When Nothing Makes Sense

“When nothing makes sense, 

When all hope seems dim, 

Still truth reigns, 

still love WINS.” 

Loren Thornburg

Life brings events and circumstances that just don’t make sense.  They leave us asking why.  The shootings in Aurora, Colorado are one of those seemingly confusing events.  Why would someone do something like this?  Why did God let this happen?  Why now?  Yet, it’s not just this event.  These questions come across our own lives in many ways, through many circumstances, at many times.  Although, there are responses that speak to this question there are no answers that really satisfy the pain of it all.  However, there is one thing to keep in mind which I often forget in the midst of these times...evil is real.  The reality of evil is often overlooked and forgotten until moments like these that remind us.  Then it seems the real question becomes, ‘Why wouldn’t this have happened?’  So then, what do we do with this?...we fight, we love, we forgive, even when nothing makes sense.  For even when nothing makes sense, Love still wins.  

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.” 

1 Peter 4:12 NLT

Peter is writing to believers here to encourage them in the midst of trials.  It seems they are no different than me most of the time.  I forget that this life carries trials and evil that should be expected.  Somehow I seem to lend towards the opposite.  I seem to be “suprised at the fiery trials I am going through, as if something strange were happening to me.”  It reminds me of a teaching I heard, about those fighting in a war and how they expect to be shot and fired at.  So should we.  We should expect it with a prepared expectancy to stand strong against it, knowing that we know Who has the ultimate victory.  The end of the story is that we are going to a party where as Greg Stier says, "All evil will be sucked up in this bottomless pit.”  He continues with, “Until then, we have a battle to fight."  This is our calling that we would fight and keep fighting with love as our anchor, with truth in our mouths.  Love will WIN!  

SEEN

“You are not forgotten, you have not gone unseen;

You’re noticed, you’re valued, you’re priceless...You are SEEN.”

Loren Thornburg

There is something powerful about feeling seen.  Having spent two weeks in a nation that feels forgotten and unseen I am reminded of the power of the platform we have to see the unseen.  For in the midst of their sense of feeling forgotten the opportunity to remember them becomes all the more meaningful to them. It is a recognition of who they are and the value they have.  I can’t help but think back to those times that I too have felt unseen but someone came and saw me.  That moment that empowers the soul to know that who we are matters.  We all need it.    You are seen.  Do you see it?

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?”

Matthew 6:30 MSG

We all long for that moment of feeling seen and seek it any way that we can, sometimes at the sacrifice of what really matters.  The problem is those things don’t truly meet that place in us.  Only He can.  He can because He already sees you.  You don’t have to do anything to be noticed by Him.  He sees every wildflower even those that may seem unseen and He sees you even when you feel unseen.  I don’t just mean He sees you and moves on but God sees in a way that He sees to the core of you.  He knows you and loves to attend to those places in you often before you even know they need attending to.  GOD sees you...just ask Him.   

There is an After

“Don’t forget that in the difficulty of today there is an after.”
Loren Thornburg

“I didn’t know there was an afterwards.” More than once this phrase has poured out from the heart of someone recalling a hard season of life.  After is a period of time following an event that can often be hard to see or even imagine.  When things are hard it seems consuming and impossible to fathom things ever being any different from how they are at this moment.  Yet, it’s true, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  There is an afterwards.  It’s hard to know this is true until you have walked through a situation that seemed hopeless and seen the afterwards that felt like an impossibility.  Still, there may be another season of life that seems even more unbearable.  However, it is still true in that place...there is an after.  So keep walking, keep believing, and keep hoping for one day at a time you will find your after.  

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His own eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.”

1 Peter 5:10 Amplified

The apostle Peter is writing to the church leaders to remind them there is an after so they can stand firm in the midst of hard times and difficult situations.  He is writing for us too, reminding us of God’s promise that not only is there an after but He is going to carry us through the suffering to the other side.  He will establish, ground, strengthen, and settle you.  God is a god of Hope.  This is hope: Whatever you are facing now or will come to face He will be in the middle of it to bring you to the other side.  Even more, He will complete you and make you what you ought to be in the process.  So walk into His blessing and favor that carries you to your after.