Not even cute

I was talking with a dear friend recently about some life "issues"--namely, one of those heart-rending events that doesn't make sense. It was of God, appointed by Him, but it just left a lot of questions to be answered. Anyway, this particular night, my friend told me about a talk she had had with God regarding this issue. She told Him: "God, it's not funny," and then went on to say, "It's not even cute." At this we both cracked up. Perhaps it was the late hour, or perhaps it was just the ludicrousness of telling God that what He did just wasn't "cute."

I don't repeat this to be disrespectful. I repeat it because I think it speaks our hearts. In the Bible, the psalmists were very open with the Lord. They cried out and questioned Him. They did not understand His ways--and told Him so. So often we try to sound "spiritual" in the way we talk, but we're just crying out in our hearts: "God, it's not funny!" We think (though we don't dare say it) that He's being mean. Yet we know that He is omniscient and that He is all-loving. So, we trust Him--and we cry. We moan, "It's not even cute," and then we beg for faith to follow Him in the darkness.

I think--I dare to hope--that this is the walk of faith. Hebrews says faith is believing what we do not see. So much of life must be lived this way. Heartbreaks must be lived this way. We cry out, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!" We don't see the humor in the situation. We might even have to stretch our imaginations to see any good in it. But, we trust. And as we trust we begin to see that He is faithful. We see that His promises are sure. We see that we can trust Him, for He is trustworthy.

The circumstances may not be funny. They may not even be cute. But, the GOD of the circumstances is...well, He's there all along, with us through it all. And, in the process we find that we're coming to love Him more!