April 14

Instead of... worship, We have...rebellion

Instead of... faith, We have...doubt

Instead of...trust, We have...fear

Instead of... love, We have...hate

Instead of... responsibility, We have... blame shifting

Instead of... intimacy, We have...separation

Instead of... humility, We have...pride

Instead of...generosity, We have...greed

Instead of...peace, We have...war

Instead of...joy, We have...pain

Instead of...health, We have...sickness

That's a long list! It could be longer!

These are all consequences of sin in our world, the ugly stain on all of Creation.

To find encouragement, we need to begin our understanding of the gospel in Genesis 1 and 2. Reading this, believing this, we see that what God created was all GOOD.

The GOOD was all initiated by God's grace. Even in the sudden Genesis 3 breakdown of all Creation, God was gracious. Even in the midst of their rebellion against Him, He was gracious.

He mourned their sin. He cursed the snake.

He replaced their poor attempt to cover their shame with fig leaves by killing an animal and using that hide to cover them better.

And in spite of their guilt God graced them with hope, that a descendant of theirs would crush that snake's head, repair all of the "Instead of's," and restore Creation to its original condition and intent.

We mourn our present circumstances, because we know things are not as they should be.

And we can know that what seems bad to us may be for our ultimate good.

Paul David Tripp says it this way: "God is at work in the lives of his children, even when we can't see it. So be careful how you make sense of your life. What looks like a disaster may, in fact, be grace. What looks like the end may be the beginning. What looks hopeless may be God's instrument to give you real and lasting hope. Your Father is committed to taking what seems so bad and turning it into something that is very, very good."

We cannot always see it, but we can claim it. We can have peace, even in this present societal mess.

John 16:33 says, "I have said these things to you that in me you may know peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Peace comes from a felt sense of security in the present, and a full dose of hope for the future.

God's got this. Even when bad things happen, He's doing something good...because He said He would.

And someday later, we will see it all for what it is - everything repaired. Everything restored.