Growing Pains

“It is Finished.”

Those words ring true, like an echo in the darkness. Like a promise. Yet still, the world waits, in constant tension. We see it and experience this tension all around us and it’s messy. Even the world, not fully new, crumbles and gets built back up, all still in its perfect design, but never fully perfect, so pain seeps in. I have a constant wrestle in my own mind as I look around me at the pain I see in every person, every circumstance. War torn nations full of chaos almost play out in the eyes of a child. What have they seen? As we grow, we slowly build up walls to the outside world. The eyes are a window to the soul, some empty, but others reflect the pain and brokenness of the world around them. Each of us carry it inside us. That is why it’s so messy. It’s not a battle against the good and bad people, the battle starts in our own mind. A conflict within ourselves, building and shaping the world around us. So can it really be stopped until all is made new again?

“I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.”

– Job 42:2-3

Sometimes I question why a good God would let so much evil happen, but oh how foolish that sounds. I catch myself thinking I could contemplate it all, but I will never fully grasp how God is intricately working. It all reflects Him and in the end glorifies Him. He is fully good and fully love is He not? The other day we were driving through the mountains of Albania and I was fully in awe over and over again by its beauty. Even among the brokenness of humanity beauty is so clearly evident. I saw a Muslim mosque on the side of a mountain and I thought to myself, how strange it is that humans build these intricate buildings out of worship, but surrounding them, all of nature worships the real true God. We can never fully replicate the wonder of creation, instead our attempts almost gets engulfed by real beauty and true worship. Beauty and goodness reign true even in the brokenness and attempts of the enemy. It’s hard to fully see and fully believe but it’s impossible to deny. He is faithful to His words and it was finished on the cross. So now we wait with open arms and open hearts. We trust that our God is over it all and making all things new. So we look for it, we look for His faithfulness and goodness all around us starting again, in ourselves. If the battle of good and evil begins in us, look at how He has already won and been faithful in that. We are reflections of what God is doing in the world, because He is first doing it in us. He made us new, wiped us clean. Our God is an intimate God, a God who is intent and intentional with this words and His plans. His character never changes, His promises never fail. Even in a world that feels so heavy and dark He reigns over it all and His goodness and love reigns true, first in our own hearts, and then over all that is around us. So we have nothing to fear, He has overcome it all.