We Don’t Have a Clue

As a teenager I would often questioned my parent’s in almost everything they did. I thought I knew better and just wished they listened to me because I was the one who obviously knew better than they did. Now that I am a parent of a teenager, I have now come to realize that teenage me didn’t even have a clue.

Last night my wife and I were talking with our teenager about a particular day where we have planned to go to the State Fair of Texas as a family. He however was invited to a party with a group of friends and wanted us to give him permission to go to it instead. We attempted to work out a compromise with him because we remember what it was like to be a teenager. Our compromise was that he would go to the State Fair with us as a family and then we would leave early enough to drop him off for the last half of the party. He however didn’t want to compromise. He felt that if he wasn’t there for the entire party then he rather not go at all. As we were having that conversation I began to see some of the same difficulties I must have put my parents through during my teenage years. It’s frustrating to be a parent that is generous and does all that you can for your child, yet they fail to see it.

I wonder how frustrated God gets with us. God is so very generous to us, yet we complain and believe our ways are better. Why is it so difficult for us to see this? I believe this is partly due to the fact that our perspective in life is very narrow. We cannot see all that God sees and even if we could I don’t think we could comprehend it. Jesus was the greatest gift we could have ever received yet the reception of this gift was not very welcoming.

Jesus showed us God’s true love and demonstrated to us how to reciprocate that love to God and neighbors. Yet we rejected and crucified him. It was on the cross that we get the greatest example of God’s generosity. In Luke 23:33-43, Jesus is hanging on the cross between two thieves. One them questions Jesus asking, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other thief interrupts him to say, “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” He then asks Jesus to remember him. The second thief seeks no favor but remorses in the fact that he didn’t live his life the way he should have. And what was Jesus’ response? Jesus forgave him and promised to be with him in eternal paradise.

We question what God is doing all the time, but do we ever truly question our own actions? Do we ever think that may we don’t have a clue as to what God may be doing or how generous God has been and will be? This Sunday during worship we will continue this conversation as we discuss the greatest gift God has ever given us and how we are called to spiritual growth and maturity. I encourage you to join us at either the 8:30 or 10:45 AM services.

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church