i'm reading a philip yancey book right now entitled "disappointment with god." i recommend it. in chapter 12 he talks about how hope is the deepest of human emotions--not just among believers, but throughout humanity. countless fairy tales and cartoons give us the message that there will be a happy ending. when faced with unimaginable tragedy or the common cold, most people have the mindset that it'll all work out, everything will be okay.
yancey quotes tolkien's thoughts on the message of fairy tales: "[Fairy tale] does not deny the existence of...sorrow and failure: the possibility of theses is necessary to the joy of the deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat...giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief."
interesting. isn't that the hope given by the old testament prophets and believed by christians today--that the world will not end in "universal final defeat," but in Joy? but what about right now? sometimes the end of the world seems a little too far off. must i wait until the end of the world for answers to my questions about god or a solution to my being disappointed with him?
isaiah 63.9 tells of god's relationship with his people: "in all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. in his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."
i have a hard time believing that god is distressed when i'm distressed or that he carries me with love and mercy--not in the future, but right now. recently, a professor asked me what about me pleases jesus. i had a hard time answering her and honestly, i'm still thinking about her question. i have a hard time believing that jesus loves me and is pleased with me right now. i find myself thinking that he'll really love me when i quit wrestling with all these questions or when i quit being a crazy or when i figure out how to have faith or how to pray.
but isn't the message of christmas, the hope of emmanuel, that god came to be with us in our everyday lives right now? like isaiah proclaims in isaiah 40.1, "comfort, comfort my people, says your god." MY people. YOUR god. there's a covenant relationship there. comfort, hope, peace available right now through the coming of jesus. do i believe that? rather, do i live like i believe that?
1 comment:
I really enjoyed this one.
On a sidenote, I have that Only Hope song from A Walk to Remember stuck in my head. Hahaha Thank you
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