Wow! What a title, right?
Scotty has started a blog, and his entries do not hide the fact that we are living the journey of recovery from adultery. We are still very much in the midst of healing. But, we also share a desire to minister to others from our experience. In light of his recent posts, my mind has been highlighting some of the lessons that I've learned or that have been reapplied BECAUSE OF our journey.
Lesson #1 -- God's character can be trusted.
Seems pretty simple, I guess. At some level, I've believed this to be true most of my life. It's a statement that is spoken regularly throughout churches... a Sunday School answer that many of us don't even REALLY think about. Until we have to...
And, I've had to REALLY consider WHO God is over the past 2 years. A discussion (well, argument) that I've listened to a number of times is the argument of "God is love" or "God is just". I've listened to preachers and teachers that are heavy in the "God is love" theme. God's love is a characteristic that many worldly personalities like to speak of. I believe that God is LOVE!
But, I've also listened to preachers and teachers that speak mainly of God being just. Usually, with a tone of anger and disgust with humanity, these teachers somehow display a God that is irritated and just waiting to send forth punishment on those that sin. But, I believe that God is JUST!
I just don't believe that these statements contradict each other. God IS love. The Bible states it repeatedly. Love is WHO God is, and He can't act apart from WHO He is. So, His love requires Him to be just. There must be consequences for sin, because ultimately, sin will kill us. It would NOT be loving for God to allow His children to continue on in their sin until that sin ultimately kills them. In HIS perfect love, He provides judgement/consequence that allow us to see our great need for Him and His loving guidance.
God is also supremely sovereign. Absolutely nothing happens that He has not allowed. And, if you've never come to a place in your life where you've questioned that sovereignty, hang on & get ready! I think we must wrestle with this aspect of God's character in order to get to a place of honest trust.
See, here's the truth of my situation. God saw ALL of the sin and failure that could have destroyed my family. Under NO circumstance do I believe that God caused ANY of those happenings. BUT... He allowed every single one of them. And, if He'd wanted to, He could have stopped each and every one. (Pause. Deep, deep breath.) He did not.
Why? I'm not positive, and I may not ever be positive about the "why" until eternity. But, I have a feeling that God knew that sin and failure would be the catalyst that turned Scotty's heart towards THE Savior. In God's love, He had to allow Scotty's sin to reap pretty heavy consequences in order to demonstrate that HIS way is the only way that truly works. And, I believe that I needed to come to a place of complete surrender to THE God who has each and every second of this life under complete control.
He's so sovereign! He's just! And, He's love. Only THIS God could use a situation as ugly as the one that we've lived through and bring about beauty. Only THIS God could take complete and utter failure to make a man more confident, strong and Godly. And, only THIS God would do it in such a way that makes me even more aware that Father God loves us with an everlasting love.
I'm so grateful that THIS God is MY God. We can't REALLY love Him until we REALLY know Him. And, sometimes it takes a tragedy to see who He is.Almost 2 years out of our tragedy, I can promise you that what I've come to know in HIM has been worth every tear.
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