Thursday, August 23, 2007
From Sorrow, Grace
Bonnie at Intellectuelle Quotes extensively from Tony Snow about his cancer. Snow concludes by quoting scripture (Job - Pslams?)
If there is anything I have learned through the last couple of months, and I am certain there is much more to learn in the coming months, it is that if I am not content in the hollow of God's hand before the tragedy, I will not be content when it strikes.
Our faith is not something that we can hold at arms length until we need it. It is not a screwdriver to be kept in the drawer for the occassional repair. Our faith should at least be artisans tools - tools that require mastery and practice to make things right.
But God promises even more. You see when we have real mastery, We expend no effort to pick up the tools. They do the work and we just watch. Our faith becomes true rest.
When tragedy strikes in your life, and it will strike, if you are not already resting in the hollow of God's hand, you are gong to find it very hard to get there. But if you are there, all you really have to do is keep resting.
Related Tags: faiht, tragedy, Tony Snow, cancer, rest
What is man that Thou art mindful of him? We don't know much, but we know this: No matter where we are, no matter what we do, no matter how bleak or frightening our prospects, each and every one of us, each and every day, lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God's hand.Do we really believe that? Earlier in the CT piece, Snow says:
Through such trials, God bids us to choose: Do we believe, or do we not? Will we be bold enough to love, daring enough to serve, humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations? Can we surrender our concern in things that don't matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?In the wake of my father's death that choice has been so evident to me, as the people surrounding dad have taken such different paths. Snow hits on very key points with this, "humble enough to submit, and strong enough to acknowledge our limitations..." Tragedy, whether the death of a beloved parent or diagnosis and treatment for life-threatening cancer, calls us to remember that God is in charge. We can fight to try and control our circumstances or we can choose to rest in the hollow.
If there is anything I have learned through the last couple of months, and I am certain there is much more to learn in the coming months, it is that if I am not content in the hollow of God's hand before the tragedy, I will not be content when it strikes.
Our faith is not something that we can hold at arms length until we need it. It is not a screwdriver to be kept in the drawer for the occassional repair. Our faith should at least be artisans tools - tools that require mastery and practice to make things right.
But God promises even more. You see when we have real mastery, We expend no effort to pick up the tools. They do the work and we just watch. Our faith becomes true rest.
When tragedy strikes in your life, and it will strike, if you are not already resting in the hollow of God's hand, you are gong to find it very hard to get there. But if you are there, all you really have to do is keep resting.
Related Tags: faiht, tragedy, Tony Snow, cancer, rest
