I lean ever so heavily on the side of ‘pray for a shift’ when it comes to issues that are not aligned. I am also aware that we don’t pray once ‘your will be done’ and then that sorts everything – well not every time. So we pray again… and then I am aware that there are outcomes that are simply not what we want, and as far as one can tell do not align with ‘the good, perfect and acceptable will of God’. There are so many factors in situations, factors that often go beyond our comprehension – guess what even for the smartest person there are things we just can’t figure out!
In this, what do I believe, here is a little area (sometimes a bigger area, and much bigger than we would like) that has to be included. Disappointments will come. How we handle those depends on our personality, our experience of God, and state of mind at the time! The forever optimist (I know a few) will tend to reframe and move on; the ‘never take no for an answer’ will tend to beat themselves up as they failed somewhere (I do know one or two like this), and the mature… (don’t know if I know anyone!).
That would be a novelty – becoming mature!!
The resurrection. The cross with no resurrection is half a narrative, and actually as far as faith is concerned a failed narrative. Crucified as an insurrectionist (albeit a non-violent one) by Rome, and as a blasphemer by the Jews one or both of those claims would be the analysis of what went on… from a religious point of view yet another failed Messiah.
But raised from the dead, declared to be ‘Son of God’; raised from the dead as firstborn of all creation. And Paul is pretty strong when he writes ‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins’. More than ‘life after death’ (what does ‘life’ mean in that statement?) there is a physicality, a substance to the future. This means that ‘every cup of cold water given’ has value.
All the ‘let your will be done’ (and ‘on earth’ is so key) and we come out the other side with ‘did not work out’ is not lost. It is sown into the tomb, then we discover the tomb is empty. Every tear is wiped away – just not now, but in the context of ‘I saw the future – I saw a new heaven and a new earth’. I don’t know how… but it will happen, then.
If I push this post into a bit of ‘theology’ then I kinda think that God is very patient with regard to us. And very compassionate. If the ‘end’ were to happen now what kind of age to come would we have? The ‘ingredients’ for the age to come are mined from this age… God will put together what we give. Not only will tears be wiped away but there will be a lot of laughter as we see the difference that our insignificant contributions made. That surely is the context for Paul’s instructions to be careful how we build, as to what material is used. The easily available of wood, hay and stubble… or the harder to find, the gold, silver and precious stones.
Disappointments and laughter.