By the time my father retired in 1993, I was in stage 3 in my relationship with my Dad.
Stage One is best represented in a discussion I had with someone when I was 4 years old. We saw a butterfly and I ended the discussion with this statement: "It's a ‘flutterby’, my daddy said so!"
Stage Two occurred in my teenage years. The statement in stage one changed to a question in stage 2. The question was: "Why did my daddy say so?" I never realized how much grief that question would bring me.
By 1993, when I had 3 children; the question was now back to a statement: "I am now beginning to understand why my daddy said so". Because of my three children, I was able to say "Dad, Thank you for all your hard work."
Lets take this idea from the physical level to the spiritual level. God is our father. In John 14: 6 Jesus makes this statement, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." As new Christians we can sing this song with confidence: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so.
But as we continue to grow in the faith, we start to have questions. Questions like this: "Why do bad things happen to good people"? And if you think that this is only a theoretical question for me, let me put it in my own words. "Why was my son born with a genetic disorder and why did he die at 9 months"?
Then we read about Job. Job had the same questions we do. After all his questions, God responds in chapter 40 verse 8: "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?"
Would we reject Jesus Christ because bad things have happened to us? The sin is not that we struggle with questions but that we would condemn God to justify ourselves. If we humble ourselves before Jesus then God can lead us back to Him. Today, let us examine ourselves, recognize where we are in relationship to God and strive to sing with a pure heart: "Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so".
John 14:6-7 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Stage One is best represented in a discussion I had with someone when I was 4 years old. We saw a butterfly and I ended the discussion with this statement: "It's a ‘flutterby’, my daddy said so!"
Stage Two occurred in my teenage years. The statement in stage one changed to a question in stage 2. The question was: "Why did my daddy say so?" I never realized how much grief that question would bring me.
By 1993, when I had 3 children; the question was now back to a statement: "I am now beginning to understand why my daddy said so". Because of my three children, I was able to say "Dad, Thank you for all your hard work."
Lets take this idea from the physical level to the spiritual level. God is our father. In John 14: 6 Jesus makes this statement, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." As new Christians we can sing this song with confidence: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so.
But as we continue to grow in the faith, we start to have questions. Questions like this: "Why do bad things happen to good people"? And if you think that this is only a theoretical question for me, let me put it in my own words. "Why was my son born with a genetic disorder and why did he die at 9 months"?
Then we read about Job. Job had the same questions we do. After all his questions, God responds in chapter 40 verse 8: "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?"
Would we reject Jesus Christ because bad things have happened to us? The sin is not that we struggle with questions but that we would condemn God to justify ourselves. If we humble ourselves before Jesus then God can lead us back to Him. Today, let us examine ourselves, recognize where we are in relationship to God and strive to sing with a pure heart: "Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so".
John 14:6-7 (NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
posted by Glen at 8:04 AM
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