Waiting for the day

This morning Matt spoke about Colossians 1:24-26, and the reality of suffering. I wrote in my last post that pain entering my life taking away the things of this world I held dear was what brought me back to the reality of God, and Matt's words underscored that, as do his actions as a man suffering from cancer.

Our media is filled with images and descriptions of the pain and turmoil that is life on Earth. Americans are shielded from so much yet we still have our share, whether it's disease, murder, rape, neglect, or any of the other millions of names pain goes by in this world. As Paul wrote earlier in Colossians, these things combined with our separation from God in our hearts can drive us farther away. We want to have what's good, but what do we get? We lose everything--or we have it all but realize it's meaningless. Our children die--or they grow to hate us. Our relatives abuse us--or they fling us to the four winds never to know us. We grow old, get sick, and die, or just kick off one day by accident.

But what is the alternative? Where is our hope? Our hope is in knowing that we are meant to be eternal, though this world and these bodies are not. Our hope is in knowing God, and in knowing that because of His Son we can stand before Him justified, free from guilt, to enter life as it was meant to be. Life takes a lot of swings at me, but God has been gracious enough to help me remember what's bigger. More dangerous are those good times, but that's what each morning is for: new grace, new chapter of the Word, new prayers to say.

I'm 45 sermons into John Piper's Romans series now, and it's made a big impact on my thinking. I find that I'm able to break it all down much easier, and I find myself very grateful that God has graced us with men like him, able to explain things so clearly.

Prayer requests of my own, for those who are so inclined: we're auditioning some new drummers this week, so please pray that we'd be wise in choosing and that we would find someone that will help build up the group. After all we've been through it would be nice to find another person who will take joy in his work with us. Also, with the new season comes new stuff at work, pray for a drive to be diligent in everything. There are some other things, but I'll post about them later when they're more firm.