Saturday, October 30, 2010
♥ 11:16 PM
I read this in a friend's blog and was tremendously blessed by it and i hope it blesses you too (:
I’ve always wondered why God created man. Why a totally self-sufficient God would create these minute, seemingly insignificant little creatures and place them on planet Earth, allow them to mess up His creation in every possible way, and then send His one and only Son to die for us so we can have a relationship with Him.
Why in the universe would God do that? Why would God create man?
Somehow the seemingly vague answer that He did it out of love never really satisfied me. I mean, that just doesn’t make much sense… Creating something out of love? Who does that?
We do.
Why do people choose to have children? In a marriage where not having children doesn’t mean the marriage is any less complete?
Because of love. Love for each other, and love for the child that hasn’t even arrived. Because people want to love. They want to love their child, whom they’ve brought into the world. Because they have love to give, and even if it means 9 months of morning sickness for the mother and 9 months of suffering unending PMS for the father, they’d willingly go through all that to bring a child into a world full of chaos.
If people really love their children-to-be, why would they want to bring them into a fallen world, filled with pain and suffering, knowing that their children would definitely face hurt in their lifetimes? Because they know that the love they show their children will help bring them through those dark moments in life. And also because part of them wants to leave their mark in the world, and the best way would be to love their children and touch their lives, so that they, in turn, can love their children.
All parents want their children to reflect their goodness. All parents want their children to grow up to be great people. And when that happens, others who look upon their children will say to them, “You guys are great parents. You brought up your children well.”
Isn’t that so much like God? Sometimes I wonder why God would create man. Allow us to mess up His perfect creation, and then continue allowing us to live in it. Sometimes it almost seems cruel to allow us to live in a world filled with pain and suffering, which really is a world we brought upon ourselves, no matter how much people choose to blame God or deny His love or deny His existence.
And as we wallow in our self-pity and self-righteously declare how unjust and unloving God is to allow suffering, we epic-ly fail to acknowledge our part to play in all of that. I do mean all of that. As we focus on our self-centeredness, our problems, our needs, our situations, our circumstances, we completely forget that God’s love is enough to see us through. Every single thing.
And no, that doesn’t mean that our problems mysteriously, or divinely, disappear. Nor does it even mean our problems are any smaller when we receive God’s love (which is there for us 24/7). It just means that we know that God is in control, that God is infinitely bigger and more powerful than any problem we can possibly face, and that He understands how we feel and yet loves us unconditionally.
Amazing.
And then I wonder how in the world we, as insignificant, sinful, self-centered, foolish human beings can ever, ever possibly come close to reflecting God’s love and glory. Which really is His purpose for creating us in the first place – to reflect His glory.
I guess it’s a choice, isn’t it? We can either continue living the way we are – sinful, self-centered, foolish, and every possible negative adjective, or we can make the seemingly painful, sacrificial, and heart-wrenching, but ultimately totally fulfilling, satisfying, and peace-bringing decision to live for God, fulfil His purpose, and reflect His glory.
And no, we can’t do it on our own. We can make that decision, and we have to be the ones to make the decision and go all out for it, but it is God who works in us and through us, when we allow Him to, to reflect His glory.
Maybe you disagree with me, but… that realization (which has ended up much longer than it was initially) has helped me understand a little bit more of why God would ever create us.
