Scripture: Mark 11:1-19
Until the unlimited,
Unbridled and unrelenting
Love of God
Takes root in our life,
Until God’s reckless
Pursuit of us captures
Our imagination,
Until our head knowledge
Of God settles
Into our heart
Through pure grace,
Nothing really changes.
—Fil Anderson
What can we expect from God? What is He really like? What will He do with us once our denial and sin is disrupted and our hurt and fury drawn forth?
It is in the dark struggles with God that we are surprised by His response to our anger and fear. What we receive from Him during difficult battle is not what we expect. We assume He wants order, conformity — obedient children. Instead, we find that He wants our passionate involvement and utter awe in the mystery of His glorious character…In the darkness of our emotional wrestling with God, we grow in our understanding of Him. When He does not respond to us as we expect, we learn about His surprising character. We attack Him with anger, but we do not receive His judgment in return. We plead desperately for Him to save us from terror, but He does not necessarily rescue us with immediate resolution of our circumstances. However, what He does reveal is His heart for us.
—Allender & Longman, The Cry of the Soul
Download audio file
Bulletin