Posted on 01/01/2013 9:36:18 AM PST by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Elizabeth, a 13-year-old British girl, had a favorite poem, which was published in a small book, titled “The Desert,” which was authored by a hardly-known poetess, Minnie Louise Haskins.
“Lilebet,” as the young lass was affectionate known by her family, so loved the poem that she shared it with her father. And he, in turn, shared it with all of Britannia.
You see Lilibet’s dad was King George VI. And in a 1939 broadcast, marking the holiday season, he read aloud the poem his daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, entrusted to him.
Haskins’ Spirit-filled prose resonated with the British public, which found her poem inspirational as they ushered in an uncertain New Year.
It follows herewith:
God Knows
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
So heart be still: What need our little life Our human life to know, If God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife Of things both high and low, God hideth His intention.
God knows. His will Is best. The stretch of years Which wind ahead, so dim To our imperfect vision, Are clear to God. Our fears Are premature; In Him, All time hath full provision.
Then rest: until God moves to lift the veil From our impatient eyes, When, as the sweeter features Of Life’s stern face we hail, Fair beyond all surmise God’s thought around His creatures Our mind shall fill.
His message that you too can suffer and be unhappy? Great. Why anyone would want to be a Christian I don’t know. I am one, but it is because there is no other Way, not because I can recommend it
Thanks, I needed that.
Sorry for my rant.
His message, to borrow from the Apostle Paul, is that our sorrows are “only for a while.” We are more than conquerors through Christ.
Conquerors of what? satan stalks the planet and the evil prosper despite our begging for God’s intervention
We as believers will suffer, but as the Lord said, “fear not, I have overcome the world.”
I know 2012 was for I a very, very difficult and heartbreaking year for me. I view 2013 as a year of a new begining.
But the good news is that, it will NOT last. Jesus is coming “soon and very soon”.
the sooner the better as far as my family and I are concerned
The only question is: is all this suffering, in addition to its own temporary misery, totally and eternally meaningless as well? Is it absurd, with everything else that exists absurd as well? (The dandelion's puff, the whale's baleen, the happy truck driver, the happy blood-filled tick, the Trisomy-18 baby, the spiral nebulae?)
Or is there a chance it all means something, and yields a great good: not merely a proportionate good, but a superabounding, triumphant, conquering good?
As fact, unknowable.
As choice: you choose.
I see your point, friend. But I am reminded of the words Martin Luther King often invoked during the darkest days of the civil rights movement: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Jesus is not coming soon. Nutcases have been saying that for centuries. You need to get out more...visit some old folks in a nursing home. At least you have a family...some have outlived theirs. You have a responsibility to your family to be hopeful. Its a beautiful day out there.
even though being hopeful is a lie?
re: “Conquerors of what? satan stalks the planet and the evil prosper despite our begging for God’s intervention.”
I appreciate your despair. When we look at how things are and have always been, the problem of evil and suffering is the toughest issue to face and answer in regard to our faith.
Assuming you are sincere in your Christian faith, I will attempt an answer, though in reality, there is NO clear cut answer to the WHY God acts to prevent suffering in one instance, and why He does not in others. No one can answer that but God alone.
I can only say, that God has intervened with the ulitmate intervention in human history - when He entered our world as an infant. He was born into poverty, into a conquered nation experiencing oppression, He experienced hatred, anti-semitism, hunger, pain, betrayel by friends and countrymen, torture in crucifixion, possibly even despair while on the cross (”my God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”).
My point is that God has experienced on a human level much of the pain and suffering that mankind has endured. Where is the victory in Christ? Well, as Paul put it - we are victors over physical death (through life forever with Christ in Heaven) and over spiritual death of the eternal sentence of sin. In other words, physical death is not the end. This life is not all there is therefore even death does not defeat us because even if we are killed, murdered, tortured it is NOT the end. We will live on forever with God in His heaven - not one can take that away.
This knowledge does not mean that we do not do all we can to bring about Godly laws and living, peaceful tolerance as much as we can on this earth. But, we know that this world belongs to Satan, he is already defeated but he still does as much damage as possible and attempts to bring us to despair. It is easy to despair. There are so many reasons why we should, except for the knowledge that all history, all the evil acts of man or Satan ultimately cannot thrwart the ultimate will of God. He takes the evil rebellion of mankind and turns it back into conforming to His will.
I am not a Calvinist - I do not believe that everything that happens is God’s desired will. There are things that happen that go against God’s revealed/desired will - yet God still is sovereign over His creation. How? By working all acts of man, whom He has given freedom to act for good or evil, into conforming to His will. We may thwart God’s desire in our lives and the lives of others when we sin, yet He is able to take that act of rebellion and turn it toward accomplishing His will.
I could list possible examples of this, but that would probably only ellicit responses to the opposite conclusion. My belief, in the end, is an act of faith. But, I do believe we can all look back at past events that occured in our lives that at the time seemed so terrible - and, truth be told they probably were - yet, those same events oftentimes when we look back at them now - as painful as they were when we first experienced them - changed, moved, or affected us in some way that eventually brought about some positive outcome.
I know that does not happen in every case, but often enough that I think most of us have experienced that truth.
I have no pat answer for what happened in Newtown, Ct. I have no pat answers to what happened to bring about the Holocaust. But, I do, by faith, believe that all these things cannot thwart the ultimate goodness of God nor His ultimate will. As bad as it is here on this earth, it cannot compare to how wonderful it will be one day with God in His heaven. I know that may be hallow encouragement to one suffering terrible illness, or unjust imprisonment, or murder, or torture - except to know that God SEES all the acts of man. There will be justice and all things righted in the end.
God has also delivered all who accept His Son from facing spiritual death and hell. That is the ulimate victory. No matter what circumstances of man does to us - they cannot touch our eternal fellowship and relationship with God.
When we ask God to intervene, as we all do, when we or others are in pain, and God seems not to hear - that’s when we must trust Him for the ultimate outcome. When we ask for something we must remember that God can say, “yes”, “no”, or “not now”. Just as a parent does, we do not always give our children what they ask for.
Just as a surgeon does - sometimes doctors must do things that hurt us terribly, but is necessary for our good. We may never see the reason or understand the reason for why certain things happen, but we must trust that God will ultimately work all things according to His purpose. Not that He does everything, but that He turns every act, good or evil, into conformity with is ultimate will.
Trust, pray, have faith. These are sometimes very difficult to do. But, the alternative - despair - is so easy. Don’t give in yldstrk. Satan, death, suffering cannot take away our victory over all that they throw at us. One day, in just a short time - after all how long is 70 or 80 years compared to eternity? - we will be with Him where all tears are wiped away, all pain and suffering will be forgotten.
You’re not ranting — SH is.
“You’re not ranting — SH is.”
___________________________
LOL! Thanks ;-)
Does having a troubled heart or a despairing spirit fix any problems, cure any ailments, or make life any easier to bear? I haven’t seen any signs that it does. If living under a cloud of gloom doesn’t help, why not skip down the street singing, “We are never, ever, ever getting back together!”? If you make someone laugh, you’ve helped!
Does God forsake us or do we forsake God?
God gave us free will. Yet there are still miracles and some of those miracles occur because of the willingness to heed God’s guidance.
Thank you, yours is one of the best explanations I have read
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.