Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

Look for the Good (2/28/06)

I write this with about as heavy a heart as I have ever had.

Those of you intimately connected to our church already know that Dale Lea Kipe was struck by a car on Monday. A routine lunchtime errand to the bank ended up in the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma operating room. In five-plus hour operation, part of her skull was removed to relieve pressure from swelling. As I write this (on Wednesday) she is still in critical condition but improving slowly.

Of course the big question when something like this happens is always "Why?" Why did God allow this? Why did God do this? Why didn't God stop this? Such questions are natural & normal, & were even asked in various places within Scripture.

Unfortunately, the answers given by God rarely satisfied, & usually left the questioner with the stark choice of trusting God or not. Period.

Job never got even a scintilla of a clue as to why his troubles befell him. When Jesus was informed about a particular disaster, the essence of his reply was, "Make sure you're right with God because it could happen to you." (Luke 13:1ff)

Not content with such broad & blunt responses, however, we become experts at concocting speculations about God's intent: Maybe the person had sin in their life. Maybe God is sending a warning to others. Maybe people weren't praying enough. Or perhaps more cynically, maybe God isn't as in charge as we thought He was. On & on the guessing game goes, to no satisfying conclusion.

Having played this game myself for a long time, I've landed on a more fulfilling line of inquiry, & it is this: Stop looking for the Cause, & start looking for the Good. Because apart from a divine revelation, there's just no way to figure out the "Why" question. There may not even be an answer, other than the fact that we live in a broken world & terrible things happen. Blame it on Adam & Eve.

But when you start looking for the good, well, that's something easier to discern: Loving friends & family express their care in countless gestures of generosity & selflessness. Values & priorities get reset. People get re-appreciated & less taken for granted. The promises & hope of Scripture take on new significance. The trust factor in God goes way up. All of these, & more, are good things that, for whatever reason, are made possible only through the pain.

None of us knows how this will play out with Dale Lea. Like the Joppa church in Acts 9 that lost Tabitha, "who was always doing good & helping the poor", we grieve & fervently cry out to God so spare her & return her giving ways to us. God said "Yes" to that prayer, & He may say the same to us. Or not. Whichever, I will look for the good, & trust through tears that the Potter does indeed know what He's doing with His clay.


Jim Dewar --