This week’s message is dedicated to my editor, my muse, my sweetheart —my wife, who is celebrating her “I can’t say which” birthday on Monday, June 25th.
Happy Birthday, Bonnie
Dear Friends,
Thirty-three years ago, Bonnie was a counselor at the Navy’s Alcohol Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Long Beach. Her job was to help sailors who had problems with substance abuse including alcoholics, drug addicts, and over-eaters. This week Bonnie unexpectedly received the following message from a former patient.
He wrote, “I remember back at ARC you told our group that you thought of Koko, the gorilla gently holding a kitten made you think of what God would be like. Made me recall that, as Koko died today. Sad day. Koko was 46 years old.”
Not everyone would draw a parallel between a gorilla gently holding a kitten and a loving God comforting one of his children, but Bonnie did. Just as each of us has a unique fingerprint, I suspect we all have our own ways of sensing what God is like. Your ideas may not comport 100% with what your neighbor may think, and both of you might have trouble passing an exam on Christian doctrine, but we know from Deuteronomy 4:29: If you seek … the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Sometimes we may be afraid to talk with others about our true beliefs. Even when we know the “theologically correct” response, we may be reluctant to ask questions for fear we will be put down. Some Christians, it seems, never heard — even when it comes to matters of faith — the only regrettable question is the one you don’t ask.”
When I have questions, I first go to the Scriptures and to Bible commentaries. If I don’t find answers there, I seek out a brother or sister in Christ whom I trust, knowing they will be guided by the standard of 1 Peter 3:15: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Sometimes we need others to help us shore up our faith. Sometimes we can be a help to others. In Proverbs we are told, Trust in the LORD with all “our” heart and lean not on “our” own understanding; in all “our” ways submit to him, and he will make “our” paths straight.
I once had a conversation with a woman who truly loves God and praises Jesus. She was troubled because she was having difficulty accepting the resurrection. I remember asking her, “Do you believe Jesus walked the Earth?
“Yes, I do!” She replied emphatically.
Do you believe that Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried?
She said, I saw the movie “The Case for Christ” and I think the evidence for that is overwhelming … but I still have trouble with the resurrection.”
“Where is Jesus right now?” I asked.
“I believe he is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
“You don’t doubt the resurrection,” I offered. “You just don’t understand the process. Me neither.”
There may be some things we will only understand when we get to heaven. Got an unanswered question? God has an answer. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14
Bonnie feels that the message she received from her former patient was the answer to one of her prayers. “I have been struggling with the question, does anything I do really make a difference? If something I shared thirty-three years ago is still having an impact in one man’s life, she shared, maybe I have been on the right path.”
Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ
Because He Loves Us Press 