Renewal, Redemption, and Restoration

Something that has been eating at my mind when I find myself otherwise unoccupied is the thought of how much focus I and others put on the negative. Whatever situation I am in, I often find myself recognizing what things are wrong with such a situation, overlooking what is good and emphasizing what is bad. I am characterized with a predisposition to test things and to determine whether or not they could be improved, instead of accepting them as they are and giving praise. This of course is two-sided, having one end where I am cursed, not able to shake the haunting recognition of the unsatisfactory, while on the other, I am able to use it to multiply the blessing to other people.

I feel that we often fail to realize the utter goodness of God. We spend our time wailing and feeling sorry for the starving children of Africa or the terrorist attacks or the broken families that we experience or the break-up that we just went through, without recognizing the efforts of God to teach us something or to call us to action. 

When my tire goes flat on my truck, I spend all my time regretting taking the road I did, because I would have missed the nail if I had gone a different route. Then my mind is taken up with making arrangements, fixing my car, paying for repairs, and then continuing my life unchanged. I have so often failed to see the effort of God in situations such as these! He is trying to teach me humility; he is trying to teach me patience; he is trying to teach me acceptance, forgiveness, and satisfaction. Who am I to be frustrated at God for the things he does to me? I have the believe that everything God works for is for Good; I praise him for that and look toward that when I am placed in a situation like this. 

Let us begin to see and find the good in things. This is not a call to optimism, but a call to realism. If you are a Christian, as I am, this ought to make perfect sense - with faith in Christ comes the realization that while everything is not as God intended it to be, the End will be. Everything that happens to us may not happen because God was the cause, but my God is a God of redemption, and he takes even the most broken and twisted things of Man and of the Enemy and reshapes them into purity, holiness, and love. 

This is where I place my trust: If my God can redeem even a man such as me, then he can certainly redeem the evils of this world and the actions of it.