Patterns of Irony

As I was poked and prodded upon the last several days, awaiting biopsy procedures and MRI scans, a truth kept returning to my mind: 
The World is good, the World is fallen, the World can be redeemed.

Even with hurting organs and the rattling of a machine around my head, regardless of how things work now, one day the world, myself and all I know will fit into a pattern that makes sense because of the Providence of God.

Tragically, things don't make much sense right now in life.
I'm 40 years old and it seems that my body keeps growing wider and its parts are failing more often than not.
Maybe that's how it is supposed to be, but I don't think so and I refuse to accept this state as the final state to which I am predestined.

Personally, it doesn't make sense physically, nor does it make sense to me spiritually that Christians have so much trouble communicating with God and learning His will for their lives.

For many Christians, a conversation with God is like the old phone systems we knew when I was a child; there tends to be a lot of bleed-in from static, hiding His voice especially when there is a storm raging.
We may faintly hear His voice, but it wavers in and out; not because He's not speaking clearly but because the fallen nature of the world has disrupted our conversation.

The ultimate triumph of history is the reconciliation of the universe from how it is to how it is to be.
Another way of stating it is to redeem the world and all that it is in it back to its original state.
The world we know now was spoiled after the perfect creative acts of God; yet, God is not defeated.
Somehow, some way, many times unknown to us how - God uses that which is fallen in the world to combat the evil toward which the world tilts at this time.
One day, that tilt will be adjusted and all will be reconciled through the redemption of His Son.

I know that those whom I knew years ago in high school, college, those with whom I rode in the police departments or with whom I was deployed - many of them do not accept all that I write.
Some knew me in what I call 'my other life,' some because they have their own beliefs and some because they never knew what I believed at all.
But mostly, it is because they haven't had the experiences that I have had.
And one of the greatest experiences, or lessons, that I have learned is how God uses bad things, even bad people, as the raw material for His good.

For Example: Today we stamp an ancient mode of execution into gold necklaces; it is the crucifix. Nobody would think of making a tiny electric chair into a piece of jewelry, but that is essentially what we have done with the Cross.
The Cross was the most torturing, humiliating, and excruciating mode of execution ever devised by humans.
At the time, the world believed Christ was a horrible failure - including the disciples. 
Yet, His so-called 'failure' on the Cross didn't make sense until the end; it didn't make sense until the resurrection.

When we trust God to weave our bad decisions into good, to tend to our broken hearts and relationships, when we trust Him to find success in our missed opportunities, victory in our pain, our illnesses and our regret - when we trust Him with these things, we are trusting Him with the very core of our lives to be brought into the fullness of His overall redemptive victory.
And all of this is a trust which happens in a future which we cannot yet see, but we receive glimpses of in this world even now.

Unlike some television ministries, we must admit that not everything is immediately good to those who seek God. Many times it has proven disastrous for the seeker.
For example, I was once sent to a distant country where converting to Christianity is illegal; in fact, it is punishable by death. 
After arriving, I soon learned that about a week beforehand a young woman converted to Christianity and was executed for her "crime."

Seeking God and His righteousness is our first calling, but our seeking God does not always end in immediate good for the seeker.
Yet, our seeking has potential.

You see, a Christian starts with the conclusion that a good and Holy God will restore creation and sees all of history as proceeding toward that end - regardless of what happens in the meantime here on earth.
When a Grand Master sits across from an amateur on the chess board, victory is assured; regardless of how bad the Grand Master makes it look to build the confidence in the amateur.
Sometimes God will put us in rough situations to allow us to come through them so that our faith will be built and our confidence strengthened in Him.

In reality, about 3/4 of the Bible is a story of the failure of God's people.
And this should be an encouragement for every Christian because in spite of those failures, God still accomplished His will.
For example, in the rejection of the Law, the Prophets and the Messiah; God gave the Gospel of grace to the nations.

In the miracle of grace, our personal failures and spiritual defeats can become very powerful tools in the hands of a Mighty God.
But this only happens if we allow Him to use our sins, failures and defeats in the way He chooses and desires; for only God knows what 'might' be brought out of them.

The great thing is that it is not our good which God tends to use; God brings good out of the evil we do.
How did the Israelites become a nation? Through the leadership of Moses.
How did Moses learn to lead them to the Promised Land? The Exodus from Egypt.
Why did the Exodus happen? God was delivering His people from slavery.
How did God's people become enslaved? The Egyptians were scared of their numerical advantage.
How did they get to Egypt in the first place? Their relative Joseph was there in government leadership and sent for them.
How did Joseph get to Egypt? His brothers sold him into slavery.

And in Joseph's words - what they meant for evil, God meant for good.
Simply put, if God only used our good to promote good - He'd quickly run out of raw material.

One grand question for the ages is this: 'How do we receive personal suffering as a blessing?'
Seriously - are we supposed to take the 'grin & bear it' approach?
I don't think so - the saints of the Bible tangled with God when their world was falling to pieces; sometimes for our own peace of mind, we will do the same.
Yet, deep down the Christian knows the character of God is true and that trusting in God's will means that God will use any circumstance to bring about His desires.
And these desires will always be good, pure and Holy.

If we take a limited view of our pain and suffering, we are guaranteed to walk away from a struggle of faith with more questions than any answers we might discover.
Yet, if we not only believe, but know in our spirit that the ultimate triumph in suffering is the final redemption of the Son of God - questions we may have in this life about pain and suffering will not see so important any more.

Remember Job?
He was the man who wasn't just upset with what seemed to be unjust suffering at God's hand; he was furious and went into a raging indictment against God Himself.
But when God came on the scene, He did not answer Job's questions but reminded Job of His Providence and Sovereignty over all things in the universe.
And while the questions weren't answered, Job seems quite satisfied by what God had said to him.

I cannot explain in totality Job's feelings, emotions or his mindset 4,000 years ago in his conversation with God. 
But I do believe we have a few hints in Scripture.
It was enough for Job or for anyone for that matter, when God responded and reminded them of His Sovereign control.
There is a definite 'peace which surpasses all understanding' in knowing that God is on His throne and in control of all things - not only the universe generally but specifically in our lives as well.

If we could remember this in our times of trial, pain and suffering; our times of biopsies and cancer, there will be a great security and peace brought to our fearful hearts.

You see, God's ultimate will cannot be thwarted.
In human history, a person can go back through the annals of the ages and discover that humanity has constantly tried to throw road blocks in the way of God.
Each one, whether it was the destruction of His people or the thwarting of His Gospel - all of them have been overcome.

In the here and now, God allows us to find ourselves in harm's way.
Yet, the character of God tells us these times do not reflect His intentional will, but his permissive will as the fallen world evolves around us.
And in a fallen world, bad things are going to happen; the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

But the one hope we have is the truth that as God restores Creation, so too will you and I be restored into the perfection we should have known from the Beginning.
It is a glorious end to a very ironic world.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.