Shadows and Light
Bad news or tragedy brings the question to mind, is God
really good? That question has been
raised by me and many people over the months since Scott’s death. How could God do this? Why take Scott and leave my grandmothers who
are both in their 90’s and have lived full lives? This is a conversation that my mom and I have
had a few times in the last couple of days –in talking about recent health
crisis for friends and family. About a
month ago I began reading a book entitled, “You’ll Get Through This” by Max Lucado. I read a few chapters and then put it down
for a couple of weeks until tonight. It
really spoke to my heart and I want to share a short excerpt from the book.
“Our
choice comes down to this: trust God or
turn away. He will cross the line. He will shatter our expectations. And we will be left to make a decision. . . .Is God good when the outcome is not? . .
. God owes us no more explanation than this.
Besides, if he gave one, what makes us think we would understand
it? Might the problem be less God’s plan
and more our limited perspective?
Suppose the wife of George Frideric Handel came upon a page of her
husband’s famous oratorio Messiah. The
entire work was more than two hundred pages long. Imagine that she discovered one page on the
kitchen table. On it her husband had
written only one measure in a minor key, one that didn’t work on its own. Suppose she, armed with the fragment of
dissonance, marched into his studio and said,’This music makes no sense. You are a lousy composer.’ What would he think? Perhaps something similar to what God thinks
when we do the same. We point to our
minor key—our sick child, crutches, or famine – and say, ‘This makes no sense!’
Yet out of all his creation how much have we seen? And of all his work how much do we
understand? Only a sliver. A doorway peephole. Is it possible that some explanation for
suffering exists of which we know nothing at all? What if God’s answer to the
question of suffering requires more megabytes than our puny minds have been
given?”
This brings to mind a conversation I had with a friend about
a year ago, in discussing our individual personal griefs. We were discussing the many questions that we
will have for God about the why of each of our situations. It was then that it hit me, when I get to
heaven I don’t think I will have questions for God because from there I will be
able to see God’s entire masterpiece and it will make sense. In photography, light is the most important
thing. In the months since I have begun
playing around with photography I have learned that light is the key to getting
the best pictures. Yet, when you look at
the best photos, the shadows set off the light and bring the most beauty to the
photo. From our earthly and tiny
perspective, often all we see are the shadows in the rough times. I can certainly attest to this. That gorgeous sunset or sunrise is only made
more beautiful and more dramatic by the light playing off of the shadows. We miss the beauty created and highlighted by
the shadows if all we focus on is the shadows.
It is so easy to only see the shadows and say God cannot be good if he
allows this. Yet this shadow only
highlights God’s light and wonder in the masterpiece he wants to make of our
lives.
I can say, despite the grief and loss I have experienced, .
. . GOD IS GOOD.
God is good, ALL. THE.
TIME.
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