7 p.m. ….

Occasionally someone queries me as to whether or not we’re asking God WHY this is happening to Irene or if we’re MAD at God because of it.

How would YOU answer those sincerely asked questions?

Here is what we know about God:

God is love (John 4:16)

God is for us, with us and in us; he will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6)

God is sovereign and there is much that we will never know this side of Heaven. The secret things belong to God.  (In other words, God is the only person that exercises supreme, permanent authority that we, as finite human beings, must submit to) (Deut 29:29)

God is worthy of our trust but we are to “lean not” on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6)

God deals with us individually, not collectively. (John 21:18-22) Each of us is on our own journey and must give an account to God.

So, to answer the first question I would suggest that perhaps asking WHY this is happening to Irene is asking the wrong question.  Perhaps the more appropriate inquiries are WHAT and HOW.  In other words, given what we know to be true in scripture, the better questions are these: “WHAT life lessons are we to learn and apply through this experience?” and “HOW do we share our learning with others?”

To address the second question as to whether or not we’re mad at God for what Irene is going through, I first ask this rhetorical question: “Does our faith only work when life is going our way?”  Then, our response: instead of getting mad at God, we want to go deeper in our knowledge of him.

Irene enjoyed a relaxing day and did her best to ignore the ongoing nausea.  She even fixed two small meals and some peach crisp for dessert!  We’re anxious for Irene to get two units of blood tomorrow during dialysis and we’re really looking forward to learning more about her declining kidney function and the other relevant blood counts on Tuesday at UCSF.  We’re not sure what additional testing is required but we want to get on with it, whatever it is!

We live in a fallen world of sin and decay.  We know that it “rains on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45b). Irene and I are thoroughly convinced that we’re never going to answer many of life’s queries.  Instead of asking WHY, we’re asking WHAT and HOW.  Instead of getting MAD at God, we’re going DEEPER with him.

Caminando con Fé
Dave