Why Doesn't God Do The Same For Us?
A reading for Thursday, December 3, 2015: Daniel 6.
The book of Daniel is hard to read, not because the story isn't interesting. In fact, the story is exciting in the best way a blockbuster movie might be. It captures our hearts and we route for Daniel against those that are jealous and envious, plotting their schemes against a true man of God.
The story is difficult because God intervenes in miraculous ways, not once but twice. God saves Daniel from the fires of the furnace and then God saves Daniel from the lion's jaws. The story is difficult, especially for those that have lost and suffered, because we want to know why God hasn't done the same for us?
We watch our televisions again with yet another senseless tragedy. At least fourteen people went to work yesterday, just like any other day and did not come home. Where was God? Why didn't God intervene in a miraculous way and prevent sadness and suffering? Were these not true enough, or in the same way as Daniel loved by God?
The reflections of a monk named William Brodrick:
Once you’ve heard a child cry out to heaven for help,
and go unanswered,
nothing’s ever the same again.
Nothing.
Even God changes.
But there is a healing hand at work
that cannot be deflected from its purpose.
I just can’t make sense of it, other than to cry.
Those tears are part of what it is to be a monk.
Out there, in the world, it can be very cold.
It seems to be about luck, good and bad,
and the distribution is absurd.
We have to be candles, burning between hope and despair,
faith and doubt, life and death,
all the opposites.
It seems our work is not yet done. The story of God is not finished. So we pray and we work and we even cry when we don't understand... and we continue to trust that God is with us!
The book of Daniel is hard to read, not because the story isn't interesting. In fact, the story is exciting in the best way a blockbuster movie might be. It captures our hearts and we route for Daniel against those that are jealous and envious, plotting their schemes against a true man of God.
The story is difficult because God intervenes in miraculous ways, not once but twice. God saves Daniel from the fires of the furnace and then God saves Daniel from the lion's jaws. The story is difficult, especially for those that have lost and suffered, because we want to know why God hasn't done the same for us?
We watch our televisions again with yet another senseless tragedy. At least fourteen people went to work yesterday, just like any other day and did not come home. Where was God? Why didn't God intervene in a miraculous way and prevent sadness and suffering? Were these not true enough, or in the same way as Daniel loved by God?
The reflections of a monk named William Brodrick:
Once you’ve heard a child cry out to heaven for help,
and go unanswered,
nothing’s ever the same again.
Nothing.
Even God changes.
But there is a healing hand at work
that cannot be deflected from its purpose.
I just can’t make sense of it, other than to cry.
Those tears are part of what it is to be a monk.
Out there, in the world, it can be very cold.
It seems to be about luck, good and bad,
and the distribution is absurd.
We have to be candles, burning between hope and despair,
faith and doubt, life and death,
all the opposites.
It seems our work is not yet done. The story of God is not finished. So we pray and we work and we even cry when we don't understand... and we continue to trust that God is with us!
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