Verse:
“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
Thought:
Puzzles are a joy to solve, sometimes. They offer a
diversion to everyday activities. Puzzles offer to us a challenge to be solved and conquered.
Crossword, jigsaw, word-search and even on our very own computer, we have minesweeper. These
allow us to see a beginning and an end, a task and accomplishment. Why is it that we seek to solve
these riddles? What happens when we get one beyond our ability. What happens when our quest for
understanding is derailed?
Hear the Good News, when we find puzzles or challenges in life beyond who we are and
what we are we must understand we are not alone. Issues like "How might I pay the bills running
in" direct us to "How did the bills get there in the first place?" Then there is the personality
challenge we face, those people we have a difficult time interacting with. The solution is found
once again in the why. This understanding relies on wisdom and even insight. But what happens when
we look at the challenge, the puzzle of God's relationship with us? Wisdom is helpful, insight is
important, but neither take us to the place of understanding. Karl Barth reminds us "It is not by
understanding that we are saved. Here is a truth we cannot understand -- we can only stand under
this truth." Faith is not necessarily understood, rather it is experienced. The experience of The
Holy Spirit, touching our hearts, enlightening us, sharing with us something too deep for words,
takes us beyond the point of understanding, solving of the puzzle, to instead Standing Under.
Prayer:
Gracious God, oh I do want to understand, yet I know it is not always possible. I accept by faith, who You are and what You mean to me and for my life. Thank You for all you have done in my life and all you will continue to do, for I come to You through Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior! Amen.