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When we just have to ask why <3

When we made our vacation plans back in the winter, it was centered around a conference in North Carolina.

We were meeting up with my cousin and his wife so research pointed to the city of Charleston as a great place for our two and half days together…

we didn’t know at the time what that city would mean to us..

all of us..

as Americans and Christians…

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We didn’t know we would be standing outside of this church..IMG_4096

where saints had gathered to pray together…IMG_4108

and they welcomed a stranger, who ALMOST didn’t do the unthinkable because their kindness was so impressed on his heart.

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But he did…

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and while it appeared that evil won that battle…

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forgiveness overruled….

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because…

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And as we stand outside the doors of this church and take it all in, I find myself echoing the words of Martha in Luke 11…Lord, if You had only been here

because in her human mind, in my human mind…such an invasion of evil into a sacred place just has to mean that somehow Jesus wasn’t there where He was supposed to be.

I ask it when situations shout that perhaps, somehow, God has missed helping His beloved children.

I ask it when evil invades homes of dear friends where Jesus has always been welcomed as Lord of all. And yet the enemy wreaks havoc as if there is no one to restrain him.

I ask it when what is precious to us, as believers, is ripped from us and we feel abandoned by God. When I can almost hear the mocking voice of the world asking me…where is your God now?

And I have to say to Him….Lord…if YOU had been HERE…in the midst of all of this…surely You would have stopped it.

But He was there.

He is always there…He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

He is in the midst of the worst of humanity.

In fact, He bore the worst of humanity.

And that is what this precious congregation knows.

And it will not be taken from them.

That in the grief and the pain and anguish and hard questions…they must forgive as they have been forgiven and trust that Jesus is who He says He is…The Resurrection and the Life     John 11:21-25

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And that is what I must remind myself when I ask the hard questions.

Even in what I do not know and cannot understand…I will place my trust in Him <3

 

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6 Comments

    1. Yes – the houses are just amazing and the people are so nice! Love their hospitality!

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