"The artist can, out of his own experience, tell the common man a great deal about the fulfillment of man's nature in living; but he can produce only the most unsatisfactory kind of reply if he is persistently asked the wrong question." ~Dorothy Sayers
What a curious quote that is. I had to read it several times before I fully understood what it was trying to say. But once I did realize, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I've often thought that some of Jesus' responses to questions asked of Him in the Bible have seemed slightly airheaded; not particularly relevant to the question asked. But what if the problem lies not on His end, but on ours? What if we are always asking Him the wrong questions? The people in the Bible were all so worried about their physical lives - money, health, etc - but Jesus was worried about their spiritual lives. They wanted to be healed, but he wanted them to be eternally saved. Perhaps that's why His answers never quite seemed to fit, never worked out as cleanly as His followers would have liked. All that time, they were simply asking the wrong questions.
How often do we do that in our own lives? We ask God to make things easier, to prosper us, to heal us. But God's ways are not ours. He is working on painting the bigger picture....which, from our perspectives, may seem messy and incomplete. But God can make all things, both good and bad, work out for our good.
So whenever it seems like God's not listening, or not answering the questions that you're asking, ask yourself: are you asking the right questions? God isn't in the business of fixing old things; He's in the business of creating new ones.
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
What a curious quote that is. I had to read it several times before I fully understood what it was trying to say. But once I did realize, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I've often thought that some of Jesus' responses to questions asked of Him in the Bible have seemed slightly airheaded; not particularly relevant to the question asked. But what if the problem lies not on His end, but on ours? What if we are always asking Him the wrong questions? The people in the Bible were all so worried about their physical lives - money, health, etc - but Jesus was worried about their spiritual lives. They wanted to be healed, but he wanted them to be eternally saved. Perhaps that's why His answers never quite seemed to fit, never worked out as cleanly as His followers would have liked. All that time, they were simply asking the wrong questions.
How often do we do that in our own lives? We ask God to make things easier, to prosper us, to heal us. But God's ways are not ours. He is working on painting the bigger picture....which, from our perspectives, may seem messy and incomplete. But God can make all things, both good and bad, work out for our good.
So whenever it seems like God's not listening, or not answering the questions that you're asking, ask yourself: are you asking the right questions? God isn't in the business of fixing old things; He's in the business of creating new ones.
Mark 2:1-12
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
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