The novel I’m reading tells of a father who runs a small store. He calls the police to come because he has detained a person who was demanding money. Turns out the ‘thief’ is his son who was pushing him for his overdue allowance. The relationship between father and son is not helped by a few hours in the police station. The father is convinced the boy is no good, and the boy is certain that his father hates him.
For far too many fathers and sons, this is not fiction. No love wasted, just suspicion and anger.
When I think about my own father and how much he loved his children, I realize how easy he made it to think that God is the same—that He loves his children too. Could any child whose father has them arrested rather than pay their allowance ever think that God the Father was on their side? Probably not.
This week someone pointed me to an article by John Piper called, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” The first point in this excellent encouragement is about believing that all things are designed by God and that He has good reasons for what He does. If anyone thinks otherwise, whatever happens to them, including cancer, will have no purpose and be wasted.
As a new believer, God put the idea into my head. He would use “all things together for my good” and the good He had in mind was that I become more like Jesus. I can still remember my delight in realizing this truth, and looking for ways to respond like Jesus to even the most mundane events.
Because of this grace, as time went by life’s ups and downs continue to have significance. Even the horrible blows have purpose as God reminds me over and over that He is in control, and that He has reasons for what happens. More important, He is not “out to get me” but loves me and wants the very best for me.
Romans 8 ends with these verses: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39, NKJV).
Because I know God loves me, I am not angry that my husband has cancer. What a waste of energy that would be! Instead, I’m trusting Him to give us Christ-like attitudes and help us avoid becoming inward and self-absorbed. By the grace of God, we can be a help and a blessing to others.
The man and the boy in the novel could not do that. Their distrust and anger made them annoying to each other and a nuisance to those around them. Two people who did not know the love of God. A sad waste of two lives.
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