Sunday, July 17, 2011

So, What's with All the Changing?

So, here's my thought from today, and yesterday.

(Well, it may have started the day before, but I'm not certain what day of the week 
I am finishing, and which day this all began...)

There are things I just wonder about. 

"What's-Your-point, Lord?" kind of things.

Questions to which I am not sure I will ever have the RIGHT answer. 

Some of the questions are huge in my head, and need a cosmos of thinking in order to get somewhere close to an answer with which I can live (and believe me, I rarely have the time or energy to do a cosmos of thinking in a short time frame. That kind of stuff takes me years to process.
And it makes my head hurt...but not in a tiara-way) 

Other questions may pique my interest, but they're not deal-breakers when it comes 
to my trusting, loving, and serving God.

I don't plan on answering those questions for you, but maybe as we travel along together, we can 
share the parts and pieces that God has given each of us

~~those thoughts that help you and me begin to put handles on the boxes...even if we can't yet carry them~~

Let me give you a few, just to mess with your mind, like they have with mine:

How does prayer really work? I mean, I know it works...but how?

What's the point of a husband and wife purposefully investing years "growing into each other," if He knows the pain and grief that comes when one spouse dies? (and most of the time, that is what's going to happen.)

Why does He knit our hearts with anyone...and then remove them from our life?

Why do people who will never choose to parent well receive the blessing of children?
(sometimes, abundantly)
And why does God plan for others to struggle so hard in order to become the 
parents they are already destined to be?

Stuff like that. 
(Believe me, I have more...but we'll grab the tiki torches 
and toast our brains together another time.)

Here is the paragraph that got this particular brain wave rolling:

"If anything, I’ve seen more and more how I haven't let God shape me and ways that he is calling out to me to change and to allow him to be in control. But the peace that has come from seeking him wholeheartedly is encouraging… and causes me to want to know him more and to surrender more and more."

  This recent wonderin' is not a new thought to me, which is why the sentence below formed so quickly in my brain when I read my friend's words:

"Lord, if you want to mold me into the image of Your Son, and You
'call out to me to change'
Why don't You just start with a better product??!"

Really, what's Your point? 

Why buy the car when you know you'll have to drop in a new engine before you even begin to sand and fill and paint, and bump out the fender, and replace the doors so you can replace the locks, get new tires, seal the windows and recondition the air conditioning,  for heaven's sake?
What.
is.
the.
point?
And...You paid top dollar for the stinking car.
You paid for a Maserati and got


a beater.

No, really, what's Your point?

I have some theology, and a little reasoning, and a pinch of common sense. I can make this work...if I have to prove a point about God's goodness, or His love, or His redemption. I could stretch out some truths and wrap them in nice words, and we could all go through the day feeling like we talked about something.

Maybe even something important.
But really, is that enough for you?

(Honestly, some days, it is enough for me. It takes a lot of faith and energy to make life work, and some days I'd settle for a nod and pleasant hand shake instead of truly understanding what God's purpose is in CHANGING me.)

I do have a few conclusions...but I'd also love to hear what He's shown you
(Hence, the comment box below. As Elizabeth pointed out on a recent post, the comment boxes creates conversations, instead of a monologue.)

(I warned you, my one weakness was a daily analogy...)

2 comments:

  1. I'm learning to enjoy the journey. I wonder if things went exactly as I wanted them to, would I really be happy? H knows where I need to be and where He wants me, and Heis much smarter than I will never be.

    Again, I love that you are blogging!

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  2. 1. I'm jealous of your ability to get blogger to work for you when it comes to changing font size within a post. It stopped working for me a few months ago. Not sure why?

    2. I love that you’re not afraid to ask hard questions.

    I’ve been wanting to engage and process with you, but my head has been too full of other thoughts. We’re away from Prague teaching English at a camp this week… which really means I’m being immersed in Czech since I’m teaching the beginners and must say everything at least twice and in two languages... and their lack of English means they can't help translate at all. If nothing else, the experience is giving me good practice to know how to pray for you next week. But of course there’s more than that going on too. If I have time and mental energy I might share soon.

    But in response to your post… On the day you posted this, that night I shared (in Czech) pieces from my story with my group. All 7 of them are old enough to be my parents (or grandparents). It didn’t take long for us to endear ourselves to each other. For the sake of brevity here, I walked away from the conversation being reminded of something God showed me earlier this year: It’s all about His glory. My life… the story he has given and is writing for me… is meant to bring Him glory.

    And later as I was falling asleep, I connected the dots in my mind back to this “conversation” here.

    If it’s all about His glory, then the changes in our lives must be too.

    I loved your picture (literally and figuratively) of God paying for a Maserati and getting a beater. And in the context of His glory, it occurred to me that if he’d started with a nicer car, the contrast would be diminished.

    (though I’m just now posting this, I wrote it out before you posted part two… so I’m going to leave this response the way it is and continue responding on part two)

    ReplyDelete