It's a Mystery

Cheekwood Gardens, Nashville

 My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9

 There is a mystery to suffering that can be the undoing of our faith if we do not make peace with it. Dr. Dobson calls this the betrayal barrier in his book, "When God Doesn't Make Sense". There will come tragedies and hardships in every life. When they come, most of us will  ask, "God, why did you let this happen?" God does not usually choose to answer all these questions. He does not offer His plans and purposes for our approval.

Scarecrow exhibit...it was October.

Paul said we should not act as if we are the Lord's counselor.  He wants us to believe and trust in him despite the things we don’t understand.  
For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? Romans 11:34

Jenny, Mike and James took Basil to the Gardens while I was at the ARN conference.

We are relieved from the responsibility of trying to figure out life’s trials and tribulations.  We haven’t been given enough information to decipher the code.  Jesus put it like this:
  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Luke 18:17).

Some of us have carried resentment against God for years and we  need to forgive God for those heartaches that we have charged to His account.  Maybe it almost sounds blasphemous to suggest that the we need to forgive God. He has done no wrong and does not need our forgiveness. But the source of bitterness must be admitted before it can be cleansed. There is no better way to get rid of it than to absolve the Lord of whatever we have blamed him for, and then ask His forgiveness for our lack of faith. It’s called reconciliation, and it is the only way you will ever be entirely free.
         If you want to read a short version of Dr. Dobson's book free, there is a PDF file that you can print or read on line here:
http://www.families.org.au/article_files/Content/When%20God%20Doesn%27t%20Make%20Sense%20%28Print%29.PDF