Madness

The other day I found myself, yet again, saying something to Isabella that I felt like I needed to hear more than she did. We were talking about obedience and why it's important for her to listen to and obey her parents. It went something like this:

"It's important for you to listen and obey because we can see the big picture. Like, if you chased a ball into the street. Daddy says stop, not because I don't want you to have your ball, but because..." 

"Because a car could hit me?" 

"Yes, baby, that's right. I might see a car coming that you don't see. You have to trust me. You may not know why I want you to do or not do something, but I promise there's a reason. There's a method to the madness. Sometimes obeying is not because you understand but because you trust me to take care of you."

It blows me away how much I learn about God's love and care for His children through parenting my own. "There's a reason." "Trust me." God says the same thing to us on a daily basis. I've been reading in Jeremiah this week and I don't think it's coincidence that this verse has been stuck on repeat in my mind:

"Are there any among the idols of the nations that give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in You, For you are the one who has done all these things." Jeremiah 14:22

Nothing provides for us, cares for us, treasures us like our God. The rain in this passage is just one example of the incredible blessing that God pours out on us each day. It's hard for me to look at how broken this world is and not wish that somehow God would put an end to all the suffering. But if I think about it for any length of time, I always end up at the same conclusion:

So much could happen that doesn't.

The Fall ruined it all. Sin should have resulted in the complete destruction of all things. We should expect nothing less from a holy God. And yet we experience good things. Everything in this world that brings happiness is a gift, one that we don't deserve. For every bad thing that happens, a thousand good things happen that we never should have experienced. Every sunrise. Every rain shower. Every newborn baby. "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above..."

That immense blessing is God's grace lavished upon us, a grace that is freely and undeservingly given to us. When we deserved condemnation, God offered forgiveness. When we deserved death, God offered life.

So, Jeremiah says, hope in Him. Trust Him.

He is worthy of our trust. Even when we can't see the "method to the madness," we can trust that God has our best interests at heart because He has already blessed us so much more than we could ever deserve.

Stop doing things your own way or in your own strength. His plan is perfect. His strength is sufficient. His timing is impeccable.

There is a reason.

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That you might know Christ,