"Why"

I have been so humbled by the comments from those of you that read this blog.  When I started the blog, I was looking for a way to vent my frustrations with the typical "Church" without taking it out on others.  If you've read my blog before, you understand why I say, "Church"; if not, read some of my earlier posts.  At any rate, the blog transformed into my attempts to share encouragement with all of you.

Many of you, share my profession or something to the like.  And, like a friend of mine and I were discussing on Friday, we experience high levels of stress even on a normal day.  There are so many factors that stress us from the dangers of the job, balancing work and family, political pressures, and many more.  I think about all of you so much and I wish each of you knew how much I pray for you, your safety, and the stability and sanctity of your families.  All of you are at the top of my thoughts each day.  The amazing thing is, that so many of you read my blog knowing who I am, with all my imperfections, and yet you still read and share with your friends.  So lately, I've been wondering, "Why?"  Now that is a deep question, but it's one I want to spend some time with today.

One of my favorite verses explaining God's desire for us to succeed, is located in the book of Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "  You see, God doesn't want to be a dictator of our lives, nor does he want to set a bunch of rules for us to live by just to make our lives difficult.  If we follow his guidance and his teachings, his plans for us to succeed become reality.

This is where the problem comes in.  For those of you in law enforcement, how many times have you investigated a crime where the suspect blamed somebody else?  It's like the story of the criminal that breaks into somebody's house, falls out of the window and sustains serious injury, then wants to sue the homeowner for his injuries.  You see, we want to make mistakes we know are our fault, then blame somebody else for our actions.  I heard a comedian once talk about how kids always blame their parents for their (the kids) mistakes.  The comedian went on to say, "My mom was good, my dad was good.  I guess I'm just a moron."  The truth of the matter is that our relationship with Christ is often times just like that.  "Lord, I know I've done nothing to deserve your blessings, but that other guy kept me from going to Church."  Then, when we hit the bottom, look up at God, and ask, "Why?"  We live our lives by our own rules and desires then wonder "WHY" God doesn't bless us.

As I've written before, God's love is so much more than we can comprehend.  Even when we've turned our back on God, he's right where he's always been waiting on us to return.  Jesus tells the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:20 where Jesus, talking about the Father of the lost son, say, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  This passage tells us that the Father was watching for the return of a long lost, greedy, spoiled, punk.  He was praying for his son's return, even though the son had been so ungrateful.  You see, God know how and why we do things.  Some of the things we do break his heart, but he loves us anyway.  And when we stray from his love and will, he is standing there with arms wide open, looking for us, waiting for us to return.  If you've found yourself like this, maybe today would be a great time to spend some time in prayer alone with God.  Something like this.  "Lord, forgive me when I try to do things on my own.  Forgive me when I take your love for granted.  I'm sorry and I ask you to take control of my life.  Help me to follow your plans for me.  I love you Lord."

I hope all of you have a wonderful week.  As I often do, I've included a link to a song, "The Love of God" performed by Mercy Me at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnvmKoLWUU

Please know that I love and I'm praying for each of you!