Monday, October 15, 2007

Sometimes I Just Don't Understand

A woman I know passed away last night. She left a husband and two daughters – one in college, the other in high school. She was younger than me, never reached her 50th birthday. Cancer is such a random disease. Why does it strike this person, but not this one? Why are some healed and some leave us way too early? I have to admit it confuses me. Did God not hear the prayers to heal this woman , didn’t He understand that her husband and daughters need her yet? Here are some excerpts Dena wrote about recently from Psalm 38 and 40:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? "Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, 'Thus far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!'

"Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? "Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you walked about and explored their depths? "Have you visited the treasuries of the snow? Have you seen where the hail is made and stored? Where is the path to the origin of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

"Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends the rain that satisfies the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up? "Can you hold back the movements of the stars? Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion? Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons or guide the constellation of the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? "Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct it? Who gives intuition and instinct? Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?

"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Have you watched as the wild deer are born? Do you know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery? They crouch down to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring. Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave their parents and never return.

"The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.
"Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane? Did you give it the ability to leap forward like a locust? Its majestic snorting is something to hear! It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength. "Are you the one who makes the hawk soar and spread its wings to the south? Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?

No, I don’t always understand, lots of times I just don’t get it, but my faith says God’s ways are higher than mine and I have to believe He is in control even when all we have are questions.

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