For my "devotions" (i.e., my time of screaming "HELP!!") in the morning lately I've been going to one passage over and over and over. Today I printed it off so I can whip it out when needed. It's what I would call "my 9-1-1 passage." Specifically I'm talking about Romans 8: 26-39.
What has struck me is that if a Christian can grasp, really grasp--absorb deep, deep inside--what Paul's talking about there, he or she basically would be able to handle anything. I mean, that's exactly what Paul is saying, quite explicitly.
And the nice thing about Paul saying it is that he wasn't some kind of conceited windbag who'd floated through life having just graduated from seminary with top honors thinking he knew it all. No no no. Paul had been beaten up, almost died again and again, gotten majorly depressed (see II Corinthians) and yet still kept bouncing back like one of those lead-weighted punching bags.
In short, people, (and maybe my style reflects watching too much Glen Beck lately), this stuff works. (If it doesn't work, I might add, well then why don't we all party, party, party, for tomorrow we die?)
In any case, this morning I was going through my usual internal struggle, read the aforementioned passage and thought hard about it again, and, lo and behold, deep inside there came to me (what it this emotion??) peace.
Now it doesn't always work that way--of this I am well aware. God also tests our faith, causing us (as one old writer once put it) to "walk the floor of hell" for shorter or longer periods. But He's a Father, not a sadist, and sooner or later as we transverse those Infernal Regions, we spot in the distance the glimmer of a sign marked "EXIT".
(And thus endeth today's homily...)
What has struck me is that if a Christian can grasp, really grasp--absorb deep, deep inside--what Paul's talking about there, he or she basically would be able to handle anything. I mean, that's exactly what Paul is saying, quite explicitly.
And the nice thing about Paul saying it is that he wasn't some kind of conceited windbag who'd floated through life having just graduated from seminary with top honors thinking he knew it all. No no no. Paul had been beaten up, almost died again and again, gotten majorly depressed (see II Corinthians) and yet still kept bouncing back like one of those lead-weighted punching bags.
In short, people, (and maybe my style reflects watching too much Glen Beck lately), this stuff works. (If it doesn't work, I might add, well then why don't we all party, party, party, for tomorrow we die?)
In any case, this morning I was going through my usual internal struggle, read the aforementioned passage and thought hard about it again, and, lo and behold, deep inside there came to me (what it this emotion??) peace.
Now it doesn't always work that way--of this I am well aware. God also tests our faith, causing us (as one old writer once put it) to "walk the floor of hell" for shorter or longer periods. But He's a Father, not a sadist, and sooner or later as we transverse those Infernal Regions, we spot in the distance the glimmer of a sign marked "EXIT".
(And thus endeth today's homily...)
posted by Ted | 8:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home