On Having Structure

God wants us to be flexible, doesn't he? I mean, we're supposed to be like those fishermen who just got up and left everything to follow Jesus. If God calls us to go in an opposite direction than we're going, then we're supposed to just be able to drop it and go, right?

But then why all the order in the world?

I admit, I'm a math major and I love the way that in math everything just fits together nicely and the problem always works out in the end (even if you need a calculator somewhere along the line). Then, if you doubt the answer, you can just go backwards and check it against the original problem. If it all comes out alright, you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you got it right.

Why can't life be like that?

Nothing ever changes. There's a set of steps that are always the same for every variation of a particular problem. As long as you follow those steps to the letter, you know that it'll turn out right.

But instead we're given one step for everything: trust God.

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

But what do I do? I want to do something. Other than just trust.

I mean, sure I can be flexible, as long as I'm following some sort of laid out plan that I know how it goes all the way along. None of this just knowing how it turns out in the end. I want to know the steps that will get me there and what exactly my job is from here on in so I can focus on getting that done.

But, I'm in the Lord's army, and as a soldier I find stuff out on a need-to-know basis and I must be content with that.

And at the end, I'll be able to trace it all back to the beginning and see that it comes out alright, so the steps must have been correct, even when I didn't know what I was doing.

I don't know that I can handle it.

On Meaninglessness

"Meaningless, Meaningless, says the Teacher, Everything is meaningless." Solomon says this a number of times throughout the book of Ecclesiates. But if we stop there, we can get depressed really, really easily. Read to the end of the book and see this: "Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commands." (not exact quote... this is off the top of my head).

That's it.

None of this grey area stuff. Simply fear God and keep His commands.

So why is it so hard?

Quite frankly it comes down to the thinking that we have to look after ourselves... that God cannot be trusted to take care of everything we need. So we stress out about making sure we get good grades so we can get a good job so we can make enough money to not have to live on the street and so we won't starve to death and we'll always have something to wear.

Do we really think God can't take care of that?

Stress comes from fear. The only reason we get stressed is because we care what other people think of us. What happens if we fail a course, even one that's required for graduation? We spend another year at school. Does that make us failures? NO!

Our worth is not made by our marks or our diploma or the job we get or how much money we have. God made us and loves us. We can be thankful that that will never change. So we can take risks and fail sometimes with the knowledge that no matter how often it happens, our value to God hasn't changed and He still loves us and will care for us. In the process, we probably learned something about ourselves, God, or the world, and we may even have enjoyed it.

To trust in God is irrational if you don't believe that God will take care of you. But if you believe that God is who the Bible says He is, it's equally irrational to think you have to do it yourself.

Therein lies the peace that goes beyond all understanding, because it's based on what seems like an irrational truth that we can rely on another to take care of our basic needs.

But knowing the truth that God created us, loves us, and has already given us everything He has... there's no reason we can't feel that peace.

Matthew 6:24-34... don't worry.