the valleys (Psalms 23)
the God who knows the way that I am taking (Job 23)
who delights in every detail of my life (Psalm 37)
who is acquainted with all my ways (Psalm 139)
who will work all things together for my good, (Romans 8)
who will bring to completion the work He has started in my life (Philippians 1)
and that nothing shall separate me from God’s love (Romans 8)
I stay here for a while, resting in this surrounding assurance that God is in control and that I am in his strong and capable hands.

And after a while, when it’s not as dark, I can look more clearly at the situation, and talk about it and see what can be done just as Katie could this morning but in the meantime there is much to be said for having a place to go to get through the night.

I talked to a man this week who explained to me what he believed about the Bible; that the Gospels are the core of the Bible and contain truth and the rest of the Bible, the further you get from the life of Christ, is more and more subject to question; therefore by the time you get to the Creation story and Noah’s Ark it couldn’t possibly have happened.
Science, history, his own observations and experiences seem to be the filters he puts God’s Word through to determine if what this verse is saying is valid or not. Those that gel with his own base of knowledge, these are the Word of God. Those that don’t, well, not so much.

As I have thought about this conversation I come to one conclusion: how very very sad.

If the Bible says that “God will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”(Philippians 4) and you see suffering in Africa and therefore conclude that this is not a valid promise, where will you go when you are needy?

Perhaps this is why Jesus said we are to come with a childlike faith – trusting – Remember Nicodemus? He was a learned man but he came to Jesus because there were things He’d said that he did not understand – How can a man be born again when he is old? (John 3) This was impossible! Yet, when Christ explained that he was speaking about it from an entirely different perspective, the validity became apparent

In another conversation I had with some Jehovah Witnesses they said that God is capable of knowing about everything that’s going on in the world but He chooses what he wants to be aware of.

So when my life is crashing down around me, do I have to hope that God is tuned in to me today?
If I’m not on his list of “People to check in on today” than He won’t know that my world has just imploded?

I told these women that my God is bigger than that.
God is big enough to know what’s going on everywhere and in all lives at the same time.
Can I explain or even fathom that? Of course not!
Does that mean that God cannot do that since I can’t imagine it? Not at all.

Do we want a God or a Bible that we can explain and fully understand?

Do I want God to be so small that I can understand Him?

If I could understand Him and His ways than wouldn’t I be just like Him and God would then be no more capable or powerful than myself?

Now that is something to be scared about.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You have such a gift for writing, Becky! I came by to see how you were doing and was glad to see that you are continuing to use the gifts that God has given you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sue said…
What an assurance to know that we have a God too big for our minds to comprehend! I love that! If we could understand the details of His ways, then we would have no need to trust. What a gift God has given us, to not have to know the reasons...but to just trust in the One who is Creator of all.
Anonymous said…
Wow! I keep hearing how wonderful your blog is and now I know!! You have a gift poured out from our Lord and I am so thankful you have chosen to share with the rest of us! I just signed up for the emails and I can't wait to see your next post. God Bless.

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