The morning of our granddaughter, Joy’s, graduation, a song that seemed totally inappropriate for this “joy”ful occasion kept intruding on my thoughts… ‘Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise? (Blessings by Laura Story)
I couldn’t understand why God would put this song in my heart on Joy’s graduation day… until I heard the “Challenge” brought to the seniors by their Bible teacher, Pastor Jeremy. He talked about what a tough year it had been for these six seniors. He told us how their faith had been tested and tried, dealing with unanswered prayers and unexplained situations. He took us to Job 38 where God asks Job some difficult questions after his horrendous losses:
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Who marked off its dimensions?
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone–
(Job 38:4-6)
Pastor Jeremy talked about taking these students to “Theology 101.” Then he asked one of them, “Which is?” The answer was prompt, “I’m not God.” Wow! Theology 101 is I’m Not God! No, I’m not. I don’t have the advantage of seeing things from God’s perspective. I don’t know the reason behind the things that happen. Job never knew why he was bombarded with devastating trials. If he had known, it wouldn’t have really been a test.
“Nobody would ever call Job ‘blessed’ after all his losses,” Pastor Jeremy told us, “but James 1:12 says, ‘Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial…'” The Amplified Bible says, “Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial…” That is so foreign to our culture. Truly, God’s Kingdom is the World’s Kingdom upside down. Our idea of blessing may be totally different from God’s idea.
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace; Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.
We pray for healing, for prosperity; We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
And all the while, You hear each spoken need, Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things.
(Blessings by Laura Story)
At Joy’s graduation, we were reminded that we often overlook the fact that it was God not Satan who initiated Job’s testing. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job?'” God knew what Satan’s response would be. The first time I realized this, I said, “God, you set him up!” As we wrestle with this truth and wonder why, it takes us back to Theology 101, “I’m Not God!” We don’t have the advantage of seeing things from God’s perspective. However, another Laura Story song gives us some clues.
You give and take away for my good for who am I to say what I need?
For You alone see the hidden parts of me that need to be stripped away.
(Bless the Lord by Laura Story)
Recently I was commiserating with a young couple whose eight-year-old daughter has diabetes. Responding to my sympathy, this wise young wife said, “God produced things in our character through the suffering that accompanied our daughter’s diabetes that were not there before.” Sounds a lot like Romans 5:3-4, “…We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope…”
Years ago while traveling, Donn and I visited a church that might have had trouble with this theology. We were singing Blessed Be Your Name along with the worship team when we realized they’d changed Matt Redman’s bridge from “He gives and takes away” to “Whatever comes my way.” They might also have trouble with the Psalmist who said, “It was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71).
So as it turned out, the song the Lord put in my heart on Joy’s graduation day was totally appropriate. I give thanks for the godly pastor who walked with our granddaughter’s graduating class this past year. The things God taught them through him are bedrock foundation not only for seniors but for all of us.
Father, thank you for loving us enough to teach us lessons we don’t even know we need to learn. Help us to trust you as you develop in us the bedrock faith of Theology 101. Amen
Flashback Friday 8/28/20 It seems appropriate to use this blog as my Flashback Friday blog the year Joy graduated from college and at a time when, around the world, we need to enter Theology 101, I’m Not God! None of us have the wisdom to understand all that we’re going through, but we can ask God: “What lessons do you want to teach us through the trials and tribulations of the year 2020?” I’m praying that when this year is over, we will not have gone through these experiences in vain, but will have grown and matured as we learned the lessons God had for us.
