some startling promises

Lewis points out that all who seek joy find it today in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

And that's quite a claim. Really, Lewis? EVERYONE who seeks joy will find it? Does your experience bear that out?

But it brings to mind some even MORE startling and difficult promises by Jesus Himself. He actually said "Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened."

Does that agree with YOUR experience? I mean, aren't there people who ask for their children to be healed of cancer... whose children then die?

Aren't there people who seek another person to spend their lives with... and who end up alone?

Haven't you known anyone who has knocked on the door of a good job... and didn't get hired?

So how does Jesus unblushing promise agree with these examples? Well... I think the best answer to this is that we don't have the whole picture yet. It seems so senseless and tragic when a child dies. But when you see things from eternity, that child got to miss out on much grief and pain... and went straight into the arms of beauty and love. It was hardest on the parents. But even they received grace for the moment. It's hard... but there is an answer to what Jesus promised there.

And those who end up alone... are they alone? Or are they in a relationship with the One who loves them more than any mere human ever could? And won't they spend eternity with ALL of their friends and loved ones... becoming more intimate with them than they ever could have on earth? Yes, it's hard to be alone. I know, believe me. But we're never really alone.

And those who knock on the door of a great job... God provides for what we really DO need. We think that job will make us happy... maybe it would, for awhile... but what we really NEED is what God provides for us. We don't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from Him.

This is where our faith comes in. When we hear the words of Julian of Norwich, "He will make all things well, and all things well, and all manner of things well," and realize that the asking and seeking and knocking all DO get answered. Just not always in the way we intended.

But the way He intends is always better. Always.

God, thank You for giving us what we ask for, what we seek, and taking us through the doors at which we knock. Even when it's not the way we expected.