Why

Yesterday we heard a wonderful sermon on Matthew 27:46b "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" in which Christ quotes David from Psalm 22:1. The "why me" question! Through all we been through I cannot say that my mind has dealt greatly on the "why me" question. Yes, of course there have been the times when it crosses my mind, but probably more in a "why" question, then a "why me". A more general question of "why" does the Lord allow such things, "why" must we see James suffer so, etc. And this "why" question can simply be answered by "sin and Satan", not always simply accepted, but the answer remains simple ... we live in a broken and sinful world. Although the sermon in itself did not reveal anything earth shattering or new, it served as a gentle awakening, a reminder of what we already know, that God will never forsake us. The minister ended his sermon with a quote from Hebrews 13:5 "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." What a comfort we have.

And today to add to the many blessing we have received from the communion of saints, we received a letter. It was almost like the person had read my blog entry from Saturday and responded, except it was dated for the Thursday before I wrote my blog entry. This letter spoke clearly about our conflicting emotions ... grief as well as peace. Grief because we miss James; peace because we know he is better of, but that we can do both, in Christ our Lord. The writer acknowledged how this at times will also feel like a conflict in our mind but that we greive, as those who have hope; and we have peace in the promises of redemption and eternal life ... we can indeed do both. How comforting it is to hear that our feelings are normal and to receive words of encouragement from so many members.

And so we can go on each day again, knowing that God is there. Just as we read in the poem Footprints in the Sand ... the Lord carries us through the difficult times.