Not Knowing Why
Complete knowledge doesn’t exist here on earth. I’m going to have to learn to live with unanswered questions and choose instead to act with grace and live in faith that one day I will know the whole story.

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Complete knowledge doesn’t exist here on earth. I’m going to have to learn to live with unanswered questions and choose instead to act with grace and live in faith that one day I will know the whole story.
Being alert and discerning, basing one’s opinion on the absolute truth, is a sign of maturity, a mark of excellence in a life. But pasting labels on people and churches and schools with only partial facts, feelings, and opinions to back those statements up is worse than unfair...it’s un-Christian.
Insensitivity is painful. It’s damaging to our relationships, and it grieves our God. To be thick is understandable. To be thick and tired of it is commendable. To be thick and tired of it but unwilling to change—is inexcusable.
The criminal is now the hero, sadly misunderstood and mistreated. The victim is the selfish sadist who decides to press charges because he is bigoted, rash, or confused. The cold, hard facts are softened and slanted by the semantic footwork of slick political pawns.
Mankind is neither guaranteed nor promised anything in this life except trouble and death. Some the Lord wills to be rich, some poor, some male, some female, some black, some white. That’s not inequality. That’s diversity.
How would you communicate the message of James 5:13–16 to people enduring chronic pain or illness? How would you address their deep questions about God’s character? How would you emphasize the importance of prayer and confession in the midst of suffering?
If there’s no hope, there’s no spring. But because there IS hope, the winter you’re enduring will end.
We need each other. You need someone and someone needs you. Isolated islands we’re not. To make this thing called life work, we gotta lean and support. And relate and respond. And give and take. And confess and forgive.
The city of Ephesus, where Timothy lived and ministered, boasted a freshwater delivery and sewage removal system complete with aqueducts and terra cotta pipes for distribution and disposal at sea.
Esther’s commitment to God and ability to do what seemed impossible gave me hope. My weight problem seemed small compared to what Esther faced. If she could do what needed to be done, so could I.