Dear friends,
I vividly remember my mum taking me to see the 1980 South African comedy film The God’s Must be Crazy. When the Coke bottle landed in the sand and was picked up by a Kalahari Desert bushman I giggled. It felt like a simpler time – not just because I was young but because the movie captured the wonderful cultural naivety of Africa’s tribes who were immune from the ills of the West and the complications of a capitalist driven economy.
But we all grow up and life never stays simple. Suffering and sadness will be the lot of all who draw breath in this world. So what is God/s doing about it?
I was fascinated by the comments made by Thailand’s Army Commander this week about his prayers for the boys and the rescue mission. He said he was praying to Phra Pirun, the “rain god”, but only for three days of no rain at a time for “if I ask for more, he may not grant it”. A more indulgent prayer could upset this “god” and he may not grant any dry spell at all. You may be right to ask, what sort of God would send rain when the world is “praying” for their survival? A crazy one?
We pray to the one true God of the universe and yet, sometimes there is rain when we don’t need it, suffering when we can’t deal with it and sadness when we can’t overcome it. We know God is sovereign over us but what do we do when it doesn’t feel like he is sovereign for us?
I want to encourage you to look to Jesus as he enters Jerusalem. Read Luke 19:28-48 again. Jesus’ eyes are full of tears. He is the Son of God. He knows he is about to die a painful death but he will come back to life again. He knows this is God’s plan and he has willingly chosen to be a part of it. He knows this is the outworking of the love of God and that God is in control but he weeps for those who will be lost and later for his own plight.
This is a wonderfully helpful picture. Your belief and trust in our sovereign God doesn’t mean you can’t cry or cry out. It doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real. It doesn’t mean you have to ignore the pain and suffering of life. And it doesn’t mean God has stopped loving you or gone mad.
What we see in Jesus is that even in suffering, God’s love and compassion is not overridden or eliminated by his sovereignty. Jesus both knows God’s love, trusts God plans and weeps. It’s a picture of the reality that God is good and cares for and loves you even when life is no longer simple. So what do we do? We keep walking, with tears in our eyes, trusting in the love and sovereignty of God.
Many in our church are struggling – life is not simple – please know you are not alone. Our staff are only too willing to visit and pray, to read the scriptures with you and remind you of the love of God and to weep with you as we give thanks for the love and sovereignty of God. Please, just ask.
With prayers,
Nigel