I'm supposed to be either resting or studying for an exam tomorrow morning, but I am not.
I just can't help but think about how broken the world is...
People are broken
...by trials, by failures, by sickness, by pain, by poverty, by death, by loneliness, by sadness
and relationships are broken too
...between friends, between family, and between you and the Lord
I want to be able to do what I can do to bring Christ's love, comfort and blessing in this fallen and broken world - to at least share my time and comfort with a grieving family, to make amends to friends you've hurt, to give strength and encouragement to someone facing trials - but my own weakness and my own brokenness makes me unable to do so. All the more I become broken - feeling weak and helpless.
A couple of days back, I opened God's word in the hope of hearing what He has to say to me, as I experience the magnitude of the brokenness of this world. I believe, truly, from now on, I'll never forget James 1:2-18, for amidst all these, this is what the Lord told me:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds."
And the good, normal Christian that I am, responded, "Lord, are you kidding me?"
It is very difficult to grasp that behind every dark cloud is a silver lining; that everything we go through will be for our best. And I don't want to force that issue to you right now, because I myself am having a hard time embracing that.
But as I read on, the Lord told me something assuring, something enlightening:
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
The Lord might not tell you why we live in a broken world, why someone has to die, why my life has to be this way, nor why you have to struggle. He will tell you, though, how to live your life amidst a broken world; He will also tell you WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO to bring His peace, comfort and love in a broken world; He will also tell you how to bring His unity to a broken relationship.
But then again, we must believe and not doubt.
Finally, let me share something that I learned this past week. One of the greatest atheists of all time is one of the proponents of the big bang theory. They believe that from a solid mass, there was an explosion, or a big bang, that caused the universe the way it is right now.
Elementary stuff. But one very interesting fact. When this person tried to study and measure the distances between the particles that exploded during this big bang, he noticed something - the distances actually suggest and confirm that, indeed, a single mass existed in the beginning of time. When the movement of the big bang is reversed, simulating it using the distances measured, it does prove that there was one single mass in the beginning.
Now let's put this person back in the picture. As I mentioned, He is one of the greatest atheists of all time. But now, he is now open to the possibility that a God is really existing. He could never understand how a single mass was there in the beginning, and that only someone like Him - like God, can do that.
If an atheist can possibly see there's God, can you?
Can you see that God can work in your life, in your relationship, in a broken world, and reveal Himself to you?
And bring His love? His compassion? His forgiveness? His peace? His comfort?
I wish you love and blessings today.
Norman
