EACH LIFE tells a story. Only the one-who-causes-things-to-exist knows everything about them. Every story is His creation. Scholars have tried to explain what that means or may imply. But who can know what God is up to from beginning to end?
If we long for it, God will let us know him better. Try studying the stories in his book and asking for insights from The Friend, The Spirit of Truth who lives in us.
Gain insight from other human stories, by our interactions with people we know or have known. With that in mind, I share this story from my life. Maybe one will trigger curiosity for you. Try this one, for example:
SHORTLY BEFORE WORSHIP on Sunday, a girl appeared at a table where Rayleigh's baby brother was coloring. She selected a few crayons and crafted a picture of a rainbow.
She drew and colored so well, that I asked her how old she was. She smiled and held up 5 fingers. After she completed her picture, she simply placed it on the table and walked away to sit with her parents during worship.
I noticed that under the rainbow, she'd added a tiny girl looking up and smiling at it. I mused, “A five-year-old girl drawing a rainbow at a table with a "rainbow baby." Hmmm. Rayleigh would be 5 this month.“
I imagined Rayleigh might be as tall, talented, and perhaps look similar to that girl.
The sermon of the day was all about God’s Good News, his collection of powerful words given to us, which are the only reliable words ever communicated. So I meditated on God's promises for a few moments. Promises like the rainbow. God’s assurances are always the best news. Before he was finished, the preacher discussed one more truth that stood out to me: “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”
You see, whatever happens, and wherever we are, “God is already there.” The same Psalm that teaches that lesson also teaches “WE are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Rayleigh was one of the “WE.”
I began to converse with her in my mind:
"Rayleigh, Poppa has learned much over these five years. Might that be Good News?
I've learned that “those who mourn in the Lord will be comforted.” And knowing that whatever God says, he will do, I have decided there is hope in accepting the fact that my heart will always ache for you and your parents. There will be no “getting over it” for me. And that’s OK!
But what about the “comforted” part? Oh, my dearest one! Sometime after you left us, Poppa began to laugh once again. I came to cherish my life more. I adore your brother and sister and cousins . . . and more. How could I not? God continues to lavish blessings on me.
If I am wise, I will seize every opportunity to bless everyone I can—with God's help. It's the way I choose to shine this little light of mine. I will continue to tell stories of God's powerful intervention in my life and the lives of people I love.
Although my unseen injuries will never fully heal while I am earthbound, the Good News is, that I rely all the more upon the best physician forever for my healing—available 24/7. He understands how deep wounds feel and specializes in mending them.
I now understand how sorrows can “remind us that nothing is certain in this life"—where Poppa lives. Yet God graciously allows us to participate in good and joyful things like his amazing creation of life.
We will see one day how everything "worked together for the good of all who loved him—the ones who looked at life as a call to his purpose and chose to align their stories with his.”
And with that, I say, "Happy Fifth (Heavenly) Birthday, Rayleigh!"
One day, I believe, we will meet in a stunningly beautiful garden at a banquet table for a picnic like no one has ever seen or even imagined. And we will see at last that our time on earth was filled with blessings and special gifts like you, though they were often seen through tears or hidden in life's storms, sorrows, disappointments, and pain.
Those blessings remind us that Earth is not our home. They also enable us to see clearly through the eyes of Jesus, the Only One in whom “All Things Are Possible.” And "possible" is the essence of God's forever Good News!
On the day we meet again, please save a place for Poppa next to you at the table. You’ll know which one I am. I’ll be the goofy old guy, singing out your name and laughing wildly the moment I see you smiling, waving back at me, and crying out, "Poppa, I'm over here!"
Copyright October 2023. Gary Landerfelt MyPericope.com
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