What a time to be alive, that Jesus is Risen.

If one imagines a watch all of whose springs continually vary in power, weight, dimension, form, and position, and which nevertheless invariably shows the right time, one can get some idea of the action of free beings in relation to the plans of the Creator.

Paul’s instructions on relationships with others:

The Maker of awesome galaxies and stars is also the infallible Physician of broken hearts and wounded spirits.

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me. My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.”

We have enough theology to know He's omniscient, which means He knows everything, so you knew what was going to happen to me. We have enough theology to know He's omnipotent, so He has all power, so you could have stopped it. We have enough theology to know He's omnipresent, that you were there when the pain was happening, & you did nothing. So what we need is to have a higher, a more robust theology of suffering that takes us to the cross when we can't get over what has happened to us. The Bible says it pleased God to crush His own son.

This makes me think of a quote I love from Joni Eareckson Tada, who’s been a quadriplegic since a diving accident when she was 17.

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”

All of us are selective sinners.

I know there is the deconstruction rhetoric of I was told not to question God, but I have to tell you one of the first times God ever says something to a person in the Bible is in the form of a question.