marvelous or maniacal

“Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty.
 Just and true are your ways,  O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.
 All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.” Revelation 15:3-4

 My Abba,

You have shown me who you are through many great and marvelous works. I am so grateful you have allowed me to see firsthand your magnificent transformation in the lives of so many people, including me. Your righteous deeds have been revealed.

I have seen you take people who are unable to, even, articulate their pain and transform them into vibrant witnesses to your grace. I have seen you restore marriages and families. I have seen you supernaturally turn the deepest wounds into radiant displays of your splendor.

You are marvelous and what you do is marvelous. You are just and true. And you alone are holy.

So here is my question: If you are marvelous, just, true, and holy, why do so many of us point to injustice in our world and accuse you of being inept, impotent, evil, or non-existent? There is a lot of talk today about not judging other people. But we seem quite anxious to judge you. We constantly sling our arrows of accusation into the heavens.

If you are not perfect, you have been selling us a lie.

Either you are flawed, dishonest, and not worthy of anyone’s worship. Or, you are utterly worthy of our worship and falsely accused by many of those you created. I see it cannot be both ways.

When I look at creation as a whole, the life of Christ, and the supernatural ways you work, it does not support the idea that you are some kind of man-made god with broken limbs who has toppled under the weight of our false expectations.

You have revealed your character to me for decades, and I know you are flawless. You are just and true. You cannot act unjustly. So why do we rail against you, accusing you of gross negligence (at best), when something happens that we perceive to be unjust?

I guess you are the most convenient place to dispatch blame. You are definitely a massive target, since you are in-charge of our universe. Please forgive me for the times I have misread your intentions. Many times I don’t understand why you allow the pain.

 When I become the red-faced, brokenhearted toddler with swollen eyes wailing because I can’t understand your parenting style, please give me the ability to trust in your unwavering love.

I love you,

Mollie

My child,

I made human understanding to be pretty powerful, but it is still limited. Those I created desire for me to enter into every situation and bring the outcome they think they want, even though, their perceived sense of justice and desire can shift quickly.

Sometimes, humans can “look down” on me as they play cosmic judge and jury to determine if they think I have dictated circumstances according to their standards. If I have not run interference in the way they want me to, they blame me for not providing the desired outcome.

I know you can become overwhelmed by your pain and don’t fully understand my ways. There is a higher price to freewill than you can imagine. You don’t have the million-mile view like I do.

Please give me what you perceive to be the most horrific of circumstances. Lay all that suffering at my feet. I can bring beauty from ashes. I will not always make life pain-free. But I can redeem any hurt. I can transform the severely wounded ones into instruments of my glory.

I am worthy of all your worship, even when, you feel like you are drowning in the “whys” of life.

I love you,

Abba

photo: p.jauhiainen