A Rock higher than I.

Romans 9:32 How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling.

33 Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can’t get around.
But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me,
you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.

The secret to a great curve ball is that you don't know it is a curve ball until it is too late. Life throws curves.

My neighbor and dear friend Tracy appears to be losing his battle with cancer. His wife and 8 year old son will be left behind to live through the most grief filled days they have ever faced. I have been through this enough to know that there are no pat answers. Life hurts. Sometimes it hurts deeply. Curves will come our way.

All of these stones that block our way from having a peaceful, fun and happy existence. Cancer is not fun. Sickness does not make us happy. As a matter of fact it appears to be a huge block in the road of life. These situations block us from having the kind of life we want. Sorrow and pain and troubles appear to be a real block in the road. No one escapes this life without asking WHY? In all of our lives there comes these times when we ask why.

In this passage I read this morning I was reminded that the very obstacle that the Jewish people could not get around was actually God in the flesh. They saw a stumbling block while God saw a cornerstone that all of life could be built on. The stone that was causing Jews to stumble was Gods most critical stone for building.

In my troubles and in my pain do I see something to stumble through or something to fall upon? When i look at my troubles and the issues I so easily come to hate, do i find God in the middle of them? Are the issues in my life that make me bitter, angry and full of self pity really absent of God?

Life's joys are full of God. Laughter, love and peace are from the Lord who gives us all tings to enjoy. Joy comes in a million different ways through a given day in my life. Coffee with a friend, a funny email that is shared, an encouraging text message, watching my son tease his sisters, seeing the brace-filled smile of my pre-teen daughter, sending my light weight 8 year old girl into orbit on the trampoline as she laughs with total abandonment, sharing a conversation with my wife before bed.

But what about lifes stones and lifes curves? Is God absent in the hard times?

He laughs with us and love us. He jumps and runs and drinks deeply the joys of life with us. But i have found He is even closer to me in times of trouble. I have been alone in a ditch in the middle of a nervous breakdown and He was very close. I have been bedside with those who are dying and He is there. I have wept with a friend after her fathers suicide, and He was there.

Is there any place where we can hide from your presence Lord, the psalmist asks. if i make my bed in hell you are there. You are there.

Father, help me when life is hard, as it often is, to see not a stone for stumbling but rather a rock that is higher than I. You are indeed here. I want you to know today that I dont need to know all the "why's" as long as I know that you are here.