Prayer #97: Baffle

Joy and suffering is how God puts His glory on display. -- pastor at Summit Church in Raleigh, N.C.

Prayer #97: Baffle

Our world and its dramas are baffling. We tackle them anyway, with worship, science, policy, rescue and retribution and reconciliation. Yet all these efforts only chip away at explaining an infinite, mysterious God.

Still, He takes time to whisper to us in the din. He visits at dinner. He sits next to us in class and shares a pole on the subway. He explains himself for us.

How generous of our unfathomable God, we say, to invite and relish intimacy. Then doubt creeps in. Is our relationship now too vernacular? Too common?

Never.

God makes His extraordinary nature ordinary so we might be extraordinary in His name. It's an enormous, daunting, delirious gift.

But we must tackle it anyway, and use it in spite of our weaker nature. For in this way, we can penetrate God's mystery, and help achieve baffling joy in the midst of pain.

Amen.