Holy Week Monday: Your Love Never Fails

This song has been on my mind because it uses one of my favorite verses from scripture.  The bridge of the song goes like this:

You make all things work together for my good

It is from a verse in Romans that says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Sometimes - a lot of the time - I get frustrated in the moment.  I'm not always sure why I make the decisions that I do.  I'm not always sure about the decisions of others.  I tend to have a tunnel vision view of life.  

I could put myself in the shoes - actually, probably the sandals - of one of Jesus' friends.  One of the disciples, or Mary or Martha.  Here is my friend, this man that I have come to spend so much time with.  To learn from, to care about, to trust in, to really love - and he is going to be put to death.  I would be angry and frustrated and heartbroken.  Why would Jesus have to die?  What I wouldn't be capable of seeing is that in Jesus death and resurrection, He would be preparing an eternal life for me.

God sees this.  We often talk about God's timing.  This great mystery that we often are frustrated and come into conflict with.  You want a job - God's timing.  You want to meet someone - God's timing.  You want to be married, find a house, have children - God's timing.  We have a God that works outside of time.  He is alive in the past, the present and the future all the same.  He does not work in linear time.

When I try to explain God's time to others, or try to come to terms with it myself, I liken Him to an author.  An author doesn't write a book and say, on page 31 such and such will happen because it will take the reader 30 minutes to get there.  An author carefully crafts the story, without considering time like that, because all readers are different.  They put details into exactly the right places in the story to build it into something beautiful.  I think that is how God looks at our lives.  He knows just the right places to put in the details.  It's not about hours and minutes.

Jesus on the cross was a part of the story that God is writing.  God sent Jesus to die in order to give us life.   The story continues.  God took something that was so devastating and painful for that moment in time and used it for the good of His children. 

~SP