There is a phrase I've been hearing a lot more, or at least noticing people saying it more, recently and it has started to really get me thinking. That phrase usually goes something like "Do you think God has a sense of humor?" or "God has a funny way of doing things". Not a very complex question, but one I'm sure that all of us have said or thought at some time in our lives. However, recently I've began to think about this idea in a new light, and realize when people say this, its actually their thinking that's doing funny things.
Ephesians 5:17 says "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is". Now, the Lord's specific will for each one of us is not something we can go find on a bookshelf, but a baseline of it can of course. I'm talking about the bible of course. By reading the word and seeking to follow the lessons of Jesus and his disciples, we can begin to take the necessary steps down the path God has set for us since before we were born. But it's when we get down to the specifics that we begin to question what God has in store for us.
In a previous blog, I shared the story of the death of my grandma. She was such a loving and devoted christian and a wonderful example to me. My grandpa was not a christian while my grandma was alive, even though she tried very hard to get him to come to church and learn about God. After her death, my grandpa finally started coming to church and is now a strong christian. While I wish that it could have happened another way, I think that the death of my grandma was necessary for my grandpa to become a christian. God knew this, just as he knows what we all need as it says in Matthew 6:8, "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.", and while I might not have understood why it happened at the time, he knew why it was necessary.
While in the garden of Gethsemane right before his crucifixion, Jesus prays in Matthew 26:39, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Jesus knew that even if he thought there had to be another way for our salvation to be obtained, he still had to follow God's will. For God's will is something that may not make sense to us all the time, but it makes sense to him, and that's all that should matter. So from now on, I will always try to remember that it is not God's thinking that is funny, but it is actually mine because it's not my place to decide what should happen in my life, but his. However, if I can hope for one thing, it's that why I am following the Lord's will, I will have a smile on my face.
Matthew 16:24 - "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
