"I have seen many striking answers to prayer and more than one that I thought miraculous. But they usually come at the beginning before conversion, or soon after it. As the Christian proceeds, they tend to be rarer. The refusals, too, are not only more frequent; they become more unmistakable, more emphatic. At first glance, such a suggestions seems to have it all backward. Shouldn't faith become easier, not harder as a Christian progresses?"
Jesus pled three times for God to "take this cup from me" and Paul begged God to cure the "thorn in my flesh." C.S. Lewis asks "Does God then forsake just those who serve Him best? Well, He who served Him best of all said, near His tortured death, 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' When God becomes man, that Man above all others, is least comforted by God, at his greatest need.
There is a great mystery here which, even if I had the power, I might not have the courage to explore. Meanwhile, little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might have been less tenderly treated."
No comments:
Post a Comment