Hello friends!
Sorry for the long pause before writing again. I am sure you are all busy with Christmasy stuff anyways! Phil and I were off to Vancouver last weekend for a Canadian Youth Workers Conference. It was great! The worship was awesome, the speakers genuine and the weather fab! Not a cloud in the sky the whole time while the blizzard blew back here! Phil stayed with some friends of mine from Rosebud and it was great to see them again. We also has dinner one night with Melissa (Hugo) whom I adore! So it was good all 'round!
Today there are a few things on my mind, but mostly it has been you guys. It has been a hard season for many of you and my heart goes out to you all. I had been writing to one of you who asked a commonly asked question, "Where is God when it sucks?"
How does one answer this? I, too, have asked this question several times over the years. There are times when we are traveling through the valley; the dark night of the soul, if you will, and feel like we are all alone and that God has left us high and dry. Is He there? Has He abandoned us? Everything people have taught us suggests that, no, He has not left. So why do we feel so alone?
First, I would like to remind you that God is not a feeling. If He is just a feeling you are counting on then He exists only when you are having certain emotions and I am sorry, but God's existence is not something you can create! You are powerful and awesome but you are not THAT good!! God is not dependent on you but you are dependent on you (whether you wanna believe it or not!).
So? Where is He? Well... He's everywhere ;)
I remember something a guy I met said. He was directing a show I was stage managing. A nice guy - he was living in Rosebud and had recently going through rehabilitation after falling off a roof and landing on his head! The show was two about teenagers who were dating. It ends up that between acts the female character was raped by some boys who had been harassing the guy over the years. As we dealt with the tough subject matter, the director shared with us his own case of abuse. He was molested by his piano teacher when he was just a child. When he was dealing with the matter in therapy he was reminded that God is always with us. He is holding our hand when others misuse His freewill and do things that can hurt us deeply. He is crying with us. He is hurting over it even more than we do ourselves. He is breaking over His child hurting - He feels everything we do. He is also crying over His child who is doing the hurting.
Bad things do happen, but we have to remember that it is not God who is doing the hurting. He granted his people free choice and loved us enough not to make those choices for us. Sadly, we humans are sinful and abuse our right to choose. We make mistakes and we hurt each other.
Sometimes the things that hurt are not someone else's actions. When people get sick or pass away before we think they should it can hurt for a long time. In these cases I try to remember that God's plans are not our plans and although it sucks, can be used for good. For example my Grandfather's first wife died very suddenly from a brain aneurysm shortly after my aunt was born. As tragic as this was, it was necessary for me to be able to be born who I am! My Grandfather's second wife had three more children, the third being my Mom. I keep that in mind when I lose someone I love.
I have a theory as to why God feels far away when we are hurting. I find when I am upset about something I tend to push people away somewhat. I do it for various reasons I can think of (which is a topic for another day). In our sorrow and sadness we feel like everyone is distant and could never relate to what we are going through. We feel alienated from those around us, even if they are reaching out to us more than normal as they know we are hurting. If we are pushing ourselves from our other relationships, why would we not do the same to our most important relationship? As we hide from others, I think we also hide from God.
I want to encourage you to do a few things as life is hard currently:
1. Remember that God is not a feeling and He is here with us as we laugh and as we cry and He wants to support, love and encourage us.
2. God often uses other people to be His hands and heart. We need to let other people be there for us.
3. God often uses other people to be His hands and heart. We need to be there for each other! We need to pray for each other, encourage each other and be willing to be a shoulder to cry on and a person to turn to!
Keep praying, keep dreaming, remember that you are amazing, beautiful and utterly loved! Stay strong, keep that faith and don't do drugs! Most importantly, keep in mind: Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
A video for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM&feature=related
Or try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHNbvIplvVQ&feature=related
Or this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGUb8G0H-7I&feature=related
