Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday February 18, 2010

I do not remember a time when as a child someone in the middle of problems would not say, with an all knowing smirk, "Well, it's all in how you look at it." The people I heard make the statement were usually so drunk they could not see an elephant in the kitchen, though they professed to having been attacked by a pink one.

That there is a kernel of truth in the wise wisdom of the alky's of my childhood is true, but like most things I heard it breaks down along a tough road. A friend stated on his Facebook page a much better gem and one I can get a little more excited about. My friend labeled the statement as by "Anonymous" but I think he did not want to give his wife credit. Local Pastor, Bob Parker wrote:

"Unbelief judges God in the presence of difficulty. Faith judges difficulty in the presence of God."

Shades of "It is all in how you look at it?"

Not really. Pastor Parker's phrase factors in the workings of the Lord in our life and the importance of accepting the truth that God deals with us on the bases of His love for us, as in giving His only begotten Son for our benefit, even though He knows we are out of whack, no matter how you look at it.

Difficulty, troubles, heartache, you put a name on yours, and then ask yourself, "Am I permitting this?? to control my life? Am I focused on the difficulty, so much so that I cannot seem to get to first base in life?"

An observable trait in homo sapiens is the desire for ease and security. God is really not interested in the things we long for, but in our growth, our becoming like Christ. The "sandpaper" experiences of life are often simply the Lord rubbing out the rough spots. I admit that on many occasions due to my stubbornness He has reached into the divine tool pouch and brought out the hammer and chisel. Nonetheless He is, as Joel Hemphill wrote, "Still working on me."

Biblically oriented people believe that God is bigger than our difficulty. This belief often does NOT make the pain go away but it DOES give us understanding as in the case of the Ancient Sufferer, Job, namely that God's purposes are of more importance than our comfort and in the end we are grandly blessed by patiently awaiting the revealing of His plan. Paul teaches the entire creation awaits the; "glorious manifestation of the sons of God."

Larry Lilly Copyright (C) 2010 Use with credit.

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