Boothe Sellers
"I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him, and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
Romans 5 - The Message version:
"1-2 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
3-5 There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
6-8 Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him."
Yes, I'm quoting a 28 year old mom from Tennessee, C.S. Lewis, and the Apostle Paul together. After reading the update from Copeland's mom, I remembered this quote by Lewis that I had to add. Then I remembered our lesson in Life Group Sunday and how beautiful it is to read these verses from Romans. I don't know why, but they all strike me as very important to consider today. Our inability to comprehend God's sovereignty in a world that is so messed up is humbling and frustrating, and leads me to say how much I long for heaven, so often, it's to the point my friends almost laugh at me. And, my life is good. I have nothing to complain about. Just seeing and reading about the suffering around me though, causes me to hurt for others, and wish the suffering was over, and we were all Home.I think I better start realizing that while I'm still on Earth, I better figure out WHY He's allowing these trials and pains, and learn the lessons He is teaching me through them, and not just pray for escape. Isn't that what I want for my children? Not to protect them from every hurt, but to teach them how to grow stronger as a result? To be forged like steel, like this verse says?
Boothe could easily say it wasn't worth the pain of having a daughter that would only live 8 days, but she doesn't. She rejoices that she had her daughter for those 8 days, and the months of pregnancy before. She is boldly trusting God to carry her through her grief, and praising Him for the blessings she has, not blaming Him for her heartache, as great as it is.
Skeptics could question Christ's deity, and have, and will continue to, but how can we imagine a man who would sacrifice Himself for those who didn't even have a desire to know Him, for those who HATED Him? He would have to be a madman.
How dare we become impatient and angry when we have trials and frustrations - even tragedy - when He daily pours out blessings, gives us the joy of life on Earth, and the promise of eternity, in exchange for our acceptance of His gift? Every day could be a tragedy, but He lovingly bestows so much good, yet we get overwhelmed with any problem, instead of thanking Him for His divine protection and grace.
