Saturday, July 21, 2012


Diminishing Returns

C.S. Lewis said: "a man can no more diminish God's Glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the Sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the walls of His cell".

The older I get the more I come into the realization that no human or human act can diminish God's power and glory. There are so many uncertainties that beset us as citizens of planet Earth that's it unlikely that any of us would dare to predict our future as a human race. This big ball we so confidently walk, live and breathe on never stops spinning. No matter how unfortunate or laden with burdens we become, life just goes on! An example of this took place this past week in a Colorado Cinema, when out of 7 billion people, the people who chose to go to the Premier of a Batman movie had their live inexorably changed! I'm sure their appointment with fate was not just another date on their
e-calendars, they simply went to a place where most Americans will go for relaxation, laughter and drama. Their plans were probably to go to a theater and get lost in a movie. Some may have been dreaming that they were one of the power wielding  heroes, some might have just been along for the ride of a good hour or so of entertainment. I don't know about you, but I usually go to a movie to escape the realities of life. But the fact is, the only one who planned the ensuing senseless massacre was the accused himself. And even he couldn't be sure of the outcome of his plans. You ask, "why didn't God intervene?". Do you mind if I put that question on hold? Sorry, you took too long to answer so you'll just have to come along on my detour! : )

I have a confession to make, I'm a romantic, a sensate, one who not only visualizes things but experiences the emotions involved in a very real way. This comes as no surprise to those of you who really know me. Has anyone ever told you to "get your head out of the clouds"? I use to hear just that all the time as a little girl. I had big dreams, like most of us do, but when I dreamed, I would become so engrossed in my fantasies that I would lose all sense of reality. I would feel, taste, and smell whatever I was visualizing. I would become so emerged in my imagination and daydreams that I would feel odd living my ordinary life. I even thought one day I would just vanish into my fantasies and never be heard from again, like Enoch. That is, unless the "rapture" didn't happen first!! Lol. Some will appreciate this sentiment. As a child I was highly imaginative and creative and as a teenager I became more and more immersed in dreaming about days to come...walking, listening to music, sunbathing (yes, regretfully so), or any activity would be turned into a creative drama played out in my head!! I was a responsive student according to my teachers, and my parents took great pleasure in this, little did they know I was multitasking, listening with one ear but indulging in daydreaming just to survive!! I could be painfully shy. After school I would usually go home and ride my bike and listen to the little AM radio strapped to my handlebars... making the melodies become the soundtrack for the extraordinary dreams in my head. Did anyone else have a radio on their bike? I thought I was so cool sporting my radio on my "monkey bars" on my purple and silver shwinn bicycle!!

When my children were born I realized that this was a hereditary trait, especially for a girl, signaling a "rite of passage" into the teen years. I tried not to interfere in their own private worlds by acting as if I wasn't aware of their muse. But as I grew older I lost the ability to daydream myself away, and watch as my days gave way to reality. Now many if these things I lived in reality were the things I had already dreamed of  but many of my fantasies did not manifest...and may I say thank God some didn't! I'm so glad I never became the only woman who went into space and started the only space lab inhabited by every creature on earth! Like a modern day "Noah's arc" escaping Earth's harshness and being celebrated for saving all animal life from extinction!! : ) Ha ha!!

No, I thank God that He allowed me to make every choice that has brought me to where I am today for the good or the bad! But in everything I have become more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me. If I had been given the ability to sketch out a blue plan for my life and live it out just so (with it's own soundtrack of course), it certainly wouldn't have taken many of the turns it has.

I've had sick and dying people as me, "where did I take a wrong turn? To which I respond, how do you know you did? If you put your trust and faith in God He promises never to leave you. He was on every path you took and in every turn! If you have a heart after God, nothing can keep you from becoming aligned with your purpose in this life. However, I do wish there was some trophy or plague that we are presented at the completion of that purpose. Maybe we are, maybe no matter how young or old when our purpose is fulfilled we are given a crown of life?

Now to answer that question, "why didn't a loving God intervene to save the lives of those in that cinema on that early morning?"
Well, how do we know He didn't? All I can say is that I know He has that power, He could have stopped it. He could have if He so desired delayed things for a while, caused the gunman to have an accident on the way to fulfill his insane plan. He could have caused the movie to be cancelled or caused the movie goers to get distracted  not shown up, and on and on. There are many ways a God of love could have stopped this brutality of innocent lives!
But He didn't and guess what? He's still God!! No one usurped His power by taking human lives. Now you can agree or disagree, but if I thought I had a God that cold and calculating, setting a trap, I couldn't serve Him.

Here's my truth, we don't know what happened in the atmosphere surrounding that theater that night. We are living out a dual existence and the only ones who can get a view of the final outcome of the events of that day from both sides is God and maybe the great cloud of witnesses!  The news people can report what happened in the fleshly realm, but only those truly tuned into God and His ever proceeding Word can even catch a glimpse of hope in such devastation. We can no more see what actually happened around those who passed, or those who were wounded, or even the gunman in the Spirit realm, which is ethereal, anymore than we can breathe under water. No one or nothing can ever know how it feels to be aquatic and be able to breathe water and thrive unless they are equipped with gills.

What I'm saying is we are spiritual beings but, but for whatever reason we don't see clearly now. We "see through a glass darkly". We will not see the reason or completion of event as they truly are until we shed our temporary tents. However God in His mercy gave us a telescope into how that other realm works through the life and actions of Christ.  I'm sure I need not give biblical examples, but I will. Jesus showed us so much. He made people whole, which reveals His desire for our good health. He called fish into nets of hungry fishermen, He commanded the storm with peace and defied earthly elements by walking on water and raising the dead to life. One of my favorite stories is when Jesus was traveling into the city of Nain and ran into a funeral procession. Seeing the grieving Mother and knowing this was her only son, He brought life back to a dead body. Then He demonstrates His power over death by "laying down" His own flesh to be resurrected Spirit!

For now, on this side we grieve, mourn and comfort those who have lost someone or something feeling a little out of control because we are!! I can't see any good reason for this horrible loss of life, but I can see Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Our decisions here do determine our future, but in God's eyes no one dies! And as I look into His eyes I hope I can shed some light of truth by telling His plans for you are good no matter what shape they take in this earthly realm. No one and no senseless act can diminish His glory. But your faith in Him can be diminished if we believe the lie that evil prevails. Don't let your faith return to Him diminished. Protect your faith, your mind, your heart, because in the end we know through Christ that hope lives and God is still rules and He is still God!!

1 comment:

  1. It is in HIM we live and move and have our being. Great Blog!

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