“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8
The Boys and their Coach got out alive. The world was united in prayer for a few weeks. It seems that those prayers were answered. Answered by the intellect and ingenuity of the amazing creatures created in the image of God.
The Boys and their Coach got out alive. This is a great story of human arrogance and the crisis that followed. This is a great story of the will to survive and the dedicated sacrifice of those who put their lives in peril to bring the cave explorers home safely.
The Boys and their Coach got out alive. Thanks be to God for answering the prayers of the world. But one diver, did not return to his family. One diver died in the rescue attempt. What happened to those prayers? Did God hear the prayers for the rescuers? What happens when the ending is not happy. And let’s face it, many times the ending is not happy.
Parents and Grandparents pray for children and yet, every day our children wander into lakes, rivers, dark alleys, and addiction and never return. What happens to those prayers and where is God in all of this?
Is it that God can’t or won’t intercede? Is God somehow bound by the decision to give us free-will, to create us as free beings, to love us enough to set us free?
I am an expert in this stuff. I have spent my life considering, pondering, praying, reading, reflecting on questions like this. So, let me share the wisdom of some 35 years of contemplation. I DON’T KNOW. I don’t know why our children die. I don’t know why some are rescued and others perish. I don’t know why some families have to endure more than their share of sorrow. I don’t know how God operates or where God is in all of this.
I wish, I did. I wish, I did understand more, but I don’t. But how could I understand God? How could I understand the unsearchable depths and complexities of the universe, time and space?
We will never understand the mysteries of life and death and injustice. But let me share with you my simple confession of faith. It is all that I really know and it is enough for me. “Jesus loves me. I am loved by God. I am forgiven by God and I am never alone.”
The Boys and their Coach got out alive. But I would hope that humans would not venture into that cave again. The Boys and their Coach got out alive. They were lucky. Where was God in all of this? “I am loved, I am forgiven and I am never alone.”
I love you too!
Pastor Jim
THIS SUNDAY: Tee Shirts, touching and beautiful music, Holy Communion and the church where everybody’s welcome. See you there.
