When God took our dear Betty home, He gave no thought to the number of people it would take to fill her shoes. When the coffee doesn’t get made and the flowers don’t show up on the altar on a Sunday morning, we say “I guess that must be something Betty used to do.” Now people have to step out of their comfort zones to take over these jobs –it takes teams of people to do what Betty did. Wouldn’t it have been better if God had left Betty in good health so she could have kept on working for us? You have to wonder about God’s economy.
God tells us to go the ends of the Earth with the gospel message. It costs a lot of money to get there. We are there for a week, we tell people that their hope is in Jesus, we weep with them and then we go home with the plight of the poor seared in our hearts. They may receive the peace that passes all understanding and a coupon for the consolation and joy that will be theirs in Heaven, but they are still hungry. Wouldn’t it be better if we just wrote a check to a world hunger project?
When a saint falls ill, God sometimes moves His people to gather in great numbers to fast and pray. He knows the outcome – maybe the saint will get better and maybe he won’t. He engages more people in the process than can possibly be necessary.
Sometimes it’s a small child born in ill health who requires an inordinate amount of time, money and resources to cling to life. God lavishes His grace and mercy on one sick child, as if the supply of love were limitless. Does this make sense?It’s the Christmas season. The economy is bad. Our churches and charities plead for our time, money and resources to keep the doors open and hope alive for people who suffer. It would make sense to take into account the devalued dollar and uncertain times and cut back our giving, wouldn’t you think?
In this season of giving, we are challenged in our thinking by the God who did not spare his own Son, the God whose ways are not our ways, the God who loves us above all measure.
No comments:
Post a Comment