(This post is part of a series. If you'd like to know what it's all about, go here.)
Lord, I've seen You today in the geometry of my quilt blocks. I always loved my geometry classes in school. The precision and order are so peaceful and comforting to me.
None of my teachers ever mentioned You in class, but I have only to step out my door to discover that You are the genius who invented geometry and every other form of mathematics.
You are a God of supreme order.
Your measuring stick is perfectly precise.
Your design is exactly correct.
And all of this is in stark contrast to the chaos that we encounter in this life.
In this Now moment, I am feeling the raw pain of these two realities colliding. You created all things perfectly, but when sin came into the world, so did confusion, chaos, pain, and death. And grief encompasses all these. We grieve because it isn't right.
It isn't right that precious lives have been lost in Afghanistan in recent days. It just doesn't fit into Your intended order. And so we grieve. Our world has fallen short of Your perfection.
Oh, God, I pray for every mom and dad, every husband or wife, every child, every sibling, every friend, and every brother in combat who has been touched by the pain of these deaths. I pray that each weeping heart would turn toward You for strength. You are the God of all comfort. Come and comfort these loved ones now. You are close to the brokenhearted. Be close to these broken hearts now. Jesus, You bore our sorrows and griefs. Come alongside these grieving ones and carry their pain. Holy Spirit, just as You hovered over the waters at the creation of the earth, hover over these hurting ones and create blessings out of the loss, bring beauty up out of the tragedy, bring triumph up out the grave, for You have triumphed over death. Thank You for being the God of peace and order. I worship You now, in Jesus' name. Amen.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
(Psalm 34:18)
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
(Matthew 5:4)
love these pictures! wow! they are really examples of how perfectly and orderly God puts things together...
ReplyDeleteAND THEN...the contrast. Such as the deaths in Afghanistan you referenced.
My past week pales in comparison to death and war...but I guess it is a war of sorts on the home front.
I like to follow through with commitments- such as my commitment to walk these 40 days with you and deliberately post where I find Jesus each day!! Yet I feel I have been swimming in chaos and craziness for 5 days! It seems too much uncontrollable busy-ness, commitments---I see change around the corner, but the fall always brings new sets of commitments. So, the ebb and flow of life....
It seems objects in my house have spinned out of place at a speed greater then I can get them back in the right spot; laundry has piled quicker then I can wash it. And I REALLY like the orderly pictures above...
In the hurriedness and the pressure of demands and 'to dos', I know Jesus is there. Jesus lived in the busy-ness and also escaped the busy-ness to be with the Father. I see Jesus in creation and in science---even though i was always very very bad at science. (i was good at math, however):) I think Jesus is like the gravity that stops objects in motion. Is that inertia, Rachelle? Okay, so since you are the science and math person--and the teacher--why don't you explain to us all the laws of of what keeps objects in motion from spinning out of control, what keeps an object orbiting perfectly. I am certain there is a spiritual parallel in the law of physics. Isn't there some law of proportional force? There has to be a spiritual parallel to that....