The following day, as I sat at the airport waiting to board a flight, I cried out to God, “This isn’t about me, but I feel so helpless and desperately need You. How can I help Benjamin and Karen when I don’t know what to say or do?” We tend to think that terrible things only happen to others, not to those we care about, especially those who are serving the Lord. Karen’s parents were teachers at a Christian school. They were simply traveling home after a busy day when their car was struck broadside by a speeding driver. During the next few days, I helped make arrangements, write an obituary, and plan a celebration of life service. While the busyness was cathartic, I strug- gled to cope with the reality that had occurred. It seemed so random and, most of all, so meaningless. Growing up in ministry and serving for over 40 years, I have studied the Scrip- tures and heard many sermons about the sovereignty and grace of God. Intellectually, I knew what to say when believers experience difficult times. I had also experienced loved ones dying early in life. One of my childhood friends died in an automobile accident when he was 19, and my mother died of cancer at the relatively young age of 61. However, this time it was different. Loved ones aren’t supposed to die in groups. And why a child? The “why” question haunted me. At the celebration of life service, a eulogy was read that Karen had penned. One of the things she wrote was: “God doesn’t waste pain, and I am clinging to His love because of my parents’ example.” God doesn’t waste pain – the words ran through my mind. As I reflected on that statement, four things surfaced that are more meaningful than ever before. First: God is infinite – we are finite. The
accident reminded us that God allows pain in our lives that we often cannot understand. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). In our human condition, we want to find out why things happen to us. My friend Ray Pritchard says, “God is God, and we are not.” Some- times, we simply cannot understand the pain in our lives because our finite minds cannot process His plan. Our response must be: God, I trust You. When the light of eternity shines on the lives of those who love God, the painful, devastating, and seemingly meaningless events of our lives will make sense. Second: Jesus wept over one thing – people. Scripture records our Savior expressing deep grief over the death of His friend Lazarus (John 11:35) and over the rejection of His people (Matthew 23:37). Jesus grieved for those He loved, and God’s heart was touched by His Son’s grief. Third: Heaven is the destination – earth is the journey. We often forget that we are not home yet. The apostle Paul tells us we are aliens on earth. When loved ones die in the Lord, they have reached their destination – they are home. This truth was reflected in the celebration of life service through the song Home- sick by MercyMe, which spoke to the emotions of longing to be reunited with loved ones. You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times, And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you, But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry, Is how long must I wait to be with you? I close my eyes and I see your face, If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place.
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow, I've never been more homesick than now.
Fourth: God is good in all circum- stances – our pain is part of His good plan. As I sat at the gate in the airport, I turned to Psalm 119:65–72. In verse 68, the psalmist writes: “God is good, and He does good.” As I thought about Karen’s statement, God doesn’t waste pain , I returned to verse 71: It is good that You brought pain into my life, so I will be open to the lessons You want to teach me. God uses what appears to be meaningless tragedies to make us open to His creative touch. My mother was an artist. After she died, my father gave me one of her Bibles. Inside, I found a note that read: “God is the Master Artist who paints the events of our lives, one stroke at a time. We do not always understand why He paints certain scenes into our lives.” This anecdote was even more poignant as I thought about a creative technique she used when she did “chalk talks” at our church when I was growing up. She would do a chalk drawing about once every year, usually in an evening service. The lights were dimmed, and she would draw scenes in a picture that did not always make sense. However, when the drawing was complete, she would turn on a fluorescent light, and suddenly, the picture would look almost completely different. Unknown to those watching, my mom had drawn a beautiful picture that only became understandable to her viewers when the light revealed all that she had drawn. When the light of eternity shines on the lives of those who love God, the painful, devastating, and seemingly meaning- less events of our lives will make sense. Thank you, God!
17 The Word of Life Experience
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