God’s World, God’s War, God’s Will
God’s World: God made a coherent world where miracles are possible but are rare
That God can and does on occasion modify the behavior of matter and produce what we call miracles is a part of the Christian faith but the very conception of a common and therefore stable world demands that these occasions should be rare. CS Lewis
Every miracle is a tantalizing foretaste of the world to come
God’s War: God is not the only supernatural actor on the world stage
God’s Will: God’s desires are different than ours
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
2 Cor. 12:4, 8-10 I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell…
So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud… Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Gen. 16:13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
I have seen the One who sees me
Man of sorrows, familiar with suffering
In the middle of the storm, we sometimes may get relief, but we always get Jesus
Love God more than we love the miracle
Ps. 46:1-3,10 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging… Be still and know that I am God
Instead of where are you God? Be with me God!