March 1

Written by Bill Grandi on March 1st, 2019

My title for this devotion is Doomsayer or Grace-giver.

Our community and “my” church has been hit lately with some hard-hitting events:

  • The death of a friend brought over 2200 people to his viewing and funeral. He fought a wicked type of cancer for over 3 years and lived 18 months longer than expected.
  • Strong rain several weekends ago caused some flood and property damage.
  • The mother of some friends-one family belongs to the church-went downhill quickly after a 10 year battle with Parkinsons. She died this week.
  • A 12 y/o girl born at 21 weeks who lived but never walked, talked, fed herself or functioned on her own but was deeply loved unexpectedly died last weekend. She is dancing in heaven.
  • One lady who had Stage 4 breast cancer has fought it for over a year. Radiation-to give her some quality of life-is now her only option unless a clinical trial comes up.
  • A friend’s healthy young son was hit by the most severe form of Crohn’s disease and has now lost 140+ pounds.

In his book, In the Shadow of Grace, G.C.Morgan is talking about Titanic and gives the example of some friends. Mr. Snead, a member of Westminster (the church Morgan preached at in England), was on his way to America to initiate a new interest in religious matters and drowned. A good friend, Mr. Harper, was on his way to Chicago Bible Institute for 3 months of lecturing, also perished. Morgan’s friend Stuart Holden had booked passage on Titanic, but his wife’s illness prevented him from going. (p.70)

God’s ways are far beyond our ability to grasp. Some live; some die. Some die from cancer; some beat it. I think one of the most maddening, frustrating, fruitless and sometimes useless things to do is to try to figure out the “why?” question. I know we have been designed to be curious people but sometimes some questions are never meant to be and never will be answered. To seek the answer to “why” is an effort in futility. Maybe the real approach is “what now?” Now that this has happened, how does God want me to respond?”

“Father, Scripture says, ‘Your ways are not my way and your thoughts are not my thoughts.’ Your ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine. Help me to remember that as I face unanswerable questions and confusing situations. You are not obligated to give me answers; I’m not ‘authorized’ to demand answers. Help me to trust your goodness and ways.”

 

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Asking why is an exercise in futility when bad things happen to good people. I love that you challenge us to ask, instead, “what now?” We do need to trust in God’s will and His ways.
    Blessings, Bill!

  2. Ryan S says:

    I agree with Martha, asking why when an answer will likely never be understand for disasters such as these is futile. It can only lead to bitterness, distrust, anger, sadness, etc… I too, love the “what now” approach… Grow, learn, move forward. I live in a broken world, surrounded by broken people… and I too am broken. There will be disasters, bad things will happen. However, my hope is not in this world or the people or my self… My hope is in our God that is not of this world.