During the diversion I was reminded and informed of a couple of important notes that helps on life’s journey. Now and then I’ll post them here for your perusal and consumption if you so please.
If you haven’t realised already, God has a sense of humour. By that I don’t mean God is a stand-up comedian. (“Hey did you hear the one about Cain, I asked for a sacrifice, but he wasn’t Abel! I’m here for eternity.”) I mean when you consider the ways of God and the means by which He brings about our sanctification, often in hindsight you’ve got to chuckle.
Look at some of the stories in scripture and wryly chuckle at God who tells the apparently stammering Moses out in the wilderness to get his behind going to take the people out of Egypt. Look at the wimp Gideon knocking idols down in the night before going on a crazy suicide mission with less than 400 men to take on the mighty army of the nation who holds them captives.
I mean it’s not laugh out loud hilarious, but there’s a sense of humour with God confounding what others would consider common sense (don’t get an old stutterer to take on the super power of the day; don’t go picking fights with your oppressors when you’ve hardly got the manpower) and turning it upside down and still getting glory from the situation.
In both those scenarios there were people suffering greatly. Sometimes in the struggle of the journey whilst walking in the truth of freedom from sin through Jesus there is the ever haunting melody of still making mistakes and perhaps never being able to overcome deeply ingrained habits. Of course this is the Accuser of the brethren doing what he can to take us off the truth and yet you would have thought that God would have just clicked his fingers and removed those obstacles.
Rather they appear to persist and look to be getting the better of us to the point that we’re on our faces about to wave the white flag. Then just when all hope appears lost, He comes through again with the route of escape, with the means of victory against all odds, with a way of getting the win that baffles observers and defies the odds and the common sense of the day. In fact when others were gloating thinking we were down for the count, the emergence from the pit and the look of surprise and shock on their faces is enough to make you laugh (albeit inside, cos you don’t want to upset them).
God’s sense of humour doesn’t end there. The most beautiful gifts He gives us are often wrapped up in paper that requires the gifts of the Spirit to help unwrap. After the honeymoon period with your beloved there can be a period where the shine and gloss of that initial love is somewhat faded and out comes the good, the bad and the ugly followed by the worse and the uglier. In all that just when you want to call it quits or live in a mediocre marriage, God pops up again and points to the truth that beyond the worse and the uglier is the beautiful person He created for your good to help develop the character of Christ in you. So just when you want to throw in the towel the love burns again more fierce than before. And as for the children … well if children are not living proof that God has a sense of humour than you’re either not a parent or your children come from another planet.
It’s easy to get over morose and too serious about bits and pieces in life. The Bible is a book of God being glorified in the beginning, the middle and the end and those who are part of His family share in all that. That means in the larger scheme of things the trials and tribulations of today that appear overwhelming are going to be things to rejoice over and perhaps even laugh at at the end of the day. Of course we still have to get through the day and I would in no demean or minimise the real challenges of life. I would say that even in the darkest times of the diversion the light that cannot be subdued shines on the truth that we shall overcome.
So be prepared to have a chuckle with God (again) at how His wondrous ways really are past finding out.
(Photo by Cody Davis on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 