Compiling God's Code

As my life tumbles along, up the hills and down the valleys, I wonder when and where it will quiet down so that I can catch a breathe, and just when I sense a slow down as it nears a hill, I learn of old friends that must somehow deal with the tragedy of not only losing one child but two, and I realize that my valleys and trapdoors are only bumps that must be dealt with but are survivable with only minor scratches and bruises to show for my fall. My soul is unable to fathom the emptiness and weight that arrives when a parent loses a child. While at the moment of life’s rough times, we may think that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, but there is a constant — God. Hope may be beaten to a pulp, but that doesn’t mean the hurt can’t be healed, and I believe it is only possible by God.

But for this week, I had planned to write about listening to the spirit of our living God; yes, he is alive. God isn’t just found in words on paper or in a painting or in a church or even in the sermon by the preacher on Sunday. No, God lives among us; he shares our joys and wants to comfort us in our sadness. A living God communicates with us, but sometimes we are too busy to hear it, but that doesn’t mean he’s not whispering in all our ears, and I’m not just talking about the warm feeling we get in the pit of our heart when we instantly know the right thing to do. God exists there, but he is also outside that realm; he is alive in all of us, in the trees, animals, sky, clouds, and even the computer that I write on, but most important, he lives in us, and so he communicates through us. So we must open our hearts to that possibility — that God offers help through interaction with his people.

I’ve written about how showing love to other people spreads God’s love because he abides in us, and when we offer kindness, we offer his kindness, but unfortunately, we rarely accept that gift. Maybe, someone offers condolences, hugs us, or simply says “I love you.” I’m telling you don’t scoff at those remarks as someone just being nice. I want you to see it for what it really is, God telling you he loves you.

Here are some lyrics from Mumford & Sons new song “I Will Wait.”

And I came home
Like a stone
And I fell heavy into your arms
These days of dust
Which we’ve known
Will blow away with this new sun

And I’ll kneel down
Wait for now
And I’ll kneel down
Know my ground

And I will wait, I will wait for you
And I will wait, I will wait for you

Know that God is alive and desires a relationship with us; know that he wants us to fall heavy into his arms, kneel down, and wait for him to help. God doesn’t create tragedies and life’s ups and downs; he doesn’t make our life hell because God knows that in experiencing life, we will fall, and we will succeed. Sometimes crap falls on us, but God is standing right beside us, so we aren’t alone. I’m telling you to cry out to him, and he will be there.

Just be sure to keep an open mind for the answer. It might not be the one you want, or it might be worth more than you could have imagined, so open your heart and just know that God’s will is always good.